- Ostranauts skills define your character's expertise in engineering, combat, and utility tasks
- Two must-have skills: Hacking and EVA Suits are critical for early-game survival and salvaging
- Adventure system: Seek Adventures during character creation to gain skills, contacts, and money
- Remove negative traits: Always eliminate Fragile and Micro-G Hypothalamus if possible
- Age matters: Start your career before age 30 to minimize negative trait accumulation
Understanding Ostranauts Skills System
In Ostranauts, skills represent a mixture of experience and knowledge that results in above-average capabilities. Some skills enable you to work faster at certain tasks, while others provide specific bonuses when dealing with people or your environment. All skills can be obtained during character creation, and some can be learned afterward through textbooks or hands-on experience.
Video Highlights:
- Character creation takes place at the KLE Labor Department Resume Center
- Each skill training or adventure costs 1-3 years of your character's life
- You start at age 18 and can only take actions until age 47
- Seeking Adventures is the most efficient way to gain skills
- EVA Suit Maintenance and Hacking are considered essential skills
Skills are divided into three main categories: Engineering, Combat, and Utility. Each category serves distinct purposes in your salvaging career, and understanding how they interact is key to building a capable character.
The most efficient approach is to gain skills through the Adventure system rather than spending years training them directly. Adventures provide skills, money, contacts, and sometimes valuable items all at once.
Engineering Skills Breakdown
Engineering skills are the backbone of your salvaging operation. They determine how quickly you can install, repair, and dismantle various ship components. These skills improve through both experience and textbook studying.
| Skill | Effect | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Civil Engineering | Install/repair speed bonus for mechanical items | Experience, Textbook |
| Combat Engineering | Install/repair speed bonus for most items | Experience, Textbook |
| Construction | Install/repair speed bonus for mechanical items | Experience, Textbook |
| Electrical Engineering | Install/repair speed bonus for electrical items | Experience, Textbook |
| Robotics Engineering | Install/repair speed bonus for control/sensor items | Experience, Textbook |
| Software Engineering | Software speed bonus, faster debug nav console | Experience, Textbook |
| Spaceship Engineering | Install/repair speed bonus for hull items | Experience, Textbook |
| Mechanical Engineering | Install/repair speed bonus for mechanical items | Experience, Textbook |
Each engineering skill trained during character creation costs 1-3 years depending on the skill. Prioritize gaining these through Adventures instead of direct training to maximize your limited time budget.
The engineering skills you prioritize should match your intended playstyle. For salvagers focused on tearing apart ships, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering are particularly valuable since they speed up dismantling mechanical and electrical components respectively.
Mechanical Engineering
- Dismantle mechanical parts
- Speeds up install/repair
- Learn via Adventures or textbooks
- Essential for salvagers
Electrical Engineering
- Handle electrical components
- Speeds up install/repair
- Gained from Daily Grind adventure
- Critical for ship teardown
EVA Suit Maintenance
- Removes 45% work speed penalty
- Essential for spacewalks
- Learn via Daily Grind adventure
- Top priority skill
Combat and Utility Skills
Combat skills improve your ability to fight, while utility skills provide various miscellaneous effects that can be lifesavers in difficult situations. These skills are harder to acquire post-creation, making character creation choices critical.
| Skill | Effect | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Armed Melee | Bonus melee attack damage, threatening aura | Experience |
| Unarmed Melee | Bonus melee attack damage, threatening aura | Experience |
| Business Admin | See exact value of items | Textbook Studying |
| EVA Suits | Remove 45% work speed penalty in EVA suit | Experience |
| Hacking | Software speed bonus, hack locked PDAs | Textbook Studying |
| Persuasion | Escape threats around Ceres | Character Creation Only |
| Psychology | Escape threats around Ceres | Character Creation Only |
Armed Melee is generally preferred over Unarmed Melee because weapons provide consistent damage output. The Strong trait further enhances combat effectiveness by reducing your chances of being knocked out before your opponent.
Persuasion and Psychology deserve special attention because they can only be obtained during character creation. If you want these skills, you must plan for them from the start since no textbook or experience path exists for them afterward.
Hacking is arguably the single most important skill in the game. It allows you to unlock PDAs, access restricted areas, and provides a software speed bonus. If you do not get it through Adventures, spend the years to train it directly.
Skill Training Through Actions
After character creation, skills can be improved by performing specific actions. Different item categories improve different skills when you interact with them. This creates a natural progression system where your character becomes more proficient through actual work.
| Item Category | Skills Improved |
|---|---|
| APPS (fridge, sink, TV) | Civil, Combat, Construction, Mechanical |
| CTRL | Electronic, Robotic |
| Nav Station | Electronic, Robotic |
| FURN | Civil, Combat, Construction, Mechanical |
| HVAC | Civil, Combat, Construction, Mechanical |
| MISC (dolly, signs, toolboxes) | Civil, Combat, Construction, Mechanical |
| POWR | Electronic |
| SENS (alarms, antenna, transponder) | Electronic |
| SUIT | OpsEnvSuit |
| Hacking | Hacking |
| Software | Hacking, Software |
| WPNS | Combat |
Focus on dismantling and repairing items that match your desired skill path. Working on HVAC and furniture systems trains four engineering skills simultaneously, making them excellent training targets.
Character Creation Adventure Strategy
The Adventure system is the heart of character creation in Ostranauts. Each adventure costs one year and presents multiple choices that grant different skills, traits, money, and contacts. Understanding which adventures to pursue and which options to select is crucial for building an optimal character.
Remove Negative Traits First
Start by spending 1-2 years removing harmful traits. Fragile makes you take more physical damage, and Micro-G Hypothalamus permanently reduces blood volume, causing faster fatigue and slower healing. Eliminating these two traits should be your first priority.
Seek Adventures for Core Skills
Pursue Adventures to gain your essential skills. Target Hacking through the Crackdown adventure (forge pressure alarm option) and EVA Suit Maintenance through the Daily Grind adventure. These two skills are considered mandatory for a successful salvaging career.
Acquire Combat Skills
Use the Shady Deal adventure and choose to incite violence to gain Armed Melee and Unarmed Melee skills along with the Strong trait. This combination significantly improves your survivability in hostile encounters.
Build Financial Foundation
Aim for a starting net worth of approximately $5,000. This allows you to purchase a salvage license immediately, making your early salvaging operations more profitable and reducing police harassment.
Select Your Ship
When choosing a ship, prioritize larger vessels with adequate life support and cargo space. The Testudo Dream is widely considered the best option due to its generous cargo capacity and full life support system.
Many adventures have risk options that require specific skills. Failing these risks can result in prison time (1-4 years), heavy financial losses, or serious injuries. Always check the required skill before attempting a risk option, and restart character creation if you end up in prison.
Essential Character Setup Checklist
Character Creation Checklist:
- Remove Fragile trait (1 year cost)
- Remove Micro-G Hypothalamus trait (1 year cost)
- Obtain Hacking skill via Crackdown adventure
- Obtain EVA Suit Maintenance via Daily Grind adventure
- Gain Armed or Unarmed Melee combat skill
- Accumulate at least $2,800 starting net worth
- Start career before age 30
- Avoid making enemies in law enforcement
If you gain an enemy in law enforcement during character creation, they will attempt to arrest you immediately when you start the game. You will need to fight, flee, or pay a fine of approximately $115,000. Avoid this outcome whenever possible.
Recommended Skill Builds
Different playstyles benefit from different skill combinations. Here are three proven builds that cater to common approaches in Ostranauts.
The Salvager
- EVA Suit Maintenance (essential)
- Mechanical Engineering (dismantling)
- Electrical Engineering (wiring)
- Hacking (locked PDAs)
- Business Admin (item values)
- Focus: Maximum salvage efficiency
The Enforcer
- Armed Melee (combat damage)
- Unarmed Melee (backup combat)
- Hacking (utility)
- EVA Suit Maintenance (survival)
- Persuasion (de-escalation)
- Focus: Combat and intimidation
The Technician
- Software Engineering (systems)
- Robotics Engineering (sensors)
- Electrical Engineering (power)
- Spaceship Engineering (hull)
- Hacking (access)
- Focus: Ship repair and maintenance
Most successful characters blend elements from multiple builds. The core combination of Hacking, EVA Suit Maintenance, and one combat skill provides a solid foundation that works across virtually all playstyles.
FAQ
Q: What are the most important Ostranauts skills to get during character creation?
Hacking and EVA Suit Maintenance are widely considered the two most essential skills. Hacking allows you to unlock PDAs and access restricted areas, while EVA Suit Maintenance removes a 45% work speed penalty when wearing an EVA suit, which you will be doing frequently during salvage operations.
Q: Can I learn new skills after character creation?
Yes, most skills can be learned post-creation through reading textbooks or gaining experience by performing related tasks. However, Persuasion and Psychology can only be obtained during character creation, so plan accordingly if you want them.
Q: How does the Adventure system work during character creation?
Each Adventure costs one year of your character's life and presents multiple choices. Each choice grants different combinations of skills, traits, money, and contacts. Adventures are randomly generated, so you may need to seek adventures multiple times to find the ones you want.
Q: Which negative traits should I always remove?
Fragile and Micro-G Hypothalamus are the two traits you should prioritize removing. Fragile makes you more susceptible to physical damage, while Micro-G Hypothalamus permanently reduces your blood circulation volume, causing faster fatigue, slower injury recovery, and reduced physical activity capacity.
Q: What happens if I make an enemy in law enforcement?
Law enforcement enemies will attempt to arrest you on sight when you start the game. You will need to either fight them, flee, or surrender and pay a fine of approximately $115,000. This can severely impact your early game, so avoid making these enemies during character creation.