Strongest Ship Analysis *with math*

[Rhadamant]

Intrepid

• 30% EM Detect
  
• 20% Warp Range

-- Not a contender for best ship unless you want to jump around the map further. At least this ship is well laid out and easier to pilot as well.

Grim Cutlass (Upgraded Intrepid)

• 30% EM Detect
  
• Extra Auxillary Power

--The only use this commander offers is to destroy it and steal its main gun. Once you have a reactor kicking out 45K+ MW the few thousand extra of Auxillary isn't making any difference.

W.D. Cruiser

• 35% Turret Charge Speed

-- The W.D. Cruiser does more damage than any other ship, regardless of component setup. Fairly maneuverable and also comes with ample cargo space. Easily overall the best ship.

Stargazer

• -50% EM Signature
  
• Unique Programs

-- Going EM Signature of 0 doesn't work, you'll still be detected, so the stargazer is totally out of the running for best ship. Until true stealth mechanic is intruduced into the game, this ship barely even has a purpose. It's unique programs are fun, but don't really make up for that the stealth mechanic is broken, so this is not the best ship.

Roland

• 100% EM Signature
  
• 25% Shield Recharge
  
• Large Cargo
  
• 4 Auto Turrets

-- Shield Regen doesn't really matter because you can stack emergency shields and refresh them as much as you want, making this bonus pretty useless. Sure, it comes with 4 auto turrets, but they don't make much of a difference in terms of over all damage. It has an enourmous amount of storange space, but piloting this ship is slow and clumsy.

W.D. Destroyer

• 20% Turret Damage
  
• 50% Armor
  
• Only 1 Ship Turret
  
• Very Little Cargo Space

-- 20% Turret Damage is almost half of the 35% Turret Charge Speed of a W.D. Cruiser, and the Destroyer only comes with 1 Ship Turret, so its damage output is actually truly terrible. The two auto turrets don't make up for it at all. It also has barely any cargo space and is very slow and clumsy to pilot, despite not being a large ship. Easily the worst ship of the lineup.


Sure, you all might have personal preferences, but if you put these ships on a spreadsheet the W.D. Cruiser is clearly the most versatile and highest damaging ship by quite a margin. It isn't an opinion, its math. Keep in mind that the auto turrets aren't always top-mounted, meaning if your main guns can fire on a target, it is likely that the auto turrets cannot, thereby not added to effective DPS.

DPS Calculations (With Level 10 Railgun Turrets and a CU Longrange)

W.D. Cruiser
--[CU Longrange ]1350 Damage, 19.3 Charge = 69.95 DPS
--[Railgun 10] x2 666 damage, 3 Charge = 291.95 DPS
Total DPS = 402.95 DPS

Roland
--[CU Longrange] 1350 Damage, 26 Charge = 51.92 DPS
--[Railgun 10] x2 666 Damage, 4 Charge = 166.5 DPS
--[Auto Turrets] x4 120 Damage, 4.5 Charge = 26.6 DPS
Total DPS = 245.02 DPS

Intrepid
--[CU Longrange] 1350 Damage, 26 Charge = 51.9 DPS
--[Railgun 10] x2 666 Damage, 4 Charge = 166.5 DPS
Total DPS = 218.4 DPS

Grim Cutlass
--[CU Longrange] 1350 Damage, 26 Charge = 51.9 DPS
--[Railgun 10] x2 666 Damage, 4 Charge = 166.5 DPS
Total DPS = 218.4 DPS

Stargazer
--[CU Longrange] 1350 Damage, 26 Charge = 51.9 DPS
--[Railgun 10] x2 666 Damage, 4 Charge = 166.5 DPS
Total DPS = 218.4 DPS

W.D. Destroyer
--[CU Longrange] 1620 Damage, 26 Charge = 62.31 DPS
--[Railgun 10] x1 400 Damage, 4 Charge = 100 DPS
--[Auto Turrets] x2 72 Damage, 4.5 Charge = 16 DPS
Total DPS = 178.31 DPS

As you can see the W.D. Cruiser BLOWS all the other ships out of the water. In fact given a Railgun Setup, it does 19.1% more damage than the Roland, 33.6% more than the Intrepid, Grim Cutlass and Stargazer and a whopping 63.7% more damage than the Destroyer. With all other weapon setups this difference decreases, but the W.D. Cruiser always comes out with the most DPS. No matter how you outfit a ship, if the same components were in a W.D. Cruiser it would be doing more damage.

[Capt.Cliff™]

Interestingly put together, informative & well researched. Commendations.

[Rhadamant]

Originally posted by Capt.Cliff:

Interestingly put together, informative & well researched. Commendations.

Cheers, Cliff.

[T3kx]

+1 Great job, you might have to update these stats as beta is progressing tho xD

[Sass]

Looks like you really cant fight math. Nice work. :

[Rhadamant]

Oh, I'll surely update it. Maybe even toss it into a guide!

[maestro]

I agree with your assesments.

[Meme Turtle]

Looks like math is not your strongest side: 666/3 = 222. Total DPS of W.D. Cruiser with mentioned setup is 291. Also, it is possible for roland and destroyer to out dps cruiser, depending on autoturrets values.

On the other note it is not only pure DPS that makes this ship strong. With roland reactor and engines this ship can be fast, manoeuvrable and never overheat(who need engineer, right?). It is also possible to obtain special programs from NPC stargazer and maintain low signature by quickly getting some distance and reducing total power. Cargo space is sufficient to carry loot from several battles and single deck layout provides quick access to all ship sections.

[Rhadamant]

Originally posted by -VK- Mine Turtle:

Looks like math is not your strongest side: 666/3 = 222. Total DPS of W.D. Cruiser with mentioned setup is 291. Also, it is possible for roland and destroyer to out dps cruiser, depending on autoturrets values.

On the other note it is not only pure DPS that makes this ship strong. With roland reactor and engines this ship can be fast, manoeuvrable and never overheat(who need engineer, right?). It is also possible to obtain special programs from NPC stargazer and maintain low signature by quickly getting some distance and reducing total power. Cargo space is sufficient to carry loot from several battles and single deck layout provides quick access to all ship sections.

Woops! You're correct about the math, but you can toss a Roland Reactor into any ship for that benefit, it isn't specific to a Roland. In one of my saves I've got a Level 8 Roland inside of a W.D. Cruiser.

Also, the Roland is a slow boat of a ship and it takes a long time to board an enemy because its so massive. Running all the way to the transporter actually does take awhile. If your engineer is in the bridge and you need to inject fuel, that takes forever too. Sure, the Roland is a pretty strong ship, easily #2 in the lineup, but not without some major drawbacks. None of these drawbacks are true on the Cruiser though.

[maestro]

Originally posted by Rhadamant:

Originally posted by -VK- Mine Turtle:

Looks like math is not your strongest side: 666/3 = 222. Total DPS of W.D. Cruiser with mentioned setup is 291. Also, it is possible for roland and destroyer to out dps cruiser, depending on autoturrets values.

On the other note it is not only pure DPS that makes this ship strong. With roland reactor and engines this ship can be fast, manoeuvrable and never overheat(who need engineer, right?). It is also possible to obtain special programs from NPC stargazer and maintain low signature by quickly getting some distance and reducing total power. Cargo space is sufficient to carry loot from several battles and single deck layout provides quick access to all ship sections.

Woops! You're correct!!

Well you could just do what I did and put the level 13 Roland reactor into a WD Cruiser. :D

[Rhadamant]

Originally posted by e5.Maestro:

Originally posted by Rhadamant:

Woops! You're correct!!

Well you could just do what I did and put the level 13 Roland reactor into a WD Cruiser. :D

Yes indeed. I also mentioned that if your main and ship turrets have line of sight on an enemy, the Auto Turrets often do not. This is the case with the Roland, effectively making its DPS 26.6 less than stated.

[Spongie]

I like the Intrepid. It's fast, at 5km you can easily dodge incoming rail and spread in any direction if you have good engines. If the pilot is good it can be done with minimum impact on the main gunner aim as well.

[obliviondoll]

For the moment, with stealth mechanics poorly implemented (if at all), and with exploration taking something of a back seat to combat, this is accurate. It also doesn't help that the current limitations on auto-turrets prevent them from being a viable source of damage to consider. The other ships have benefits which, at the moment, aren't being taken advantage of. In time, I hope future updates will change that and improve the balance.

[THE TROUTINATOR]

Wd destroyer is worst.....please “dont take into account how godly tanky that destroyer is”

[obliviondoll]

Originally posted by TIER 3 BLACK SHIRT:

Wd destroyer is worst.....please “dont take into account how godly tanky that destroyer is”

Except that THREE YEARS AGO when this topic wasn't long-dead for good reason, that wasn't the case. But yeah, other than being objectively wrong at the time this topic hadn't been long-abandoned for good reason, sure. There's times where it's worth necroposting because the thread is still relevant. This is not one of those times.