Mobile repair stations v. using Mk III Engineers in battle

[Martyn van Buren]

What do people think about this?  I've been using mobile repair stations, but I'm thinking now that, given cloaking, Mk III engineers are probably more capable of operating in the middle of a fight.  And, without the minute stun time and teleportation, they're much faster if you need to repair a starship that's in danger.  I guess mobile repair stations are better on defense, where you can keep them out of harm's way and take advantage of their ability to repair multiple ships at once, but there they seem to overlap with fortresses, and their cap isn't really that much higher.

Am I missing something about repair stations?

[fiorenzospa]

I think engs cannot be cloacked while repairing...

[Red Spot]

What do people think about this?  I've been using mobile repair stations, but I'm thinking now that, given cloaking, Mk III engineers are probably more capable of operating in the middle of a fight.  And, without the minute stun time and teleportation, they're much faster if you need to repair a starship that's in danger.  I guess mobile repair stations are better on defense, where you can keep them out of harm's way and take advantage of their ability to repair multiple ships at once, but there they seem to overlap with fortresses, and their cap isn't really that much higher.

Am I missing something about repair stations?

Wrong, very wrong. A single MRS is more effective than a mk3-engie.
It may turn in favour of the engies when you have a very large planet that you cant even cover ½ with a single MRS, but in general an MRS heals say 100 ships where engies keep retargeting and hunting down single targets so they may only heal 10-20 ships .. there is no competition.
(If you dont want to take the time to send out a mobile builder or only need to pop in and out, engies are much more effective, but in those cases even engies can wait for the taskforce to return home.)

[chemical_art]

What do people think about this?  I've been using mobile repair stations, but I'm thinking now that, given cloaking, Mk III engineers are probably more capable of operating in the middle of a fight.  And, without the minute stun time and teleportation, they're much faster if you need to repair a starship that's in danger.  I guess mobile repair stations are better on defense, where you can keep them out of harm's way and take advantage of their ability to repair multiple ships at once, but there they seem to overlap with fortresses, and their cap isn't really that much higher.

Am I missing something about repair stations?

As a result of scarce research budgets, I don't use repair stations. But comparing them to MK III engineers is comparing apples to oranges. While both are fruits (they can repair) they are best used for different things. I use MK III's as a teleporting insta build group that I call upon by pressing a number. MK III never stay tied down to any location for long in my games for I feel that wastes their teleporting nature. Repair stations (from what I guess) stay close to the fleet they tend.

Do remember the comparative cost of using MK III engineers to repair. Time spent repairing is time not spent building. If your economy is booming, this is something to keep in mind.

[Shrugging Khan]

I use mkI engineers, really. Just build a cap of them wherever the action is, and that usually does the job.

Of course, I usually play rather slow games, so maybe that might not be fast enough for you...but it frees up knowledge for more things than can shoot!

[NickAragua]

Engineers take forever to repair any but the smallest fleets. When you need to repair a lot of ships in a hurry, run them back to the MRS (which you've kept stationary for 60 seconds so the stupid timer can count down). Takes literally seconds to get everyone in a blob back into shape. Meanwhile, engineers, you have to wait half an hour for them to repair one ship, retarget, repair the next ship, etc. No comparison, really.

[Red Spot]

When you have 2k zombies on planet doing your dirty work you'll quickly learn the power of a well-positioned MRS