Sneak peek: Character talents

Hello everyone!

It’s time to start introducing the many new features that you’re going to find in the next Barotrauma update. As we already mentioned a few weeks ago, the update’s main attraction are the overhauled alien ruins, but there is much besides to look forward to. Such as…

Talents

Barotrauma Character Talents

Ever dreamed of becoming a highly specialized electrician who can outwire everyone else on the boat? Or maybe you aspire to be a renowned gunslinger, not just a regular captain. The new talent system will allow you to unlock specializations like these in the course of a campaign, with experience points gained from completing missions.

Our hopes for this feature are many: First off, it’s intended to add more depth to your campaigns by making characters progress as the campaign does. Talents should also allow you to create more specialized, individual characters that suit your own interests and are more valuable to the crew. Importantly, class progression will even allow you to craft items which are otherwise not craftable, such as ammo for revolvers, SMGs and shotguns, and a bunch of altogether new items that we think you might find useful.

Barotrauma fabricator with new craftable item: handcannon
New craftable items coming up in the next update!

In addition, talents help to differentiate Barotrauma’s player classes better. As in the examples above, wire-related talents are going to be for the engineer to pursue, whereas improvements to sidearms will be a talent for the captain. This way, we hope we can allow characters to become a little more specialized without sacrificing the ability of different classes to perform a wide range of tasks aboard the sub.

Rather than list individual talents here, let’s take a look at the various specializations being added for each class. Please bear in mind that the system is still in development, so we might end up changing and fine-tuning some of the things described here before they are released.

Captain talents

The Captain’s specializations are diverse, ranging from the offensively powerful Gunslinger to the teamwork-thriving Shipmaster, the latter designed specifically for captaining large crews with serious co-operation as their goal. The third skill tree, Skipper, is focused on steady progress, making the most of mission completion rewards.

Barotrauma captain talent tree
WIP shot of the captain’s talents.

Engineer talents

Like all classes’ talents, the Engineer’s talents are divided into three specializations. There will be a skill tree for the crafter-minded engineer who supports the team with resources, another for the research-oriented away team engineer, and of course the Electrician skill tree which offers talents to support the core tasks of the class.

Mechanic talents

The Mechanic will be offered specializations aimed at either boosting the performance of the ship’s appliances, or maintaining them as efficiently as possible. The Mechanic’s third specialization is geared towards exploration and prospecting, thus helping the crew make the most of EVA missions.

Doctor talents

As a Doctor, one of your possible focuses will naturally be keeping the crew alive and in good health. Besides this core Medic specialization, Doctors can pursue talents relevant to supporting the crew on extravehicular missions, or focus on crafting and genetics, another upcoming addition which we will talk more about later.

Security talents

The Security officer’s specializations cover a wide range of combat scenarios. The Warden specialization is the tanky protector of the ship and its crew, whereas the other two Security talent trees are designed for mobile protection during exploration, and mastering the onboard weapons systems to maximize firepower.

Assistant talents

Lastly, the Assistants need their own talent trees too! These specializations offer opportunities for new players to learn and daredevils to die without hurting the team too much; the ambitious assistant can amass a wealth of skills through the Jack of all trades specialization, and of course, it would not be Barotrauma without a dedicated Clown talent tree. Honk well and often.

Barotrauma assistant talent tree
Assistant talents coming soon.

When?

Many talents are already available in Unstable for testers to try out, and we’re excited to hear what you think about them! The feature will be released in full to all players along with the alien ruins overhaul, planned for the end of October.

Comments

  • September 17, 2021
    reply
    raven2k3

    Would be nice to have some basic skill system like
    – every class can skill a weapon class (but only security officer has some special damage dealing or tanking skills)
    – running
    – max health
    – recovering rate
    – oxygen need
    – etc

    Assistants are usally bad in everything, so they should be faster instead (increased movement speed, faster in hauling) and have a perk like “luck” (a chance to repair something in half of the time) . Also Assistants should have the opportunity to advance to a new class if a certain skill level is reached.

    Some perks of the medic should be mandatory to effective heal a certain disease

    – Carachter should be persistent on server.
    – Modding support would be very nice.

  • September 18, 2021
    reply
    Myst Leissa

    Finally Something for the Engineer to Do besides stand there and mind the reactor uselessly.

  • September 18, 2021
    reply
    Myst Leissa

    Also I hope ammo crafting requires a specific talent, or a very high skill level; because upto this point Griefers have been able to make guns only to not have ammo to shoot them; Changing this meta, will mean changing the dynamic of many servers.

  • September 18, 2021
    reply
    powerup

    pog

  • September 18, 2021
    reply
    Alexander Hard

    I dunno you think of something

  • October 16, 2021
    reply
    chris

    captains need trhe ability to place alerts on the radar and ship diagram. intruders in the ballast? we should be able to drag and drop that alert to that room

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