E.V. on Numa V

[hybridfive]

Normally, I think that Rock Bride of Numa V is a no-brainer decision. When I drop her off, I almost always side with her. I tend to think that the expected value is significantly weighted in her favor. A Rockwoman costs 65 scrap to hire, plus you get a decent salvage from blowing the ship up. I find that the salvage is generally as good as the reward the Grand Basilisk gives you. So it really boils down to Rock crew vs random augmentation. There are so many bad augmentations that Rock usually wins out.

On this particular run, though, I took a second to think about it. I was using Stealth B at the time. I had only the 3 starting crew members, meaning that Ariadne would be my 4th. The 4th crew member doesn't do me that much more than the 3rd, on Stealth ships. I currently only have 3 stations to man. I'm still a ways from buying shields.

Additionally, I can't project a switch to teleporter, because leaving any station unmanned significantly hinders me. I know that I'm relying on cloaking to get my Glaive beam to fire. Either I beam 2 over and fire the Glaive more slowly, or I take a -5% hit to my dodge, when I can guarantee that I'll need to dodge. Both are bad choices.

I've got about 50 scrap. So I'm about (good store + 100 scrap) or (good store + 25 scrap + 1 crew member) away from Ariadne being useful. I decide to prioritize getting the scrap for shields.

As if the RNG Gods had heard my thoughts, I receive a Scrap Recovery Arm as a reward from the Grand Basilisk.

[The Captain]

Given the situation you describe, it sounds like completing the job was a better value, even before knowing what reward you get.