Trader (Engineering)

Trader (Engineering) is one of the four late-NGE Trader sub-branches that resulted from the post-CU profession consolidation. When the NGE collapsed the older crafting profession tree into a single Trader profession, the legacy Droid Engineer toolkit became the Engineering specialization — the same skills, the same recipes, structured beneath the Trader umbrella rather than as a standalone elite profession.

Profession history

In the pre-CU and CU eras, droid production was the domain of the standalone Droid Engineer elite, with Merchant handling vendor logistics. The November 2005 New Game Enhancements collapsed crafting into a single Trader profession with four parallel specializations: Munitions (weapons), Engineering (droids and electronics), Structures (housing and harvesters), and Domestic Goods (clothing, food, jewelry). Restoration’s NGE base inherits this taxonomy. The Engineering branch is the heir to Droid Engineer — players who in the pre-CU would have mastered Droid Engineer now master Trader (Engineering) for the same gameplay role.

Role

Trader (Engineering) builds the mechanical helpers and electronic infrastructure of the galaxy. From the R2 and R5 astromechs that fly with JTL pilots, to the protocol droids that sell wares for a Merchant, to the combat-grade DZ-70 and Probot battle droids that follow players into hunts — every player-crafted droid in SWG comes off an Engineering Trader’s bench. The branch also produces droid modules — attachable enhancements such as medical packs, repair kits, scomp links, and structural-enhancement modules — plus electronic components used by other Trader specializations and the jetpack personal-flight unit.

Skill tree highlights

The Engineering specialization mirrors the legacy Droid Engineer skill tree across four sub-branches:

• Astromechs — R2, R3, R4, R5 chassis and their JTL-side scomp utilities
• Protocol Droids — 3PO-class, LE-class, and merchant-vendor droids
• Combat Droids — Probot, DZ-70, and the heavy combat chassis
• Modules — medical, repair, crafting, and structural-enhancement attachments

Mastery requires roughly 63 skill points beyond the Artisan prerequisite plus a deep pool of Droid Engineering XP. The flagship combat-droid recipes also require schematics learned from quest chains and looted droid-engineer schematic drops.

Best trained at

Trader (Engineering) trainers live in major starport cities — Coronet on Corellia, Theed on Naboo, Mos Eisley and Bestine on Tatooine — with secondary trainers in Tyrena and Anchorhead. Droid demos in the trainer plaza often showcase the chassis lineup.