Talk:Gameplay:Crew/@comment-112.201.186.11-20160809070350/@comment-27473528-20160809082541

Nope, it's affect their usability on your crew.

ex your total crew cost (based on Pirate level) is 100, then you can only use crews not exceeding that number.

the higher their cost is related to their rarity and I would say rarity related to number of socket they have,  at least that what I have observe so far.