Passive skills

Passive skills can be unlocked via Medals.

Scientists

	Name	Description
	Scientific Officer	The cost of faction upgrades is reduced by 20%.
	Fleet Customization	Escort cost is reduced by 10 cp.
	Advanced Colonization System	The ship captures objectives 25% faster.
	Short Range Scanner	The ship reveals enemy ships flying in stealth mode in a 5 (10?) unit radius.
	Groundbreaking Technology	Allows access to Hull and Weapon upgrades one tech level earlier.

Advanced Colonization System is essential for fast capturing ships, and a decent idea for every ship since you can be pressed into capture duty at any time. Ground breaking technology is pretty powerful as well, and can potentially allow you to out-upgrade your opponents. Scientific officer is usually a good idea, since the chance of needing to purchase faction upgrades is very high, even if its just Advanced Colonization or Experimental Armageddon. If you're willing to forgo one of these skills, you can pick up Fleet Customization if you find yourself using a lot of escorts. Short Range Scanner generally isn't worth it.

Navigators

	Name	Description
	High-Ranking Officer	The ship receives 0.25 additional command points per second.
	High-energy Turn	The ship turns 5 degrees faster per second.
	Evasive Maneuvers	Reduces slowing penalties by 25%.
	Advanced Emergency Pod	The ship's death penalty time is reduced by 20%.
	Priority Officer	The charging time after a teleport is reduced by 20%.

Advanced Emergency Pod is a given. Death is a near certainty, so diminishing the downtime is wise. High Ranking Officer essentially gets you an additional 25% CP, at least on the per-second level, so should be chosen soon after. After that, it's just a matter of what you're doing. In general, it will come down to High Energy Turn (better for slow ships), and Evasive Maneuvers (best for speed reliant ships). Priority Officer isn't used as much, since going home due to damage usually means the portal will be camped by a team anyway.

Engineers

	Name	Description
	Automatic Repairs	The ship regains 2 additional structure points per second.
	Veteran Engineers	Hull upgrades costs are reduced by 10%.
	Shield Derivation Device	The time before the shield regeneration process starts is reduced by 2.5 seconds.
	Reinforced Ram	The ship takes 50% less damage when flying in an asteroid field.
	Makeshift Repairs	The ship is unaffected by the first 2 instances of system damage sustained.

Makeshift Repairs reduces the chance of the often fatal engine damage, making it a top choice. After that, Veteran Engineers allow you to shoe-horn in extra upgrades when you only have enough CP for a lower number of them, as well as save you CP over time. Your third upgrade will depend on your ship: shield ships should take the Derivation Device, Armor/Hull ships should take Automatic Repairs, and fast ships should occasionally take Asteroid Ram on maps where they can backdoor by driving through asteroid debris fields (not big asteroids!).

Gunners

	Name	Description
	Legendary Marksmanship	The scatter angle of projectiles fired by the ship is reduced by 50%. Improves the closing speed of the Artillery ship's dispersion template.
	Quick Targeting	The turret's rotation speed is increased by 5 degrees per second.
	Mining charges	100% more damage against asteroids.
	Veteran Gunners	The cost of weapon upgrades is reduced by 10%.
	Ballistic Tracking	A stealth enemy ship struck by projectiles fired by the ship's weapon systems is revealed for a period of a few seconds.

Much less important passive skills reside here. Veteran Gunners is important though, as it serves the same role as Veteran Engineers. Sluggish ships will probably also want to pick up Quick Targeting for better turret rotation speed (that combines with the better ship turning speed). Legendary Marksmanship is also essential for long range ships, especially the Artillery. Other than that, it doesn't matter too much. Asteroid charges sort of helps with backdooring, and ballistic tracking can occasionally knock a cloaker out of cloak.