Which is best?

[fyrelyfe]

Ok, I have a ship on my brothers account he lets me play when he's home. I have been playing for a few months and would like to know if it's better to find an S-class or to level up to an S-class? Which would have the better stats?
For example, if you found two identical ships of a type (for example, a shuttle or interceptor) but one was an S and the other a B, and you equipped them with the same upgrades in the same places, would the original S-class have better stats, being a natural S-class, or would the upgraded B-class have better stats, even if only marginal, at best? Or would they be the same? I know that supercharge slots make a difference if you have/use them, but going with no supercharge slots at all just for the clarity of the question. Oh, and does it make a difference which type of ship is best (shuttle, hauler, exotic, freighter, etc)?

[Jaggid Edje]

The range of potential stats is the same, regardless of whether you find it in the wild or upgrade it from a lower class, as long as the ships are the same type of starship in the first place.

Do note, however, that the possible bonus stats for any given ship type and class is a range, so in any direct comparison between two ships of the same type and class, they will likely not be identical.

You'll get people that tell you otherwise and that upgrading is better, or that finding a ship in the wild is better (I've seen both claims) but they are wrong, Either because they don't understand that a small, anecdotal sample size is not something you should draw conclusions from, or because they experienced some kind of bug. More often than not, it is the former.

It's worth also being aware when upgrading that just because a ship is at the 'high end' of the bonus range at a lower class does not mean it will be at the high end of S-class when you upgrade it. One would think that would be the case, but it just does not work that way.

Now just for my own personal opinion....don't really worry that much about it. There's nothing in the game that even comes remotely close to requiring that you min/max your starships to get the 'best possible' ship bonus values. You can, in fact, safely ignore it entirely and it won't make a lick of difference in how easy or hard the game is for you.

[Zoran]

IMO it's best to get a Sentinel Ship. Does not matter what class, they always have a lot of slots, and that is what counts when you start out. I got a B-Class in my new perma death game and it was just fine.

Trick is to get Harmonic Resonator and I mining laser them from a safe distance.

[Zoran]

Originally posted by Zoran:

IMO it's best to get a Sentinel Ship. Does not matter what class, they always have a lot of slots, and that is what counts when you start out. I got a B-Class in my new perma death game and it was just fine.

Trick is to get Harmonic Resonator and I mining laser them from a safe distance.

Correction, trick is to get a Echo Locator from a Dissonance Resonator (big vertical mirror wing machine). I mining laser them from a safe distance, then run away.

[Spocks Toupee]

I saw it mentioned in another thread, that Upgrading has its advantages because you could save the game, and upgrade your ship to S class, and if you don't like the layout of the Supercharged Slots, you could reload the game, and try for a different layout.

I love Sentinel Ships because of their massive Hyper Jump range when the warp engines are fully upgraded.

[fyrelyfe]

So an interceptor is best? Thanks, I appreciate the information. My brother plays survival mode, is that another name for permadeath? Don't think I'm ready for that yet.

[fyrelyfe]

Thank you all for the help. I'm going to go find an interceptor, resonators, and echo locators.

[fyrelyfe]

Just thinking about it a minute and one last question; Does anyone know if a freighters class works the same, or are they different than starships?

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by fyrelyfe:

Just thinking about it a minute and one last question; Does anyone know if a freighters class works the same, or are they different than starships?

You cannot upgrade freighter class.

The class of a freighter also makes a very substantial difference in the freighters jump range bonus and expedition bonuses. So if you care about either (or both) of those things it's worth spending time farming for the highest class freighter you have the patience to farm for.

[Octavus]

The ship variation doesn't matter much. Some are a little faster, some travel a bit further, and some have more armor, etc., but they're all basically the same so, pick whatever you like. I can barley tell the difference except when upgrading the ship class (S, A, B, C).

Although, if you can, get a sentinel ship becasue they can hover in place and you can blast the terrain easily and farm rocks, plants for mass quantities of ferrite, carbon and di-hydrogen :D

[Mr. Bufferlow]

Originally posted by fyrelyfe:

Just thinking about it a minute and one last question; Does anyone know if a freighters class works the same, or are they different than starships?

Sort of. The better class means better warp range and better frigate mission management and more slots available. In reality, they are just a fancy ship garage and base. Those elements stay the same no matter the class. Always nice to find an S class- especially of a desirable style but from a pure game play perspective the class has little impact so I often wait on finding a nice one as a late game activity.

[Mr. Bufferlow]

After 4600 hours, I would say that the "best" ship is just which one you like at the moment. The reality of the game is any ship that is fully upgraded to S class will be OP for anything you are going to run into. My favorites have changed several times over the years. Currently like the Utopia Speeder, but had a long romance with the small red version of the exotics.

The one I wish I still had was my asymmetric winged fighter. Unfortunately, they got written out of the code so are not available anymore. Probably why I love it so much.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1540252831
The droid on the small wing was animated. Very cool.

[fyrelyfe]

That's awesome! Why did HG get rid of that?

[Octavus]

Originally posted by Mr. Bufferlow:

After 4600 hours, I would say that the "best" ship is just which one you like at the moment. The reality of the game is any ship that is fully upgraded to S class will be OP for anything you are going to run into. My favorites have changed several times over the years. Currently like the Utopia Speeder, but had a long romance with the small red version of the exotics.

The one I wish I still had was my asymmetric winged fighter. Unfortunately, they got written out of the code so are not available anymore. Probably why I love it so much.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1540252831
The droid on the small wing was animated. Very cool.

Could you build it with the new system? I've never actually used it.

[Zoran]

A year ago you could not transfer the technology modules from one tool/ship/freighter to the next. You always had to find the best S-Class, before making the investment into all the upgrades.

[Ozwald]

JE answered the question you actually asked - which is better between a natural S class versus upgrading a lower class up to S.

That's a very different question than which ship is best. There isn't a universal "best". The best ship is the one you like the best.

Does it look cool? Is the paint job your favorite color? Do you really like the wings? Or maybe the cockpit? Doesn't matter, that ship is the "best". Just fly what you like. There's zero advantage to being the fastest, or the most maneuverable, for 2 examples.

You can take down even the hardest of pirates in a C class shuttle that maneuvers like a Carnival cruise ship with ease.

Find the ship that you like the best for whatever reason you choose.