We've all been there. You look at a skill that certainly "sounds impressive", but on closer examination you find its load of benefits is shot well before the end of the line.

Most of us have already skilled into one such skill:

Dropsuit Command: Medium at 1, Light at 2, and Heavy at 3. You're covered with the skill's load of benefits at rank 3. The skill confers no passives (unlike in chromosome), and there's no point in leveling it past 3. Perhaps this just gives you an lower cost means of access suit types though (it is a 1x skill). This isn't the case for all skills though, and there's no reason they couldn't give the skill some sort of passive benefit.


Dropsuit Upgrades is similar... it unlocks no gear though, only other skills. At rank 4, it's unlocked every possible skill, and you get no passive for leveling it either.

Vehicle users get a much heavier dose of this:

Vehicle Command: This unlocks vehicles, but don't be looking for any continued pleasure or benefits past rank 3... everything will be unlocked any the skill will do nothing for you.

This is continued by pretty much every vehicle skill... nothing to unlock at later levels, and no passive bonuses from the skill. Caldari/Gallente dropships? You unlock the only one at rank 1 of the skill... you unlock the next skill at rank 3... there is no passive, and no other unlocks. The skills are immensely unsatifying.

Only when you get to "specialist" classes of vehicles does this change. An assault dropship grants a passive with each rank, but only has the one ship which is unlocked at rank 1.

Why is there such a complicated tree of skills which unlock single vehicles, then branch at the halfway point to skills which also unlock single vehicles?

How about Vehicle Upgrades? No passive, and it's load of benefits dribbles out at rank TWO!!! TWO!

How about Vehicle Maneuvering ? It has no passive benefit, and you've unlocked everything at rank 3.

This is also common for vehicle modules. Of the various modules, only Armor Adaptation, Engineering, and Turret Upgrades (with a limited set) have any unlocks past rank 3. Most of the skills confer passives, but most of the passives are just fitting bonuses on the items you're done unlocking at rank 3.

Very unsatisfying. What gives?