Useless reactor research?

[Dratgon]

Why would you ever research Fission 3 (Fission Mastery) when Quantum 1 (Quantum Exploitation) have the same research needed but are better in every way?

Fission 3:
Energy output - 86
Storage cap - 150
size - 22

Quantum 1:
Energy output - 120
Storage cap - 230
size - 18

[jRides]

I would suggest that it gives you a good choice, yes the new techline is better - but is it better for your empire at the moment you're making the choice on what to research?

The ease and cost of upgrading a component that the shipping already built has installed, as opposed to retrofitting them to a new design incorporating the new tech - by the stage of the game you're researching quantum exploitation there will be a lot of ships about with fission reactors already installed and its basically a free upgrade to them.

[Dratgon]

Didn't realize that the red arrow indicates that the upgrade is applied automatically until just now, rip.

[Pak0tac]

on the paper is looks better yes, but the quantum reactor needs different resources to be constructed and it costs more, sometimes you empire wont have access to such needed resources thus it is better to work with what you have and not with what is actually better

[Bleek]

Originally posted by Dratgon:

Didn't realize that the red arrow indicates that the upgrade is applied automatically until just now, rip.

Yeah! It took me a few years to realise that!

[Dray Prescot]

It is also a good idea to have more than one FUEL type in use in your Empire. Generally I will use one fuel type for my civilian ship designs and a different fuel type for my warship designs. This requires you to do the necessary research and/or take a Race with a different fuel from the standard early research tree.

Too many times I find my civilian ships using so much fuel (to keep their fuel tanks full) that newly built ships have no fuel available to them to get them to a fuel producing base. When those new ships are WARSHIPs, you are in trouble.

It is also a good idea to hold down on the number of full tanks you put in most of your civilian (freighter) designs (in your early game designs). You need some long range freighters, but keep the rest short ranged to avoid draining your fuel at your major bases, which are usually your major ship producing hubs as well.

This is also why, when I am starting a new game, that I always try to have my Home World as a Moon of a Gas Giant that can be mined to produce fuel, preferably several fuels, i.e. Hydrogen and Caslon normally. That way newly built ships at my HW have a very nearby location to get fuel at. Or Have Moons that can produce Fuel and other critical ship building materials.

[corisai]

Originally posted by Dray Prescot:

Or Have Moons that can produce Fuel and other critical ship building materials.

This is a trap. Always avoid to build fuel base on planet that contain something else but Hydrogen / Caslon. It would mess with base storage a lot. ESPECIALLY for a base with very high load (like homeworld base).

P.S. Plus AI rebalance mod rebalance reactors & hyperdrives nicely.

[Dray Prescot]

I was careless with how I worded that,

Usually the Moons of the Gas Giants are good for non Gas items, i.e. stuff to build with as well Luxury Goods.

I usually want the Gas Giant as a source of Gases, i.e. fuels, but not all Gases are Fuels, particularly until you research the techs that make some of them into fuel sources, i.e. energy sources for your ships while they are moving. Hydrogen, Helium, and Caslon are all potential fuel sources with the right Tech and/or Racial special ability, but there are other Gases that will NEVER be a fuel source, but are important for building certain items with the right techs.

If you can get your Home World as a Moon of a Gas Giant, fairly often some of the OTHER Moons of the same Gas Giant will be inhabitable as well, or be habitable with easy to do research.

I think it is important to try to have two different sources of fuel, and use one for the civilian ships and the other for warships to avoid problems with your civilian ships using up the Fuel that new warships need.

Having a Gas Giant fuel mining base very close to your Home World that is a Moon of that Gas Giant is VERY convenient, for times when your Home World runs short on fuel in stock, then a ship does not have far to go (at very slow speeds) to get to another fuel source.

It also makes it easier to defend several different mining bases (on the Gas Giant and it's Moons) and the ships servicing them with the same group of warships, against Pirates and other enemies, particularly when one of them is your Home World.

[corisai]

Originally posted by Dray Prescot:

Helium

Isn't a fuel. You're playing with mods ;)

Originally posted by Dray Prescot:

Having a Gas Giant fuel mining base very close to your Home World that is a Moon of that Gas Giant is VERY convenient

And often a trap too as warping to another planet will be faster then going with 0 fuel on sub-light engines :)

[Pak0tac]

Its all end with what fuel you have more of, and better access to
during regular expansion it doesnt matter what reactor you use, but during war it is extremley important as sometimes you will loose a lot of helium mines or caslon mines or both, which will result in empire wide fuel shortage and eventually stagger your fleet making the war even worse - in addition low tech reactors are cheaper on resources to consturct, hi tech reactors are better and more efficiant but requier rear resources