Question concerning crew skills

[LGN1]

Hi,

does anyone know whether the specialization is important for a crew member in a compartment or only his skills, i.e., given two crew members with exactly the same skills, but one with the specialization for the compartment and one without, do they have the same impact on the compartment performance

Cheers, LGN1

[Littica Marek]

A Mastard special will give you a bonus skill, they can be quite helpful and i think Specials *grow* only if they are in the right compartment, dont know if thats the truth but its from what i can tell

[Loudspeaker]

A quick overview: (P=primary skill, S=secondary skill)

Command room: P: Mechanics, S:Electric
Engine room: P: Mechanics, S:Electric
Torpedo room: P: Mechanics, S:Guns
Bridge: P:Watch, S:Guns
Guns: P:Guns, S:Mechanics
Radio room: P:Electrics, S:Mechanics

I think I got them all there.

The officer (the guy in the big square in each section) needs good leadership to improve the stations overall capability, and ofcourse have good stats in the required abilities too.

[WernherVonTrapp]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean in your explanation, but I can tell you this: The Specialized Crewman will tell you (when you mouse over him), whether he can be placed anywhere, or if he needs to be placed in a specific compartment. Mousing over the crewman will also give you a detailed description of what he does, specifically.

[Loudspeaker]

It seems that I didn't understand it either. oh well... I hope my summary, which has been collected from the RFB-manual, will be useful to a few users.

[LGN1]

Thanks for your replies!

I try to explain better what I mean. Any crew member has five skills 'Mechanics', 'Electrics', 'Guns', 'Command', and 'Watch'. In addition, some crew members have a symbol right next to their name in the crew screen (Two torpedoes, ship screw, lightnings(?),...). If I move the mouse over the symbol it's called 'specialization' (Torpedo, Engines, Command, Sensors, Watch,...).

My question now is whether this symbol has any influence on the efficiency or whether it's only the skill number ('Mechanics', 'Electrics', 'Guns', 'Command', and 'Watch' depending on compartment) that counts.

Regards, LGN1

[Littica Marek]

Oh do you mean my explanation? what i meant was Crew specialisations like watchman, torpedoman and such can get upgraded, the symbol turns Green.

What this now green Symbol (Binoculars, Torpedo, Propeller and such) means is that when placed in the right compartment you get a skill boost, suck as faster submerging, better watchmen, does that help explain at all?

Man I wish my mods didnt mess up taking screens... hmm perhaps I can use Fraps and get a few pics of what i mean?

[Rockin Robbins]

I hate arcade game nonsense in a sim. This is where Ubi got their first steps to SH5. When I get one of those special abilities gimps it's in the torpedo tube and overboard with an unfortunate accident for him! I don't want tubes reloading in 30 seconds. I don't want a boat going faster than a submarine could. Just give me realism and let the kids play arcade games.

[I'm goin' down]

Originally Posted by Littica Marek

A Mastard special will give you a bonus skill, they can be quite helpful and i think Specials *grow* only if they are in the right compartment, dont know if thats the truth but its from what i can tell

Uh...What is a Mastard special?

[Littica Marek]

mastered, was a typo

[doulos05]

You two are talking right past each other. He's not talking about the crewman 'power ups' that are green, he's talking about the specializations.

Do the specializations (not the power ups) matter in terms of efficiency, crew skill, etc? Is their impact reflected in the displayed skill numbers or do they provide a hidden bonus to skill, efficiency, or some other measure of benefit when inside their area of specialization?

[Armistead]

Certainly you want crew members in compartments that they have high rankings for, but certain crew can have high rankings that can work to your advantage in other compartments. For instance, torp men with high gun skills usually have high mechanic skills, so they will work well as part of the damage control team or placed in a damaged compartment. Watch crew often have high gun skills, often dived I will place some of them in the torp room if I need torps loaded faster.

Regarding efficiency ratings, officers have a large effect, simply if you remove an officer from his officer's spot, the efficiency level for all crew in that compartment can go way down.

Morale, health and rest status also have impact on efficiency ratings, a crew of officer with a panicked or broken morale can become worthlesss and even have effect on others.

What's difficult to understand and we've often debated it is at what level does efficiency effect other values. Let's say a watch man has 80% efficiency level, exactly how far does it have to drop before it effects other values, 5%, 10, 50%.....the game seems to do a poor job. To be honest it seems the values have to get very low before it has effect, although a few mods do a better job with it. For instance a mod by Traveller, if a crews health gets below around 70% his efficiency goes to zero and he is totally useless, this mimmicks that he is injured and in the bed.

For the most part it's best to leave specialist in they're compartments, they have high skills and it keeps them in proper rotation. However, if I'm under attack, taking damage, I have no probem using skills where they're needed. I'll place them in other damaged compartments. When things settle down, I'll get people back in they're assigned compartments.

As far as special skills, such as medics, etc...as stated put them in the right compartment and their skill will green light. Some special skills have time limits, not only do you have to have them in the right compartment, you have to hit the specialist icon and start the timer. As RR said, many of these are arcadish.

[Joe Bob]

I am just getting started with SH4. I am wondering what the best thing to do is when, as an example, one of my watchmen with the binoculars gets a radar skill (green when in the conning tower I think it is)
I am unsure if it is best to move one of my sensor guys to the deck watch and replace him with the former watchman/now radar guru. If I swap them then the watch efficiency suffers.

As an aside, I understand the issues some people have with crew management and the way it is implemented but I have come to appreciate the end result in that I feel a bond with my crew as they grow from novices to a crack team. I even like the SH3 micro management system. Not because it is the way a captain would really go about it but for the end result which is pride in my crew.

[doulos05]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

I am just getting started with SH4. I am wondering what the best thing to do is when, as an example, one of my watchmen with the binoculars gets a radar skill (green when in the conning tower I think it is)
I am unsure if it is best to move one of my sensor guys to the deck watch and replace him with the former watchman/now radar guru. If I swap them then the watch efficiency suffers.

As an aside, I understand the issues some people have with crew management and the way it is implemented but I have come to appreciate the end result in that I feel a bond with my crew as they grow from novices to a crack team. I even like the SH3 micro management system. Not because it is the way a captain would really go about it but for the end result which is pride in my crew.

Regarding that specific question, I'd move the guy. Those green powerups are so useful, it's not even funny. The watch efficiency will suffer a bit, yes. But, at least for me, by the time I'm getting powerups on my guys, I can afford the renown hit to drop someone from the roster and replace him with someone to keep the efficiency almost the same.

[MarkCt]

Armistead, you mentioned something about the specialist icon and timer, what is that?