Reverse Engineering's a bit of a complex process, one that tends to raise a lot of questions here, and while most of this information can be found in the shipwright FAQ and elsewhere on the forum, I'm not sure it's all combined in one place. As such, I've tried to collect my experience as a shipwright and a pilot here.
Reverse Engineering: The Basics
Reverse Engineering (REing from here on out) is the process of combining multiple loot components to create a single, superior component. To RE an item, you'll first need a number of components equal to their RE level: so 6 level 6 engines, 4 level 4 capacitors, 10 level 10 blasters, etc. There are a number of loot items whose certification level differs from their RE level, so make sure that, when assembling your parts, you're sure all the RE levels match. (Notable items where the cert and RE levels differ: a level 10 capacitor with RE level 5; level 4 cap with RE level 5; level 4 engine with RE level 2; level 10 droid interfaces with level 3 or 1 RE; level 7 DI with level 5 or 3 or 1 RE. There are plenty of others.) In early beta, it was necessary for all your loot items to have identical names as well (so you would need 3 "Novaldex Sarlacc S3" level 3 capacitors, for instance), but this is no longer the case. The only thing that matters now is that the RE level of each part is the same.
Shipwrights: Skills And Tools Needed To RE
Pilots don't need to worry about how to physically combine the parts, but if you're a shipwright, the process is simple: build a Component Analysis Tool, drop the parts you wish to RE into the tool, and select the Analyze Component option from the radial menu. Resource quality won't matter in the REing results, all it does is give you more charges on the tool.
Novice shipwright will give you the ability to RE all level 1 components. With each box you train, you will get +2 levels to your REing ability for that line of components. The first line of boxes, Spaceframe Engineering, allows you to RE armor; the next, Propulsion Technology, allows engines and boosters; Core Systems is capacitors, droid interfaces, and reactors; and Defense Systems is weapons and shields. So if you have one box of Defenses, you'll be able to RE up to level 3 weapons and shields, two boxes will grant you up to level 5, etc. Master shipwright gives +1 to all REing stats, for a total of +10 to all components, allowing you to RE up through the highest level of loot available in the game.
Shipwright skills won't affect the outcome in any way, all they do is determine how high a level of loot you can RE. A novice shipwright will RE the level 1 parts he can handle every bit as well as a master.
An Example Of An RE Job
The greatest benefit to REing is that, when combining the parts, the best stat from each category will be used in the final product. With carefully selected loot, this can result in some remarkable components. Let's say you're REing 2 level 2 capacitors, Cap A and Cap B:
Capacitor A, a level 2 capacitor, has the following stats: Mass: 1200.0 Reactor Drain: 1100.0 Recharge Rate: 20.0 Stored Energy: 900.0
The end product will take the best available stat from the RE'd components, so here it will use the mass (1200) and stored energy (900) from Cap A and the reactor drain (800) and recharge (35) from Cap B as the basis for a final product, Capacitor C, with the following stats:
These stats are not yet accurate, however, as REing also adds a percentage-based bonus to the final product which will boost each stat by a number determined by the RE level of the components. This bonus is as follows:
The REing bonus will always improve a stat as appropriate--i.e., it will decrease mass by the given percent, increase damage, increase recharge rates, decrease command times on droid interfaces, etc. (The one exception to this is that the reactor drain stat doesn't get the % bonus. It will give you the lowest drain among the assembled parts, and then claim to decrease it by the given %, but I've tested this out and it's a bug in the system. UPDATE: This bug has been fixed as of publish 24.) So, in the example above, Capacitor C's final stats will be as follows:
(You'll note the formula for stats that see their numbers reduced--mass, energy drain, droid command speed, refire, etc.--goes as follows: "best stat*(100% - bonus %)" This is slightly different from how I had it listed earlier.)
The bonuses on a level 2 item may seem slight, but once you're REing high-level stuff, it will really start to add up for some significant additions to your components.
This is the underlying theory of REing and the bare essentials of what a pilot would need to know. The next post will get into more specifics and complex situations which could be valuable for any serious REer, shipwright or pilot.
Another (and less well known) thing about re'ing is rounding ... this only applies to stats with 3 decimal places (e.g. weapon vs).
A level 10 gun with vs of .777 will re to .823 - after 1 flight in space this will round down to 0.82.
However the component can be "pre-rounded". To do this take the component up to space BEFORE you re it, fly around for a couple of seconds, land then log out for 10 minutes or so.
When you log back in the component will have rounded up to .78 ... re a .78 gun and you'll get a stat of .8268.
This post re'd stat also will round after a bit of flying so the final result will be .83.
