[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by tbontob:

quote:

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Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Hitpoints / chance to be hit = average firepower thrown at your ship. (Toughness)
Overkill, cripplings, and internals being ignored.

Lets see there.
As a random example:
500 shield points, and typically 40% to hit.
That gives 500/.4 = 1250
1250*.15 = 187.5, pretty close to that 165 number.

Hi SJ

I'll take this step by step and try not to do it all at once. (please correct me if I am in error).

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I hear you when you say the 187.5 value is the break-even point for stealth armor/no stealth armor.
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I don't think SJ was claiming the 187.5 value was the break-even point, that was just a specific value for the effect of an extra 15% combat defense bonus, and he was comparing that to the break-even point he'd originally referenced. That effect needs to be compared to the size and structure of the component providing that bonus (i.e., stealth armor or scattering armor) and also compared to the size, structure, etc. of the components removed from the design to make room for the stealth/scattering armor.

In other words, this is a fairly straightforward cost/benefit analysis:

Cost of armor: 30 kT space (or 50 kT space)
Benefit of armor: 100 kT structure/HP (or 150 kT structure/HP) PLUS 5/10/15% combat defense bonus (depending on level of armor researched).

The next step is figuring out what benefits are lost when you add armor instead of (for instance) a shield generator (or a shield REgenerator, or a weapon, or a supply storage component, or a solar sail, or whatever). SJ's example assumes that you'd replace shield generator(s) with the stealth/scattering armor.