In Barotrauma, each crew member is assigned a unique job that significantly impacts their starting skills, equipment, and potential for growth via talents. This guide provides a concise overview of each job, highlighting the critical skills and responsibilities associated with them. Understanding these classes is key to a successful voyage within the game's challenging environment. Knowledge of these roles and their associated skills are essential for crew coordination and survival.
Job Overview
Job limits do not apply to Bots. The Assistant job is always available to players regardless of the cap.
| Job | Description | Max Players | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain | Commands the crew and manages the submarine. | 1 |
Navigation, steering, task delegation, salary adjustments. |
| Engineer | Maintains electrical systems and the reactor. | Unlimited |
Electrical repairs, reactor operation, crafting electrical items. |
| Mechanic | Performs mechanical repairs and resource gathering. | Unlimited |
Machinery maintenance, leak repair, resource mining, crafting mechanical items. |
| Security Officer | Ensures the safety of the submarine and its crew. | 2 |
Crew safety, turret operation, intruder repulsion, maintaining order, crafting weapons & ammunition. |
| Medical Doctor | Treats injuries and illness, conducts medical research. | 2 |
Crew health, first aid, crafting medical items, genetic research. |
| Assistant | A flexible role, capable of learning a wide array of skills. | Unlimited |
Can fulfill a variety of roles as needed. |
Skills
Skills in Barotrauma determine a character's proficiency in various tasks. Starting skills are randomized within a certain range, based on the chosen job.
| Skill | Description | Key Job(s) | Ways to Improve |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helm | Submarine steering and control. | Captain, Assistant |
Steering the sub, crafting pipe tobacco. |
| Weapons | Effectiveness with weapons. | Security Officer, Captain, Assistant |
Firing weapons, damaging enemies, crafting weapons/ammo. |
| Mechanical Engineering | Repairing and crafting mechanical items. | Mechanic, Engineer, Assistant |
Repairing hulls, fixing mechanical systems, crafting mechanical items. |
| Electrical Engineering | Repairing and crafting electrical items and managing the reactor. | Engineer, Assistant |
Performing electrical repairs, crafting electrical items. |
| Medical | Treating wounds and illness. | Medical Doctor, Assistant |
Crafting medical items, reviving crew, healing others. |
Skill Usage and Crafting
| Skill | Usage Description | Crafting Description |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | Affects the time delay of the navigation terminal and adds a bonus to engine power. | Manufacturing pipe tobacco. |
| Weapons | Affects the effectiveness with certain weapons. | Crafting weapons and ammunition. |
| Mechanical Engineering | Affects the efficiency and speed of using tools and crafting items | Manufacturing items requiring the Mechanical Engineering skill in the Fabricator. |
| Electrical Engineering | Affects how long repairs take and the efficiency of the reactor. | Manufacturing items requiring Electrical Engineering skill in the Fabricator. |
| Medical | Affects the quality and effectiveness of medical treatment. | Manufacturing items requiring medical skill in the Fabricator and Medical Fabricator. |
Skill Success
Skill progression in Barotrauma is dynamic, with experience gain influenced by several factors. As skills increase, leveling becomes progressively harder, making higher skill tiers more challenging to achieve. In modes outside the Campaign, skill experience is multiplied by 5x, accelerating progression. Skill gain is divided by your current skill level, meaning higher levels require more effort to advance. Crafting more difficult recipes provides greater experience rewards, incentivizing challenging projects. The success of skill checks is determined by a "Degree of Success" value between 0 and 1. This value is calculated as:
(Character Skill - Required Skill + 100) / 200
- A value below 0.5 indicates a failure chance.
- A value above 0.5 guarantees success.
Crafting
- Exceeding skill requirements increases crafting speed (up to +100%).
- Falling short of the requirement drastically increases crafting time (4 to 100 times).
Items (Repairs)
- Repair success chance is proportional to skill level.
- Being unskilled drastically slows repair times by a factor of 5.
Items (Medical)
- Failing a check with medical items leads to reduced positive and increased negative effects.
- Exceeding skill requirements only guarantees success, no further benefits.