[Taqwus]

(Battlestation notes -- for 26k minerals, you can get one with a Master Computer III, 30 Crys Armor III, 6 Phased Shield Gen V, 4 Shield Regen V, ECM III, Sensors III, Multiplex III, 3 (M) Shard Cannon X, and 1 (M) Wave-Motion Gun III. For the price, it's fairly hard (for most races) to kill. And, with a MC and pretty heavy shielding, it's going to be hard to subvert/board it, as well. Might serve well as a very tough resupply base for a warp-point defense, especially with a few attack cruisers for backup and a repair ship).

Shields are good if you're going *against* Crystalline folks, 'tho, considering that shard cannons pierce armor. Crystalline vs. Crystalline in a Black Hole sector would be a very, very nasty fight with all damage going straight to components... Shields also stop boarding parties, although I've never seen the AI try.


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-- The thing that goes bump in the night