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I once did a run while locked (via commands) at level one.
This means the only skills I would get would be from my choice of background,
which made the selection of one a lot more thought-provoking than usual.
Plus, I had to evaluate them exclusively based on tier 1 of those skills.
To me, the strongest backgrounds - exclusive of any role-playing aspects - are
- Bounty Hunter (Piloting, Targeting', Boost Pack')
- Cyber Runner (Stealth, Security, Theft) - what I chose, for Stealth
Because they unlock abilities instead of just improving somewhat existing
abilities
The worst (to me) are those that unlock little or nothing skillwise,
especially Diplomat and Sculptor - the others are a bit better:
(However, this document doesn't try to evaluate dialogue options that these
backgrounds might unlock)
- Diplomat (Persuasion, Commerce, Wellness)
- Explorer (Lasers, Astrodynamics, Surveying)
- Homesteader (Geology, Surveying†, Weightlifting)
- Pilgrim (Scavenging, Surveying†, Gastronomy)
- Professor (Astrodynamics, Geology, Research Methods‡)
- Sculptor (Medicine, Geology, Persuasion)
- Xenobiologist (Lasers, Surveying†, Fitness)
Most of those skills just make the game generically easier, with only a few
doing a bit more:
- Astrodynamics - increases the cargo ceiling tangibly on combat ships
with 3015 engines where 100 mobility is desired, since you can use smaller
grav drives and fuel tanks
- Gastronomy - opens up some crafting options
† Surveying - The hand scanner is extremely useful for finding enemies
(and many other things), especially in the dark, and complements
Sense Star Stuff.
The question is whether any Skills increase
the highlighting distance of the hand scanner,
and currently the answer is reportedly "No".
Surveying itself increases the Scan-for-credit distance and the Zoom level,
which although convenient, are less critical for
players doing exploration in a Rover.
‡ Research Methods is useful, eventually, but generally not at low level.
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