Relaying
Relaying is the process of crewmates resetting each other's efficiency when doing work aboard the ship.
How it works
When a character works on Research, Projects, or PILGRED, they advance the project by a certain percentage based on their skills. From that point, each successive advancement becomes 2-3% less efficient, meaning they will contribute fewer percentage points than they did before. When their efficiency drops to 0%, they will be unable to work on the project at all.
When another crewmate performs the same action, the efficiency of the previous participant is reset. The first character can then progress the project with maximum efficiency.
Thus, it is most efficient (and often necessary) for characters to take turns progressing research, projects, and PILGRED. This is called relaying.
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Without relays, the efficiency loss makes it impossible to perform most projects single-handedly. Relays are therefore necessary to complete most substantial work aboard the ship. |
Relaying Optimally
When a particular character holds Skills that make them more efficient at progressing the current research/project/PILGRED, it is generally optimal to wait to relay until that character is the last one to have worked on the project.
Example: 
Janice, 
Finola, and 
Hua are working on the 
Mycoscan.
- Finola is the only
Biologist of the three. She therefore advances the project by 7-10% (average 8.5%) each time she works on it, compared to 3-4% (average 3.5%) for Janice and Hua. - If the relays are performed in this order:
, the average progress progression will be 8.5 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 8.5 + 3.5 + 3.5, equaling 31% total progress with 12 
spent. - By contrast, if the relays are performed in this order: , the average progression progress will be 8.5 + 3.5 + 8.5 + 3.5 + 8.5 + 3.5, equaling 36% total progress with 12 spent.
