Good starter CVs for Vanilla?

[Heimdall313]

Yes I browse the Workshop, but most CVs are quite huge, very expensive on materials, and most are RE2 dependent. I have no idea where to start learning anything on RE2 so for now I'm sticking single-player Vanilla, I've been pretty solid making my own HVs, SVs, and bases, but I'm really really struggling on making CVs that aren't abominations.

Any suggestions?

edit: forgot half of what I'm looking for.

- I want to avoid Zascosium and Erestrum materials. I have not had good luck scraping POIs for them. This means no Shield Generator, Shield Extender, or Large Thruster blocks.
- I have never seen Platinum. This is used in new Jet Thruster blocks (all sizes) for CVs.
- HV dockability would be nice but not vital.
- SV dockability is a selling point, but not vital.
- Space allocated for Warp Drive and Pentaxid Tank, if not already included in blueprint.

[The Big Brzezinski]

Starters to carry HVs and SVs? I got two I use.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3019247142
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3362250717

The T2 is probably the better value for its cost, but the T1 has no shield and thus requires no erestrum or zascosium.

[Midas]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2482188616

The Janus is my favorite. Extremely versatile. It's a steep iron investment early on, but that's pretty much all it asks of you because it pretty much starts as just a metal box, acting like a base and hanger. You add the thrusters and control seats when you're ready and it becomes a carrier cv. Then when you're further along, you get yourself a big module cv like a helios and then can retire the Janus into a factory module, or miner, or dropship, or a light destroyer. It's so useful I sometimes get more than one because they work for so many things.

[cwsumner]

How about this one? I have used it in my previous save.
It has space for a warp drive but not the vanilla shield.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2973348462

or maybe this one? It also has a link to an updated one, but that's bigger.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=845217787

edit: links

[Heimdall313]

Ok so far we're looking good. I'm adding additional clarification to OP that half caffeinated brain forgot.
I want to avoid Erestrum / Zascosium, so no Shield Generator (or extender). Large Thruster also takes Zascosium Alloy.
HV carry would be nice but not required. Vanilla means my mining options are hand drill and mining HVs till Level 20.
Flat spot or something for SV dock is good, or I could use the CV in lieu of my typically larger SVs.
New Jet thrusters for CVs require Platinum, and I've never seen a single ounce of that stuff.

Janus seems intended for Large Thrusters, aims for base-to-CV. I think the materials to get it running may be too much.
Kestrel is nearly perfect, the SV dock on top looks a bit compact. I'm going to boot and try it and Kettering.

[The Big Brzezinski]

If you wanna go super cheap, this is basically a CV pretending to be an SV.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2941457900

[Heimdall313]

Originally posted by The Big Brzezinski:

If you wanna go super cheap, this is basically a CV pretending to be an SV.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2941457900

ok that one actually is cute. Tempting.
So far, Kestrel seems to be the best, but it really cannot carry smaller vehicles.

[The Big Brzezinski]

A lot of it depends on where you plan on going. One of the first places I go is friendly faction territory, usually Polaris/Arkenian space. This ensures any space drones or OPVs around are probably not hostile to me, so I can travel freely without shields. Then I start gathering resources and looking for a home base site. Once I find one, I build it up with more resources and infrastructure until I can build and support advanced combat craft.

If I was in a more fighty mood, I'll probably stay in Ellyon to make a more substantial CV before heading to no-man's-land or even hostile faction territory. T3 shielded combat craft would be important for taking on POIs that might be in my way on a budget.

[Midas]

Originally posted by Heimdall313:

Ok so far we're looking good. I'm adding additional clarification to OP that half caffeinated brain forgot.
I want to avoid Erestrum / Zascosium, so no Shield Generator (or extender). Large Thruster also takes Zascosium Alloy.
HV carry would be nice but not required. Vanilla means my mining options are hand drill and mining HVs till Level 20.
Flat spot or something for SV dock is good, or I could use the CV in lieu of my typically larger SVs.
New Jet thrusters for CVs require Platinum, and I've never seen a single ounce of that stuff.

Janus seems intended for Large Thrusters, aims for base-to-CV. I think the materials to get it running may be too much.
Kestrel is nearly perfect, the SV dock on top looks a bit compact. I'm going to boot and try it and Kettering.

The janus can use all kinds of thrusters. It has room to eventually use large thrusters, but it can run on a few small thrusters too, depending on how much weight you're carrying. Each large thruster place can be 1-4 small or medium thrusters, upgraded as you go.


Here's something I made a long time ago. It's missing some modern features like shield generator, but otherwise it's a low cost mini carrier that has been my starter cv in many playthroughs.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634434223

[Priest]

Try my explorer, be carefull its not a war ship
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3294733728

[japp_02]

This is one from Star Salvage that I have modified with as little materials as possible in mind for early gameplay. You can easily upgrade this ship to be a decent fighter:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3139804809

[Heimdall313]

Originally posted by The Big Brzezinski:

A lot of it depends on where you plan on going. One of the first places I go is friendly faction territory, usually Polaris/Arkenian space. This ensures any space drones or OPVs around are probably not hostile to me, so I can travel freely without shields. Then I start gathering resources and looking for a home base site. Once I find one, I build it up with more resources and infrastructure until I can build and support advanced combat craft.

If I was in a more fighty mood, I'll probably stay in Ellyon to make a more substantial CV before heading to no-man's-land or even hostile faction territory. T3 shielded combat craft would be important for taking on POIs that might be in my way on a budget.

I tend to mill around in Ellyon too long because I can never get into a CV I like. Good starter CV should motivate me out of my peaceful little basic resource bubble. I tend to avoid combat POIs. Even the abandoned base on Akua, I've never figured out what the stupid gimmick is to actually get to the core of the base, never beaten it without godmode. Even on Easy I just get surrounded and mauled, and if I survive that it's whatever crippling injuries / wound effects I get in the process finish me off. So yeah I just avoid combat in general.

Originally posted by Midas:

Here's something I made a long time ago. It's missing some modern features like shield generator, but otherwise it's a low cost mini carrier that has been my starter cv in many playthroughs.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634434223

ohh this might be nice if I figure out what is causing the erestrum / zascosium and remove it

[Midas]

Originally posted by Heimdall313:

Originally posted by The Big Brzezinski:

A lot of it depends on where you plan on going. One of the first places I go is friendly faction territory, usually Polaris/Arkenian space. This ensures any space drones or OPVs around are probably not hostile to me, so I can travel freely without shields. Then I start gathering resources and looking for a home base site. Once I find one, I build it up with more resources and infrastructure until I can build and support advanced combat craft.

If I was in a more fighty mood, I'll probably stay in Ellyon to make a more substantial CV before heading to no-man's-land or even hostile faction territory. T3 shielded combat craft would be important for taking on POIs that might be in my way on a budget.

I tend to mill around in Ellyon too long because I can never get into a CV I like. Good starter CV should motivate me out of my peaceful little basic resource bubble. I tend to avoid combat POIs. Even the abandoned base on Akua, I've never figured out what the stupid gimmick is to actually get to the core of the base, never beaten it without godmode. Even on Easy I just get surrounded and mauled, and if I survive that it's whatever crippling injuries / wound effects I get in the process finish me off. So yeah I just avoid combat in general.

Originally posted by Midas:

Here's something I made a long time ago. It's missing some modern features like shield generator, but otherwise it's a low cost mini carrier that has been my starter cv in many playthroughs.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634434223

ohh this might be nice if I figure out what is causing the erestrum / zascosium and remove it

I'd guess it's an rcs or some medium thrusters. Or maybe a warp drive. I don't know what the vanilla costs are anymore. Usually I build my first cv from cv wreckage I find, which tend to have enough key devices to give me the handful or rarer materials i need.

[cwsumner]

The Kestral top pad is bigger than it looks, I docked a sort of large walk-in SV on it. But it does matter how the SV landing gear is arranged. Note that one or two of the landing gear is enough to dock, though.

The CV Runabout actually has a large docking area on top.

P.S., Watch out for "Warlord" ships, they can intrude into otherwise friendly space and are enemy to everyone.

[Too lazy to choose a name]

Originally posted by Midas:

I tend to mill around in Ellyon too long because I can never get into a CV I like. Good starter CV should motivate me out of my peaceful little basic resource bubble. I tend to avoid combat POIs. Even the abandoned base on Akua, I've never figured out what the stupid gimmick is to actually get to the core of the base, never beaten it without godmode. Even on Easy I just get surrounded and mauled, and if I survive that it's whatever crippling injuries / wound effects I get in the process finish me off. So yeah I just avoid combat in general.

ohh this might be nice if I figure out what is causing the erestrum / zascosium and remove it

(1)It looks like that,
the Pills, Injection, and Ointment don't work, if you add Dark Faction elements to your save, and you can only rely on Kit or Medication Station Type 1~4.

For example, if you got Radiation Burn,
the Anti Radiation Ointment and Anti Radiation Injection won't work.
You can only rely on Decontamination Kit or Medication Station Type 4 to cure Radiation Burn, if you add Dark Faction elements to your save.

(2)By my opinion, the Abandoned Base on Akua is too hard.
It's harder than all those POI on Skillon and Ningues.
I mean, it's a great POI for late game, complicated and challenging,
but it's not a good POI on Akua as an early game POI for new players with very limited weapons/medicine/armor ?

[The Big Brzezinski]

I'm still not convinced about the concept of upgradeability in Empyrion ships, at least not on the scale of taking a T1 ship into T4. Swapping out weapons to optimize a vessel against different targets or leaving space in a hull for additional thrusters and generators is fairly routine. But I've never seen a hull that performs its job in a starter vessel as well as it does in a more advanced one. You'd be moving too much ship with not enough machinery at the start, too much machinery with not enough ship at the end, or both in turn.

The idea of turning one's starter vessel into a combat vessel baffles me. You're at the point where you have your first lifeline to the whole galaxy, and you wanna risk that in a throwdown with an OPV? You should be taking Andromeda for all it's worth, grabbing all the resources you can, and building even better vessels and bases. You could even build a dedicated combat ship, with optimal firing arcs for turrets, and blackjack, and friendly ladies. Plus if you get overconfident and your combat ship is disabled in a fight, it doesn't then mean you've lost your only CV and means of resource gathering. I just means your gamble didn't pay off.

I imagine a lot of this depends on what scenario you're playing. If it has a lot of weapons that chew through a sathium armor section like wet paper once the shield is down, the hull probably is little more than cosmetic. In Default Random, a thick hide can protect a CV's soft bits from harm for a good while. So while you may be able to slot a lot of extra machinery into a steel box and ice it with plasma turrets, rocket turrets, and minigun chiffon, it's not going to turn into an armored cruiser. It's going to be a fragile little ship you constantly worry about taking any damage as you flit madly before or yo-yo charge at a POI. It's also likely to cost you more than just making a dedicated combat vessel capable of the same task.

But I'm open to having my mind changed. It seems to be a shipbuilding doctrine with a lot of traction. I assume there's something rational behind it that I'm just not seeing.