The basic, advanced and elite components are EACH one family. So you pick ONE of each family, to maximize your offense/defense modifer. So you take 1 basic, 1 advanced and 1 elite component. They stack. You can use 3 basic components, too, but since they are one family you will only get ONE bonus )
Start the mod with maximum tech and design a ship, you will see how modifers change once you pack the components on the ship
