medbay vs clone bay? your opinion and reasons

[Jaded]

as above. I'm not sure which one i want to use, ive been using medbay because that is what i am used to.

[Biohazard063]

Personally, I will not switch one for the other and just go with what I start with.
As for Slug B, that will usually be the one that pops up first.

I might give it some though to switch when I get specific augments. Those being the medbots, DNA bank and Recon TP. But even then, I'll generally stick with what I got.

Both have their positives in negatives, and it's fairly easy to work with them.
They are used differently in different situations. For instance, getting boarded means either fleeing to medbay whilst clonebay allows you to completely vent the ship or suicide your crew on them.

When playing vanilla, it seems clonebay has more going for it though. As far as blue options go and of course being able to put the life of your crew on the line in some events. Naturally, you have to take crew experience into account, especially when using a boarding strategy.

[Leylite]

I'd say the clone bay is decently better than the medbay if you're running a boarding ship, since it lets you board things like auto-ships, Lanius ships and Slug ships with cloaking + high-level doors a lot easier than you could have with a medbay. For this reason if you're flying a boarding ship and stuck going to a sector with a lot of the above you might consider buying a clonebay at a store if you're already well set with offense and defense by some miracle.

On a regular gun-ship, it doesn't matter nearly as much and you're definitely best off saving your money and sticking with what you have. Medbay is nice for keeping your crew topped off anytime there's downtime in a battle, but the clone bay is nice for preventing Unfortunate Accidents. They both have their own niches.

I guess one thing that does annoy me is that a few ships have a clone bay located in a 2x1 room, with the cloning apparatus taking up one tile, so that means only one person can repair it at a time, which can be aggravating. On the other hand it can do funny things to the enemy boarder AI when one of them tries to go to the clonebay and the other tries going somewhere else, so it's not a huge loss.

[!?!]

The cloning bay is risky business, I prefer the medbay unless the ship is already built for heavy boarding. I never spend scrap switching over tho.

[anarcher]

Clone bay > med bay, if just for the GIANT ALIEN SPIDERS! Still, if you aren't boarding it usually isn't worth the 50 scrap to replace medbay.

[SimpleGamesLover]

Overall I'd say stay with what the ship starts with. Clone bay is good for being wreckless in most text events, but seems worse otherwise. Medbay is imo better for boarding, though it does require micromanagment. Also level 2 Medbay opens up some nice blue options too.

[Skinny Pete]

Clone bay is very marginally better. The advantage is so marginal that it's almost never worth switching over. Learn to play both of them.

Each has its advantages. For instance, medbay is definitely better as a defensive system.

[Ruinae Retroque Rursus]

If I get my hands on a Reconstructive Teleport then I'll definitely go with the Clone Bay, and probably actively buy it at a store.

Otherwise I'll takes what goes with the ship.


Why does everyone rant so much about "Backup DNA Bank?" That augment has never been neccesary - my clone bay has stayed online just fine.

[mkzzz12]

Originally posted by Ryuu-senpai:

Originally posted by aidenpons:

Why does everyone rant so much about "Backup DNA Bank?" That augment has never been neccesary - my clone bay has stayed online just fine.

Ion Bomb, Halberd beam when shields are down, some rockets with 3 damage, and 2 damage hit with ignited fire can quickly leave you without your Clone Bay at the worst possible time. Even fire bomb can do this(especially in 1 space bay). And in case of Ion Bomb(and pulsar and Ion drone too btw) - there's no way to avoid that and recover more quickly.

Then you don't board until it's safe, or send them back, or run around until it's fixed. You should have some idea of how much risk there is in a fight.

The augment isn't usually worth the slot to me, so only to be kept if there are any free ones left.

[shareofhonor]

I play Lanius B all the time and it starts with clonebay. If I can get medbay early in the game I will pay the 50 and switch. The medbay allows you to top off your characters before you board. They do not go over wounded. The medbay is also a great defense if you get boarded. I can play with either sometimes I forget I switched which is bad. Gotta remember which one you have.

[shareofhonor]

Clonebay is only good to cover your mistakes. If you transport properly you should not die. You also lose the bonus for combat if you clone alot.

[mkzzz12]

Originally posted by shareofhonor:

Clonebay is only good to cover your mistakes. If you transport properly you should not die. You also lose the bonus for combat if you clone alot.

There's benefit in dying, it means you can use the teleport more offensively to board over even more people instead of having to come back. That and it's cheaper to use for events when you're not boarding, since it works without upgrading. Then there are auto scouts and lanius ships, it's almost impossible not to die on those with the medbay sometimes.

Remembering what you have is definitely very important, though, the strategies differ so much you can mess up your boarding party if you use them wrong.

[Bob of Mage]

Med bay is still better if you have high hp broaders like rockmen. They win by out lasting their enemies and they can't really do that unless they are topped up. If you have high damage boarders then you can just keep thrower them at your enemy.

[Landor]

i usualy prefer the medbay, the clone bay is neat, but the medbay is more reliable in how i use it.

of course, if im doing boarding and get my hands on a reconstructive teleport, then i try to get a clone bay, because that combo is powerful indeed.

[ThunderStruck115]

Medbay. You can't heal your crew mid battle with the clonebay, and if it is offline, you lose your crew. Medbay is better. I wish you could have both at the same time but you can't.

[anarcher]

Another point for clonebay: you can survive those O2 disabling incidents without losing half your crew. Sure, they may lose a little training, but so what?