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The purpose of astromechs is to enhance the capability of your ships components, increasing overall performance. The astromechs are tied to a certification level going from lvl 1 to lvl 6. Astromechs are easy to use and a life saver as you progress through the missions and quests.

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1. Selecting an astromech.

Most Rebel fighters require astromechs. Only a few require the flight computer.

For quick reference, all ships use the astromech. Once you get to the advanced levels, you will likely need the flight computer.

When ordering an astromech from a DE, make sure you specify a R-5 droid with the astromech level module that you require. The reason for the R-5 is that it takes less resources and components to make an R-5 compared to any other R-series droid.

You can make these combat capable on the ground, but it’s not worth the trouble, nor having to reload the droid onto your ship every time you take off. Once you load a droid on your ship, it stays loaded unless you use it on the ground again or you load a new component.

As a rule of thumb, checking to ensure your droid is installed should be on your pre-flight checklist. One nice trick about both astromechs and flight computers is that you only need 1 at each level. For example, as a master pilot, I have 2 ships that use a flight computer and 2 that use an astromech. I only need 1 astromech to run both ships, and one flight computer for both ships.

This is a current exploit that I do not think will change anytime soon. You can read a complete post about Droid purchasing guide in this wiki.

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2. Programs.

As you have progressed you will have earned program abilities. Rebels earn abilities related to shield adjustments, and reactor overcharging. If you desire such programs you will not need to buy a programmed chip, nor an unprogrammed chip. Unprogrammed chips are for pilots who want to sell their innate programs to other factions.

The main programs that are sought after by most pilots are:

**Main available programs**
Program name	explanation	Faction hability
Reactor Overcharge	Increases the output power of your reactor	Neutral
Weapon Capacitor Overcharge	Boosts capacitor power storage capacity and recharge rate	Neutral
Engine Overcharge	Boost engine output	Imperial
Weapon Overcharge	Boost weapon damage and uses more capacitor power per shot	Imperial
Capacitor to Shield Shunt	Dumps power from capacitor into shields	Neutral

You can check a complete guide for droid routines at the Comprehensive list fo Space Droid Routines guide.

Rebel pilots can make Reactor Overcharge and Shield modulation programs

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3. Programming an astromech/flight computer.

Programming is simple.

When you purchase your appropriate level droid, activate it from the radial menu in your inventory.

From your datapad, you will need to select “program” from the radial. A window will open that shows available abilities of the left, and selected abilities to be programmed on the right. You will need to select the desired programs to be loaded into the droid from the list on the left.

Pay attention to the bar on the right side of the window. As you select programs to be loaded on your droid, the bar will go up. When it hits the top of the window, you have exceeded the droids available memory. It is recommended that you only load onto the droid programs that are equivalent to your programming level (lvl 2 or 3) to avoid running out of memory.

After you program the droid, it’s time to add it to your ship.

From the starport terminal, select your ship, and click manage. As long as your droid interface is installed, you will be able to click on the Astromech/Flight Computer pull down menu, revealing all droids that you have on your datapad. Make sure you select the proper droid. When selected, the loaded programs will be listed in the left window.

Make sure you “load” the droid before you attempt to fly away. Once loaded, launch your ship.

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4. Using the Astromech/Flight Computer

This piece of technology is designed to save your tail in a bad situation.

Before you get into a fight, you need to activate power-ups. Your interface speed will determine how long it takes between commands when doing power-ups or shield modulations. While still stopped at the space station, engage power-ups.

THE VERY FIRST POWER-UP TO LOAD IS THE REACTOR OVERCHARGE. As you activate power-ups, it puts a strain on the reactor. Having the reactor overcharged first will prevent any of your weapons from being disabled for low power.

Application: Obtain a droid interface and astromech, as well as program chips for items that you can’t program yourself. Install the droid into your ship and utilize power ups and shield modulations to execute missions.

Droids can be a lifesaver on space. The boost that you get from engine overload can help you outrun a large formation of pursuing fighters out to finish you. For those who still use a heavy ships versions, weapon overload is like doubling your weapon’s output making such fighters viable in combat. You get the idea.