Scientist
The Scientist is the primary research role on the station. They research chemicals, artifacts, teleportation, and toxic gases. Scientists report to the Research Director, and operate out of the research wing. Scientists are equipped with a research headset and reagent scanner built into the PDA.
Fields of Research
There are four disciplines of research for Scientists to pursue. You're free to choose whatever you want, regardless of how many people are working on it, but do try to listen to the Research Director if they ask you to help out in a certain area.
Chemistry
Chemistry is the pillar of the research wing and any experienced scientist will be in there more than once during a round and it is essentially just mixing and mashing up ingredients to create a variety of practically useful recipes. There are many, many, recipes and not all of them can be made with the resources found in chemistry alone. If you want to truly utilize chemistry to its full potential, not that it isn't particularly powerful before that potential is reached, you need to get some help from someone exploring deep space and use tele-sceience to retrieve anything they may find. A few insanely elaborate recipes are trade secrets so you won't get far asking how to make, for instance, Initripodril, but most chemical recipes are now public knowledge. It goes without saying that you will make fatal mistakes on the road to mastering chemistry but don't be discouraged if you accidentally torch yourself and someone else, apologize and explain that you simply didn't know what what was going to happen and most importantly don't be a jerk.
Plasma Research
The supposed purpose of Space Station 13. You mix, burn, heat, cool, and compress various gases to investigate their effects, ostensibly to satisfy "scientific curiosity", in actuality to discover their destructive effects in certain bombs. Don't feel bad if you screw up while trying to learn it. It's harder than it appears. A lot of advice makes it looks like it's easy and has limited approaches and outcomes, but there's actually significant room for variation and experimentation.
Artifact Research
A complicated game about finding on-switches. You investigate mysterious machines and devices of unknown function and try to figure out what they do by exposing them to a certain stimulus, like electricity or heat. This is usually done via DWAINE-controlled machinery in the Artifact Lab and occasionally more rudimentary but acceptable substitutes.
You can often find lots of interesting and unique stuff from Artifact Research, some bad, some good, some useful, some not. For example, you might turn on a menacing pylon with electricity and touch it to discover that it replaces your heart with a cyberheart. Alternatively, you might prod it with a robot arm and find that it's actually turret--perhaps too late. Or maybe you might just hit it with an extinguisher and see that it's actually a lamp.
Telescience
Telescience contains a teleportation pad and computer, along with several Space GPS units and Tracking Implants. GPS coordinates are not correct, you must calculate the spatial drift of the teleporter controls. The formula of Y=MX+B is used to figure out the real-world units from the space GPS units, where Y is the console coordinate, x is the GPS coordinate, and M and B change if the mainframe is reset. You can use the GPS units provided to calculate the M and B values by teleporting a GPS unit into space and tracking it with another GPS unit. Some areas on the station cannot be accessed with the Telescience room. There are also, like all arms of the research branch, secrets and it is up to you to find them.
Goals
As a scientist, you are allowed freedom to pursue whatever research you feel like, within reason. There are no required tasks to keep the rest of the station functional, but there are several things that you can do to help out:
- Make healing chemicals, you have the ability to create several types of restorative chemicals that the medical bay cannot.
- Scan Artifacts to find helpful effects.
- The teleporter can be useful in emergencies, such as saving stranded crew members. Remember that the AI can operate the teleporter controls!
- Toxins research can be used for creating perfected high explosive or incendiary bombs. Plasma MUST be heated and compressed to weaponize it for maximum affect. More heat is always better, however it only explodes when combined with compressed air in a tank transfer valve. Different ratios of compressed heated plasma and compressed air will produce varying explosion sizes.
Crew Objectives
As a loyal crew member, you can sometimes be assigned some strictly optional objectives to keep yourself busy while you wait for something to happen. As a scientist, you can expect to see the following:
End the round with methamphetamine in your blood stream
Since at least one scientist makes meth per round, just borrow some from them and inject/eat a pill of it when the shuttle is about to leave.
End the round on fire and with Silver Sulfadiazine in your blood stream
Use Chemistry to whip up a few pills; one with lots of Phlogiston to make you spontaneously combust, another with Silver Sulfadiazine.
Make sure the floor of chemistry is not scorched at the end of the round
Hahahahhahahahhahahahhahahaha. Yeah right.
Create a portal to the void
That weird purple cloud that appears sometimes when you're receiving and toggling portals in telesci? That's the stuff. Now jump in it!
Syndicate Scientist
Oh boy, if you are a traitorous Scientist you have hit the Jackpot! With access to Chemistry and Toxins, you can create some of the most dangerous items in the game while claiming they are harmless experiments. Syndicate Scientists are constantly one-upping each other to be the most horrifically destructive, agony-inflicting, psychotic maniacs around. Have fun!
Supplementary Video
Jobs on Space Station 13 | ||
---|---|---|
Command & Security |
Captain · Head of Security · Head of Personnel · Chief Engineer · Research Director · Medical Director | |
Medical & Research |
Medical Doctor · Medical Trainee · Roboticist · Geneticist | |
Engineering | Engineer · Technical Trainee | |
Civilian |
Staff Assistant · Janitor · Chaplain · Mail Courier · Radio Host · Mime | |
Silicon | Artificial Intelligence · Cyborg | |
Jobs of the Day | Dungeoneer · Barber · Waiter · Lawyer · Tourist · Musician · Boxer | |
Antagonist Roles | With own mode | Arcfiend · Blob · Changeling · Gang Member · Flockmind ( Flocktrace) · Nuclear Operative · Spy Thief · Traitor · Revolutionary · Vampire ( Thrall) · Wizard |
Others | Sleeper Agent · Werewolf · Wraith ( Poltergeist) · Wrestler · Hunter · Grinch · Krampus · Gimmick antagonist roles | |
Special Roles | Ghostdrone · Monkey · Critter · Ghost · Cluwne · Santa Claus |