Class B vs Class A

[Skorne Tet'Zu]

Okay... the Short of it is... I'm from the School of Thought that New is Better :). Now with 'A' being an Older version of 'B'... and 'B' and Older version of 'C'... I expect each generation to get better. So... what point am I missing here.

The specifics: I have a ship with an A Class Reactor; but I want to go with a B Class, so I can get Better Everythings (Weapons, Engines, Etc.) However... the B Class doesn't seem to be as good as the A Class.

The Example:
Class A Reactor: Pwr. Gen. 29 / Rep. Rate 2.25 / Hlth. 45 / Hull 820 / Crew 1 / Mass 45 / Req. Skill Pilot 4
Class B Reactor: Pwr. Gen. 21 / Rep. Rate 2.85 / Hlth. 57 / Hull 610 / Crew 2 / Mass 57 / Req. Skill Pilot 3

Of course my biggest issue is the fact that is has less power, but also that is has More Mass.

So... can anyone offer any understanding on this?

Advanced Thanx!!!

[NerdyMusician]

There's an overlap between the best of one class and the worst of another, but generally C will have the most power available when getting the highest tier parts

[Ommamar]

I like that they put in that overlap. it makes you have to evaluate what is actually the best choice based on what you want to do as well as what you can afford to do. Plus the skill level to consider, not that it is very hard to get piloting to level 4 if you focus on it.

[Drake Ravenwolf]

Short of it? - use a spreadsheet.
Here's mine:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qlhflo6zahwag06h1yzky/Starfield-ShipDesign.ods?rlkey=en5sp9jpwwb65saswchf8fodo

[PK_Ultra]

the last level A-class reactors become useful is lv27 where you get the final A-class reactor. Every reactor not A-class after that is more powerful.

the reason you'd want to go with a b/c-class reactor that uses less power before then is if you want to use B/C class modules. Outside of the A-class vanguard obliterators, A-class modules are outclassed once you get to the higher levels. Also Turrets are such a huge gamechanger and theyre only b or c.

[Vlad 254]

Class C is great and i build my end game ships as Class C each play through.

But I also love my Class B Engines: Faster Speed. And my Class B weapons: DPS

[Drake Ravenwolf]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Class C is great and i build my end game ships as Class C each play through.

But I also love my Class B Engines: Faster Speed. And my Class B weapons: DPS

You can get 180 top speed with a specific class A engine - it just limits the ship's max mass or else the mass starts degrading your maneuverability
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110182473

[Boris]

Till now i have a C40 and a B39 Power gen. The B39 is from a pirate tier 4 ship.

[DANEDANGER]

What worked for me was the relation to ship class

A is a more speedy and nimble engine for lighter speeds best suited to build fighters with
B is more a mid class, great to create destroyers and frigates or a medium sized hauler.
C is ment to pul weight, with these your beter able to create a battleship type or a masive trader with over 40,000 cargohold. It wil turn badly and speed up slowly with a lower top speed but man the hits it can eat while dishing them out :D

[Drake Ravenwolf]

Originally posted by DANEDANGER:

What worked for me was the relation to ship class

A is a more speedy and nimble engine for lighter speeds best suited to build fighters with
B is more a mid class, great to create destroyers and frigates or a medium sized hauler.
C is ment to pul weight, with these your beter able to create a battleship type or a masive trader with over 40,000 cargohold. It wil turn badly and speed up slowly with a lower top speed but man the hits it can eat while dishing them out :D

You can have (almost) everything in one;
Class C Reactor for max power (40+perks)
Class A Engines for max speed (180)
Classs A&C Weapons for best DPS (or personal preference)
Class B Shield for 2nd best max shield amount but saving 70 mass and gaining extra regen
etc etc

You can absolutely fit the best of everything into one ship, the limit is just on MAX cargo space vs MAX top speed or else compromising on maneuverability (which is kinda bad)

[Skorne Tet'Zu]

Thanx Mates... this is GREAT Info. I feel a lot better as well; having a better understanding of what I'm looking at; Major Thanx!!!!

Also... as a Side Thought/Question, based on the above. I'm currently only Level 22; does this mean that as I continue to level, I'm going to start seeing Equipment that's currently not showing up as well?

[Drake Ravenwolf]

Originally posted by Skorne Tet'Zu:

Thanx Mates... this is GREAT Info. I feel a lot better as well; having a better understanding of what I'm looking at; Major Thanx!!!!

Also... as a Side Thought/Question, based on the above. I'm currently only Level 22; does this mean that as I continue to level, I'm going to start seeing Equipment that's currently not showing up as well?

Yes, my spreadsheet lists player and perk levels for each part. You can skip ahead a bit if you find a higher level part in a premade ship tho

https://www.dropbox.com/
scl/fi/qlhflo6zahwag06h1yzky/
Starfield-ShipDesign.ods
?rlkey=en5sp9jpwwb65saswchf8fodo
(remove the new lines to re-enable the link, dunno why Steam is removing Dropbox links)

[alanc9]

Shops in the game will show you parts you don't have the perks for, but not parts you don't have enough levels for.

A lot of higher-quality class A ship parts won't really be useful until NG+, since your perks carry over but your gear does not.

[Brandybuck]

It's not about "newer". It's all about reactor power, in two ways.

First the reactors tend to provide much more power. Not always, as there is always Starship Design that can provide some awesome reactor for Class A and B. But in general this is the rule. If you want all 40 power pips filled in your meter, you're going to need a Class C reactor, and it's going to be two levels high.

Second, the components that use the power have better output per pip the higher their class. There are exceptions of course (ei. some Slayton engines) but in general three pips of power in a Class C weapon is going to provide much more damage than the otherwise equivalent three pips of a Class B or A weapon.

[Vlad 254]

Originally posted by Drake Ravenwolf:

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Class C is great and i build my end game ships as Class C each play through.

But I also love my Class B Engines: Faster Speed. And my Class B weapons: DPS

You can get 180 top speed with a specific class A engine - it just limits the ship's max mass or else the mass starts degrading your maneuverability
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110182473

Indeed you can i forgot to mention that. Good catch.

I mix and match on some of my ships I upgrade like the Razor and the Star Eagle. Makes them speed deamons with a massive knockout punch.

[Drake Ravenwolf]

Originally posted by Brandybuck:

It's not about "newer". It's all about reactor power, in two ways.

First the reactors tend to provide much more power. Not always, as there is always Starship Design that can provide some awesome reactor for Class A and B. But in general this is the rule. If you want all 40 power pips filled in your meter, you're going to need a Class C reactor, and it's going to be two levels high.

Second, the components that use the power have better output per pip the higher their class. There are exceptions of course (ei. some Slayton engines) but in general three pips of power in a Class C weapon is going to provide much more damage than the otherwise equivalent three pips of a Class B or A weapon.

Weapon DPS isn't as easy as most sheets leave it; most sheets use the formula:
damage x rate of fire x max number of weapons

Which isn't as good as GrizBane did; plus weapons which can get perk bonuses from BOTH Energy and Particle will perform better than expected but dual class weapons like that tend to be class As