You begin with five Tier 1 ship engineers who each ask for one simple condition and one hand-in. Climbing any of them to Grade 3 (and about one-third into Grade 4) triggers referrals to Tier 2, and Tier 2 referrals open Tier 3 — where permits and rank grinds gate the deepest engineers. This manual flattens that tree into a single chronological run of discrete steps: prep and farms first, then each tier in dependency order, the permit/rank grinds, the Colonia expedition, and finally the on-foot Odyssey engineers. Every step names its action type and exactly what to do. Material quantities live in the Engineering Tracker; the routes for each material live in the four farm guides linked from Phase 0.
7
Phases, run in order
62
Steps end to end
38
Engineers total
4
Material farms
13
On-foot / Odyssey
01
Engineer Unlock Map
38 nodes
The whole referral tree at a glance, read left → right: roots on the left, deeper tiers to the right, grouped by region. Nodes are colour-coded by discipline; permit-gated engineers are tagged. Click any card to jump to its Unlock step below, or the ↗ glyph to open that engineer in the Engineers manual.
Ship-side — hull & module engineering
Odyssey — suit & weapon engineering
Click the card → its Unlock step · the ↗ glyph → the Engineers manual
Every step is one card. The left rail carries a running step number and the card's coloured left edge marks its action type. Engineer names link to the Engineers manual; module and blueprint names link to the Blueprints manual; farm steps link to the matching field guide. Each step (and each phase header) has a permanent # anchor for deep-linking.
Action types
PrepSetup — fit modules, stage cargo
FarmGather materials at a farm site
TravelFly / buy a hand-in commodity
GrindRank / reputation / permit
UnlockMeet & hand in to open an engineer
ClimbRoll blueprints to earn a referral
BuildTech-broker module (no blueprint)
The referral mechanic
A Tier 1/2 engineer refers you onward once you reach Grade 3 plus ~⅓ of the way into Grade 4 with them.
That's roughly 4–5 rolls past Grade 3 — not a full Grade 4.
It counts across all their blueprints, so roll whatever is cheapest or whatever you actually want.
All cross-manual links are relative (same folder).
03
Phase 0 · Prep & Farms
Setup
Before chasing engineers, set the ship up for surface work and stand up the four material farms. You do not have to cap everything now — but every "climb a blueprint for the referral" step downstream spends materials, so having the farm routes bookmarked saves a lot of backtracking. The farm guides carry the exact sites, coordinates and loops; the Engineering Tracker carries the quantities.
In this phase · 1 setup + 4 farm steps · supports every later climb
STEP01
Prep
Fit a Planetary Vehicle Hangar (SRV) and keep some cargo racks free
What to do: dock at any station, open Outfitting, and buy a Planetary Vehicle Hangar — fit it into a spare optional-internal slot. That gives you an SRV (the surface buggy) you'll drive around the material farms to scoop materials off the ground. Also fit a Detailed Surface Scanner in a utility slot; you use it to "map" a planet and reveal exactly where each farm site sits. Finally, leave two or three cargo racks empty — several engineers are unlocked by handing over a tradeable commodity (Meta Alloy, Soontill Relics, Painite, Landmines…) that you must physically carry in your hold. A fuel-scooping exploration ship like an Asp doubles perfectly as your farm ship.
Encoded data — FSD wake, firmware, shield & scan data
Method
SRV-scan the data points, relog to respawn them
What to do: this site covers the encoded third of the materials grid. Drive your SRV up to the wrecked Cobra and scan the glowing data points around it; once you've grabbed them all, log out to the main menu and back in to make them respawn, then repeat. Cap the data type that refills fastest and trade it sideways/down for the rest at a station's Encoded Material Trader. The exact body, coordinates and the full scan loop are in the Jameson Crash Site guide.
What to do: the workhorse site for low- and mid-grade manufactured materials. Land beside the derelict settlement, deploy the SRV, and drive the ring of ~10 collection points picking up canisters (3 units each); relog into the same mode to respawn them and loop again. A full lap averages around Grade 2–3, so it backfills almost the whole manufactured grid. Loop diagram, coordinates and the trade-out plan are in the Dav's Hope guide.
What to do: the raw end of the grid. At each shard field, map the planet with the DSS, drive up to a crystal cluster and shoot the tips with the SRV to scoop the raw element. Cap the seven Grade-4 "top" raws once, then trade each one down a grade at a Raw Material Trader (1→3 per step) to refill every lower-grade raw for free. Per-system, per-material map and coordinates are in the Crystalline Shards guide.
STEP05
Farm
Stand up the rare-Manufactured farm — High Grade Emissions
Collector limpets vacuum the signal source; relog to refill
What to do: the only reliable source of the top Grade 4–5 manufactured materials Dav's Hope can't reach. Fit a couple of Collector Limpet Controllers + cargo racks of limpets, hunt down a "High Grade Emission" signal source of the right allegiance/state, drop in, and let limpets vacuum the canisters into your weightless materials store. Finding live signals (use an HGE tracker) and the relog trick to refill are in the HGE guide.
04
Phase 1 · Tier 1 Engineers
Ship · 5
The entry tier — no referral or permit gates. Meet a simple condition, hand in one item, and you're in. Each of these five is followed by a Climb step: rolling them to Grade 3 (a little into Grade 4) is what unlocks the Tier 2 engineers they refer you to. Two of them (Martuuk, Liz Ryder) are mainly gateways — you climb them only for the referral.
What to do: first, reach exploration rank Scout — if you're not there yet, fire your Discovery Scanner (the "honk") as you arrive in a few systems and sell the exploration data at any station's Universal Cartographics; a handful of systems is enough. Next, get one Meta Alloy and carry it in a cargo rack. Then fly to Deciat, request docking at Farseer Inc on body 6 A, land, open the engineer's contact panel and hand the Meta Alloy in. Farseer is the single most useful first unlock — pin FSD Increased Range straight away so you can re-roll it remotely, and the whole rest of this run (long jumps everywhere) gets easier.
NoteFarseer moved to Deciat during the Thargoid War (older guides still say Maia). The Meta Alloy is still sold at Darnielle's Progress in Maia (~80k CR), but you can now also scoop one free from any Titan wreck debris field, or buy one from a fleet carrier parked in Deciat.
STEP07
Climb
Climb Farseer to Grade 3 → earn the referral to Juri Ishmaak
What to do: at Farseer Inc, open the engineer panel and "apply modification" to a module, spending materials each roll — every roll raises your reputation with her. It counts across everything she offers, so use the cheapest blueprint or simply keep improving your FSD Increased Range (which you want anyway). When you pass Grade 3 and roll a little into Grade 4, she automatically sends an invitation to Juri Ishmaak — no extra hand-in; the invite shows up in your engineer list.
STEP08
Unlock
Unlock Elvira Martuuk — hand in 3× Soontill Relics
Travelled 300 ly from your career start (long done)
Hand-in
3× Soontill Relics
Role
Gateway — climb only for the referral
What to do: the meeting requirement (300 ly travelled in total) you almost certainly already meet. The hand-in is the fiddly part: Soontill Relics have a single seller in the entire galaxy — Garry's Reclamations at Cheranovsky City in the Ngurii system. Fly there, buy 3 off the commodity market, carry them to Long Sight Base in Khun, and hand them in. Martuuk offers the same Grade 5 FSD as Farseer, so you don't need her for the mod itself — unlock her purely because climbing her opens three downstream engineers (see next step).
STEP09
Climb
Climb Martuuk to Grade 3 → referrals to Qwent, Nemo & Mel Brandon
What to do: you only need her reputation high enough to trigger the referrals, so apply any cheap Grade 3 modification (even on a throwaway module). Reaching Grade 3 sends invitations to all three — the one that matters most is Marco Qwent, the gateway toward Professor Palin and Lori Jameson later. Don't sink materials into her beyond this.
What to do: the meeting requirement is to have sold at five different black markets. Black markets live at stations in Anarchy-controlled systems — dock at one, open Contacts → Black Market, sell 1t of any cargo (a cheap commodity is fine), then repeat in four more different Anarchy systems. Once that's done, fly to Black Hide in Wyrd and pay the 500,000 CR fee — no commodity needed. The Dweller’s Charge EnhancedPower Distributor is a blueprint you'll use on almost every ship.
STEP11
Climb
Climb The Dweller to Grade 3 → referrals to Lei Cheung & Marsha Hicks
What to do: roll his Charge EnhancedPower Distributor — it earns the reputation as you go and is worth having anyway. Passing Grade 3 (a little into Grade 4) refers you to Lei Cheung (shields, Tier 2) and Marsha Hicks (a Colonia engineer for much later).
STEP12
Unlock
Unlock Tod McQuinn — hand in 100,000 CR of bounty vouchers
What to do: both the meeting requirement and the hand-in are covered by a short bounty-hunting session. Head to a Resource Extraction Site (RES) in a planetary ring, or a system's Nav Beacon, scan ships and destroy any marked WANTED — each kill banks a bounty voucher. Around 30 minutes nets the 15-voucher requirement and well over 100,000 CR in vouchers. Then dock at Trophy Camp in Wolf 397 and redeem the vouchers there (any faction's bounties count). Tod McQuinn’s Multi-Cannon Overcharged is the staple PvE weapon blueprint.
STEP13
Climb
Climb Tod McQuinn to Grade 3 → referrals to Selene Jean & Petra Olmanova
What to do: roll a Multi-Cannon Overcharged climb to build reputation. Passing Grade 3 refers you to Selene Jean (hull & armour, Tier 2 — the important one) and Petra Olmanova (Colonia, for later).
200× Landmines (buy at Eurybia / Lave / Diaguandri)
Role
Gateway — climb only for the referral
What to do: first raise your reputation with the Eurybia Blue Mafia faction to Cordial or better — run a few of their missions in the Eurybia system (selling exploration data there also nudges it). Then buy 200 Landmines from a commodity market (Eurybia, Lave or Diaguandri all stock them); you may need two markets to gather 200, and they ride in your cargo hold. Carry them to Demolition Unlimited on Makalu and hand them in. Liz is mainly a gateway — unlock her for the referrals to Hera Tani and Etienne Dorn.
STEP15
Climb
Climb Liz Ryder to Grade 3 → referrals to Hera Tani & Etienne Dorn
What to do: you only need the referral, so apply any cheap Grade 3 modification on a mine launcher or junk module to lift her reputation. Reaching Grade 3 sends invitations to Hera Tani (power plant, Tier 2 — important) and Etienne Dorn (Colonia, later).
05
Phase 2 · Tier 2 Engineers
Ship · 6
Reached by referral from Tier 1 — no new permits yet, but the hand-ins get larger and a few need a faction invite. Climb the five that branch onward (everyone except Nemo) to open Tier 3, and let their referrals tell you which Phase 3 grinds to start.
What to do: You reach Juri from Farseer’s climb (Phase 1). Federal combat bonds come from Combat Zones — pick a side in a war/civil-war system, fly to the CZ, and destroy enemy ships for that faction; each kill banks a bond. Earn 50+ bonds to meet him, bank the credit value, then redeem at Pater’s Memorial.
NoteINARA notes the exact hand-in varies (100,000–1,000,000 CR) under conditions that aren’t fully documented — carry at least 1,000,000 CR of Federal combat bonds to be safe.
STEP17
Climb
Climb Juri Ishmaak to Grade 3 → referrals to The Sarge & Colonel Bris Dekker
What to do: Roll any of his sensor/mine/interdictor blueprints to lift reputation. Passing Grade 3 (a little into Grade 4) refers you to two Federal Tier 3 engineers — both permit/rank-gated, so this is also your cue to start the Phase 3 Federal Navy grind.
What to do: Reached from Tod McQuinn’s climb. Fit a mining laser, refinery and a Prospector/Collector limpet setup, then laser- or core-mine asteroids until you’ve refined 500 t total — Painite itself counts, so mine 10+ Painite (laser-mineable in metallic rings, or core-mine) and you clear both the requirement and the hand-in together. Deliver at Prospector’s Rest. Selene’s armour is the backbone of any combat build.
STEP19
Climb
Climb Selene Jean to Grade 3 → referrals to Didi Vatermann & Bill Turner
What to do: Roll heavy-duty armour or a hull reinforcement (both worth keeping) to Grade 3. The referrals open a trade-ranked engineer and a permit-gated Alliance engineer — flag the Alioth permit grind for Phase 3.
What to do: Reached from Liz Ryder’s climb. Outsider is the very first Empire rank — a couple of Imperial missions earns it (see Phase 3). Kamitra Cigars are a rare commodity sold at Kamitra; buy 50 and carry them in cargo to The Jet’s Hole. Hera’s G5 power plant (with Thermal Spread) is essential for combat ships.
STEP21
Climb
Climb Hera Tani to Grade 3 → referrals to Broo Tarquin & Tiana Fortune
What to do: Roll an Overchargedpower plant (you want this anyway) to Grade 3. Referrals open a combat-ranked laser engineer and a permit-gated Imperial engineer — cue the Achenar permit grind in Phase 3.
What to do: Reached from The Dweller’s climb. “Trade at 50 markets” just means buy or sell a commodity at 50 different station markets — it accrues naturally, or speed it up with a loop of cheap buy/sell stops. Buy 200 Gold (cheap, widely stocked) and carry it to Trader’s Rest. Lei’s shields pair with Thermo Block / Enhanced Low Power experimentals.
What to do: Reached from Elvira Martuuk’s climb. Marco is the gateway to Palin and Lori Jameson, so he’s a priority. Modular Terminals are a mission-reward-only commodity — run missions for factions until you collect 25, then deliver to Qwent Research Base. He needs the Sirius permit first (see note).
NotePowerplay 2.0 removed the old shortcut. Pledging to Li Yong-Rui no longer grants the Sirius permit. The only route now is to grind the Sirius Corporation minor faction (in the Sirius system) up to Allied via missions until they invite you. Don’t over-build Sirius rep though — Uma Laszlo (Phase 6) needs you Unfriendly with Sirius, so unlock Marco first.
STEP25
Climb
Climb Marco Qwent to Grade 3 → referrals to Professor Palin & Lori Jameson
What to do: Roll a power-distributor or power-plant blueprint to Grade 3. The referrals open the two most sought-after Tier 3 engineers — Palin (G5 Dirty Drive thrusters) and Lori Jameson — both gated behind the Phase 3 grinds.
STEP26
Unlock
Unlock Zacariah Nemo — hand in 25× Xihe Companions
What to do: Reached from Elvira Martuuk’s climb. Earn the Party of Yoru invite by running missions for them in the Yoru system. Xihe Companions are a rare commodity from the Xihe system — buy 25 and carry to Nemo Cyber Party Base. Nemo is a leaf (no onward referral); unlock him only if you want his fragment-cannon mods.
06
Phase 3 · Permits & Ranks
Grind
The deepest engineers sit behind faction ranks and system permits. None of this is a single sit-down grind — most of it accrues from the combat, trade and travel you’re already doing. The key distinction: Federal and Imperial rank permits are granted automatically on rank-up, while the Alioth permit needs a specific mission after you max Alliance reputation.
Gates · Federal Navy · Imperial Navy · Alioth permit · Elite → Shinrarta · Combat / Trade / Exploration ranks
Federal Navy missions → rank-up; permit auto-granted
What to do: Run missions for Federation-aligned factions to raise your Federal Navy rank; “Navy promotion” (Ascension) missions appear once you’re close to the next rank. The Sarge needs rank Midshipman; the Sol permit (for Bris Dekker) is granted automatically at the required Federal rank — no separate permit mission. Sothis/Ceos courier missions are a fast rank route.
STEP28
Grind
Rank up the Imperial Navy→ Achenar permit & Outsider
What to do: Run missions for Empire-aligned factions. Outsider (for Hera Tani) is the first Imperial rank and comes almost instantly. Keep going for the Achenar permit (for Tiana Fortune), which is granted automatically on reaching the required Imperial rank. Imperial donation/charity missions (e.g. around Ngalinn/Aitvas) rank you fast.
STEP29
Grind
Earn the Alioth permit→ Alliance reputation + permit mission
Max rep with Alioth Independents, then a permit mission
What to do: Reach Friendly with the Alliance and max reputation (Allied) with the Alioth Independents faction by running their missions. Unlike Federal/Imperial permits, the Alioth permit is not auto-granted — once you’re Allied, head to 78 Ursae Majoris / Rominger Dock and accept the permit-grant mission from the Alioth Independents representatives.
STEP30
Grind
Reach Elite → Shinrarta permit → Founders World access
What to do: Reach rank Elite (grade I) in any single career — Combat, Trade or Exploration. Doing so grants the Shinrarta Dezhra (Founders World) permit automatically, which is where Lori Jameson lives. Exploration tends to be the quickest career to Elite via long data-selling expeditions.
STEP31
Grind
Push your Combat rank→ Competent → Dangerous → Expert
What to do: These three combat-rank gates come naturally from the bounty hunting and Combat-Zone work you already do for Tod McQuinn and Juri Ishmaak. Keep ratting RES sites and CZs until you’re at least Expert and all three are covered.
What to do: Low-stakes ranks that accrue passively. Merchant (Didi) and Dealer (Etienne) come from trade profit — a few bulk hauls do it. Surveyor (Ram Tah, Marsha Hicks) comes from selling exploration data, which you’ll have piles of from the permit-and-Colonia travel.
07
Phase 4 · Tier 3 Engineers
Ship · 10
The deep bench — most are gated behind the Phase 3 permits and ranks, and several want rare commodities or high-grade encoded data. They’re mostly leaves (no onward ship referral), so the order here is just convenience: clear them as their gates come online.
What to do: Reached from Juri Ishmaak’s climb. Aberrant Shield Pattern Analysis is encoded data dropped by ships you scan/destroy; cap a related encoded data type and trade up for it at an Encoded Material Trader if needed. Deliver at The Beach. The Sarge grants G5 cannon and rail-gun mods.
STEP34
Unlock
Unlock Colonel Bris Dekker — hand in Federal combat bonds
What to do: Reached from Juri Ishmaak’s climb. With the Sol permit from Phase 3, fly to Sol and dock at Dekker’s Yard to reach Colonel Bris Dekker. Bank a large pile of Federal combat bonds from Combat Zones — sources quote anywhere from 1M to 10M CR, so bring plenty.
NoteReported hand-in varies by source (1M–10M CR of Federal combat bonds). Stockpile generously before flying out so you don’t have to leave Sol and come back.
What to do: Reached from Selene Jean’s climb. Lavian Brandy is a rare commodity sold at Lave (Lave Station / Castellan Station) — buy up to the rare-goods allocation, and you may need a couple of trips or a loop to gather 50. Deliver to Didi Vatermann at Vatermann LLC.
What to do: Reached from Selene Jean’s climb. Bromellite is mined from icy rings (laser or core) or bought at some markets — gather 50 t. With the Alioth permit from Phase 3, deliver to Bill Turner at Turner Metallics Inc.
What to do: Reached from Hera Tani’s climb. Fujin Tea is a rare commodity from the Fujin system — buy 50 and carry to Broo’s Legacy. Broo’s laser mods (Efficient + Thermal Vent) are the meta for beam builds.
STEP38
Unlock
Unlock Tiana Fortune — hand in 50× Decoded Emission Data
What to do: Reached from Hera Tani’s climb. Decoded Emission Data is encoded data — cap a neighbouring encoded type and trade up if short. With the Achenar permit from Phase 3, deliver to Tiana Fortune at Fortune’s Loss.
STEP39
Unlock
Unlock Ram Tah — hand in 50× Classified Scan Databanks
What to do: Reached from Lei Cheung’s climb. Classified Scan Databanks are high-grade encoded data — farm at a data site or trade up. Deliver to Phoenix Base. Ram Tah also runs the Guardian-technology missions, which leads into the next step.
STEP40
Build
Build the Guardian FSD Booster— Guardian site + Tech Broker
What to do: Not a graded blueprint — a one-time module unlock that pairs with Ram Tah’s Guardian content. Drive an SRV around a Guardian Structure to collect a Guardian Module Blueprint Segment plus Ancient relics, caskets, tablets and Guardian materials (shoot the pylons, solve the totem sequence). Then take them to a Guardian Tech Broker to unlock the FSD Booster — the single biggest jump-range upgrade in the game.
NoteThis is a Tech Broker module unlock, not an engineer blueprint — included here because it shares Ram Tah’s Guardian site work. No engineer reputation is involved.
STEP41
Unlock
Unlock Professor Palin — hand in 25× Sensor Fragments
What to do: Reached from Marco Qwent’s climb. The 5,000 ly is a max-distance-from-start check — a short trip out and back does it (and the Colonia run in Phase 5 obliterates it). Sensor Fragments are scooped from crashed/active Thargoid sites on planet surfaces with an SRV. Deliver to Abel Laboratory. Palin’s G5 Dirty Drive thrusters are best-in-slot.
What to do: Reached from Marco Qwent’s climb. Kongga Ale is a rare commodity from the Kongga system — buy 25. With Dangerous combat rank and the Shinrarta permit from Phase 3, deliver to Lori Jameson at Jameson Base on Founders World.
STEP43
Unlock
Unlock Chloe Sedesi — hand in 25× Sensor Fragments
What to do:Chloe Sedesi is located at Cinder Dock in the Witch Head Nebula (~700 ly from the bubble). Same requirement and hand-in as Palin and the same thruster blueprints.
NoteChloe offers the exact same G5 thrusters as Professor Palin — unlocking Palin already covers them. Only bother with Chloe if you’re passing the Witch Head Nebula anyway, or want a second workshop closer to that region.
08
Phase 5 · Colonia Expedition
22 kly · 8
Eight engineers — four ship, four on-foot — clustered ~22,000 ly away in the Colonia region. Treat it as one expedition: prep, fly out, and clear all eight before heading back (or relocate a carrier). Selling exploration data on the way out does most of the Colonia Council rep work for you.
What to do: The four ship engineers here are ~22,000 ly away, so do them in one expedition. Outfit a long-range, big-scoop ship with an SRV. Most unlock goods (Progenitor Cells, Occupied Escape Pods, on-foot data) can be sourced in Colonia, but bring the engineering materials you’ll want to actually roll modules there (Colonia outfitting is limited), and consider carrying 10 t of mined Osmium for Marsha Hicks so you don’t have to mine on arrival. For Etienne Dorn you’ll need a Hatch Breaker + Collector limpet setup and ≥25 t of free cargo.
STEP45
Travel
Fly to Colonia (~22,000 ly) → rep the Colonia Council en route
What to do: Plot the route and make the run. Honk every system and sell the exploration data at the Colonia Connection Highway waypoints and at Colonia hubs like Dove Enigma — this pushes Colonia Council reputation to max. That single act satisfies Baltanos’s Friendly requirement and triggers Mel Brandon’s Engineer Invitation Contract mission (deliver data to Whirling Station in Ogmar).
STEP46
Unlock
Unlock Petra Olmanova — hand in 200× Progenitor Cells
What to do: Reached from Tod McQuinn’s climb. Progenitor Cells are bought at Colonia-region markets — gather 200 and deliver to Petra Olmanova at Sanctuary in Asura.
STEP47
Unlock
Unlock Mel Brandon — hand in 100,000 CR bounty vouchers
What to do: Reached from Elvira Martuuk’s climb. Complete the Engineer Invitation Contract the Colonia Council offered after you maxed their rep (deliver data to Whirling Station, Ogmar). Then bank 100,000 CR of bounty vouchers from local RES/CZ work and deliver to The Brig. Mel covers nine module types in one stop — a Colonia must-do.
STEP48
Unlock
Unlock Etienne Dorn — hand in 25× Occupied Escape Pods
What to do: Reached from Liz Ryder’s climb. Occupied Escape Pods are recovered from a megaship distress signal — fly toward Luchtaine A 1, drop at the distress call, and use Hatch Breaker + Collector limpets to extract 25 pods. Deliver to Etienne Dorn at Kraken’s Retreat in Los.
What to do: Reached from The Dweller’s climb. The Osmium must be self-mined (laser-mine a metallic ring in the Colonia region), not bought. Refine 10 t and deliver to Marsha Hicks at The Watchtower in Tir.
STEP50
Unlock
Unlock Baltanos — hand in 10× Faction Associates data
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Your maxed Colonia Council rep covers the requirement. Faction Associates data is downloaded from CMD data ports in settlement command rooms — grab 10 (Anarchy settlements are easiest, no crime). Deliver to The Divine Apparatus in Deriso. Baltanos refers you to Yi Shen.
STEP51
Unlock
Unlock Eleanor Bresa — visit 5 Colonia settlements
Visit 5 different settlements in the Colonia region
Grants
On-foot — suit & weapon mods; refers Yi Shen (10 Digital Designs)
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Simply disembark at five different Colonia-region settlements — you’ll tick most off just travelling between the other engineers. Then Eleanor Bresa unlocks at Bresa Modifications in Desy. Her referral to Yi Shen wants 10 Digital Designs (HAB data-port data).
STEP52
Unlock
Unlock Rosa Dayette — hand in 10× Culinary / Cocktail Recipes
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Culinary/Cocktail Recipes are data from settlement data ports — collect 10 total and hand them to Rosa Dayette at Rosa’s Shop in Kojeara. Her referral to Yi Shen wants 10 Manufacturing Instructions.
On-foot — the deepest Colonia suit/weapon engineer
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Yi Shen opens only after you complete the referral task for each of the other three Colonia on-foot engineers: give Baltanos 10 Faction Associates, Rosa Dayette 10 Manufacturing Instructions, and Eleanor Bresa 10 Digital Designs. Then unlock at Eidolon Hold in Einheriar.
09
Phase 6 · Bubble Odyssey
On-foot · 9
Nine on-foot (suit & weapon) engineers back in the bubble, reached by selling data/goods to concourse bartenders and running on-foot missions. Three are common-knowledge entry points; the rest come by referral. Since the Aug 2024 buff, the unlock items drop as mission rewards, so this is far lighter than it used to be — take missions that pay the items you need.
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey), known from the start. Take Apex Interstellar shuttle rides between stations until you’ve ridden ≥100 ly (cheap and passive). Push is an asset looted from settlements. Hand in to Domino Green at The Jackrabbit in Orishis.
STEP55
Unlock
Unlock Hero Ferrari — hand in 15× Settlement Defence Plans
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey), known from the start. Fight in 10 on-foot Conflict Zones (pick a side at a contested settlement). Settlement Defence Plans are high-value data — with the Aug 2024 buff they now appear as mission rewards, so grab missions that pay them. Hand in to Hero Ferrari at Nevermore Terrace in Siris.
NoteThe tracker listed 5 Settlement Defence Plans; current sources require 15. Using the higher figure here.
STEP56
Unlock
Unlock Jude Navarro — hand in 5× Genetic Repair Meds
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey), known from the start. Run 10 Restore or Reactivation missions (power up dormant settlements). Genetic Repair Meds are looted from medical-bay lockers or come as mission rewards. Hand in to Jude Navarro at Marshall’s Drift in Aurai.
NoteDo Jude early — his suit upgrades (extra ammo, faster handling) make every other on-foot grind in this phase noticeably easier and safer.
STEP57
Unlock
Unlock Kit Fowler — sell 20 Opinion Polls to bartenders
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Opinion Polls are data downloaded from settlement data ports — sell 20 to any concourse bartender. Surveillance Equipment is a looted asset. Hand in to Kit Fowler at The Last Call in Capoya.
NoteThe tracker listed ~5 Opinion Polls; current sources require selling 20. Using the higher figure.
STEP58
Unlock
Unlock Wellington Beck — sell 25 entertainment data to bartenders
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Collect any mix of Multimedia Entertainment, Classic Entertainment and Cat Media (data-port data) totalling 25 and sell to bartenders. Insight Entertainment Suites are HAB data. Hand in to Wellington Beck at Beck Facility in Jolapa.
NoteThe tracker listed 15 entertainment data; current sources require 25 total. Using the higher figure.
STEP59
Unlock
Unlock Terra Velasquez — hand in 15× Financial Projections
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Run 6 Covert Theft or Covert Heist missions (sneak in, grab the goods, avoid alarms — a Maverick suit helps). Financial Projections are data from CMD data ports, also a mission reward. Hand in to Terra Velasquez at Rascal’s Choice in Shou Xing.
STEP60
Unlock
Unlock Oden Geiger — sell 20 bio data to bartenders
Sell 20× total Biological Sample / Employee Genetic Data / Genetic Research
Grants
On-foot — suit/weapon mods
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Gather any mix of Biological Sample, Employee Genetic Data and Genetic Research (data-port data and looted samples) totalling 20 and sell to bartenders. Hand in to Oden Geiger at Ankh’s Promise in Candiaei.
STEP61
Unlock
Unlock Yarden Bond — sell 8 Smear Campaign Plans to bartenders
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). Smear Campaign Plans are data from CMD data ports (Anarchy settlements avoid the crime) — sell 8 to bartenders. Hand in to Yarden Bond at Salamander Bank in Bayan.
NoteThe tracker listed ~5 Smear Campaign Plans; current sources require 8. Using the higher figure.
STEP62
Unlock
Unlock Uma Laszlo — reach Unfriendly with Sirius Corp
Reach Unfriendly reputation (or lower) with Sirius Corporation
Grants
On-foot — suit/weapon mods
What to do: On-foot (Odyssey). No commodity — you just need to be disliked by Sirius Corporation. Take missions against Sirius (or for their enemies) until you drop to Unfriendly, then unlock Uma Laszlo at Laszlo’s Resolve in Xuane.
NoteThis conflicts with the Sirius rep you built for Marco Qwent (Phase 2). Always unlock Marco first, then deliberately tank your Sirius standing for Uma — doing it in the other order means re-grinding Sirius to Allied again.
10
Sources
Figures on this page are verified against the sources below.
Inara — EngineersEngineer unlock requirements, hand-in items, locations, and referral order driving the checklist phases.inara.cz/elite/engineers
Elite Dangerous Fandom WikiEngineer unlock mechanics, invite prerequisites, reputation-tier modifications cross-check, and the engineer portrait images used in the unlock map.elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Engineers
NEWP — Engineering GuideShip-engineer unlock walkthrough and recommended order — cross-checked against the Phase 2–4 steps.newp.io/engineeringguide
NEWP — Odyssey EngineeringOn-foot engineer unlocks and the post-Aug-2024 mission-reward item drops behind the Odyssey phase.newp.io/ody-engineering
