User:Cherman0/Talent Balance
This userpage serves as a collection of my thoughts on if each talent is interesting (ie does it meaningfully change your gameplay or provide a benefit that you actually want) and is balanced (ie is it useless or too good). The classes as a whole as well as each talent block (ie t1, t2, each tree) and each mutually exclusive choice are also evaluated. Generally speaking the assumption is that you want to take only two talents in each tier in order to reach the tree selection faster, and thus there is the consideration that you may take a talent in t1 or t2 at the opportunity cost of taking another, even though the game does not actually prevent you from doing so.
Captain
T1
Take Inspirational Leader and Travelling Tradesman. *Maybe* substitute inpirational leader for bounty hunter, the extra money might let you make up for it with skill books.
Bounty Hunter
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Bounty Hunter ID: bountyhunter
|
Captain General Tier 1 |
Gain 15% bonus XP and 15% bonus money when completing a Monster or Nest mission. |
One of the few "X mission gives more money and exp" talents that isnt entirely horrible. Monster, Nest, and Hunting Grounds missions are common and high-paying enough that you'll probably get some actual use out of this if you pick it. There are still better options for your two T1 talents, though.
Inspirational Leader
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Inspirational Leader ID: inspirationalleader
|
Captain General Tier 1 |
Applies to all crew: +25% Skill Gain Speed |
Its good. Not terribly interesting but everyone likes skill points.
Logistics Expert
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Logistics Expert ID: logisticsexpert
|
Captain General Tier 1 |
Gain 20% bonus XP and 20% bonus money when completing a Cargo or Personnel Transport mission. |
Basically if bounty hunter sucked. Cargo and Passenger missions dont tend to pay as much and dont really lead you to other benefits like caves and monster loot.
Prodigy
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Prodigy ID: prodigy
|
Captain General Tier 1 |
+50% Skill Gain Speed |
A worse version of Egghead for a job that both has better talent options and only really uses one skill. Its bad unless you got it from an endocrine booster.
Travelling Tradesman
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Travelling Tradesman ID: travelingtradesman
|
Captain General Tier 1 |
Applies to all crew: Special sales offer 3 additional items. |
Pretty good. Saves a lot of money on medical supplies especially, and every once in a while you luck out and can get a ton of materials or ammo for cheap. The bonus sell value changes nothing about it.
Veteran
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Veteran ID: veteran
|
Captain General Tier 1 |
Gain a one-time bonus of 20 Helm and 5 to all other skills. +10% Repair Speed |
Its bad. The helm skill is the only reason youd take it but +20 helm doesnt justify it over other T1s.
T2
Take Gunsmith and either Camaraderie or Sailor with No Name depending on how confident in your crew's ability to not die.
Camaraderie
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Camaraderie ID: camaraderie
|
Captain General Tier 2 |
While no crew member has died during a mission, gain 10% bonus XP and 5% Physical Damage Resistance. |
Good with competent players and smaller servers. Otherwise pointless since people will join and die on the respawn shuttle or intentionally kill themselves.
Down With the Ship
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Down with the Ship ID: downwiththeship
|
Captain General Tier 2 |
If you are on your submarine and it becomes at least 50% flooded, you gain an additional 50% swimming speed and repair hulls 50% faster for 60 seconds. |
Not great. Unless you have bots manning the guns and repairs the captain really ought to stay at the helm in order to provide updates to the crew. Very good for non-captains to get from an endocrine booster though.
Emergency Maneuvers
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Emergency Maneuvers ID: emergencymaneuvers
|
Captain General Tier 2 |
Whenever your submarine takes damage from a monster, gain maximum Helm skill for 5 seconds. |
Usually not worth it. Its usually not hard for a captain to reach 70+ helm skill especially with their hat.
Gunsmith
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Gunsmith ID: gunsmith
|
Captain General Tier 2 |
Unlock recipe: Revolver, Revolver Round. |
Pretty good. Revolvers are now quite material efficient to craft ammo for. Though theyre also quite cheap to just buy.
Sailor With No Name
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Sailor with No Name ID: sailorwithnoname
|
Captain General Tier 2 |
Gain a bonus of 20 to Medical. Unlock recipe: Cigar. |
Its ok. The +medical is the main draw, cigars are not that helpful.
Steady Tune
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Steady Tune ID: steadytune
|
Captain General Tier 2 |
After playing a Harmonica for 10 seconds or longer, you and nearby allies gain +100% Psychosis resistance for 60 seconds. |
Bad. Psychosis doesnt do anything, dont waste a talent on being able to counteract it.
Gunslinger
Pretty terrible. None of the talents effect your crew at large (aside from deputy but thats mid) or your own ability to pilot the sub. The handcannon is mid compared to other options available at level 8.
Quickdraw
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Quickdraw ID: quickdraw
|
Captain Gunslinger Spec. 1 |
If it has been longer than 8 seconds since you've attacked with a pistol, your next attack with a pistol is 25% more powerful. Reduce the penalty for dual-wielding ranged weapons by 50% |
Not great. Revolvers are low damage, high RoF weapons. They dont get much benefit from this and hand-cannons are too niche to justify taking it.
Gunslinger T4 Decision
Deputy
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Deputy ID: deputy
|
Captain Gunslinger Spec. 2 |
Assistants nearby get 20 Helm and 20 Weapons skill and gain these skills twice as fast. |
Ok for a bot I guess. Realistically only one person can use helm at a time so only the weapons part actually matters, and even then its only relevant if assistants are manning the guns and the sub is designed so that the periscopes are within 6 meters of nav.
Lone Wolf
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Lone Wolf ID: lonewolf
|
Captain Gunslinger Spec. 2 |
If there's no crew members nearby, gain the following: +20% Physical Damage Resistance |
The radius is an enormous 20 meters, good luck ever getting this to activate, especially in the sub (which is probably where youll be as captain). Decent for solo diving if you got it from an endocrine booster or graduation.
Drunken Sailor
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Drunken Sailor ID: drunkensailor
|
Captain Gunslinger Spec. 3 |
Gain 75% stun resistance while drunk and immunity to the negative effects of drunkenness. Unlock recipe: Rum. |
The stun resistance is powerful but you have to expect to need it beforehand. Rum is an extremely efficient husk cure too for some reason.
Big Guns
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Big Guns ID: bigguns
|
Captain Gunslinger Spec. 4 |
Deal 30% more damage with Revolvers and Handcannons to monsters. Reduce the penalty for dual-wielding ranged weapons by 50% |
The buff to revolvers and hand cannons is decent, though by the time you get this talent youll have better weapons available. Handcannons especially are not worth the price of ammo.
Skipper
Very solid, though entirely outclassed by Politician. Get this tree second.
Leading By Example
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Leading By Example ID: leadingbyexample
|
Captain Skipper Spec. 1 |
As long as you're alive, all crew members receive High Morale granting the following: +20% Repair Speed |
Pretty good. Helps especially when the sub is crashed and in need of repairs to regain mobility.
Helmsman
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Helmsman ID: helmsman
|
Captain Skipper Spec. 2 |
Boosts your Helm skill by 30. Increases Engines and Pumps effectiveness by 20%. Does not stack with multiple of the same talent. |
Basically if Veteran wasnt bad. One of the rare captain talents to actually improve their main job function. Nice to have but not insane.
Skipper T5 Decision
Inspiring Presence
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Inspiring Presence ID: inspiringpresence
|
Captain Skipper Spec. 3 |
Crew members in the same room that gain a skill point, instead get 3. Crewmembers walk 5% faster. |
Good to have on a bot that hangs out in the gunnery or fabrication room or something. The game gives you plenty of bots that have it by default so Trickle Down will be better for player captains.
Trickle Down
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Trickle Down ID: trickledown
|
Captain Skipper Spec. 3 |
If you gain a skill, so does every other crewmember everywhere. Crewmembers swim 10% faster. |
Pretty good, especially for captains that like to help out with other duties when they can. Pretty good at boosting other people's skills if youre low at that skill and can thus level it up relatively easily. The swim speed boost is also nice.
Family
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Family ID: family
|
Captain Skipper Spec. 4 |
On unlock: Every crewmember gains one level. During missions, if no crewmember has died, upgrades High Morale to Excellent Morale, doubling the bonuses. The deaths of assistants do not count. |
Doubles the buffs of Leading By Example, which were already pretty good. Though the "nobody important dies" stipulation makes it non viable for large or public servers. The free level for everyone is more helpful the later into the campaign you get it since the levels will take more exp to get through.
Politician
Easily the best talent tree in the game, its unbelievable how economy-breaking it is. Youll end up buying supercapacitor upgrades because you have nothing else to spend your scrooge mcduck swimming pool of gold coins on.
Commendations
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Commendations ID: commendations
|
Captain Politician Spec. 1 |
Whenever you finish at least one mission, gain a Commendation. When you apply a Commendation on another character, give them 275 experience. |
Its good. Mostly helpful for people who are less than 275 exp from levelling up to not have to wait another mission.
Politician T4 Decision
Always pick affiliation
Affiliation
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Affiliation ID: affiliation
|
Captain Politician Spec. 2 |
Reputation with factions increases 50% faster. Earn 20% more marks when completing a mission for your Affiliated faction. |
Extremely overpowered. The reputation gain will easily make you revered by everyone without playing any differently, which gives extreme discounts. Getting more money makes it even more OP.
Your Reputation...
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Your Reputation... ID: yourreputation
|
Captain Politician Spec. 2 |
When entering a new outpost you have positive faction reputation with, gain 500 mk. Doubled for cities. |
Utterly terrible, even without comparing it to Affiliation. You get a few spare nickels at each station you visit. Big whoop.
Politician T5 Decision
Always pick campaigning.
Campaigning
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Campaigning ID: campaigning
|
Captain Politician Spec. 3 |
Affiliated faction shipyards offer 20% discount for upgrades and buying submarines. You may select an additional mission. |
Also extremely overpowered. Functionally nearly 50% increased money and exp for the rest of the campaign, the economy will never be a concern again. The upgrade and submarine discounts further destroy the economy.
Networking
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Networking ID: networking
|
Captain Politician Spec. 3 |
Affiliated faction shops offer 20% lower prices. Doubled for faction-unique items. |
Ok if you consider it as a standalone, absolutely horrible in comparison to Campaigning.
Figurehead
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Figurehead ID: figurehead
|
Captain Politician Spec. 4 |
Replaces Commendations with Medals that give 550 XP. If the character is then below level 5, give them XP to reach level 5. All services on affiliated outposts give 20% discount. |
Very good, especially for getting new joiners up to speed on a campaign-in-progress.
Security Officer
T1
Take Physical Conditioning and Swole unless you really want to be some weird sec-medic hybrid.
Buff
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Buff ID: buff
|
Security Officer General Tier 1 |
Gain an additional 50% Buff Duration. Gain an additional 25% Opiate addiction resistance. |
Stacks quite nicely with tonic liquid if you have a medic that wants to use buffs frequently, but otherwise there are better options.
First Aid Training
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
First Aid Training ID: firstaidtraining
|
Security Officer General Tier 1 |
Gain a bonus of 15 to Medical. Medical items are 35% more potent when applied to you. |
Stacks quite nicely with medical item potency increases from medic talents, though it will also made the side effects (ie overdose, organ damage, etc.) more severe. There are better options here.
Physical Conditioning
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Physical Conditioning ID: physicalconditioning
|
Security Officer General Tier 1 |
Gain an additional 10% Movement Speed. Gain an additional 30% Oxygen low resistance. |
The movement speed is quite handy, and the oxygen low resistance helps you not die as fast in critical condition. Pretty good.
Protect and Serve
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Protect and Serve ID: protectandserve
|
Security Officer General Tier 1 |
Gain 30% bonus XP and 100% more reputation when completing a Escort mission. |
Bog standard "X mission gives more money and exp" talent, which is to say that its horrible.
Swole
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Swole ID: swole
|
Security Officer General Tier 1 |
Gain an additional 10% Maximum Health. Gain an additional 25% Melee Power. |
The vitality makes healing more efficient and damage less severe. A very good talent. The melee boost allegedly also applies to a swung syringe's medical effects, for what its worth.
War Stories
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
War Stories ID: warstories
|
Security Officer General Tier 1 |
At the end of each round, if you killed any enemies, create a Art of Submarine Warfare in your inventory. Reading it gives Weapons skill to the reader; the skill gain is determined by the amount of enemies killed during the round. |
Absolutely terrible. Dont take it.
T2
There's a lot of good options here but Munitions Expertise and Weaponsmith are almost always the best options. Maybe consider getting them on a bot in order to take the others.
Bootcamp
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Bootcamp ID: bootcamp
|
Security Officer General Tier 2 |
Gain an additional 50% experience, until you have obtained 5 talent points. When you have 5 or more talent points, gain +15 Bonus Weapons Skill instead. |
Rather good if your crew is competant enough to never die. Otherwise, a waste of a talent.
By the Book
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
By the Book ID: bythebook
|
Security Officer General Tier 2 |
Whenever you finish at least one mission, your crew gains an additional 1250 marks and 200 experience for each captured, live enemy human on board your ship, up to a maximum of 2500 marks and 400 experience. |
Rather interesting and fairly good when you can get it to activate, though you only really have a chance during abandoned outposts or beacon stations that happen to have bandits.
Don't Push It
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Don't Push It ID: dontpushit
|
Security Officer General Tier 2 |
Unlock recipe: Bandolier, Explosive Slug. |
Explosive slugs and bandoliers are very good, though weapons and ammo are probably more important.
Munitions Expertise
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Munitions Expertise ID: munitionsexpertise
|
Security Officer General Tier 2 |
Unlock recipe: SMG Magazine, Shotgun Shell. |
Essential. Lets you get yourself and your crew equipped with something better than harpoon guns, which will be necessary for armored or numerous targets.
Weaponsmith
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Weaponsmith ID: weaponsmith
|
Security Officer General Tier 2 |
Weapons you fabricate are of 1 higher quality. Unlock recipe: Riot Shotgun, SMG. |
Essential. Even if youve already bought or looted a decent number of shotguns and smgs, the quality bonus will help with the more powerful talent exclusive weapons down the line.
Frogman
Gives you access to lots of nice items and a few handy buffs. Gunner is probably more powerful in combat but Frogman may be more useful to your whole team.
Boarding Party
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Boarding Party ID: boardingparty
|
Security Officer Frogman Spec. 1 |
Unlock recipe: Boarding Axe, Slipsuit, Harpoon Coil-Rifle. |
Very good. Each unlocked item is quite powerful and affordable enough that you can make them for any crew who wants them. Slipsuits alone significantly speed up dive missions.
Frogman T4 Decision
Basically a difference of whether you like the harpoon coil-rifle or not. If you dont intend on using it that much, pick scavenger.
Scavenger
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Scavenger ID: scavenger
|
Security Officer Frogman Spec. 2 |
Whenever you open a container outside your submarine for the first time, you have a 25% chance of finding additional items. |
Nice for getting a bit of extra loot. Works on outposts too. Take it if you dont intend on using harpoons that much.
Slayer
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Slayer ID: slayer
|
Security Officer Frogman Spec. 2 |
Gain an additional 25% attack power with harpoons. If you are in the open sea, gain an additional 50% attack power to Harpoons instead. |
Makes the harpoon coil-rifle very powerful, especially on dive missions.
Frogman T5 Decision
Easy Turtle alongside Stonewall and Crusty Seaman can make you quite tanky. If you don't intend on getting those talents soon, pick Daring Dolphin.
Daring Dolphin
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Daring Dolphin ID: daringdolphin
|
Security Officer Frogman Spec. 3 |
Gain an additional 25% Swimming Speed. |
Good for clearing dive missions quickly, especially in tandem with a slipsuit.
Easy Turtle
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Easy Turtle ID: easyturtle
|
Security Officer Frogman Spec. 3 |
Take 20% less damage from attacks while you are in water. |
A nice bit of damage resistance for dive missions. Note that it does nothing against bleeding which can and will still kill you quite quickly.
Spec-Ops
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Spec-Ops ID: specops
|
Security Officer Frogman Spec. 4 |
Unlock recipe: Thermal Goggles. Inflict double (non-turret) damage against full health enemies. |
Makes the harpoon coil-rifle rather absurdly powerful, though its usefulness is diminished somewhat if fighting with teammates with itchy trigger fingers. The thermal goggles are also nice for dive missions or letting the engineer gank things through walls with the arc emitter.
Enforcer
Probably the weakest security tree, though still not bad. The talents here can make you quite survivable.
Pacification Kit
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Pacification Kit ID: pacificationkit
|
Security Officer Enforcer Spec. 1 |
Unlock recipe: Autoshotgun, Fulgurium Stun Gun Dart, Riot Shield. |
The autoshotgun is quite good (especially with explosive slugs). The riot shield and fulgurium stun darts are not very useful or practical.
Enforcer T4 Decision
Take Stonewall.
Beat Cop
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Beat Cop ID: beatcop
|
Security Officer Enforcer Spec. 2 |
Inflict 25% more stun. Doubled against monsters inside the submarine. |
Decent, though youre generally better off killing enemies than stunning them.
Stonewall
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Stonewall ID: stonewall
|
Security Officer Enforcer Spec. 2 |
Whenever you are attacked, gain an additional 25% physical damage resistance and 25% stun resistance for 4 seconds. |
Very powerful at letting you survive a melee fight with multiple enemies. Bleeding is still an issue but that can be solved next level.
Enforcer T5 Decision
Take Crusty Seaman.
Crusty Seaman
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Crusty Seaman ID: crustyseaman
|
Security Officer Enforcer Spec. 3 |
Recover from bleeding much more quickly. |
Aside from the extremely gross name, this talent pretty much removes bleeding as a threat. Very good.
Inordinate Exsanguination
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Inordinate Exsanguination ID: inordinateexsanguination
|
Security Officer Enforcer Spec. 3 |
Inflict 100% more Bleeding damage. |
Bleed damage is rather negligable against anything larger than a mudraptor. Take Crusty Seaman instead.
Implacable
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Implacable ID: implacable
|
Security Officer Enforcer Spec. 4 |
Whenever you fall below 0 health, you will remain fully conscious and your attacks are 25% more powerful for 15 seconds. This effect can only occur once per life each round. |
Essentially lets you use the entire vitality bar. Quite powerful especially if you are actively healing during the fight.
Gunner
Every talent here (except Gun Runner, lmao) increases your damage in some way, meaning you become extremely lethal. The HMG alone justifies this tree with its frankly absurd power.
Rifleman
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Rifleman ID: rifleman
|
Security Officer Gunner Spec. 1 |
Inflict 10% more damage with Rifles. Unlock recipe: Assault Rifle, Assault Rifle Magazine, Rifle, Rifle Round. |
The assault rifle is pretty good, the normal rifle is ok.
Gunner T4 Decision
Both are good choices, though the other talents in this tree mean you aren't really hurting for the small arms buff of Commando.
Commando
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Commando ID: commando
|
Security Officer Gunner Spec. 2 |
When firing a ranged weapon while crouched, you gain 70% reduction to spread and inflict 10% more damage. |
The bonuses are nice, but as tandem fire is one of the few talents to boost turret effectiveness it is usually preferable.
Tandem Fire
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Tandem Fire ID: tandemfire
|
Security Officer Gunner Spec. 2 |
As long as you are manning a turret alongside another allied crewmember, both of your attacks are 20% more powerful. Only the closest allied crewmember gains this effect. |
A quite substantial buff to turrets, though it needs someone else to also be operating a periscope somewhere.
Gunner T5 Decision
Take Extra Powder if your prefrontal cortex has not been removed by a flying steel rod.
Extra Powder
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Extra Powder ID: extrapowder
|
Security Officer Gunner Spec. 3 |
Explosions have 20% larger radius and deal 10% more damage. Explosives you fabricate are of 1 higher quality. |
Makes exploding coilgun ammo even more unreasonably overpowered, and gives higher quality explosives to boot. Very good.
Gun Runner
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Gun Runner ID: gunrunner
|
Security Officer Gunner Spec. 3 |
You move 25% faster while carrying turret ammunition. Walk 20% faster while aiming. |
This talent is idiotic. Don't take it.
Warlord
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Warlord ID: warlord
|
Security Officer Gunner Spec. 4 |
Inflict 10% more damage with ranged weapons for every nearby enemy. Up to 50%. Unlock recipe: HMG, HMG Magazine. |
The HMG is extremely overpowered even by itself. The damage buff per nearby enemy is also quite good, though the range is only 5 meters so it is mostly useful for when enemies have already started attacking you.
Medical Doctor
T1
Take Example of Health and Self-Care
Example of Health
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Example of Health ID: exampleofhealth
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 1 |
Gain an additional 20% Maximum Health. |
Very good. 110 x 1.2 = 132 vitality, which increases the effectiveness of healing items and decreases the severity of damaging afflictions.
Health Insurance
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Health Insurance ID: healthinsurance
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 1 |
If your health has dropped below 30% during a mission, gain 100 mk. Medical items can be bought 10% cheaper. |
Terrible, like most of the "bonus money and exp for X mission" talents"
La Resistance
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
La Resistance ID: laresistance
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 1 |
Gain an additional 50% Opiate Addiction resistance. Gain an additional 50% Chem Addiction resistance. |
Terrible. Addictions are not that bad.
Nobody Important Dies
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Nobody Important Dies ID: nobodyimportantdies
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 1 |
Medical items you apply are +10% more potent when applied to non-assistants. Treating assistants is 20% less effective. |
Terrible. A dramatically worse version of the already hit-or-miss Boot Camp.
Self-Care
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Self-care ID: selfcare
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 1 |
Medical items are 20% more potent when applied to you. |
Good. Saves a bit on meds for self-healing and lets you get a bit more juice out of buffs.
Stayin' Alive
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Stayin' Alive ID: stayinalive
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 1 |
The CPR applied by crewmembers reduces Oxygen Low 20% more effectively. |
Terrible. The description is misleading and it only increases the chance of successful cpr pumps instantly reviving someone. If the crew is medically skilled enough to benefit from this then they dont need it, and if they arent it wont help them.
T2
Take Fireman's Carry and Blood Donor. Possibly swap Blood Donor for Medical Companion if you intend on getting Combat Stims.
Blood Donor
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Blood Donor ID: blooddonor
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 2 |
Whenever you finish at least one mission, gain one Blood Pack in your inventory. |
Decent, especially for cash-strapped or injury prone crews.
Don't Die on Me!
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Don't Die on Me! ID: dontdieonme
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 2 |
The CPR you apply is much more powerful. |
Not great, for the same reasons as Stayin' Alive. Slightly better because you (the medic) presumably have enough medical skill to not just murder people with CPR.
Fireman's Carry
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Fireman's Carry ID: firemanscarry
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 2 |
You can drag characters at full speed. |
Very good, and quite funny too.
Medical Companion
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Medical Companion ID: medicalcompanion
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 2 |
Unlock recipe: Auto-Injector Headset. |
Decent, though rather overrated. People tend to die of bleeding in fights moreso than direct damage, and the only injectable that heals bleeding is Combat Stims.
No Pressure
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Example of Health ID: exampleofhealth
|
Medical Doctor General Tier 1 |
Gain an additional 20% Maximum Health. |
Decent, though pressure stabilizers are quite expensive for what they are. Aside from giving pressure immunity, they also prevent people from dying of oxygen low.
Xenologist
The best medic tree. Genes range from funny to unreasonably overpowered, and Xenologist is necessary to get lots of genetic material and high quality refinements.
Gene Harvester
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Gene Harvester ID: geneharvester
|
Medical Doctor Xenologist Spec. 1 |
When looting a monster, there is a 20% chance of finding a Genetic Material on it. |
Practically necessary to get started with the genetics system. Very good.
Xenologist T4 Decision
Take Gene Splicer unless your obsession with drinking alien blood has given you permanent brain damage.
Bloody Business
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Bloody Business ID: bloodybusiness
|
Medical Doctor Xenologist Spec. 2 |
Administering Alien Blood gives 50% less Psychosis. Large Creatures drop one extra Alien Blood. |
This talent is idiotic.
Gene Splicer
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Gene Splicer ID: genesplicer
|
Medical Doctor Xenologist Spec. 2 |
Refining genetic materials adds an additional 10% to their potency. |
Practically necessary to get high quality genes consistently. Very good.
Xenologist T5 Decision
Take Blackmarket Genes
Blackmarket Genes
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Blackmarket Genes ID: blackmarketgenes
|
Medical Doctor Xenologist Spec. 3 |
Shops on Research Stations and Cities can sell Genetic Materials. You can sell genetic materials for 50% more. |
Good for getting lots of genetic materials and getting rid of useless ones.
Gene Tampering
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Gene Tampering ID: genetampering
|
Medical Doctor Xenologist Spec. 3 |
All crew members gain 10% more health and move 5% faster. |
Good, but outclassed by Black Market Genes
Genetic Genius
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Genetic Genius ID: geneticgenious
|
Medical Doctor Xenologist Spec. 4 |
Combining different types of genetic materials is 99% less likely to taint the materials. Unlock recipe: Advanced Gene Splicer. |
Necessary for combining genes.
Medic
Medical Expertise
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Medical Expertise ID: medicalexpertise
|
Medical Doctor Medic Spec. 1 |
Boosts your Medical skill by 30. Your Bandages are more effective. |
Bad. Medical skill beyond the requirements doesnt really do anything for you and this only effects bandages (not plastiseal) and is even then a relatively minor buff.
Medic T4 Decision
Take Emergency Response. Neither is that good but at least Emergency response technically benefits you.
Emergency Response
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Emergency Response ID: emergencyresponse
|
Medical Doctor Medic Spec. 2 |
Assistants can drag characters at full speed. You move 40% faster if any crewmember is unconscious. |
Funny, and kinda decentish.
Medical Assistance
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Medical Assistance ID: medicalassistance
|
Medical Doctor Medic Spec. 2 |
Assistants in the same room have their Medical skill boosted by 30. |
Bad. Just lets the staff assistant steal your job even more than they already do.
Medic T5 Decision
Both are relatively equal. Dr. Submarine is better if your economy is not very good since it increases medical efficiency. Vitamin Supplements benefits from a good economy that lets you waste medicine.
Dr. Submarine
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Dr. Submarine ID: drsubmarine
|
Medical Doctor Medic Spec. 3 |
Medical items you apply are 25% more potent. |
Good. Watch out for that the negative effects also become more potent.
Vitamin Supplements
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Vitamin Supplements ID: vitaminsupplements
|
Medical Doctor Medic Spec. 3 |
Whenever you apply medicine to a friendly character, they gain 20% health until the end of the mission. |
Decent. The vit increase is good, though you have to reapply it frequently. If youve been scrapping lots of clothes it may be economical to use a bandage on your crew each round.
Miracle Worker
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Miracle Worker ID: miracleworker
|
Medical Doctor Medic Spec. 4 |
Nearby crewmembers are unable to succumb to their injuries unless they give in. You become immune to Miracle in Progress. |
Decent. People who are within 6 meters of a medic rarely die anyways but it can help for mass casualties or bizarre afflictions.
Chemist
Plague Doctor
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Plague Doctor ID: plaguedoctor
|
Medical Doctor Chemist Spec. 1 |
Gain an additional 50% Acid Burn resistance. Unlock recipe: Europabrew, Sulphuric Acid Syringe. |
Terrible. Poisons, and thus acid, and thus this talent, suck.
Chemist T4 Decision
Take Lab Contacts
Delivery System
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Delivery System ID: deliverysystem
|
Medical Doctor Chemist Spec. 2 |
Unlock recipe: Advanced Syringe Gun. |
Terrible. A pointless upgrade to a tool that everyone immediately scraps anyways.
Lab Contacts
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Lab Contacts ID: labcontacts
|
Medical Doctor Chemist Spec. 2 |
Chemicals can be bought for 30% cheaper. You construct medical items 100% faster. |
Good, since the discount covers almost all medical items too.
Chemist T5 Decision
Take Super Soldiers unless the stench is your decomposing grey matter
Super Soldiers
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Super Soldiers ID: supersoldiers
|
Medical Doctor Chemist Spec. 3 |
Buffs you apply last 25% longer. Unlock recipe: Combat Stimulant. |
Good. Combat stims are very powerful, especially in auto-injectors.
What a Stench!
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
What a Stench! ID: whatastench
|
Medical Doctor Chemist Spec. 3 |
Poisons and Acid deal 40% more damage. Unlock recipe: Acid Grenade, 40mm Acid Grenade. |
Terrible. See Plague Doctor
Macrodosing
Talent | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|
Macrodosing ID: macrodosing
|
Medical Doctor Chemist Spec. 4 |
Buffs you apply last 25% longer. Poisons and Acid deals 25% more damage. Unlock recipe: Endocrine Booster. This medical contraption, when used, bestows the user with permanent performance enhancement. |
Decent. Endocrine boosters are nice though though too expensive and random to kit out your crew with useful buffs with.