Curious question: it doesn't look like I can repeat main missions to pick up specialists that I missed the first time around. For instance, I didn't get the Materials Engineer from Mission 14 the first time I tried it, and thus I can't even try to develop the Battle Dress 4 or 5 upgrades. If I go back and attempt to repeat the mission, I can identify the Materials Engineer as one of the prisoners, extract him via Fulton, and then complete the mission, but even if I do all that, I don't seem to get him/her back in my base. The specialty remains white in the mission selection screen, and I still can't develop the tech that they're supposed to unlock. Same goes for stuff like Cybernetics Specialist in 9, Anesthesia Specialist in 10, and a few others that I missed.

Is this a known bug or am I doing something wrong here? I've only tried Fultoning these people; I haven't tried dragging them back to a helicopter. Would that make a difference? Playing on PC/Steam if that's relevant.

I think this is a bug. I didn't have this issue playing on PS4. That really sucks - have you tried contacting Konami about it? I definitely needed to go back and get people like the Metamaterials specialist.

There shouldn't be a difference between fulton and helicopter as long as they survive the fulton. And you should be able to get those people on repeats. Are they in the brig? Waiting room? Not in R&D?

Are you online? They seem to have fucked up the game with all kind of garbage when you play offline.

Now that I think of it, maybe the people I'm trying to extract are lower level than my A+ and higher people and my Mother Base might be firing them because of that, even if they have a unique skill? Let me try letting go of someone and seeing if that helps.

I specifically did what you are trying to do, it sounds like a bug to me.

Is your motherbase full? They might be getting discharged automatically because their stats are too low

@rorie: Have you checked the brig? Some people you fulton back get sent to the brig first before they are coerced into your actual main roster.

You can definitely go back for certain specialists. You don't need to go back to the helicopter unless the mission says that person is injured. If you fulton then die, and restart from checkpoint it doesn't count however

Make sure they're assigned to the R&D department, otherwise things you research requiring them won't acknowledge their existence. I did mission 10 a few times to repeatedly get the Anesthesia Specialist (I keep getting him killed...) and he automatically gets assigned to the sickbay because he is injured in the mission, so I have to micromanage him to R&D and back to sickbay when I research things needing him.

I'd do the mission, dump some scrubs from the R&D department to the waiting room, and then sort the entire base by "recruitment" to find new dudes to find the one you just got.

@rorie said:

It should slot them in even if their level is lower, at least until you develop the item. I had my base at the point of firing anyone under an A and got a couple of recruits with skills that went into the team, despite being lower level than anyone else on my base

It sounds like you are doing it right. I replayed several missions to recruit specialist. The only issue I can think of is if you quit the mission right after you fulton the guy and before it saves a checkpoint. Other than that, it must be a bug.

@rorie: Motherbase preserves people with unique skills even if newer better a+ ranks with no skills come in. If theres no room in the first place though I'm not sure it will displace anyone.

@rorie: if your base is full they might be too low level and be auto dismissing. Free some room for your guys and check the waiting list and brig.

what @glok1132 said, make sure you hit a checkpoint and they actually saved. Other than that, if they're prisoners they don't go to the brig so right after the arrive at motherbase during the mission, check all members and sort by recent to see if they're there before you finish the mission.

I ran into that issue when my staff was totally full and the specialists I was trying to recruit were lower rank. Fire some folks from your waiting room to make sure that there's room for the new specialists before recruiting them. Then make sure to research what you want before they get the boot for being lower rank (or put them on contract).

OK, this wound up being the case - had to clear out a bunch of Waiting Room soldiers before attempting the mission, go through and get the person with the skill I wanted, complete the mission, find them in the waiting room, assign them, and then put them on contract to keep them around. Much more complicated than I would've imagined considering how smart the system is generally. Thanks all!

I'll take this thread as a heads up! Thanks @rorie

Yeh theres some micromanaging you have to keep track of that feels unoptimized. There should be an "dont boot guys with unique skills" option or even better that should be default. Game could also be a little clearer on how you need to assign them to reap the benefits.

Ofc. The specific guy being put in the middle of a list with 1400 other random guys with no option to search doesnt help either.

Very same thing happened to me last night. What makes it worse though is after you go get the specialist the mission will mark it as you having gotten them, even if they're auto-kicked from Motherbase for not being a high enough rank. So now there's a weapon I want to develop with the mission telling me I have the person but with that person not being on Motherbase.

I play on PC and have almost finished all mission objectives (the listening ones are A PAIN IN THE ASS). I've picked up all specialists via repeated missions. It is possible and might just be a bug/glitch.

Sometimes they appear in the Sickbay, or get dismissed by Miller (Malack).

If repeating a mission for a specialist, always go to the All Staff tab right after, they'll be at the top of that list and it will say where they're stationed. Immediately tap Q when highlighting them to lock them in. If they're in Sickbay, move them to R&D once healthy.

That should open your developing options with them.

Is not a bug. You have all the R&D Team base full and the specialis is on the waiting room. Asignt it to the R&D team.