3. That stray equipment could have been used for the items between e.g. lvl 80 and 100 ... it may seem handy, but it is counterproductive to work the way you do ... I say this through experience and this is a common sentiment on the forums ... just leave crew at lvl 1 if you don't plan on finishing them because you won't use them as a lvl 60 either so basically a lvl 60 is just as useful as a lvl 1, except you've used resources to get that one crew to lvl 60.
I’ll help stress this point even more: once upon a time I tried to FE both Cyrus Redblock and Yarnek at the same time. They both required a lot of similar 3*/4* components and it took three weeks to get both from level 70 or so up to level 100. Neither one was really helpful for anything the entire time...if I had focused only on one of the two and then did the other, I would have been a lot better off.
Although I’ve reached the point now where it’s much easier to get components, I still try to only level one crew at a time, taking them from level 1 to 100 before working on someone else. The only time I break that rule is when I need to level more than one bonus crew for an event, and even then it can be pretty expensive - leveling Gunslinger Uhura, Dancing Chekov, Transporter Chief Rand, Dress Uniform Scotty, and Mirror Sulu in advance of the last mega cost something like 8,000 chrons even despite a robust stockpile of a lot of components.
Doing a lot of crew piecemeal means they aren’t doing anything for you except take up space. It’s all because of how crew stats are boosted by high-level equipment...a phenomenal crew like Gary Seven at 5/5* is worse than many immortal 4/4*s as high as level 80. Even at level 90 and 5/5* he’s only on par with immortalized versions of the top 4/4* crew or underpowered 5* crew - it’s the equipment between level 90 and 100 that make all the difference.
I used to do this as well, before the advent of Campaigns. Now I level all crew I get FF as far as possible without spending Chrons, and then hope for generous item crates. Granted, this is for crew I don't plan to use in the meantime. A 3/5 TP Chakotay would have been FE basically right away. But it does make a significant difference to leave these crew at level 1 or at level 60 unequipped.
I can understand that approach if you are trying to save chronitons for events. Personally, I avoid full and hybrid Galaxy events as much as possible and so really only have Skirmish events as a major chron sink...even with spending anywhere from 160-600 chrons a day to both clear dailies and farm components I still end up with tens of thousands of chrons I can dump into every Skirmish plus a reserve of 10-20k on top of that.
I'm not even sure I am doing this for the stockpiling. I just cannot stand receiving useless items from crates or the Gauntlet, or even spending Chrons for them at all. For instance, I have had a 1/5 Dancing Uhura and Captain Bateson at level 100 in my crew quarters forever. Before I spend 1000 Chrons for their equipment, I'd rather just play the lottery. They won't contribute to anything anyway, whether I craft their items or not, unless I stumble upon them in several bad beholds. I do this even more religiously with items that don't improve any stats. I'd rather let a perspectiveless 4/4 sit forever at level 70, having equipped 3 items and only lacking a 4* Submicron Scanner. I'd rather have the 200 extra Chrons onto the pile than craft that useless item myself.
Totally my own mindset, by the way. Not arguing that this is the right way to do it at all.
That’s fair - I basically never use anyone under 4/5* anymore unless it’s in the gauntlet or on events, so leveling everyone at 1-3/5* all the way to 100 probably isn’t necessary for me. I guess I don’t mind spending five or ten minutes every few months burning up useless items in the replicator, and farming components rather than waiting for campaign/gauntlet/Dabo drops means I get more holoemitters and transparent aluminum for starbase donations.
Different strokes for different folks, and all that.
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That’s fair - I basically never use anyone under 4/5* anymore unless it’s in the gauntlet or on events, so leveling everyone at 1-3/5* all the way to 100 probably isn’t necessary for me. I guess I don’t mind spending five or ten minutes every few months burning up useless items in the replicator, and farming components rather than waiting for campaign/gauntlet/Dabo drops means I get more holoemitters and transparent aluminum for starbase donations.
Different strokes for different folks, and all that.