Some questions regarding the shipyard

[Vivicector]

Hi!

While styding the differences between Mercenary and Legacy, I have seen that the shipyard was largely reworked. Some things are still not clear to me and I hope people would kindly explain them

1) Wings and Engines. Do wings still affect the turning speed of a ship in space? Or are wings only useful in atmosphere now? Is strafe thrusters power affected by wings or thrusters?
2) Energy cores and armour platings in frame config? What exact benefit do they give?
3) I have checked, that top-tier civilian frames still have some assembly space left after putting best possible engines and wings on them. Is that correct or am I missing something?

Also, when looking at the weapon lab, I have found that simply putting all the gauges to maximum makes best energy weapon (better DPS, better damage per energy consumed, better range and heat is the only downside, but it doesn't matter that much really). Again, am I missing something?

Hope for answers =)

[Marvin]

Wings still change a ship's maneuvering characteristics. You can ascertain to what degree by testing, first with a low-end wing and then with a high-end wing ... time how long it takes to complete a 360 degree turn. Engines still change your base speed. Which, in turn, also changes your IDS multiplier speed. Energy cores increase the length of time you can fire your weapons before running out of energy. Armor plating protects your ship ... the more plating, the greater the protection. You can usually max out assembly points if you increase your cargo bays to 10 and your secondary weapon slots to 8 ... then install the best of everything else.

[Vivicector]

Wings still change a ship's maneuvering characteristics. You can ascertain to what degree by testing, first with a low-end wing and then with a high-end wing ... time how long it takes to complete a 360 degree turn. Engines still change your base speed. Which, in turn, also changes your IDS multiplier speed. Energy cores increase the length of time you can fire your weapons before running out of energy. Armor plating protects your ship ... the more plating, the greater the protection. You can usually max out assembly points if you increase your cargo bays to 10 and your secondary weapon slots to 8 ... then install the best of everything else.

Thanks!

It was strange not seeing aginity stat changed by wings class, so I got curious.

What about strafe thrusters? Are those affected by engine or wings or nothing, have you checked? I am currently low on budget to rebuild my ship a few times.

Yea, I get that energy cores give more weapon fire time and armour gives more survivability. But how much is the difference?
Also, do cores increase amount of energy or recharge rate? Or the recharge rate is a fixed % based off the total energy pool (so more energy - faster recharge, but recharge from 0 to full would still take fixed time)?
Is armour bonus % or +total hull strength? How does it stuck with other resist sources?

But assembly space is used for wings, engines and some other stuff, no? Or cargo bays/secondary use both assembly and capacity? Doesn't look like.

What about weapon lab? Was I right that one can simply put everything to max and be done with it?

[Raven0]

The weapon lab is a bit more complex than it first appears. If you watch the numbers closely while making adjustments, you can find small advantages here and there. It doesn't seem to matter as much against AI as it does against other players. Range, rate of fire, energy use, and firepower are all factors. A little experimentation can be worthwhile.

[Marvin]

The best method of checking how something affects your ship's performance is to test it. For example, you can test energy recharge rate by adjusting energy v.s. shielding with the bracket [ ] keys ... the right bracket increases energy recharge rate, at the expense of shielding. Testing armor is best done in MP, with another player ... same for weapons built in the Lab.

[DaveK]

The new version of the Techy Guide will have quite a bit of detail performance stuff missing so there's no danger of reading spoilers when you don't want to. As Marvin says ... testing stuff for yourself to discover the details is not only part of the game, it's a heck of a lot more fun!

[Vivicector]

As far as I see, energy cores are there for shield capacity, not energy. Looks like being same as shield modules in EM.

As for strafe thrusters, gonna check, whether they depend on max speed or manuevrability.

And yea, my Levi still have 50 assembly left unused with top-tier components.

[Rubber Chicken]

And yea, my Levi still have 50 assembly left unused with top-tier components.

To that point, I wish that the assembly points and frame config. points were handled a bit differently in EL. For example, my favorite, the Legacy frame (EM) is alot easier to get multiple good configurations from - combat, exploring, cargo hauling, etc. - compared to its EL successor the Paladin. What was a great all-rounder has kind of been replaced by a ship that IMO is barely practical compared to simply looking to the top tier ships for versatility.

Meanwhile, as quoted above, the higher tier ships have excess points to spare.
Well, at least it's good to know I can opt to fit the ship's galley with an extra water heating unit.

[DaveK]

And yea, my Levi still have 50 assembly left unused with top-tier components.

Meanwhile, as quoted above, the higher tier ships have excess points to spare.
Well, at least it's good to know I can opt to fit the ship's galley with an extra water heating unit.

Two points really ...

1: I run out of assembly on the better frames and have to make some hard decisions

2: A second water heating unit dedicated to serving the coffee percolator is surely a necessity rather than an optional extra!

[Rubber Chicken]

I suppose you're right Dave. Coffee surplus is always a blessing.

I guess my main grumble is that the (EM) Legacy, when balanced right, was akin to a civvy version of EM's Avenger mil frame. It still had many points lacking compared to mil frames, but IMO it was the best combat (PvE + PvP) civilian frame in Mercenary. A skilled pilot could still compete with an equally skilled opponent that flew mil frames having similar agility and speed. You'd still be better off running or hiding vs. the more agile/faster mil frames, but the overall configuration versatility made up for it.
The 3rd-from-the-top civvy frames in EL don't quite get there due to the new balance system.

[Marvin]

I guess my main grumble is that the (EM) Legacy, when balanced right, was akin to a civvy version of EM's Avenger mil frame.

How so? Maybe those extra points could be used ... which EL ships do you think should equal the EM Legacy & Avenger?

[Rubber Chicken]

Admittedly, It is a bit apples vs. oranges when comparing civ frames to mil frames. I cited the Avenger as being the counterpart (IMO) to a combat setup Legacy due to similarities in speed, agility and handling. I suppose it would be more accurate to label it as an 'Avenger-Lite' model. The Avenger still had top IDS/on peed, CM capacity, fuel capacity and armor on its side, but the Legacy had versatility, repair rate (with crew and C3 Repair), and (seemingly to me) a better accel./deccel. rate - especially with IDS/off.


The combat setup I used for the Legacy was (IIRC):
Class 13 wing.
Class 6 engine.
Class 10 shield.
Class 3 Fuel Tank (1500 units). (With my IDS/off 99% of the time style, this was actually a very efficient ship).
1 Cargo bay.
*
Weapons officer + Engineer.
8 Missile slots.
25 Countermeasures.
8 Equipment slots.

I could also sacrifice some shield and wing to add full cargo and still have a very self-defense-capable trader.

The Paladin is currently sitting in the Legacy's former slot on the Shipyard list. I suppose I'll keep experimenting, but so far I can't get equal performance or versatility out of it.
Maybe its just like real life where the successor model is sometimes worse than the trusted classic it was meant to replace.