Interstellaria/Crew management

Armor
The five main races can wear three pieces of armor at a time. Armor provides a damage buffer that is automatically restored on orbit. There is one set of unique armor and one extra unique helmet.

Purchasable armor
The primary reason to buy armor is to provide a standard uniform for your crew. The only other case in which you should buy armor is when you hire a Suna, since they do not bring their own. Generally, you'll be able to use old armor from someone else instead.

Dropped armor
Dropped armor is almost always better than purchasable armor. The Power Suit and Scanner are not available until half way through the story, but the other armor pieces can be collected as soon as you get past Sakari. Hazmat Armor claims to have higher stats but does not meet those claims. The Power Suit and Mech Suit hide the other armor slots, but they do not actually fill them. The best places to farm armor are Cylus and Ulu. Cylus has numerous enemies and the second best helmet drop. Ulu offers the best non-unique armor set, but it can be frustrating to navigate. If you want to take the time to fly there, you can visit Ott and hope that the combat taking place in front of you results in a valuable drop.
 * Also supplies a chance to dodge attacks.

Weapons
Crew can deal damage without having a weapon, but they do more damage with one. Weapons reload when you board your ship or touch an ammunition clip. Since you can give a crewman a weapon even if he is away, you can have one crewman reloading weapons while the others fight. The cooldown unit used by crew weapons is about 1/10 of a second. There are a few unique weapons listed under Secrets rather than here.

Melee
The Knife is slightly better than the Needle Pistol in tight spaces. You can but it at Trade Co, Oloke, Paren, Delna, Anskad, Tharkad, and/or New Terra for 350. The Hunting Spear does more damage in the long run. It drops on Oloke.

Pistols
The Needle Pistol is your first weapon, and its only advantage is its high ammunition. The Bow offers slightly more damage, but it has kickback and low ammunition. You probably will not find it before it becomes obsolete. The Standard Pistol has accuracy, but does not provide the expected advantage from its price tag. The Needle Rifle has increased range, but its low accuracy prevents it from always reaching it. The Old Empire Laser offers 2.5 times as much damage per second as the Needle Rifle, but less range and ammunition. This is probably the best pistol in the game. The Kaidun Explosives have a 50% damage bonus over the Old Empire Laser, but have very low ammunition. They are useful when you need damage quickly rather than when you need to maintain the damage.
 * Indicates a loot drop.

Spray weapons
The Shotgun does as much damage as the Old Empire Laser if all the projectiles hit, but it has lower range, accuracy, and ammunition. It also has kickback. Its best use is places where accuracy backfires, like ledges. The Shrap Gun reports much better stats, but it suffers from the same accuracy issue as the Shotgun, and its guard range is actually much less than it claims.

Rifles
The Anoa Long Gun does only as much damage as the Needle Pistol, but it offers the best range found in the early game. It works well on bosses when you have plenty of room and a Goo Gun. The Flash Gun and Old Empire Laser Rifle have similar stats other than damage. They do less damage per second than the Old Empire Laser, but they start dealing damage sooner. If you get tired of farming for Old Empire Laser Rifles, Flash Guns provide a decent substitute. The Lever Action Rifle has very low ammunition, but it recharges. It offers the same expected damage as the Old Empire Laser, but it can vary. The Assault Rifle usually does more damage, but it is hard to get more than one, since completing Station Horizon prevents extras from dropping. The Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle both do the same amount of damage and have kickback, but the Sniper Rifle offers increased range and ammunition. The Rocket Launcher can also deal knock-back.

Auxiliary weapons
The Riot Shield blocks damage for ~2.5 seconds before running out of ammunition, but slowly increases ammunition when not in use. It's nice when you don't have extra weapons, but you don't need to hang on to it. The Goo Gun prevents enemies from moving or attacking for a short time after each shot. It makes bosses much easier, especially if you can get two Goo Guns to alternate shots. The Kursha Electric Prod prevents enemies from attacking for a short amount of time. It offers no real advantage over the Goo Gun, since it runs out of ammunition quickly. The Seedling Darts deals poison just like Scorpions and Mantas. It can be used to penetrate armor. The Confetti Gun is rather useless. It only fires when an enemy is in range, but has no noticeable effect on it. The Flame Thrower burns enemies, dealing damage over time.

Augments
Augments are rare items that can be equipped to one crewman. Once equipped, they cannot be removed. For information on where to find augments, see the Secrets page.

HP+20
This augment provides 20 extra health. Unlike normal health, the extra 20HP generally cannot be healed without wearing fully repaired armor. Except in case of poison, this augment effectively acts like additional armor that does not automatically repair on orbit. This augment is useful for melee fighters, combat Dronecopters, and anyone who tends to be in the front.

Symbiont
This augment claims to provide 25 extra HP, but only adds a srill to the weapon slot, preventing that crewman from using any other weapon. The srill does 3 damage per blast, but has a cooldown of about 19 and a range of about 160. It uses one unit of food per shot, so Suna will have the largest ammunition numbers. To reload, the crewman will have to eat. Symbionts cannot be safely applied to robots of any sort.

HP+50
This augment acts exactly like the HP+20, except for the quantity of health added.

Shield
This augment provides a 10HP buffer for one crewman. It repairs itself over time.

Zap Zat
This augment provides a personal satellite for one crewman. It includes a short range laser that can help slightly in combat.

Temporal Stone
This augment gives its owner a chance to avoid damage in ground combat. Since it also takes effect if its owner is manning a navigation station, it is best applied to your navigator.

Races
There are 11 playable races and a few unique crewmen. Races may have differences in game-play (for instance, jump height), but these are generally small. Every race has its own set of things to say while idling. The main races have needs that must be met, but they can perform any task. The robotic races do not have needs, but they have other limitations.

Main
The provided ranges are not guaranteed, but they represent the values you can expect from a new hire. The hunger, sleep, and entertainment values represent the length of time before the crewman will desert with all his gear, unless the need is met. Each unit takes about 3 seconds of space time outside of battle. At 50% they will show the appropriate icon and soon look for a station to fulfill the need. At 25% they will put the icon in a text bubble and stop providing their bonus.

Robotic
Dronecopters are intended for harvesting, and possibly helping with combat on Sakari. They cost 200 dy to hire, which is half of the price of a novice of any other race. Robots sometimes come with programmed skills, but they are otherwise just good for occupying a station when no one else is available. The primary difference between Drones and Sholdros is that Sholdros can have a much more varied range of health values. Do not miss any chances to hire one for free. Dogs are good for harvesting and for improving player morale (unless you don't like them). There are only two available. See here for information on how to recruit them.

Traits
Traits are not specifically limited to any race or group of races, but the accuracy and damage traits are generally only found on the robotic races when they start with them. Counteracting traits are not mutually exclusive. Most traits will only affect decisions as to who gets what weapon. For example, someone with the Ninja trait is a good choice for any melee weapons that you are using. Someone with the Keen eye trait could make a Sniper Rifle even more effective.