Welcome back Starfighters! It's Brian Audette again and this time I'm here to tell you all about Crew Members in Galactic Starfighter.

While the ships in Galactic Starfighter may be smaller than the Frigates and Transports you're used to piloting while ferrying your Companions across the galaxy during the ground game, they nevertheless require a skilled crew to keep them running and in peak condition. This is where Crew Members in Galactic Starfighter come in. Just who are these Crew Members though? Well to start with, each faction will have a set of four Crew Members that each pilot has access to for free! These Crew Members are new NPC's with their own unique backgrounds, appearances, and personalities. That's not all though, because in addition to these free Crew Members it is also possible to add any of the Class Companions from your entire faction to your Crew as well. By spending Fleet Requisition you'll be able to access Companions from other Classes or you can automatically unlock your own Class's Companions for free as you encounter them in the ground game.

Crew Members serve two functions in Galactic Starfighter and the first is to act as Support Crew for your ship. Support Crew are broken up into four positions: Offensive, Defensive, Engineering, and Tactical, each representing the ship's systems that your Crew Members are assigned to work on while your ship is not in battle. Each Crew Member is proficient in only one position. Kaliyo for instance is proficient in Offensive systems while Mako prefers Tactical. Assigning a Crew Member to a position applies a unique combination of two passive bonuses to your ship, giving you an additional advantage while in combat. These bonuses affect stats such as weapon accuracy, evasion, sensor radius, and more!

The second function of Crew Members in Galactic Starfighter is to serve as Copilots. Your Copilot is chosen from out of your currently assigned Support Crew and in addition to their passive bonuses, also confer a single active ability that can be used during battle. Copilot abilities run the gamut from personal buffs such as Hydro Spanner, which will repair your ship's hull slowly over time, to enemy debuffs such as Suppression, which will significantly reduce your target's accuracy for a short duration. Your Copilot is also the "voice" of your ship and will bark out various comments during battle such as commending you for a kill or warning you of incoming missiles.

Crew Members, like components are just another way you can customize your Galactic Starfighter experience to tailor your particular combat style. While your choice of Crew won't always be the difference between victory and defeat, a skilled pilot knows how to leverage his Crew to give him that extra edge in battle.

Brian Audette

Senior Designer