Engineers Modifications - DISCARD and RETRY - burning bridges?

Angus

Angus
As it seems Storage is still some way off I'm trying to make the best of the situation and fully understand the options available at the Engineers workshop.

I've usually gathered enough materials/commodities for three or 4 attempts at a given modification but obviously I don't want to discard my first attempt until I know I've got something better. This has led to me buying multiple ships and corresponding quantities of the module that I'm trying to improve, then running them all one after the other, to and from the Engineer's workshop/planet and then taking a considered look at them in a convenient (yeah, right!) Station's Outfitting area.

This is obviously pretty long-winded, but then given the amount of time and effort its taken to get me there, I want to make the right decision. :)

So after a little consideration, I thought there's 3 controls on the Engineer's post modification screen; DISCARD, RETRY and APPLY (or something like that).

So if I'm trying to improve for example a Power Distributor which already has quite a good modification fitted, I could check the visible stats and make a decision to APPLY or DISCARD.

But will DISCARD preserve the original modification from before this attempt or wipe the module clean?

And the same question regarding RETRY - I assume the difference is that DISCARD takes you back a screen in the Engineers workshop and RETRY puts you ready for another go?



Assuming that its possible to preserve previously existing modifications when using the DISCARD or RETRY buttons, The disadvantage I see is that I could produce a second best module that is actually very good and might benefit one of my other ships.

How do you guys approach this? I dare say with a lot less head-scratching and pondering than me. :)
 

Straker

Straker
It's a very good point and goes some of the way to prove how ridiculous semi-randomised outcomes actually are in practice.
 

rucky

rucky
From my - little - experience
a) Discarding gives the same reputation as applying
b) retrying = discarding + new try (that is you get reputation from the discarding)

yes, I also try to get new modules to the engineers first, so as many of my ships get at least some mods.
at my homebase I change modules then between my ships - and hoping it's still there (that is in the rebuy option/screen) when I changed ship and hit the outfitting button... because it's not guaranteered!

but lets see, as we get now 3x as much materials/components I can try now 3x before I take the mod... so... it's better now

BESIDES I HAD 6 POLONIUM FOUND THE LAST 2 WEEKS AND WANTED TO UPGRADE TODAY !!!!!!!!
and now this polonium is COMPLETELY WORTHLESS !!!!!! (0 mods)
GRMPF - then the update hit yesterday evening and not at the earliest in 2 or 3 weeks
Sorry had to SHOUT that out at least once and I didn't want to make a complete rant thread out of that.... ;-)
 
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Kimosabe_X

K
If you're trying to update a already updated module and you're not satisfied with the outcome of the additional roll then either discard or try again will leave your previous modding stats untouched unless you choose to apply that roll.
Tested it with some minor L1 armor upgrades.
 

CMDR BlackHogg

CMDR BlackHogg
Yes so in theory, if you have mats for 3 rolls and the first roll is ok..better than what you have but not what you had hoped for, does it make sense to apply it. Then on your next roll your current mod is used as the base line when showing you if the next roll is an improvement on the current mod on your ship.
 

Dimensions

D
Angus said:
As it seems Storage is still some way off I'm trying to make the best of the situation and fully understand the options available at the Engineers workshop.

I've usually gathered enough materials/commodities for three or 4 attempts at a given modification but obviously I don't want to discard my first attempt until I know I've got something better. This has led to me buying multiple ships and corresponding quantities of the module that I'm trying to improve, then running them all one after the other, to and from the Engineer's workshop/planet and then taking a considered look at them in a convenient (yeah, right!) Station's Outfitting area.
Click to expand...

That is quite a laborious process. Why not just apply the very first mod (which will be an improvement over stock) and then just re-roll until you get a better one. If not then discard the others. Sometimes you may get a very good roll in the first two tries, and then can save the mats for something else. It is worth remembering the RNG rolls are rigged, if you get the near to/or max roll for positive effects, you seem to always get pretty bad negative results. That's what I found any way.

Angus said:
But will DISCARD preserve the original modification from before this attempt or wipe the module clean?
Click to expand...

Yes, it retains the pre-existing modification.

Angus said:
And the same question regarding RETRY - I assume the difference is that DISCARD takes you back a screen in the Engineers workshop and RETRY puts you ready for another go?
Click to expand...

Discard only throws away your current roll and doesn't affect your pre-existing mod. Retry has the same effect as as discard except it allows you to have another roll on that module for the same modification and does not affect you pre-existing mod either. As you mention discard will take you back to the module choice screen.

Angus said:
Assuming that its possible to preserve previously existing modifications when using the DISCARD or RETRY buttons, The disadvantage I see is that I could produce a second best module that is actually very good and might benefit one of my other ships.
Click to expand...

True. In that case I would not roll any more, and save the mats for when I upgrade another ship, since my previous roll had already given me what I wanted. Really it shows the limitation of the system. No storage and you can't buy all modules or classes at an engineer.

Angus said:
How do you guys approach this? I dare say with a lot less head-scratching and pondering than me. :)
Click to expand...

At the moment I have three ships: an explorer/mission runner, combat ship, and trader/miner. I guess it depends on your playstyle . I tend to do block activities in one ship and don't constantly move between them. So I upgrade one ship at a time as I don't need all the mods on ships I'm not currently using.

When I do modifications I take enough mats with me to get to the top mod grade available and at least 4-8 rolls at that highest grade. If I get a good roll I just save the remaining mats for later for upgrading another ship. Sometimes I will use all mats rolls trying to get perfect roll, especially if I know I can use that module/weapon class on another ship (like a shield generator, boosters, FSD etc.). I put getting the same module class with the same modification as a low priority on the list of things to do, especially since I can swap with at least one other ship.
 
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Toastedcheez

T
I've got over 1200 hrs into this "game". I am not Elite in anything because, oh SHINY. Engineers is the one thing i hate in this game. I have level 3 FSD and got an invite to a new Engineer, who happens to do FSD. Awesome, right? Nope. Level 1 upgrades. OK 6 mouse clicks per upgrade and 1/2 hour later, still not level 3 upgrade."Luckily" i've played enough to have a ton of mats and commodities. REputation with an engineer, is a grind and not worth it unless uplay open.
 

crushdepth

C
rucky said:
From my - little - experience
a) Discarding gives the same reputation as applying
b) retrying = discarding + new try (that is you get reputation from the discarding)

yes, I also try to get new modules to the engineers first, so as many of my ships get at least some mods.
at my homebase I change modules then between my ships - and hoping it's still there (that is in the rebuy option/screen) when I changed ship and hit the outfitting button... because it's not guaranteered!

but lets see, as we get now 3x as much materials/components I can try now 3x before I take the mod... so... it's better now

BESIDES I HAD 6 POLONIUM FOUND THE LAST 2 WEEKS AND WANTED TO UPGRADE TODAY !!!!!!!!
and now this polonium is COMPLETELY WORTHLESS !!!!!! (0 mods)
GRMPF - then the update hit yesterday evening and not at the earliest in 2 or 3 weeks
Sorry had to SHOUT that out at least once and I didn't want to make a complete rant thread out of that.... ;-)
Click to expand...

Yeah I scraped up 38 polonium only to find its useless now. Great.
 
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