Question: Favourite Ship Type

[OrionM42]

Staring Ship, Ship trade-ups, and Final Ships

Having played four games (well, 3 YASD's and only one Victory), I typically start with an Explorer class ship. I generally find galaxy exploration to be the most interesting aspect of the game, so this ship is a good fit for me. I like the fact that it comes with a pre-installed Science Lab; and I especially like that it comes with a pre-installed Immunization Suite. (I explore almost all planets exhaustively, including their cave systems, having cave-dived down 42 levels in my deepest dive, so features that make it safer for my Away Team are a significant plus.) Explorers also come with a pretty good Crew size (hence bigger Away Teams) which also aids my style of play. Downsides include less cargo capacity than I would like, and a single weapon slot which (in my experience) usually comes with a very poor first weapon.

However, in the course of my 90-Sector Victory game, I traded up (purchased) 5 improved ships. The first four were just better Explorers. These trade-ups, individually, provided fairly modest improvements, but over the course of 4, I ended up with a pretty solid ship. I finished with 3 weapons: a Slot-1 weapon delivering 439 damage, with a 1-turn cool-down; a Slot-2 weapon delivering 1,839 damage, with a 3-turn cool-down; and a Slot-3 weapon delivering 5,247 damage, with an 11-turn cool-down. Through 90 sectors, these weapons met my needs. (I kept a fairly weak Slot-1 weapon, in order to have 1-turn cool-down on it.)

My final trade-up was to a Negotiator class ship. It provided at least modest improvements in all categories compared to my last Explorer, but especially Speed (Speed=290, officially qualifying as "Lightning"). This ship finished with a Shield of 12,474; Hull/Armor of 4,024; Sensor/radar with range 6, and targeting of 40; and a Warp-drive with a range of 5 sectors, and a 10 turn cool-down. (I sacrificed some armor, in order to get a speed increase of 15, on this item.)

I crafted a LOT of equipment, in order to get solid equipment in each category. However, I never made a Reactor that had 6 device slots (along with the 3 weapon slots), so I never un-locked the Cruiser class ship. Still, my final Negotiator ship was very satisfactory, overall.

I would be interested in hearing, not only what ships other players like to start with, but also how they typically progress (trade-up), and what kind of ship they typically finish with, in the course of a winning (or at least a fairly long) game.

Thanks! Explore long and prosper!

[DamienPS]

Originally Posted by OrionM42

Staring Ship, Ship trade-ups, and Final Ships

My final trade-up was to a Negotiator class ship. It provided at least modest improvements in all categories compared to my last Explorer, but especially Speed (Speed=290, officially qualifying as "Lightning"). This ship finished with a Shield of 12,474; Hull/Armor of 4,024; Sensor/radar with range 6, and targeting of 40; and a Warp-drive with a range of 5 sectors, and a 10 turn cool-down. (I sacrificed some armor, in order to get a speed increase of 15, on this item.)

Thanks! Explore long and prosper!

Is the Negotiater ship from the Unifiers? I haven't gotten it yet.

[OrionM42]

Originally Posted by DamienPS

Is the Negotiater ship from the Unifiers? I haven't gotten it yet.

Apparently yes. That is, I was given an opportunity to purchase a Negotiator class ship (for the first time ever) when I was about half or 3/4 of the way through the series of quests that the Unifiers imposed upon me. My recollection is that I essentially unlocked it, by completing one of the specific quests. Sorry to be slightly vague about this, but things were happening fast at that point, and I can't recall if it was a specific reward tied to a particular quest (i.e. a promised reward), or if it just popped up at one point. Actually I wish I could have gotten it earlier ...

Thanks for starting this Discussion thread, BTW -- Good Stuff!

[OrionM42]

News Flash: Another way to get a Negotiator class ship

Early in my new game (Sector 11) I was offered the opportunity to trade up to a Negotiator class ship. This caught me by surprise, because I have, to the best of my recollection, had no contact with the Unifier faction. Certainly, I have had no significant contact with them; and no sighting of a Unifier embassy up to this point. So (augmenting my prior post), apparently there is more than one way to get a Negotiator class ...

Incidentally this class ship comes with a built in Shield Regenerator (good!), and a built in "Diplomaticizer" (harmless). This ship was markedly better than the second-generation Trader class ship I was piloting, except for having slightly less cargo capacity, and (more surprisingly) a slightly slower speed. Since the Negotiator class ship that I traded up to late in my last game was very fast, this also surprised me. However it's other assets (far stronger hull, and much more crew, for example) considerably outweighed its limitations. Still, the variance I have seen between just two examples of a Negotiator class ship makes me think that the strengths and weaknesses of the various classes of ships may be much more "fluid" than I had thought. Random chance may be a bigger factor!

Final note: Negotiator class ships are nearly solid red in colour, and rather menacing looking ... Still loving this game!

[Waltorious]

Originally Posted by OrionM42

News Flash: Another way to get a Negotiator class ship

Early in my new game (Sector 11) I was offered the opportunity to trade up to a Negotiator class ship. This caught me by surprise, because I have, to the best of my recollection, had no contact with the Unifier faction. Certainly, I have had no significant contact with them; and no sighting of a Unifier embassy up to this point. So (augmenting my prior post), apparently there is more than one way to get a Negotiator class ...

Once you unlock a ship during one of your games, it remains unlocked for future games and will show up for purchase occasionally. Before I unlocked any ships, I only ever saw the four starting ships for sale (Asteroid Miner, Trader, Light Explorer and Assault Scout). But after my first win, where I managed to unlock a few more ships, I now see those ships for sale too. So, since you unlocked the Negotiator in your last game, you can now buy them in your current game (and any future games you play).

Originally Posted by OrionM42

Still, the variance I have seen between just two examples of a Negotiator class ship makes me think that the strengths and weakniesses of the various classes of ships may be much more "fluid" than I had thought. Random chance may be a bigger factor!

The quality of ships available for sale will steadily increase as you head to higher sectors. This is true for all ship types, including the starting ships. As far as I can tell, each ship has a "base" model, which is what you get if you start a new game with that ship. Ships are characterized by the "intrinsic" devices they have (like the Shield Regenerator you mentioned) and certain other characteristics, like "large crew" or relative speed.

As you get farther, the ships available for sale will have bonuses on top of this. Early on, you'll just see that the ships have a few more crew or a few more points of armor than the basic models do. When you get very far, these bonuses get really big, which is why you found that epic Negotiator in your earlier game. Apparently when you're really far, things like ship speed also increase.

I actually haven't ever bought a new ship during one of my games, as I get attached to my starting one. But I should try it, because I was rolling in money when I won and it gives me something to spend it on.

[OrionM42]

Starting Ships, Ship Trade-ups, and Final Ships -- a Second Pass

Having won my second of 5 games (first three ended in YASD's), I remain interested in how players progress through Ships, in the course of a game. Having previously won a game in which I started with a Light Explorer class ship, I started my latest winning game with a Trader class ship. (After a short break, I plan to start my next game with either the Assault Scout, or the Asteroid Miner, so as to try all four of the starting ships at least once.)

I enjoyed starting with a Trader class ship, more than I had expected. The increased cargo capacity can be played for a significant economic advantage, in the early part of the game, if you are careful regarding combat. I did more trading (including some buying, as well as selling) in the first 20 Sectors, or so. Around Sector 12, I made my first trade-up, to an improved Trader. So far, so good.

However, around Sector 20, I was given the opportunity to purchase my first Negotiator class ship in this game. As I've noted elsewhere in this discussion thread, one gains access to Negotiators (un-locks this class of ship) by proceeding through a significant portion of the Unifiers' story-arc (their quest demands). As Waltorious (above) pointed out to me, once you unlock a ship-class in one game, you have access to it in ALL later games you play; although not right at the beginning of a game.

I have to say, I sure do continue to like Negotiators! In fact, in the course of this game, I traded-up to 3 better Negotiators, before I completed the game, in Sector 53. Because I was pursuing a Tentaculon story-arc quest series, I was eventually offered the opportunity to purchase an Observer class ship. I was seriously tempted by that offer; but (as luck would have it) the one I was offered was not really as good as my last Negotiator. However, the quality of ALL offered (purchasable) ships gradually improves in the course of a game (with some degree of randomness), so I expect I might have traded-up eventually to an Observer, if I had played long enough. Maybe next game ...

My final Negotiator in this game had a Weapon 1 with 513 damage and a cooldown of 2, a Weapon 2 with 1,040 damage and a cooldown of 3, and Weapon 3 with 3,157 damage and a cooldown of 7. My final Shield was 3,487, and my final Armor was 2,362 with a speed improvement of 15. (I continue to value ship speed highly; and am willing to settle for less armor value, in order to get this kind of speed boost.) My final speed was 250; my Sensor had a range of 6, with targeting of 30; and my Warp Drive had a range of 4 sectors, with a cooldown of 10. (I am now pretty convinced that a cooldown of 10 is about the best you can get; and I am happy to trade for a very short cooldown, at the cost of a longer range.)

I have still not been able to unlock a Cruiser class ship (Envy: ), which requires building (or purchasing ?) a Reactor with 3 weapon slots, and 6 device slots. I really want to try one of those!

I remain interested in hearing how other players progress (trade-up) in the course of a winning (or long) game; and what ship classes they have come to love.

Play Hard Y'all !

[Baldrick]

I have always played with the asteroid miner wich has great potential, but after my last victory game (finishing some quest lines and finishing with another stupid death), I have started a new game with The Wanderer. In my last game I used the Corsair which was great with Comm Jammer and unlocked several ships. But The wanderer is very interesting for me cosidering it has Robotic crew constructor pre-installed and Warp cooler. It also has 2 weapons slots and 3 devices as start. You can unlock the Wanderer following Vordalene quest line. Anyway there is still a long way to go, since I am still playing on easy mode.

[Waltorious]

Originally Posted by OrionM42

As Waltorious (above) pointed out to me, once you unlock a ship-class in one game, you have access to it in ALL later games you play; although not right at the beginning of a game.

Just wanted to clarify this... you DO get access to it at the start of a new game. You just have to scroll right when choosing ships. You should see a bunch that you haven't unlocked yet, but the ones you have unlocked will be available there, and you can start the game with them.