https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/transmission/14354-Letter-From-The-Chairman Lord Chris: "Capital ships such as the Javelin will require multiple players (or NPCs) to run all the various ships systems, man turrets and even perform tasks such as reloading torpedo bays or repairing power relays." https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/3/thread/todd-papy-on-npc-crew-for-solo-players Todd Pappy: "yes, our intention is that NPC crew should be just as effective as a human crew, all things being equal" there will be challenges to repairing as well as humans but CIG will try https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/engineering/16172-The-Shipyard-Ship-Technical-Information Ship Technical Information: "Min/Max Crew: The minimum crew value is what we regard the minimum number of players (or hired NPC’s) to be able to operate the ship in a basic manner" in other words required crew count for ships is defined by CIG as human or NPCs https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/engineering/17915-Q-A-RSI-Perseus Perseus Q&A: "The pilot will have access to the torpedoes, and some of the other bridge stations will be able to control weapons. Like other ships with manned turrets, they’re designed to be human-operated. However, as a fallback, they will be able to be NPC-crewed or equipped with a computer blade." https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/engineering/14522-Design-Notes-Mining Mining Design Notes: "While most miners will seek to actively avoid armed conflict, the reality is that any ship carrying a cargo of valuable ore will present a tempting target to less scrupulous types, rewarding those players that formulate contingency plans in advance, whether that be the hiring of an NPC crew member extremely talented with a defense turret, or investing a portion of the expected profits into hiring an armed escort or two." https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/engineering/18708-Q-A-Anvil-Legionnaire Legionnaire Q&A: "NPC co-pilots will be able to [performing hacking] if no Human is present" https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/engineering/17403-Q-A-ARGO-MOLE Mole Q&A: "Any NPC could be assigned to the job, but some will be better skilled than others. If you assign a non-mining-trained NPC to fracture a rock, they won’t operate efficiently and may even occasionally blow the ship up" yes, NPCs will mine with you! https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/engineering/15768-Q-A-Anvil-Hurricane-Part-II Hurricane Q&A: "At this time, we intend no additional penalty for hiring NPCs to man your turrets, just the UEC cost of their friendship." There's a lot of pages about NPCs gunning for you, I won't link any more Nice video by DigThat32 summarizing dev video statements about NPCs starting at 2:00 https://youtu.be/ix_ARf_nRWY?si=JrS9jK0ATAxosQ8s&t=128 https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/comm-link/transmission/13288-Multiple-Package-Clarification Mutiple [Game] Package Clarification: "Remember it is not necessary to use a Game Character for your NPC crew. You will be able to hire normal NPC crew with credits you’ve earned in-game. The difference between a Game Character slot converted into a NPC crew member and a regular NPC crew member is that you can customize the Game Character NPC’s look, name and backstory." Information about creating NPC crew members and game packages Go forth and spread the info!