Barotrauma Barotrauma - The Standard-Issued Manual of a Submariner (Stations, Missions, Factions and Roles)

New to Barotrauma? Don't know what the heck you're doing? Fear for the worst but still you don't give a damn? You're in luck! The Standard-Issued manual for submariners will teach you all of the basics!

Guide To Basics

The Main Part Of Operating A Ship

New to Barotrauma? Don't know what the hell you're doing? Fear of the worst but you don't give a damn? Then read my manual! This manual will display all of the basic rules while driving/boarding/operating a submarine!

1. Stations

At the very beginning, you start at a station. A pitstop-like place that are everywhere around Europa's frozen ocean where there are a set of strict rules, such as:

Don't steal stuff, don't sabotage, don't harm civilians/guards, don't do suspicious actions and inject people with toxins.

There are type of stations around Europa, each of one has its unique trait and those types are: Military outpost, Colony, Mining Outpost and Inhabitation.

The station itself has its own security, which keeps an eye out on visitors like you. They will be armed with SMG rifles, stun batons and diving knifes, a standard-issued simple equipment but quite deadly.

The inhabitants inside the station may give you missions which its reward is a number of Europan Marks and those are the main currency of Europa. The marks are essential for progressing throughout the game. With marks, you can upgrade your submarine, buy new submarines, buy items and hire crew. The average mission reward is 2K to 5K Marks, pretty profitable if you do many of them. Not only some inhabitants give you missions, also the chief of the station gives you averagely 2-3 missions which is mainly: Destroy a swarm of sea monsters, kill a giant monster, bring cargo and etc. Completing missions will make you gain a positive reputation with that station, giving you exclusive discounts.

The stations also have special inhabitants, and those are: emporium keeper, Submarine upgrader and the employer. The emporium Keeper will sell you any kind of item, from tools to military weapons, quite useful if you're running low on coilgun ammo or etc. The upgrader will be specialized in upgrading your submarine, he can upgrade your hull, electrical devices, mechanical devices, pumps, reactor and submarine guns, which is essential for progressing in much dangerous areas.

Some special events may occur inside the station but I won't tell what events, I don't want to ruin the experience of a new player :)

That's all for the station section.

2. Missions

The missions are the main part of the game, completing specific missions will reward you with Europan Marks and gaining a positive reputation of a faction, again if the mission is specific.

The main missions of a colony is to bring medical cargo to a location, locate an alien artifact, exterminate a Crawler/Hammerhead swarm and to kill a Moloch/Matriarch, depending on the area of the Ocean. Killing a swarm or kill a big monster will not make you gain a faction's positive reputation but instead, you'll gain the respect of the station, giving you special discounts and other perks.

The main missions of a military outposts are to bring explosive/toxins/equipment cargo, terminate a swarm or a big monster or to locate a wreckage to retrieve its logbook and destroy a wreck controlled by a bacteria. The military outposts offer much interesting missions but quite dangerous if not trained.

The following missions will give you a good reputation with a faction:

Delivering Medical supplies: +5/10 Rep. - Europa Coalition.
Locate a wreck: +10 Rep. - Europa Coalition.
Locate an artifact: +10 Rep. - Europa Coalition.
Delivering Explosive cargo: +5/10 Rep. - Jovian Separatists.
Praise the Honkmother!: +5 Rep. - The Children of the Honkmother.
Delivering Husk parasite samples: +5 Rep. - The Church of Husk.

Other missions that involves into terminating a monster will just make you gain a good reputation with the station.

That's all for the mission section.

3. Factions

While Europa is a hard-to-colonized alien moon, some factions rose up, some to rule Europa and some to... make stuff?

Europa Coalition

The Europa Coalition is the Autocratic Ruling Defacto Faction that is the main ruler of the colonies in Europa. While they supply the colonies and offer military protection, they do have an iron grip on the colonies, threatening disobedient stations to kick them out from the main supply route or even using direct lethal force. From time to time, they will expand their influence, setting up military checkpoints with high military presence between routes to stations.

Jovian Separatists

While some stations do not directly recognize the Europa Coalition's authority, the Jovian Separatists are a small underground group promising to destroy the Europa Coalition and to create a democracy, from petty resistance to full blown terrorism.

The Children Of The Honkmother

This group of lots have several times tried to form some factions like "The Jester Union" But in reality, this group is an unorganized lot who simply heed the call of the bikehorn.

The Church Of Husk

This mysterious, transhumanist and outlawed religious group seeks "Communion" with the husk Parasite. This group is both equally hated by the Europa Coalition and the Jovian Separatists.

That's all for the faction section.

4. Roles

While in single player, you play as a captain but you can switch to different characters, it is important to know what to do with specific roles, even in multiplayer.

Captain

The captain is the most important figure in the ship as he is part of the chain of command inside the ship, he has full access to all areas of the submarine and he has the right to give orders to low ranks. He's specialized in Helm skill, he's the most experienced role to drive a submarine.

Medical Officer

The MO is essential in a submarine as from time to time, the crew could get injured in some missions, MOs are the main column for surviving in a dangerous alien planet. They're specialized in Medical skills, they can perform CPR more efficiently than other crew members, can patch up crew much faster and without the chance of harming them.

Security Officer

The SO is the backbone of the ship, Security Officers are essential for peacekeeping and operating submarine guns more efficiently. A ship without SOs is pure chaos, mutinies would rise up, people could steal stuff and etc. They are specialized in gunnery skills, using less ammo of submarine guns, has more accuracy and much more damage.

Engineer

The Engineers are the foots of the ship, they keep Electrical devices repaired and they also have an important role, operating the nuclear reactor. Without them, the reactor is doomed. They are specialized in repairing electrical devices, much more faster than any normal submariners.

Mechanic

While all of the other roles being important, the Mechanic is the most important of all, they maintain in good condition mechanical devices such as Pumps and the Engine and they keep the hull repaired. They are specialized in repairing mechanical devices, they can repair much faster mechanical devices than normal submariners and has a very low chance of harming themselves with their tools and with a welder.

Assistants

The assistants are not that important but still a role in the game, they are intern-like, they help with most of all of the roles, helping anybody in need but they pretty are not necessary. They are not specialized in anything particular, every skill is equally low.

That's all for the Role section.

Source: https://gameplay.tips/guides/8397-barotrauma.html

Barotrauma - The Standard-Issued Manual of a Submariner (Stations, Missions, Factions and Roles)