I need some info on starships.

[Zamjr86]

Hi, I need some info on starships. How many should I build, which types should I build,
and which types are good for which purposes. if anyone can answer this question, please
respond to my post.

[Red Spot]

Afaik they are pretty straightforward and most if not all are based on personal preference/gameplay.

I tend to use light-starships to support sniper-like ships (they are weak and when on the front you'll just keep replacing them)
Higher mk's star-ships rock on offense.

Raid-ships -> when you need to raid ... (I tend to have them, but only use them when I cant send out a group of bombers asap)

Bomber -> when you are facing big foes you want to get rid of fast (I tend to have them on my 'wave-planet' to take down any supporting star-ships fast).

Siege -> same as above, I tend to keep them at my 'wave-planet' to do some extra long-range damage and keep them in reserve for whenever I want to hit something from a distance (and dont have sentinal frigates to do that job)

Leech -> support your fleet, if they dont convert/capture they at least dont hurt and they dont seem to be targeted that quickly by the AI

Scout -> well, they are there if you would want to use them

Cloaker -> Similair job as scout-starships, but better at it.

Than you also have that ship that can build fleet-ship, but I just cant find any reason to 'unlock' those (if you "need" one you can build a merc one just as well, resources are unlimited, knowledge isnt).

Riot -> Have used it a couple of times, but I favour the starship line of ships and take that route. (The choice is basicly do you want to strengthen your fleet by adding more 'anti fleet ship'-firepower(riot-line), or do you want to boost the 'allround-ness' your fleet already has(starship-line).)



What and how much you need to build depends on your playingstyle and needs. I hardly ever "need" siege-starships, but they are convinient and balance out some resource-usage. I dont need raid-starships, but having them at hand means you can hit just 1 more target where you otherwise might run out bombers/need them somewhere else, etc. Having some scout-starships at hand might mean you could save that beaten down starship from destruction, cloaker the same, leech can get you some usefull ships/free of charge reinforcements, bomber-starship can leave your bombers free to bomb other targets, etc etc ... but you'll hardly ever really need any of them.
Starships are there to augment your already existing fleet, just read their ingame description and give them a try.

(I'm afraid I'm repeating myself within the same post, but I hope it is clear ... you never ever really need any of them )

[x4000]

Well, a lot of that boils down to your own personal preference and playstyle, as well as the situation at hand.  There's no one right answer, honestly.  But, here are some general guidelines:

1. Scout starships can provide you with some counter-sniper cover, which is useful, so if you run into a lot of snipers bring one or more of them along.  They also give scout intel, which means it can be good to have one of them around in general.

2. The fleet starships, like the light starship, boost other starships near them.  That's useful to keep around with your ships in general.

3. The raid starships are better on their own, for killing targets quickly on raids.  Bring a bunch of them (a full cap) at a time, if you can.  They can also work as just regular combatants in the main bulk of your fleet, if you want.

4. The leech starships are good for converting enemy ships, but they are a bit fragile.  They make good wormhole defenders, and can be used in various offensive situations, too.

5. The siege and bomber starships are similar-yet-different.  They both are needed for taking down heavy fortifications and defenses of the AI, and are pretty much only useful on offense (or when defending against starships and other large ships, I guess).  You usually use these along with a bunch of other fleet ships or starships.  The siege cannon is great for striking from afar, and also against starships, but it is a "glass cannon" and so dies quickly when enemy ships are right up against it.  The bomber is a lot more robust, and is something a lot more like a "cavalry" weapon, that you take right into the thick of things and do major damage from close range.

6. Cloaker starships are useful for various advanced strategies.

7. Riot starships are useful against huge numbers of enemy fleet ships.  They are great at doing engine damage and otherwise disabling big globs of enemy ships.

Anyway, given those tools, there are a ton of situations in which you might use them various different ways.  But hopefully that gives you some ideas for your specific situation!

[BobTheJanitor]

It seems like the answer to what to build in this game is usually 'build everything, on loop'. So unless you're starving for resources, keep pumping out those starships. I'm too new at this to give much intelligent advice, but I do have my own small anecdote from when I realized the power of a starship. I sent a single raid starship (I think it's raid... the fast one anyway) all on its own into an enemy planet and gave it a path around the outer perimeter of the guard posts, then dove it in to quickly destroy a Data Center, and then pathed it back around the defenses and back out the wormhole. It barely took any damage at all. Much cleaner than raiding with a suicide fleet of mark I ships. Obviously this wouldn't work on a planet with heavier defenses or with the target you want to kill situated in the middle of everything, but for something out on the fringe of the planet, don't overlook how quickly a raid ship can get to it and blow it up.

[x4000]

It seems like the answer to what to build in this game is usually 'build everything, on loop'. So unless you're starving for resources, keep pumping out those starships.

This is pretty much true, for the things you have unlocked.  However, there are two main other considerations here: you can only unlock a tiny portion of what is available in the tech tree; and, you then also have to decide when and how to use what you built so that it's actually effective.

I answered his question in light of the two other considerations, but in terms of the basic stuff you start with, you're exactly right that most of the time you probably want to build it all unless you're hurting for resources or the thing-being-built keeps dying fruitlessly based on how you're able to use it in that particular campaign, etc.

[Zamjr86]

OK. thanks for the info. by the way, what are the main strengths of the Flagship? what does it do well, and what does it stink at?

[Tridus]

The Flagship is a stronger, sturdier version of the Light Starship. It also buffs your smaller fleet ships, but it's got more firepower of its own and will stay alive a lot longer. They're pretty good to bring anywhere that you're bringing a lot of fleet ships (fighters, etc).

[NickAragua]

I can't say enough good things about raid starships. Pretty much every game I play (except for a brief period in some of the earlier 4.0 beta patches where they were completely useless), I unlock a full cap of them and use them to blow up enemy guard posts and other 'important targets'. They're super fast and immune to black hole machines, so it's easy to get them out if they start taking real damage. They're not good against large masses of ships (that's what your main fleet is for), but perfect for surgical strikes. They're also unable to hurt certain targets (fortresses, superfortresses) and die horribly if they happen to cross paths with a devourer golem or a mass driver. Also, given the new mechanics, enemy forces from a destroyed guard post don't automatically make a beeline for your nearest planet, so if you use these guys too much without cleaning up the chaff they leave behind, you're going to have a lot of "loose" AI ships hanging around waiting for a wave or whatever to come in and wreck your stuff.

As for the other starships, I can take them or leave them.

[ShadowOTE]

I generally keep a full cap of all starships unlocked by default, but prefer to spend knowledge on better regular ships if I don't need starships for something specific. That said, all of the above suggestions are good - I personally favor leaving a leech or two by likely to be hit wormholes along with your defenses so you can steal AI ships. Combine with repair stations and mid tier FF for improved survivability and you've got an easy way to recoup lost ships.