Elite Dangerous - How to unlock Engineers
Engineers use Blueprints and Materials to upgrade your ship components e.g. more powerful weapons, longer jump range, faster scans etc.
Each Engineer specialize in upgrading specific modules only. In order to use an Engineer, you must first unlock him/her. At first you get an invitation from the Engineer telling you where to find him or her and how to unlock access.
Most Engineers are easy to unlock, others may take some more effort. In any case, I highly recommend that you focus on unlocking all Engineers as soon as possible as this will allow you to make your ship much more usefull.
Unlocking Bill Turner
Bill Turner is located in the Alioth system, which require a permit to enter. For this reason it take a little extra time and work to unlock him!
What you need to do is find a system close to Alioth that is controlled by the Alioth Independence faction. By handing in exploration data, bounties or missions for this faction, you will increase your rank with Alioth Independence (and also with the Alliance).
Tip: Go to the Holiacan system – all stations there are controlled by Alioth Independence. There is a compromised nav beacon where you can farm bounties; turning them in is a nice and fast way to improve your rank. Or you can take some of the missions from the stations if you prefer.
When you reach Ally with Alioth Independence check the mission board for a special mission that simply grants you a permit to the Alioth system. If the mission does not show up, take a mission to another station in a nearby system and chances are the Aloth permit mission will show up there.
Next you need to deliver 50t of Bromellite to Bill Turner. A nice place to mine Bromellite close to Alioth is the LHS 2522 system. The rings of LHS 2522 6 B ring is icy rings with pristine reserves, just what we need. If you haven’t discovered this system yet, take a trip in your exploration ship first – remember to bring a Surface Scanner. Next load up a lot of limpets and bring your mining ship – I used a Type-7 for mining my Bromellite – check out this Type-7 configuration.
UNLOCKING ZACARIAH NEMO
To unlock Zacariah Nemo, you need to be friendly (or ally?) with “Party of Yoru” from the Yoru system. Some people report getting the invite after being ally, others only after becoming ally. The invite mission actually is a little buggy; I was ally but didn’t see the mission even after relogging several time.
Workaround: Exit the game – also the game client. Restart and make sure you use a Small or Medium ship, then land at one of the outposts in Yoru (it seems the invite mission doesn’t spawn from any of the planetary bases where you can land with a Large ship).
You should then see a mission titled “Engineer Invitation Contract” which is likely a simple data delivery mission to one of the nearby systems.
UNLOCKING PROFESSOR PALIN & Chloe Sedesi
Professor Palin and Chloe Sedesi are unlocked at the exact same way:
You need to unlock Marco Qwent first and do some engineering with him to learn about Professor Palin and Chloe Sedesi.
Next take your exploration ship out for a trip at least 5.000 ly from your starting point – remember to bring an Advanced Discovery Scanner so you can also get some points towards Elite explorer now you are out there.
Finally you need to bring him 25 units of Sensor Fragments. Go to HIP 17403 and fly to the planet A 4 A. Use your Surface Scanner to reveil the location of a crashed Thargoid ship. There should be a Thargoid Sensor – shoot it with your SRV turret and pick up all the Sensor Fragments. .
You can switch between Open/Solo/Private Group to spawn more fragments and artefacts. You need to pick up 25 Sensor Fragments to unlock Professor Palin and 25 more for Chloe Sedesi.
Unlocking Lori Jameson
You will learn about Lori Jameson from Marco Qwent after you reach a combat rank of Dangerous or higher. She is located in Shinrarta Dezhra.
To unlock Lori Jameson you need to bring her 25 Kongga Ale – this is a rare commodity, that can only be bought at Laplace Ring in the Kongga system and with a limited supply.
I was only able to buy 24t Kongga Ale when I first docked – I tried switching between Open/Solo/Private Group but could not buy any more at that time. I guess you have to make at least two runs to get all 25 so I recommend you take a ship a good jump range to speed this up.
The following engineers are all located in the Colonia region about 22.000Ly from Sol. Using a ship with a good jump range and large fuel scoop will save you a lot of time to get there.
UNLOCKING MEL BRANDON
You learn about Mel Brandon from Elvira Martuuk.
To gain access you must first receive an invite from Colonia Council; dock at Dove Enigma in Colonia, sell all your exploration data from your travel to Colonia – this should get you max rank with Colonia Council. Next check the mission board – there should be a “ENGINEER INVITATION CONTRACT” mission that simply requires you to transport some data to Whirling Station in the Ogmar system.
Finally, you need to deliver 100.000 credits in Bounty Vouchers to unlock Mel Brandon.
UNLOCKING PETRA OLMANOVA
You learn about Petra Olmanova from Tod “The Blaster” McQuinn.
To gain access you must have a combat rank of at least “Expert”.
You need to deliver 200 units of Progenior Cells in order to unlock Petra Olmanova.
Unlocking Etienne Dorn
You learn about Etienne Dorn from Liz Ryder.
To gain access you must have a trade rank of at least “Dealer”.
You must deliver 25 Occupied Escape Pods to unlock Etienne Dorn. Equip your ship with a Hatch Breaker Limpet Controller, Collector Limpet Controller and some limpets. Also make sure you have at least 25 cargo space. Jaques Station in Colonia sell all you need.
Jump to Luchtaine and fly towards the A 1 planet. As you get close you should see a Distress Call from a Mega Ship in your Nav Panel. Fly to the Distress Call and exit supercruise as you get close enough. You should now see a large megaship – if not, go to supercruise again and try another Distress Call.
Target the megaship and scan it with your Data Link Scanner. Look at your “Contacts” page and target the “Escape Hatch 3”. Fly closer and scan the Escape Hatch – you should now see a “Limpet Docking Point” on the “Sub-targets” page.
Target the Limpet Docking Point and fire a Hatch Breaker Limpet. Now use your collector limpets to collect some Occupied Escape Pods. You can hack the escape hatch several times – when it is empty simply leave the Distress Call and jump in again and continue until you have enough Occupied Escape Pods.
Unlocking Marsha Hicks
You learn about Marsha Hicks from The Dweller.
To gain access you must have an exploration rank of at least “Surveyor”.
You must mine and deliver 10 units of Osmium to unlock Marsha Hicks; this can be mined from RATRAII AB 3 A Ring (laser mining).