Pilot
Template:Quote A pilot is a person who flies a ship. All of the galaxy's independent pilots are licensed members of the Pilots Federation, and thereby granted the title of "Commander".[1]
NPC Crew
NPC pilots can be hired as crew to operate remotely-piloted Ship-Launched Fighters, or the player's ship while the player is operating the Ship-Launched Fighter. Pilots can be hired in the Crew Lounge available at many stations.
Each pilot has an initial hiring cost and is paid a profit share of all player earnings during their employment, both of which are based upon the pilot's combat rank. The profit share includes all profits from commodity trades, selling exploration data, completing missions, and redeeming bounty and combat vouchers.
Hiring
The Crew Lounge has 5 pilots available to hire, one at each rank level. Up to 3 pilots may be hired at once. (After each hiring, the Crew Lounge pool is refreshed so that there are always 5 pilots from which to choose.)
| Rank | Hiring Cost (CR) | Profit Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Harmless | 15,000 | 2 |
| Mostly Harmless | 30,000 | 4 |
| Novice | 55,000 | 6 |
| Competent | 90,000 | 9 |
| Expert | 150,000 | 12 |
Management
If the ship is equipped with a Fighter Hangar, one pilot can assigned to the ship as a crew member (made "Active"). Any inactive hired pilots remain in the station (and can be accessed later at any station's Crew Lounge).
Pilots are paid whether they are active or inactive, and any pilot's contract can be terminated at any time. If a pilot is fired before the player collects the payment, the pilot will not be paid a share of the profits. A pilot's rank and profit share increase with combat experience,[2] but it is cheaper to hire a pilot with a lower rank and let them rank up through combat experience than it is to hire a pilot with a higher rank. The profit share paid to the first pilot will be less than the second pilot of the same rank.[3]
If an NPC-piloted Ship-Launched Fighter is destroyed, the NPC survives because SLFs are remotely-piloted. As of the January Update, if the player's ship is destroyed, any hired NPC crew can be retrieved for a cost in the rebuy screen.
Notes
- Prior to the January Update, NPC pilots would be irretrievably lost upon the destruction of the player's ship.
- NPC Pilots were added in the Elite Dangerous: Horizons v2.2 "The Guardians" update.[4]
Videos
References
- ↑ Galactic News: The Origin of the Pilots Federation
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/58q7cv/everything_you_need_to_know_about_ship_launched/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld7_85HuL8w
- ↑ https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/300177-Elite-Dangerous-The-Guardians-2-2-update