As I've played Subterfuge, I've noticed that my opinions of the relative value of the different specialists has changed a lot over time. I'm curious to know how other players would rank them. So, in the spirit of fighting game tier lists, here's my specialist ranking:

Tier 1:

• Admiral
• Smuggler
• Navigator
• Helmsman

Tier 2:

• Diplomat
• Engineer
• General
• Tinkerer
• Saboteur
• Tycoon

Tier 3:

• Revered Elder
• Foreman
• Pirate
• Lieutenant
• Princess
• Infiltrator
• Sentry
• Intelligence Officer
• Assassin
• Security Chief
• Double Agent
• Thief
• Martyr
• Hypnotist
• King

Tier 4:

• War Hero
• Minister of Energy
• Inspector

Note: For specialists that require promotion, I'm ranking them based on their value relative to their cost. Same for Assassins and Saboteurs, which provide multiple specialists at a time. And of course this is no replacement for an in-context decision based on the particulars of the actual game!

my list looks fairly similar, but a few big differences.

probably the biggest is that i love the inspector, i use him all the time. he's great for defense when traveling with the queen. he's also great for offense because makes it a lot easier to stand your ground when you take an outpost.

i like the war hero for similar reasons. especially the move of sniping a big incoming sub with the sentry and then promoting right before sub arrives.

Ooh, I never considered queen/inspector! I usually keep my queen too tucked away. I just started a 2-player game and realized immediately that I'd have to use the queen actively, since it was so necessary to eke out every bit of advantage.

I figured that the War Hero only existed so that players wouldn't counter a Sentry by splitting up the attack into multiple smaller subs.

So far, my favorite late-game combo is Diplomat/Admiral/General. In two different games, this has allowed me to defend extremely effectively against much larger armies.

I tend to try for Admirals, Smugglers, Engineers and Generals above all others.

That said, I don't think I could provide a definitive lists since their power is relative to the current strategic position in the game. For example, unless I have the option for one I outlined above, I will take a hypnotist early, but not super late since they seem to require a lot of runway, and in the end game they won't capture as many specialist as they could if you had them for longer. They go down in value even more as the skill level of your opponents goes up, but up in value the more likely it is someone will rage quit and strand specialists.

It would be far from definitive, but I could probably write up some strategy blurbs about most of the specialists by now.

McNeill, don't forget about that game that you used Diplomat/General/Saboteurs with some success. I've used that since.

Fate, I've seen you with your Admiral(s), and while I understand that "speed is life", I'll admit I've never promoted a Navigator because they're just so damn awesome. Maybe if I ever get two...

Given the dynamic of the specialists' synergetic abilities, it might be more fun to rank duos or trios of specialists, as we've already begun to do.

I've only played a 3 games so far and I'm finding this game to be about planning and setting yourself up for the future.

Because of that, and because everybody can see the future, I believe the Navigator is the most important specialist - he's the only one that can change the future.

Second to the navigators, I really like having a Smuggler (and lesser a Helmsman) around so I can zip drillers back and forth between my outposts.

I also wouldn't discount the Intelligence Office, if you need to plan for 20 hours in the future, being able to see outside the range of your enemies allows you make more informed decisions.

You also get a lot of value from a Security Chief which can practically add another 90-160 "drillers" to your overall defensive strength.