Favorite trick in the game (spoilers possible)

[rocky8311]

And a second trick. This one is based on my understanding of points, so if I'm wrong, please correct me. When hiring a mercenary, if you're not careful, you can lose some credits in the process. You want to give them something that improves their ship and your score, but if you don't give them the right kind of item, you will not get as many points.

For example: if you're hiring a Garthan Corvette and you give them a Neptunium Railgun, that weapon replaces their Autocannon. You lose a credit that you could have had.

Another example: if you're hiring a Zorg Cruiser and you give them a Proton Matrix Shield, it replaces their current shield, which is lost. In that case you lose TWO credits.

A better option would be to give the mercenary a piece of shipboard equipment (circle shaped) that they would never have on them already, like a Nebular Extent Calculator, Graviton Shunt, or Cloak (but you'll probably want that one for yourself), something that they wouldn't have a different "version" of, like a Shield or Mnemonic Sequence.

If the item you give them doesn't REPLACE anything, nothing is discarded! You can still outfit the ship as you like, but this way you can do what you want with everything they have.