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. +20% Item Sell Value Does not stack with multiple of the same talent.

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 +20% Stun Resistance +20% Melee Damage Dealt

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% Unlock recipe: Handcannon, Handcannon Round.

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 +20% Hull Repair Speed +5% Movement 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. Does not stack with multiple of the same talent. Affiliated faction: The faction you have the highest reputation with.

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.

Engineer

T1

Take Egghead and Grounded

Egghead

Talent	Tree	Description
Egghead ID: egghead	Engineer General Tier 1	+100% Skill Gain Speed.

Very good. Frequently allows engineers to overtake mechanics in mechanical skill, also helpful for weapons if going down Weapons Engineer.

Grounded

Talent	Tree	Description
Grounded ID: grounded	Engineer General Tier 1	Gain a bonus of 10 to Electrical Engineering. Gain an additional 20% Burn resistance.

Decent. Speeds up repairs significantly in the early game, slightly useful later on.

Junction Junkie

Talent	Tree	Description
Junction Junkie ID: junctionjunkie	Engineer General Tier 1	Gain one-time rewards for repairing a certain amount of electrical devices: - 30: Gain +10 Bonus Electrical Skill and +600 XP - 50: Upgrades the submarine's junction boxes to level 1. - 100: Permanently repair electrical devices +50% faster.

Terrible.

Remote Monitor

Talent	Tree	Description
Remote Monitor ID: remotemonitor	Engineer General Tier 1	Unlock recipe: Reactor PDA.

Terrible. Only useful for griefing.

Station Engineer

Talent	Tree	Description
Station Engineer ID: stationengineer	Engineer General Tier 1	Gain 30% bonus XP when reactivating a Beacon Station. Also gain +50% Repair Speed and +50% Hull Repair Speed while on a Beacon Station.

The worst mission exp talent of them all.

T2

Take Sample Collection and Submarine of Things

Aggressive Engineering

Talent	Tree	Description
Aggressive Engineering ID: aggressiveengineering	Engineer General Tier 2	You deal triple damage with Screwdrivers.

Terrible. Puts screwdrivers basically on par with diving knives except they don't gain damage from quality.

Fun with Fission

Talent	Tree	Description
Fun With Fission ID: funwithfission	Engineer General Tier 2	Fuel Rods you fabricate are of 1 higher quality.

Bad. Fuel economy is really never an issue and being more efficient makes it harder to get depleted fuel.

Melodic Respite

Talent	Tree	Description
Melodic Respite ID: melodicrespite	Engineer General Tier 2	After playing a Guitar for 10 seconds or longer, you and nearby allies gain +25% Repair Speed for 60 seconds.

Terrible. In the amount of time you spend playing the guitar you could just complete the repair.

Sample Collection

Talent	Tree	Description
Sample Collection ID: samplecollection	Engineer General Tier 2	Unlock recipe: Cargo Scooter.

Decent. Cargo scooters are annoying because of hot issues making them eat your hotbar items, but they are useful.

Submarine of Things

Talent	Tree	Description
Submarine Of Things ID: submarineofthings	Engineer General Tier 2	You can craft FPGA Circuits and Circuit Boxes with much fewer materials.

Good if you like wiring, otherwise bad.

Weapons Engineer

A rather frustrating tree since you unlock depleted fuel before you can make anything useful with it, and then you still cant even craft all of its recipes. The RFA is good and fun though.

Military Applications

Talent	Tree	Description
Military Applications ID: militaryapplications	Engineer Weapons Engineer Spec. 1	Gain a bonus of 20 to Weapons. Unlock recipe: Depleted Fuel, Depleted Fuel Coilgun Ammunition Box.

Decent. Depleted Fuel Coilgun Ammo is terrible but some of the further recipes with depleted fuel are decent and the +20 weapons is nice.

Weapons Engineer T4 Decision

Take Heavy Hitter if you intend on going Physicist next, otherwise take Arms Race

Arms Race

Talent	Tree	Description
Arms Race ID: armsrace	Engineer Weapons Engineer Spec. 2	Unlock recipe: Depleted Fuel SMG Magazine, Depleted Fuel Revolver Round.

Good. The depleted revolver rounds in particular are very powerful for dual wielded revolvers.

Heavy Hitter

Talent	Tree	Description
Heavy Hitter ID: heavyhitter	Engineer Weapons Engineer Spec. 2	Unlock recipe: Hardened Wrench, Hardened Screwdriver, Hardened Crowbar, Hardened Diving Knife.

Good. Hardened crowbars are mandatory for Physicist tree to not be entirely pointless.

Weapon Artisan

Talent	Tree	Description
Weapon Artisan ID: weaponartisan	Engineer Weapons Engineer Spec. 3	Weapons you fabricate are of 1 higher quality.

Ok. The only things it can actually apply to as engineer (without bots) are harpoon guns, diving knives, and the RFA.

Nuclear Option

Talent	Tree	Description
Nuclear Option ID: nuclearoption	Engineer Weapons Engineer Spec. 4	You can craft much cheaper Nuclear Shells and Nuclear Depth Charges, using non-spent Fuel Rods. Unlock recipe: Rapid Fissile Accelerator.

Good. The Rapid Fissile Accelerator is quite powerful, though it is dangerous to its user without significant radiation resistance. The "cheaper" nukes functionally trade a plastic and incendium for a steel and a lead, so they may not even be cheaper.

Electrician

Likely the best tree, especially for faster campaigns where youre unlikely to complete two full trees before finishing. Its also the only tree that makes you better at your actual engineering duties.

Grid Maintainer

Talent	Tree	Description
Grid Maintainer ID: gridmaintainer	Engineer Electrician Spec. 1	Unlock recipe: Handheld Electrical Monitor. Gain an additional 50% Repair Speed.

Decent. The repair speed is helpful especially when junctions are frequently breaking. The electrical monitor is also useful for preemptive maintenance.

Electrician T4 Decision

Neither are particularly good. If you plan on using pulse lasers or nukes consider taking Pyromaniac, otherwise take Unlimited Power.

Pyromaniac

Talent	Tree	Description
Pyromaniac ID: pyromaniac	Engineer Electrician Spec. 2	Inflict 25% more burning damage. Doubled when fighting against Ballast Flora. Unlock recipe: Flamer.

Decent. The flamer and ballast flora damage are pointless, but the burn damage increase significantly buffs the RFA, nukes, and pulse lasers.

Unlimited Power

Talent	Tree	Description
Unlimited Power ID: unlimitedpower	Engineer Electrician Spec. 2	Battery Cells you fabricate are of 1 higher quality. Batteries and Supercapacitors have +10% capacity.

Decent. Higher quality batteries can be useful. The battery and supercap capacity buff is irrelevant.

Better Than New

Talent	Tree	Description
Better Than New ID: betterthannew	Engineer Electrician Spec. 3	Electrical devices you've repaired deteriorate 30% slower.

Ok. Slightly useful for longer missions where you may need to repair the same device multiple times.

Lightning Wizard

Talent	Tree	Description
Lightning Wizard ID: lightningwizard	Engineer Electrician Spec. 4	If you have not been attacked for 10 seconds, the next attack you suffer has 80% less power and your attacker is stunned for 4 seconds. Unlock recipe: Arc Emitter.

Very good. Makes you quite resistant to attack against single enemies and the Arc Emitter is competent at keeping groups off of you.

Physicist

Perhaps the saddest talent tree in the game, this tree can really be considered to only have 3 talent tiers as Ph.D in Nuclear Physics overwrites any meaningful effect of Unstoppable Curiousity. Only go down this tree if you have already obtained hardened crowbars.

Unstoppable Curiosity

Talent	Tree	Description
Unstoppable Curiosity ID: unstoppablecuriosity	Engineer Physicist Spec. 1	Force doors open 50% faster. Your attacks with Crowbars are 100% more powerful.

Terrible. A hardened crowbar is about equal to a boarding axe with this, except this talent doesnt give you anything nearly as useful as the slipsuit and harpoon coilgun-rifle, especially considering that you'd be taking it at your 9th level at least as opposed to security's fifth. Dont even think about taking it before getting a hardened crowbar.

Physicist T4 Decision

Buzzin' is usually better but neither are particularly good so it doesnt matter that much.

Buzzin'

Talent	Tree	Description
Buzzin' ID: buzzing	Engineer Physicist Spec. 2	Your reactor's Max Output is increased by 10%.

Decent. A bit of extra power never hurts, assuming you remember to adjust your autocontroller.

Cruisin'

Talent	Tree	Description
Cruisin' ID: cruising	Engineer Physicist Spec. 2	Your reactor's Fuel Efficiency is increased by 20%.

Ok. Fuel efficiency is never really an issue and it makes it harder to get depleted fuel rods if you're going down Weapons Engineer.

Danger Zone

Talent	Tree	Description
Danger Zone ID: dangerzone	Engineer Physicist Spec. 3	Have an additional 50% resistance to Radiation Sickness while wearing a Hazmat Suit. Unlock recipe: Volatile Fulgurium Fuel Rod.

Terrible. Aside from the fact that it only works if you wear the uglier of the two engineering shirts, the volatile fuel rod is a liability to your crewmates and not even any more useful than any other fuel rod as a power source. Its a waste of fulgurium that could be used for batteries or trilaser ammo.

Ph.D in Nuclear Physics

Talent	Tree	Description
Ph.D in Nuclear Physics ID: phdinnuclearphysics	Engineer Physicist Spec. 4	Your attacks with Crowbars are 200% more powerful. Does not stack with Unstoppable Curiosity. Unlock recipe: PUCS.

Decent. Hardened crowbars are fairly respectable as far as melee weapons go with this, though it takes at least 10 and probably 12 levels to get a hardened crowbar and this talent, and like all melee weapons they are still inadequate for any fight toughe than a 1v1 with a mudraptor. Which a harpoon gun could handle with ease with no talents. PUCS is useful for reducing bot suicides and for cheesing the entire campaign by turning on Jovian radiation.

Mechanic

T1

Take Safety First and either Engine engineer or Multifunctional (if taking I Am That Guy). Safety First and Engine Engineer are both good candidates for bot talents.

Ballast Denizen

Talent	Tree	Description
Ballast Denizen ID: ballastdenizen	Mechanic General Tier 1	Hold your breath 50% longer.

Terrible. Only effects how long it takes for you to pass out from not having air, it is not actual Oxygen Low resistance (ie does nothing to counteract Oxygen Low from being in crit or taking drugs).

Engine Engineer

Talent	Tree	Description
Engine Engineer ID: engineengineer	Mechanic General Tier 1	Submarine engines have +2.5% Max Speed per level you have, to a maximum of 20%. Does not stack with multiple of the same talent.

Good. Does very little at the stage that you can get it, but becomes rather powerful by later into the campaign. Let a bot take this if possible.

Machine Maniac

Talent	Tree	Description
Machine Maniac ID: machinemaniac	Mechanic General Tier 1	Gain one-time rewards for repairing a certain amount of mechanical devices: - 30: Gain +10 Bonus Mechanical Skill and +500 XP - 50: Upgrades the submarine's pumps to level 1. - 100: Permanently repair mechanical devices +50% faster.

Terrible.

Multifunctional

Talent	Tree	Description
Multifunctional ID: multifunctional	Mechanic General Tier 1	Deal 50% more damage with Wrenches and Crowbars.

Very good if you are going into the Brawler tree since this effects the Heavy Wrench. Otherwise terrible.

Safety First

Talent	Tree	Description
Safety First ID: safetyfirst	Mechanic General Tier 1	Unlock recipe: Safety Harness.

Very good. Aside from helping significantly with repair failures in the early-game, it also helps against spineling spikes, ballast flora, and moving against a water current.

Salvage Crew

Talent	Tree	Description
Salvage Crew ID: salvagecrew	Mechanic General Tier 1	Gain 30% bonus XP when completing a Salvage mission. Also gain +50% Swimming Speed and +10% Physical Damage Resistance while inside Wrecks.

Terrible mission exp/money talent

T2

Take Oiled Machinery and Retrofit in most cases. All talents here are good candidates for bot talents aside from Modular Repairs which is entirely useless in all situations.

Ironman

Talent	Tree	Description
Ironman ID: ironman	Mechanic General Tier 2	Unlock recipe: Iron Helmet, Makeshift Armor.

Good for permahusk players (or pressure stabilizers I guess), otherwise bad.

Modular Repairs

Talent	Tree	Description
Modular Repairs ID: modularrepairs	Mechanic General Tier 2	Unlock recipe: Repair Pack.

Truly useless. Repair Packs are worthless.

Oiled Machinery

Talent	Tree	Description
Oiled Machinery ID: oiledmachinery	Mechanic General Tier 2	Fabricators and Deconstructors work 50% faster. Does not stack with multiple of the same talent.

Good. Helps significantly with avoiding a backlog of items to deconstruct or with crafting items with longer timers.

Pump N Dump

Talent	Tree	Description
Pump N Dump ID: pumpndump	Mechanic General Tier 2	Pumps you've repaired gain 10% Maximum Flow.

Decent. Allegedly resets each mission, and you will probably not repair every pump on every mission so the value is limited.

Retrofit

Talent	Tree	Description
Retrofit ID: retrofit	Mechanic General Tier 2	Unlock hull upgrades as if your submarine is one tier higher. Does not stack with multiple of the same talent.

Situationally good. Allows you to stay in your tier 1 sub until the 4th biome if you really want to (and at that Iron Storm can take you the rest of the way). Does literally nothing if you have a tier 3 sub or Iron Storm. A good choice for a bot talent.

Scrapper

A good tree for a mechanic that intends on doing most of the fabrication and deconstruction, as this tree nearly exclusively effects that.

Miner

Talent	Tree	Description
Miner ID: miner	Mechanic Scrapper Spec. 1	Whenever you deconstruct an ore, you have a 20% chance to gain double the output. Detach ores 100% faster with cutters.

Decent. A slight economy boost and some QoL for mineral mining.

Scrapper T4 Decision

Either talent is roughly equal, though resources produced by Residual Waste can be of use to the whole crew (whereas Mass Production only effects the things that you craft yourself).

Mass Production

Talent	Tree	Description
Mass Production ID: massproduction	Mechanic Scrapper Spec. 2	Fabricating items has a 40% chance to not consume one of the input ingredients.

Decent. A moderate economy boost.

Residual Waste

Talent	Tree	Description
Residual Waste ID: residualwaste	Mechanic Scrapper Spec. 2	Deconstructing an item has a 20% chance to give double the output.

Decent. A moderate economy boost. Stacks with Miner for a 36% chance to duplicate ore output at least once and a 5% chance to duplicate ore output twice.

Scrapper T5 Decision

Take Tool Maintenance

Scrap Savant

Talent	Tree	Description
Scrap Savant ID: scrapsavant	Mechanic Scrapper Spec. 3	Deconstructing Scrap gives double the output. Whenever you open a container in a wreck for the first time, you have a 20% chance of finding an additional scrap.

Terrible. Even with this talent scrap is too rare to be a useful source of materials.

Tool Maintenance

Talent	Tree	Description
Tool Maintenance ID: toolmaintenance	Mechanic Scrapper Spec. 3	All crew members craft tools at 1 higher quality.

Good. Note that while it does effect the heavy wrench, quality does not boost the wrench's damage, only its repair speed.

Iron Storm

Talent	Tree	Description
Iron Storm ID: ironstorm	Mechanic Scrapper Spec. 4	Tier 1 and Tier 2 submarines can be upgraded as if Tier 3. Unlock recipe: Scrap Cannon.

Situationally good. Necessary if you wish to take a tier 1 sub to the end of the game. Only Retrofit is necessary for tier 2 subs, and this talent does nothing for tier 3 subs. The scrap cannon is worthless. Consider giving a bot this talent.

Machinist

A good tree for a mechanic that wants to focus on the traditional work of welding and maintenance. The tree capstone is rather disappointing though.

Hull Fixer

Talent	Tree	Description
Hull Fixer ID: hullfixer	Mechanic Machinist Spec. 1	Unlock recipe: Fixfoam Grenade, Handheld Status Monitor. +25% Hull Repair Speed.

Good. The hull repair speed and status monitor are helpful. The fixfoam grenades are rather expensive for a middling effect. They only repair 200 damage, which is the base health of an upgraded hull if your sub has hull upgrades then manually welding (or multiple grenades) will be required anyways.

Machinist T4 Decision

Take Quickfixer.

Quickfixer

Talent	Tree	Description
Quickfixer ID: quickfixer	Mechanic Machinist Spec. 2	After you repair a mechanical device, move 20% faster for 10 seconds. You repair mechanical devices twice as fast.

Good. The double repair speed is good on its own and the +20% move speed after repairing allows the mechanic to move between repairs even faster.

Tinkerer

Talent	Tree	Description
Tinkerer ID: tinkerer	Mechanic Machinist Spec. 2	You can repair mechanical devices 40% past their normal maximum condition.

Ok. Reduces the frequency between repairs (thereby reducing opportunities to gain mechanical skill), and makes individual repairs take at least 40% longer to fully complete.

Let it Drain

Talent	Tree	Description
Let it Drain ID: letitdrain	Mechanic Machinist Spec. 3	Build portable pumps and install them where you need them. You can only install a maximum of 2 of this item on your submarine. Unlock recipe: Portable Pump.

Very good. The portable pump is extremely fast and does not require a functional power grid, making it quite useful for draining a stricken sub.

Robotics

Talent	Tree	Description
Robotics ID: robotics	Mechanic Machinist Spec. 4	Build a powerful (but fragile) drone to watch your back. Only 2 defense bots can be active at the same time. Unlock recipe: Defense Bot, Defense Bot Ammunition Rounds.

Terrible. Defense bots are quite useless in combat, being slower and significantly more fragile than humans. They are also quite expensive and rather dumb.

Brawler

I Am That Guy

Talent	Tree	Description
I Am That Guy ID: iamthatguy	Mechanic Brawler Spec. 1	Inflict 20% more Blunt Force Trauma damage with melee weapons. Gain a bonus of 20 to Bonus Weapons Skill. Unlock Recipe: Heavy Wrench.

Good. Combined with multifunctional (which you should take if you have any intention of getting this talent) the heavy wrench will do 45 damage and 1.7 stun, which is quite respectable. The +20 weapons is also nice.

Brawler T4 Decision

Take Mudraptor Wrestler

Heavy Lifting

Talent	Tree	Description
Heavy Lifting ID: heavylifting	Mechanic Brawler Spec. 2	You move 20% faster when carrying Metal Crates or Artifacts.

Terrible.

Mudraptor Wrestler

Talent	Tree	Description
Mudraptor Wrestler ID: mudraptorwrestler	Mechanic Brawler Spec. 2	Deal 50% more melee damage to Mudraptors. Gain an additional 10% Physical Damage Resistance.

Very good. Brings the heavy wrench up to 67.5 damage and 2.55 stun against mudraptors, which is quite capable. The physical damage resistance is also nice for all occasions, not just melee combat with mudraptors.

Brawler T5 Decision

Take Foolhardy, though both talents are pretty awful.

Berserker

Talent	Tree	Description
Berserker ID: berserker	Mechanic Brawler Spec. 3	While below 50% health, you gain the following: +20% Melee Damage Dealt.

Terrible. If you are below half health in a melee fight and the enemy is not very nearly dead then you are likely going to die. Notably anti-synergetic with auto-injectors.

Foolhardy

Talent	Tree	Description
Foolhardy ID: foolhardy	Mechanic Brawler Spec. 3	While below 50% health, you gain the following: +20% Physical Damage Resistance.

Bad. Only slightly better than Bersker because it is functional outside of melee combat, though it does nothing against the bleeding that you will likely accrue while being brought below half health.

MECHanic

Talent	Tree	Description
MECHanic ID: powerarmor	Mechanic Brawler Spec. 4	Move 25% faster in an Exosuit. Unlock recipe: Exosuit.

Good. The exosuit is quite formidable in combat, though its lack of stun resistance means that fighting in melee against more than one or two enemies is still not recommended.