Production recruits can be scientists or engineers, but scientists do possess a slightly better bonus. Just like research recruits, you can use any quality of recruit, but the higher quality will provide better bonuses. I generally use my purples for production and use my gold for bounty missions. The biggest difference between production and research recruits is the ability to use them for multiple tasks. With research, you can re-use them in the research queue. However, once the production recruit is assigned to a task, they cannot be used again until the first task is complete. (For Red Star pilots, this is demonstrated in our recruit classes in the membership section). Therefore, you will need multiple production recruits.
How Many Recruits?
This concept of needing multiple recruits available so you can have several production lines operating leaves many asking how many recruits are necessary. The answer is not simple, as it will vary on what your research is, what your plans are with your account, and what your needs are. However, the following is a good guideline:
- 2 ship producers
- 2-3 weapon producers
- 4-5 ammo producers
- 6-8 module producers
This will allow you to produce multiple sizes or types of weapons and ammunition at the same time. You will want at least two ship producers because bigger ships take longer to produce and tie up your recruit. Finally, the module producers are used from both devices and components.
Chips Available
The microchips for production is in the same area as the research microchips, the “assistance and dispatch” section. However, unlike the research microchips, there are only two sections for the specific production microchips. The same applies about the “Generic Improvements to Research & Production,” as well as our suggestion to use specific over generic for better bonuses.
How to Chip
Chipping of production recruits is done the exact same way as research recruits. You can either opt for the two recruit method when you’re starting or the multiple specific recruits. If you are using the first method while accruing more recruits, I recommend not producing anything above a t2r1 quality because your savings will not be as good. Production requires credits and resources, so you will want to save as much as possible due to needing resources for research and credits for implants and academy skills.
Method #1
You will need only two recruits to chip for method 1. You will be setting them up for 2 different production types. However, remember, once they start, they are not available for anything else until their production is done. This method should only be used at the beginning while you are building up your number of recruits available. Do not use anything above a t2r5 microchip, so that you can reassign microchips when you get more recruits.
- Recruit #1: Ship/Weapon
- t2r5/t1r4 Ship Production Material Saving
- t2r5/t1r4 Ship Production Efficiency Bonus
- t2r5/t1r4 Weapon Production Material Saving
- t2r5/t1r4 Weapon Production Efficiency Bonus
- Recruit #2: Ammo/Attachment
- t2r5/t1r4 Ammo Production Material Saving
- t2r5/t1r4 Ammo Production Efficiency Saving
- t2r5/t1r4 Attachment Production Material Saving
- t2r5/t1r4 Attachment Production Efficiency Saving
Method #2 (Ideal)
With this method you will need several recruits. Using the suggested list above, you will want between 14 and 18 recruits. To save on typing, I will use the term, “production specific” instead of writing it out multiple times. They will all be chipped the same, with the only difference being “production specific.” Therefore, if you’re chipping for ship production, the “production specific” will be “Ship Production Material Research” or “Ship Production Efficiency Bonus.”
- Production Specific Chipping
- t3r*/t2r5/t1r4 Production Specific Material Saving
- t3r*/t2r5/t1r4 Production Specific Efficiency Bonus
- t3r* (OR) t2r5 Production Material Saving (t3 is better, t2 will work)
- t3r* (OR) t2r5 Production Efficiency Bonus
This is covered in-depth in my class that I have held for our members, but feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Okay, let’s go back to the main recruit page to talk about another type of recruit use.