Difference between revisions of "Job overview"

Revision as of 01:47, 4 July 2014

This page is in progress. The goal is to give a simple overview of every type of job on the ship. This page is designed to answer questions such as "What I should do?", "What skills do my team expect me to take?", "How difficult is to learn my job properly?", and "How much time and communication does it take?". The rating in each category is completely subjective, so feel free to discuss in the talk page or at http://twd.io/e/fH1u0w . Edit as needed. )

This page contains short overviews of most duties on the ship. You can see what characters are expected to do different roles, what skills they need for those duties, so you can choose a role for yourself. Pay attention to job difficulty, how much communication with team it requires and how active you should be to be the most effective.

Note: The priorities given on this page assume everything is running fine on your ship. Emergencies and requests for assistance can drastically alter the time, skill, and communication requirements.

Specialist duties

These roles require a specific skill or title to be the most effective (or in some cases, to even have access!). If you take a character with the skill for one of these jobs, you will be expected to focus on it.

Astrophysics

Main skills - Astrophysicist

Secondary skills - IT Expert

Your job is to find planets to explore. There are two steps - first you must locate a planet to scan, then you must analyze it. Report on what you've found and decide if it is worth the fuel it costs and the risks it may pose. If your team likes the look of it, you must wait for them to get organized, travel to the planet, explore it, and move away again before you can look for the next; any scanned planet will be lost after the ship moves, no matter which direction or how far you go. If a planet is undesirable, whether because it is too risky or doesn't have enough of the right resources, delete it and start on another. Visiting planets will provide many resources for your crew - oxygen, fuel, food, and alien artifacts - and is important to the survival of a long-lasting ship. Planet scanning is done on the bridge, and requires you to be clean.

Job Difficulty - Medium

Know your zones - what resources can you get from each? Which ones are dangerous enough to immediately scrap the planet? How much risk will an exploration team face, and what items should they bring along to help? You also have to keep an eye on ship resources; know how much longer the oxygen will last before people start dying and when it's time to make a food or fuel run, so you can be looking for the resources your crew needs. Remember that once you are in orbit, people can view the zones for themselves - if you made poor judgements, you might face the consequences.

Required Communication - Medium

You'll be expected to report your progress frequently, and to deliver a full analysis of a planet on demand - how much fuel it takes to get there and what direction to go, what to expect and what you'll get out of it.

Note: If multiple people are scanning planets, a much greater level of communication is required. You cannot see or scan the planets your teammates are working on, so it's important to tell each other what you are finding. Don't waste a bunch of AP when somebody else has found a good planet, because it will be lost when you move.

Activity Level - Low

Fully scanning a planet takes a lot of AP, especially if it has a lot of zones. If the ship has to move for any reason, all planets are lost, as is the progress put into them. The best way to avoid wasted AP is to wait until your bar is full, then spend it all at once to scan a planet or two as completely as possible. You can log in once or twice a day to do this.

Expected Astrophysicists

Frieda Bergmann - has Astrophysicist skill at level 1 and is often the only Astrophysicist on board. Her IT Expert skill, unlocked at level 4, can boost her efficiency by saving her some AP.

Additional Astrophysicists

Lai Kuan Ti - has Astrophysicist skill at level 4. His main focus is Neron Projects and Technician work, but if the need is great, those can wait.

Gioele Rinaldo - has Astrophysicist skill at level 4. This matches well with the Caffeine Junkie skill - pull the coffee from the machine for a few cycles and drink it all at once. Remember to use the apron!

Mage Book - Any Generalist can scan for planets, but having the Astrophysicist skill lets you analyze more zones at once and saves you action points. If you were chosen to read this book, you probably should dedicate yourself to this task.

Morale

Main skill - Shrink Confident Leader

Secondary skills - none

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Job Difficulty - Easy

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Communication Required - Low

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Activity Level - Medium

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Expected Morale Boosters

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Additional Morale Boosters

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Mush Hunting

Main skills - Tracker

Secondary skills - Observant Shooter Solid Sprinter Wrestler

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Job Difficulty - High

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Required Communication - High

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Activity Level- High

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Expected Mush Hunters

Eleesha Williams - has Tracker at level 1. This skill is required for printing the list and cannot be learned from a Mage Book. Eleesha also gets Observant, which can catch actions that would normally be hidden.

Zhong Chun - Chun does not have skills that provide a bonus to the hunt, but her Immune trait means she is the only person on the ship everyone can trust to not be a Mush. Eleesha may do the bulk of collecting the evidence, but it is usually Chun who leads the hunt. Her Premonition can be used if somebody is caught in a suspicious place, but it is usually not recommended as it only reveals one action at the cost of a precious morale point.

Wang Chao - Most of Chao's skills are tailored to combat, essential for eliminating the Mush once they are found. Additionally, his level 4 skill Torturer reveals the last actions of a crew member according to how much health they have missing. Even if they don't reveal anything incriminating, it can be useful for telling the difference between random injuries and damage from taking a shower.

Additional Mush Hunters

Derek Hogan - While still useful, Derek's skill set is better for killing the Mush once they are found and taking care of general needs around the ship. Wrestler is particularly useful, especially if the Mush is trying to escape death by hiding near Ian or in a crowded dorm.

Ian Soulton - The Pacifist trait can be used to make important characters harder to assassinate. Ian also learns Mycologist at level 3, which allows him to remove spores from humans who have been infected but not turned by healing them.

Janice Kent - Her Shrink allows psychological conditions to be cured with a public log. Since Mush can not develop disorders or diseases, it allows her to confirm that somebody is human - or at least was when they caught it!

Andie Graham - While Andie is usually engaged in either Piloting or Researching, the level 4 skill Template:Confident can reveal suspicious actions. Devotion and Expert can also be put to good use when it's time for the kill.

Mage Book - Any characters who have or gain Sprinter can help with the investigation by following movements in room logs with less wasted AP. Those with Shooter or Wrestler will be needed when it's time to finish the Mush.

NERON Projects

Main skill -

Secondary skills -

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Job Difficulty - Easy

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Communication Required - Low

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Activity Level - Medium

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Expected Project Workers

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Additional Project Workers

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Piloting

Main skill - Pilot

Secondary skills - Shooter Devotion Creative Expert

Pilots have three duties on the ship - they use patrol ships to kill enemy hunters, they use the Pasiphae to collect loot from defeated ships and join the exploration team with the Icarus. Characters without the Pilot skill have major penalties while piloting (default BIOS settings forbid them from even taking off), and turrets are not efficient in defeating enemies. That's why pilots are essential for Daedalus safety. Piloting can be done while dirty, so eating for AP is less of a hassle.

Job Difficulty - Easy

There are only a few things you need to know to do this job. Reading the main article will be enough.

Communication Required - Low

In most situations, you should kill hunters when you see them. Collect loot if all hunters are killed and you have action points. If you are launching the Icarus for an expedition, make sure everyone is ready first; otherwise you could leave critical people or equipment behind. If BIOS Pilot Lock is off, you don't even have to launch it yourself; just being present is enough to ensure a safe landing.

Activity Level - Medium

New Hunters can come at every cycle change, and in some cases it is critical to take them out before they start shooting. At the same time, Piloting is a very demanding job in terms of AP, and once you have spent yours, you can be offline for several cycles while you regain energy. Taking off with less than 8 AP is considered wasteful, as it only allows you a few shots.

Expected Pilots

Jiang Hua - has Pilot at level 1. Her other skills, namely Botanist and Survivalist, make her an ideal choice for an expedition team's pilot.

Roland Zuccali - has Pilot skill at level 2. The addition of the Shooter skill at level 3 gives him more shots per day and increases his accuracy, allowing him to clear the hunters by himself at need.

Additional Pilots

Kim Jin Su - has Pilot skill at level 2, but his role as Commander often requires him to save action points for moving the ship and giving missions. The Leader skill is also important for keeping morale up, especially if Janice is dead.

Terrence Archer - has Pilot skill at level 3, but his level 2 Technician skill is often critical. He often has to use action points or Technician points on emergency repairs, and if nobody else is on moving around the ship can be very AP expensive.

Andie Graham - has Pilot at level 1, but the level 3 Polyvalent is preferred. Andie replaces Finola, the head researcher, and the job requires almost all of his/her AP.

Frieda Bergmann - has Pilot skill at level 2, but her job as a Astrophysicist demands all the action points she can save. On most ships, it is not recommended that she take on Piloting duties, but she can serve as a backup pilot in case of emergency.

Mage Book - Pilot skill books should be guarded carefully because they open up new opportunities for Mush and griefers. Giving this to somebody with the Shooter skill is worthwhile.

Research

Main skills - Biologist Medic Polyvalent

Secondary skills - IT Expert Devotion

Research is carried out at the console in the laboratory. Each project has different requirements to be available for research, and each offers benefits to the ship - many aid your crew in resisting and finding the Mush, but not all of them. Anyone who is clean can work in the lab, but the listed skills boost your efficiency. Most ships have one or two crew members specializing in research and depend on the rest of the crew for relays - see the Generalist section on research.

Job Difficulty - Medium

Knowing what to research, when, can be critical to the success of your ship. All anti-Mush research is useful and desirable to humans, but your unique situation may make certain projects more or less important. It's better to focus on one or two projects and see them to completion than to work on many projects that will take longer to complete when your AP is so spread out.

Required Communication - Medium

Working alone on research is very inefficient; you will need at least one person to work with you. See Relaying for more details. You also need to be aware of the Mush situation so you can be working on the most useful projects.

Activity Level- Low or Medium

With good communication, you can set a specific time to relay back and forth with another crewmate, then spend the rest of the day regaining all the energy you spent. If you don't have a partner, you will need to rely on the rest of the crew for your relays, so you'll need to check in more often to see if progress has been made.

Expected Researchers

Andie Graham - has Polyvalent skill at level 3. Researcher Andie is highly preferred to Pilot Andie, as he/she "replaces" Finola, the dedicated researcher. Additionally, the Biologist, Botanist, and Diplomat skills are either only available to a few characters or require high experience levels to unlock.

Finola Keegan - has Biologist skill at level 1 and Medic skill at level 2. Taking both skills will give her a double bonus to efficiency, and her Germaphobe trait makes her less than ideal for other tasks around the ship. If you are bronze and can only take one, Medic will also allow you to deal with injuries and to perform surgeries on characters that can't move.

Zhong Chun - While she does not have any skills to boost her efficiency, most of the anti-Mush research requires her to be present. She is also the only one who can sleep safely in an unsecured Medlab, so she is expected to provide most of the relays for those with the proper skills.

Ian Soulton - has Biologist skill at level 2. While Botanist usually takes priority for bronze players, he can and should still relay research when he has AP to spare - especially at the beginning of a ship when most of the plants are young and important anti-Mush research is being pushed.

Additional Researchers

Janice Kent - While not a primary researcher, her flexible IT points are well spent helping out with early research projects and the later, difficult ones. Use of her points doesn't cut into her low action point budget and she occasionally needs to visit the lab for morale-giving bananas anyway.

Eleesha Williams - Most of her duties involve keeping track of suspicious activity, but her travel around the ship gets her near the lab often. Higher level Eleesha players can have IT Expert, and her flexible IT points can easily be spent in the lab while she passes through.

Raluca Tomescu - Raluca usually stays at the back of the ship and most of her tasks can get her dirty. But Genius, her level 4 skill, allows her to instantly finish the next project, research, or repair she tries after activating it. It is not uncommon for this skill to be spent to instantly complete the Retro-Fungal Serum to cure an exposed Mush.

Mage Book - A Medic or Biologist skill book gives you that efficiency boost to research. Usually it should go to Chun or Ian, since they're always in the Lab anyway, but a Generalist could pick this up if important crew members are inactive or dead.

Titles

Holding a title gives you responsibilities above and beyond any skills you have, Titles give you exclusive access to certain consoles and actions aboard the ship. See Titles if you want a more in-depth description and for the order in which crew members are chosen for particular titles.

Commander

The Commander of the ship is the one responsible for moving the Daedalus. You also can spend one action point to give one of your crew a mission. Both can be done while dirty, at need.

Job Difficulty - Medium

The job itself isn't terribly difficult, but you should know what you're getting into. Incompetent Commanders are often killed to let the title pass on to somebody more experienced or active - it's for the good of the ship. Knowing where you need to be and how many action points are required are crucial to doing well.

Communication Required - High

Your major role is to move the ship. Be active in chat so you know if the Pilots are able to take care of the Hunters or if you should move to escape them, and be aware of the progress of planet scans. You can't send the ship anywhere if fuel isn't loaded, so you'll need to make sure that it is and how much is needed. You'll also need to know what is going on so you can give the day's mission to whoever needs it most. Lastly, you'll need to know if anybody is out in a patrol ship - leaving somebody behind kills them, and if that character has important enough skills, it could doom your ship.

Activity Level - High

You might be required at any time to move the ship, so check in as often as possible. You will also be required to go on expeditions for the same reason the Hacker Kit is secured: so you can't leave the explorers behind to die. Be sure to warn trusted crewmates when you won't be on for a while, so they can attempt to hack the command terminal if needed; this is not recommended, as it can be very expensive in terms of action points, but it's better than dying.

Communications Officer

The Communications Officer is responsible for all actions that happen from the Comms Terminal on the Bridge. This includes decoding Rebel Base signals, decoding Xyloph, updating Neron, and making trades with Merchant ships. Everything but trading requires that you be clean.

Job Difficulty - Medium

Reading the detailed page is usually enough to understand HOW to do your job. The difficulty is knowing what part of Comms you should be working on and when. Know what cycle the Rebel Base message comes in and save AP for those; know which Bases are the most important to decode and which can be skipped for more important things. You are also the only one who can work on these, so you have to know how to budget your action points.

Communication Required - Low to Medium

Much of your work is solo work on the Bridge. Being so isolated can leave you vulnerable, so be watching for unusual people entering the Bridge. Don't be afraid to ask the crew for help if the connection to Sol breaks; having them work on it can save you some AP and prevent the signal from being down for days.

Activity Level - Low to Medium

Much like Astrophysics, you can sign in a few times a day to spend your saved AP on Comms work. However, you must know when Rebel Base transmissions come so you have the time to decode them. You also will want to spend time working on updates and Xyloph, and being available to issue general messages can be useful.

NERON Admin

You have access to NERON's systems, allowing you to adjust his settings for the ship. You can do this while dirty, at need. The BIOS terminal is in the Nexus.

Job Difficulty - Low

The BIOS interface is very simple to understand. The BIOS Terminal page explains what each setting does.

Communication Required - High

The crew will have requests for specific settings, so you need to be aware of them. You don't need to comply, but you should be telling them why you are not enabling that setting. You should also be aware of imminent expeditions, project completions, and situations that could require you to change settings.

Activity Level - Low to Medium

The settings usually don't need to be changed, but being active regularly allows you to adjust them as needed. Common examples are turning off pilot lock so the expedition can be launched when the pilot doesn't have enough action points, and turning on the Plasma Shields as soon as they are finished.

Generalist Duties

Characters who don't fit into one of the roles listed above are called Generalists. They are responsible for the non-specialized tasks that keep the ship running. These include (but are not limited to) locating and putting out fires, non-essential repairs, relaying research and projects, reporting suspicious actions to the proper people, and killing the Mush once they are discovered.

A generalist may be asked to read a Mage Book to fill in for an inactive or dead specialist.