What Reputation does
The Career Update replaced levels and experience points with Reputation. Rather than treating every job as a generic XP grind, think about your career as a set of port and progression goals. Reputation earns the trust of ports and is used to unlock new ships, regions and opportunities. The official notes also state that locked harbors display the required global Reputation level, giving you an in-game reference when you are deciding what to work toward.
Campaign missions are another part of this loop. The Co-op Crew Update says campaign missions grant Reputation, and Work Shifts can add Reputation when you manually complete them and claim them at the end of a mission. Those are confirmed reward paths; the exact amount and best order to pursue them are not provided in the update notes used for this guide.
| Career question | What the official notes confirm | Practical way to use it |
|---|---|---|
| What replaces XP? | Reputation replaces levels and experience points. | Read the unlock panel in the current build instead of looking for an old XP route. |
| What can Reputation unlock? | Ships, regions and opportunities. | Pick the next visible unlock that supports the type of work you want to do. |
| Do campaign jobs count? | Campaign missions grant Reputation in the August update. | Include story missions if you want campaign progress as well as career progress. |
| Do Work Shifts count? | Claiming manually completed shifts at mission end can add Reputation. | Review and claim completed shifts before ending the mission flow. |
| Is the pace fixed? | Full Release increased rewards for special and campaign missions. | Use the reward and unlock values shown in your current build instead of an older payout table. |
Full-release unlocks and new missions
The September 24 update moved two unlocks earlier: Fast Travel at Level 1 and Crew at Level 2. Check the corresponding feature in your career panel when you reach those levels. The release notes do not say that Crew Level 2 is a prerequisite for the separate four-player online co-op feature, so do not treat the two as the same unlock.
Four new main missions have named harbor locations. Two require the highest Reputation at their harbor; the announcement does not give a numerical threshold, so the harbor panel is the place to read the requirement in your save.
| Mission | Where to look | Published requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Flying Dutchman | Crescentport | Highest harbor Reputation. |
| A Light on the Horizon | Stettach | No additional requirement stated in the release notes. |
| Forbidden Freight | Stettach | Highest harbor Reputation. |
| Eddy's Delivery Service | Mettington, Crescentport, Stettach and Drachdelen | No additional requirement stated in the release notes. |
There are also four new side missions while traveling on the open sea: Seal Appeal, Discord, A Sound Anomaly and Secrets of the Deep. The announcement names them but gives no coordinates, spawn timers or required ship. If you are searching for one, avoid waiting at a guessed pier; keep sailing and watch the available objective or event prompts. A side mission starting at sea is different from a harbor mission being locked by Reputation.
This gives you three practical choices when planning a session. If you want a named harbor mission, travel to its listed harbor and read its current availability. If it has a highest-Reputation condition, work toward that harbor's displayed requirement. If you want a new side mission, make room for open-water travel rather than searching only the harbor job board. None of these choices guarantees a specific payout or event spawn; the release notes do not publish those values.
Quickplay replay and career progress
Full Release lets you replay all campaign missions and three special missions through Quickplay after an eligible mission has been completed in single-player. Completion is the gate. If a favorite campaign mission is missing, check whether that mission was finished in the relevant single-player save before treating the menu as faulty. The announcement does not name the three special missions or promise that a Quickplay replay awards the same career progress as its first completion. Review the actual result screen before repeating a mission solely for Reputation.
Campaign missions already granted Reputation in the August update, and Full Release raised rewards for special and campaign missions. That makes them worth reconsidering in a career plan, but no fixed best mission is published. A reliable route is to choose an available assignment that also advances a visible unlock, complete it, then read the result and the career panel. The first-watch guide explains that finish-and-review routine; the trade guide covers the separate Work Shift claim step.
A goal-first progression routine
- Choose the next thing you want to unlock. Open the career or harbor information in your game and note the requirement displayed there. If a harbor is locked, the update notes say its global Reputation requirement is shown. Use the current game display as your target instead of a third-party number that may come from another patch.
- Match jobs to the objective. If a campaign mission is available and you want both story and career progress, it is a confirmed Reputation source. If you are already completing shifts, keep track of which ones you do manually so you can claim them later. The notes do not publish a universal mission ranking or a reliable Reputation-per-minute comparison.
- Keep a simple session record. Note the mission type, the port or region, any shift you personally completed and what the result screen reports. This is useful when one job pays differently from expectations. The game’s own result summary is more relevant to your save than a reward figure quoted without a matching build.
- Review your unlocks after a few jobs. Full Release changed mission rewards and moved Fast Travel and Crew earlier. Check the harbor and career panels again when your progress changes. A visible unlock threshold tells you whether your chosen route is moving toward the goal.
- Maintain the vessel you intend to use. The August update says ships can be repaired, refilled and have equipment upgraded even while inactive. That means the ship you are not currently sailing may still be prepared for a later job. Confirm the vessel's status in your own fleet before you head out.
A sensible way to choose between jobs
There are two different questions: “What advances my career?” and “What work do I want to play?” Reputation connects to the first, while the mission itself determines the second. Cargo and Free Trade support an independent trading career; campaign missions carry story progress; patrol work includes inspections; rescue and firefighting use their own onboard equipment. Pick an available job you can complete with the ship you have, then verify the result rather than assuming that every mission category has the same reward.
When several options are open, avoid buying or upgrading around a rumored endgame build. The update history describes Free Trade goods, shifts, campaign awards and Reputation unlocks, but does not provide a stable optimal ship path or full reward table. If you are considering a cargo-focused plan, first check the Free Trade and Work Shifts guide and verify that your ship accepts the goods you want to move.
Reputation caveats
Older Update #5 notes warned about uneven reward calculations and said Reputation increases did not grant credits. The August 27 patch then added a monetary reward when global Reputation rises, and Full Release rebalanced mission rewards again. If an older guide says a level-up can never pay credits, it is describing a previous build. Check the level-up and mission result screens in your installed version for the amount actually awarded.
The official update history does not publish a current mission-by-mission efficiency table. A payout can differ because of the mission, objective state or later balance changes. Do not buy a ship or repeat a long assignment on the promise of a precise number from an Early Access screenshot.
Frequently asked questions
Is Reputation the same as XP?
No. The Career Update explicitly says Reputation replaces levels and experience points.
Can campaign missions progress a career?
Yes. The Co-op Crew Update says campaign missions grant Reputation. It does not state that every campaign stage gives the same amount.
Do automatic shifts provide the extra Reputation bonus?
The published wording ties the additional Reputation to every manually completed shift that is claimed at mission end. Do not assume an unworked or automatically completed shift receives that same extra award.
Should I grind one mission until a ship unlocks?
The official notes do not identify one best repeatable mission. Use the unlock requirement displayed in your build and choose work you can complete reliably. Check Quickplay eligibility separately from career rewards.
Check your unlocks after updates
Use the Reputation and harbor panels in your current game as the guide to available ships and regions. The official update history includes the September 24 mission list and reward changes; check those panels again after each later patch.
