Elite: Dangerous/Engineers
Engineers can be used to improve various modules of your ships.
Each engineer must first be discovered through either public knowledge or via another engineer, and then unlocked by completing their requests.
Engineering Mechanics
Unlocking an Engineer
Each engineer has 3 prerequisites before they can be used:
- They must be discovered, either through public knowledge (first 5) or through another engineer (other 15)
- They must be contacted, by satisfying a first demand
- They must be unlocked, by satisfying a second demand
Once unlocked they remain usable forever, even if the demands are no longer satisfied, unless something else prevents accessing their planetary base (such as a bounty).
Using Blueprints
Engineers can work on different modules of a ship, with per-module capabilities ranging from grade 1 to grade 5. Each grade offers better upsides and worse downsides compared to the previous grade, and you can only go as high as your current unlock level with the engineer and the maximum grade of the engineer for that blueprint. To advance an engineers unlock level, you can use their blueprints, or in some cases perform other actions such as selling exploration data.
Each module that an engineer can work on will have various blueprints for it, with differing upsides and downsides, as well as experimental effects that can be added if the module supports it. Each blueprint grade has a different cost, with higher grades requiring more and rarer materials, but only ever one of a given material. Every time a blueprint of a given grade is used, the positive stats increase from the blueprints minimum towards its maximum, and the negative stats are set to the values shown on the blueprint.
In order to use a blueprint grade (other than grade 1), you must first get the stats of the previous grade to 70% of their maximum value, as well as have the appropriate engineer unlock level. This can be bypassed by engineering the module in version 2.4 once, in order to get the module to grade 5, and then converting to the new engineering system to start out at grade 5 directly.
Experimental effects are simple additions to a module that have a one-time cost, offer specific stat changes, can be applied regardless of the chosen blueprint, and carry over when advancing grades. These effects can work with the chosen blueprint to improve the positives, reduce the negatives, or do something else entirely.
List of Engineers
Below is a table showing all 20 engineers, how they can be discovered and unlocked, and what blueprints they have.
Blueprints shown in bold are the highest tier of that blueprint available. For Life Support this is G4, for all others this is G5.
Blueprints shown in bold and italics can only be obtained from one engineer, making them mandatory if you want to use that blueprint.
| Engineer Name | Method of Discovery | Location | First Requirement | Second Requirement | Blueprints |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elvira Martuuk | Public Knowledge | Khun Long Sight Base |
Travel 300LY from starting location. |
Donate 3 Soontill Relics. | G1 Shield Cell Bank G3 Shield Generator G2 Thrusters G5 Frame Shift Drive |
| The Dweller | Public Knowledge | Wyrd Black Hide |
Use 5 Black Markets. | Donate 500,000 CR. | G3 Beam Laser G3 Burst Laser G4 Pulse Laser G5 Power Distributor |
| Liz Ryder | Public Knowledge | Eurybia Demolition Unlimited |
Become Friendly with Eurybia Blue Mafia. |
Donate 200 Landmines. | G3 Mine Launcher G5 Missile Rack G5 Torpedo Pylon G1 Hull Reinforcement Package G1 Armour |
| Felicity Farseer | Public Knowledge | Deciat Farseer Inc. |
Achieve an exploration rank of Scout. |
Donate 1 Meta Alloy. | G1 Shield Booster G1 FSD Interdictor G3 Detailed Surface Scanner G1 Power Plant G3 Thrusters G5 Frame Shift Drive G3 Sensors |
| Tod "The Blaster" McQuinn | Public Knowledge | Wolf 397 Trophy Camp |
Earn 15 bounty vouchers. | Donate 100,000 CR in bounty vouchers. |
G2 Cannon G3 Fragment Cannon G5 Multi-Cannon G5 Rail Gun |
| Zacariah Nemo | Elvira Martuuk | Yoru Nemo Cyber Party Base |
Get an invitation from the Party of Yoru. |
Donate 25 Xihe Companions. | G5 Fragment Cannon G3 Multi-Cannon G2 Plasma Accelerator |
| Lei Cheung | The Dweller | Laksak Trader's Rest |
Use 50 commodity markets. | Donate 200 Gold. | G3 Shield Booster G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Shield Generator G5 Sensors |
| Hera Tani | Liz Ryder | Kuwemaki The Jet's Hole |
Achieve an Empire rank of Outsider. |
Donate 50 Kamitra Cigars. | G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Power Plant G3 Power Distributor G3 Sensors |
| Juri Ishmaak | Felicity Farseer | Giryak Pater's Memorial |
Earn 50 combat bonds. | Donate 100,000 or 1,000,000 in combat bonds. (Unknown reason for discrepancy.) |
G5 Mine Launcher G3 Missile Rack G3 Torpedo Pylon G3 Manifest Scanner G3 Frame Shift Wake Scanner G3 Kill Warrant Scanner G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Sensors |
| Selene Jean | Tod "The Blaster" McQuinn | Kuk Prospector's Rest |
Mine 500t of ore. | Donate 10 Painite. | G5 Hull Reinforcement Package G5 Armour |
| Marco Qwent | Elvira Martuuk | Sirius (needs permit) Qwent Research Base |
Get an invitation from Sirius Corporation. |
Donate 25 Modular Terminals. | G4 Power Plant G3 Power Distributor |
| Ram Tah | Lei Cheung | Meene Phoenix Base |
Achieve an exploration rank of Surveyor. |
Donate 50 Classified Scan Databanks. | G5 Chaff Launcher G5 Electronic Countermeasure G5 Heat Sink Launcher G5 Point Defence G4 Collector Limpet Controller G4 Fuel Transfer Limpet Controller G3 Hatch Breaker Limpet Controller G4 Prospector Limpet Controller |
| Broo Tarquin | Hera Tani | Muang Broo's Legacy |
Achieve a combat rank of Competent. |
Donate 50 Fujin Tea. | G5 Beam Laser G5 Burst Laser G5 Pulse Laser |
| Colonel Bris Dekker | Juri Ishmaak | Sol (needs permit) ??? |
Become Friendly with the Federation. |
Donate 1,000,000 or 10,000,000 in combat bonds. (Unknown reason for discrepancy.) |
G4 FSD Interdictor G3 Frame Shift Drive |
| Didi Vatermann | Selene Jean | Leesti Vatermann LLC |
Achieve a trading rank of Merchant. |
Donate 50 Lavian Brandy. | G5 Shield Booster G3 Shield Generator |
| Professor Palin | Marco Qwent | Maia Palin Research Centre |
Travel 5,000LY from starting location. |
Donate 25 Unknown Fragments. | G5 Thrusters G3 Frame Shift Drive |
| Lori Jameson | Marco Qwent | Shinrarta Dezhra (needs permit) Jameson Base |
Achieve a combat rank of Dangerous. |
Donate 25 Kongga Ale. | G3 Manifest Scanner G3 Frame Shift Wake Scanner G3 Kill Warrant Scanner G4 Auto Field-Maintenance Unit G4 Fuel Scoop G4 Refinery G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G3 Shield Cell Bank G4 Life Support G5 Sensors |
| Tiana Fortune | Hera Tani | Achenar (needs permit) Fortune's Loss |
Become Friendly with the Empire. |
Donate 50 Decoded Emission Data. | G5 Manifest Scanner G5 Frame Shift Wake Scanner G5 Kill Warrant Scanner G5 Collector Limpet Controller G3 FSD Interdictor G5 Fuel Transfer Limpet Controller G5 Hatch Breaker Limpet Controller G5 Prospector Limpet Controller G3 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Sensors |
| The Sarge | Juri Ishmaak | Beta-3 Tucani The Beach |
Achieve a Federal Navy rank of Midshipman. |
Donate 50 Aberrant Shield Pattern Analysis. | G5 Cannon G3 Rail Gun G5 Collector Limpet Controller G5 Fuel Transfer Limpet Controller G5 Hatch Breaker Limpet Controller G5 Prospector Limpet Controller |
| Bill Turner | Selene Jean | Alioth (needs permit) ??? |
Become Friendly with the Alliance. |
Donate 50 Bromellite. | G5 Plasma Accelerator G3 Manifest Scanner G3 Frame Shift Wake Scanner G3 Kill Warrant Scanner G3 Auto Field-Maintenance Unit G3 Fuel Scoop G3 Refinery G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G3 Life Support G5 Sensors |
Below is a table showing only the best blueprints (bolded above) for each engineer, and omitting requirements.
As above, blueprints that can only be obtained from one engineer are shown in bold.
| Engineer Name | Blueprints |
|---|---|
| Elvira Martuuk | G5 Frame Shift Drive |
| The Dweller | G5 Power Distributor |
| Liz Ryder | G5 Missile Rack G5 Torpedo Pylon |
| Felicity Farseer | G5 Frame Shift Drive |
| Tod "The Blaster" McQuinn | G5 Multi-Cannon G5 Rail Gun |
| Zacariah Nemo | G5 Fragment Cannon |
| Lei Cheung | G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Shield Generator G5 Sensors |
| Hera Tani | G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Power Plant |
| Juri Ishmaak | G5 Mine Launcher G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Sensors |
| Selene Jean | G5 Hull Reinforcement Package G5 Armour |
| Marco Qwent | |
| Ram Tah | G5 Chaff Launcher G5 Electronic Countermeasure G5 Heat Sink Launcher G5 Point Defence |
| Broo Tarquin | G5 Beam Laser G5 Burst Laser G5 Pulse Laser |
| Colonel Bris Dekker | |
| Didi Vatermann | G5 Shield Booster |
| Professor Palin | G5 Thrusters |
| Lori Jameson | G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G4 Life Support G5 Sensors |
| Tiana Fortune | G5 Manifest Scanner G5 Frame Shift Wake Scanner G5 Kill Warrant Scanner G5 Collector Limpet Controller G5 Fuel Transfer Limpet Controller G5 Hatch Breaker Limpet Controller G5 Prospector Limpet Controller G5 Sensors |
| The Sarge | G5 Cannon G5 Collector Limpet Controller G5 Fuel Transfer Limpet Controller G5 Hatch Breaker Limpet Controller G5 Prospector Limpet Controller |
| Bill Turner | G5 Plasma Accelerator G5 Detailed Surface Scanner G5 Sensors |
Whilst both Elvira Martuuk and Felicity Farseer lack a mandatory blueprint, they are the only two engineers offering the same G5 blueprint. This makes either one of them mandatory.
Marco Qwent is one of two unimportant engineers, only needed as a stepping stone to get other engineers.
Colonel Bris Dekker is the only engineer that doesn't need to be unlocked, as they offer no mandatory blueprints and no engineer is locked behind them.
