Alpha build 97 is live, and it brings bridge officers: 96 officers to recruit, a crew for every fleet, a new base building to promote them in, and a story for each of them, told by Fleet Admiral Voss.
This is a required update. Build 96 can no longer join the server. If your game shows UPDATE REQUIRED, press QUIT AND UPDATE and Steam will bring in build 97. If Steam does not offer the update, restart Steam.
Your first officers
Officers open at commander level 10. From then on the OFFICERS button is among the round buttons at the bottom right of the HUD.
When you reach level 10, or at your first sign-in if you are already past it, Fleet Admiral Voss gives you a full bridge: one Rare officer of your own faction, three Common officers and one Elite Token. The first Elite recruit you ever make brings your own faction's Epic officer, whole.
Officer rewards you earn before level 10 are not lost: they wait for you.
There are 96 officers at launch: eight for each of the eleven factions and eight unaligned, from Common to Legendary. Each has a portrait, a class, two traits (a third at level 20), a Captain's Maneuver, an Officer Ability and most have a Below Deck job.
The bridge crew
Every fleet takes a crew. The crew belongs to the fleet, not to a ship, so it stays when ships are lost or moved.
- Captain (from level 10): full ratings, the Captain's Maneuver, the Officer Ability and traits.
- Two Officers (from level 10): half ratings, the Officer Ability and traits.
- Three Below Deck seats (from levels 25, 35 and 45): the officer's Below Deck job and traits.
Ratings make every ship of the fleet stronger: ATTACK its weapon damage, DEFENSE its shields, HEALTH its hull and armor. Each officer on the bridge from the captain's own faction makes the captain's maneuver 10% stronger.
Click the faces on a fleet's row in the fleet panel to open its crew. AUTO-ASSIGN fills the seats with your strongest free officers. Crew presets keep three crews, TIDE HUNT, MINING and PVP, to put on any docked fleet in one press. Crews change while the fleet is docked at your base.
Officers in battle
Officers work in every battle your fleet fights: against the Tide, at signals, against the incursion flagship, against other commanders and in raids. Another commander's crew works against you the same way.
- The Captain's Maneuver comes from the captain alone, and each officer has their own: more damage, less damage taken, faster shields, more speed or more range, among others. A banner at the top of the battle screen shows it while it runs.
- Officer Abilities come from every bridge seat and last the whole battle.
- After a battle the result shows your crew: each officer's XP, their bar to the next level, LEVEL UP! when they reach one, and what the captain's maneuver did. A raid result shows the raider's crew in a column of its own.
Below Deck
An officer Below Deck brings their job to the fleet they serve in:
- Prospector: the fleet mines faster.
- Cargo: a bigger mining hold.
- Quartermaster: its ships' repairs cost less.
- Drydock: its ships' repairs take less time.
- Navigator: the fleet travels faster.
- Salvager: more resources from the wrecks of a battle it wins.
- Mentor: more XP for the whole crew.
- Surveyor: it works a signal in less time.
- Scout: less chance of an ambush at a signal.
- Archivist: a better chance of dossiers from a battle won.
Recruiting
Press RECRUIT on the OFFICERS screen. An officer joins you once you hold enough of their dossiers, from 10 for a Common to 160 for a Legendary.
- Daily: one free recruit every day. The next comes at 00:00 UTC.
- Standard: a Recruit Token each, one or ten at a time.
- Elite: an Elite Token. Rare to Legendary only.
- ODDS on the screen shows the chances.
- The featured officer: each week, from Monday 00:00 UTC, the Elite recruit features one Epic or Legendary officer.
- Dossiers of an officer you already have go toward their next promotion.
As each new officer joins you, Fleet Admiral Voss tells their story, live, with the words under her. HEAR THE STORY on an officer's screen tells it again.
Where tokens and dossiers come from
- Signals worked to the end: Commendations, a dossier of your faction, and a Recruit Token from tier 3.
- Faction contracts: Commendations and dossiers of the contract's faction. Your first contract at Exalted each week pays an Elite Token.
- Exalted with a faction for the first time: that faction's Legendary officer joins you.
- Incursions you did damage to: a Recruit Token and Commendations. If the flagship is destroyed and you did 10% of its damage, an Elite Token as well.
- Alliance operations: Commendations and Training Data for each step, and an Elite Token at 50% and at 100%.
- Daily orders: all three pay a Recruit Token and 150 Commendations.
- Weekly bounties: each one claimed pays a Recruit Token and 100 Commendations.
- Medals: each grade pays 250 Commendations.
- Battles won: a 10% chance of dossiers.
Promotion and the Academy
Officers in a seat earn XP from battles, raids and mining (Below Deck at half). Each rank has a level cap: 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50.
PROMOTE on an officer's screen raises them one rank: stronger ratings, maneuver and ability, and a higher level cap. It costs dossiers, Commendations and resources, and takes its time in the Academy's queue. Officers keep serving while they are promoted.
The Academy is a new base building, with a look for every faction: one per base, from commander level 15. Its Mark sets the highest rank your officers can reach, and each Mark adds 2% to every officer's ratings. Without an Academy officers stay at rank 1.
| Mark | Commander level | Highest rank | Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 2 | +2% |
| 2 | 20 | 3 | +4% |
| 3 | 30 | 4 | +6% |
| 4 | 40 | 5 | +8% |
| 5 | 50 | 5 | +10% |
- The Academy's queue also trains officers who are not in a seat: 1,000 XP an hour.
- Training Data levels an officer at once.
- Insignia: dossiers of an officer already at rank 5 become Insignia, which buy dossiers of your other officers (1 DOSSIER on the officer's screen).
Officer stories
Every officer has a story. When an officer reaches rank 2, part 1 of their story appears as a gold STORY signal on the sector map and in the Signals panel. Send a fleet, choose one of three, and Voss narrates it live. Stories pay that officer XP or dossiers, and Training Data every time. A story has no time limit and is never lost.
The collection
- Recruiting 10, 20, 30, 60 and 80 officers each adds 1% to every officer's ratings for good. At 40 you earn the title Master of the Academy.
- Each faction's full set of eight gives a title and a portrait frame in the faction's colour.
- WEAR puts a title on your profile.
Also in this build
- The HUD's round buttons stand in two rows at the bottom right instead of one long line, and the FLEETS panel ends a little higher to make room.
- Arcs while watching. Watching a battle or a raid, hold Alt to see the firing arcs of every ship on the field, and in a raid of every gun the base has left.
- The building panel shortens prices of a million or more so they fit their row.
- Fixed: in the Base View the Uncollected Resources bar covered your coin count. It now stands clear of it. Thanks to the tester who reported it. (#181)
Good to know
- Every officer number is a starting value and may change as we see how officers play.
- Voss's officer recordings are fetched the first time each one plays, so the first story can take a moment to start.
Read more
- The Player's Guide on Bridge Officers has every number: seats, ratings, maneuvers, odds, promotion costs, the Academy and the stories.
- The changelog lists every change in build 97.
Questions or bugs: #tester-chat and #bug-reports on Discord. Ideas: #feedback.