Ship Modification questions

[Sticky Wicket]

I have 3 main questions about these.

First; how do I modify a ship? I have researched basic chassis modifications at HQ and I have the ingredients. I was assuming it would show up in the crafting but there isn't anything there to do with ship modifications.

Secondly; is it a good idea to wait until I have researched advanced modifications before I start doing any?
Ship nanoweave seems to be extremely rare; I have only come across 2 bits of it so far, so is better to just save these up until I have something really worth using them on?

Thirdly; What kind of upgrades give the most optimal enhancements? I was going to go for increasing radar range for a start and then focus mainly on upgrading engines.

Thanks in advance for replies and advice.

[ArcticISAF]

So you have to dock at a wharf or a shipyard (or equipment dock works too I think) and you go in person to the ship dealership in the station. Go to the little bench on the side (right hand from when you exit the elevator) and open it up. That's the modding area.

Basic mods are all you really need. Some basic mods are better than enhanced/exceptional, such as slasher weapon mods for turrets (need a good roll on the reload though). Save the enhanced/exceptional for your main ships or weapons, prioritizing based on how many you have (you can also remove it to get that main mod component back).

Drag is great for the chassis mod, as it improves max speed and rotational rate. The mass reduction mod is for acceleration which can be useful at times. Slasher as I said for turrets is best (turrets do not have cooling needs). Other weapons kind of depends on what it is and how you want it to work (e.g. higher damage but bad cooling). Shields, kind of same thing but you can pick between capacity and recharge rate. Recharge delay is basically only for S ships. And engines... there's a travel mod Reaver, travel for less boost. Nudger for forward thrust but less boost/travel speed. Spinner or twister for rotational speed is also really good, improves the turning rate significantly. Check out this site for a good comparison. https://www.qsna.eu/x4/modifications

Note too that each click of applying/reassembling a mod costs 50k/(100k?)/250k credits, so you want your income secured before diving in.

[Knottypine]

Originally posted by ArcticISAF:

Note too that each click of applying/reassembling a mod costs 50k/(100k?)/250k credits, so you want your income secured before diving in.

Also note that there is no credit cost if you use your own wharf/shipyard to assemble modifications.

[ArcticISAF]

Oh interesting, I actually didn't know that. That's cool to know

[Sticky Wicket]

Thanks.

So I get the nanoweave back if I remove the modification. That's cool.

Drag mod sounds good. I like using Terran drives because of their fast spool up time for travel drive (but the less overall max speed compared to other engines is always a bit disappointing) so so I like the idea of getting some more speed with them :)

I have a float of around 10mil now so 50-250k doesn't sound that bad, but useful to know that having your own wharf negates the cost.

[Dunkler Messias]

Originally posted by Sticky Wicket:

I have a float of around 10mil now so 50-250k doesn't sound that bad, but useful to know that having your own wharf negates the cost.

Don't spend too much money on mods, though. Ship modding is RNG based. You can dismantle and craft the same mod again and get some (!) of the mod parts back. And some mods have 1 base effect and like 3 secondary effects ... of a pool of 6 effects. Even negative effects are possible. See the link ArcticISAF posted.
Better save your game before you go into ship modding.

You can't do much wrong with the basic mods. And these are quite cheap and doesn't really need to be rerolled.
It's really bad that advanced weapon mods have increased mining speed as secondary effect ...

Oh and you don't really need the radar range bonus. You can use these for scouts, but for your own personal ship you'll want the ones which decrease Ship Mass, so it's way faster than before.

[Sticky Wicket]

Originally posted by Dunkler Messias:

Originally posted by Sticky Wicket:

I have a float of around 10mil now so 50-250k doesn't sound that bad, but useful to know that having your own wharf negates the cost.

Don't spend too much money on mods, though. Ship modding is RNG based. You can dismantle and craft the same mod again and get some (!) of the mod parts back. And some mods have 1 base effect and like 3 secondary effects ... of a pool of 6 effects. Even negative effects are possible. See the link ArcticISAF posted.
Better save your game before you go into ship modding.

You can't do much wrong with the basic mods. And these are quite cheap and doesn't really need to be rerolled.
It's really bad that advanced weapon mods have increased mining speed as secondary effect ...

Oh and you don't really need the radar range bonus. You can use these for scouts, but for your own personal ship you'll want the ones which decrease Ship Mass, so it's way faster than before.

Iv'e got into the habit now of saving this game a lot, especially before doing anything important, but thanks for the HU.

Yeah increasing speed is going to be my main focus :)

[Maffin]

Never liked this RPG mechanic in X4.
There's a mod in the workshop that sets all values to the highest possible, if you're tired of the RNG lottery and save scumming.

[Gibbo]

The basic mods are well worth installing. Really buff your ship up.

I like to play it safe and went with piecer? I think that is what it is? The lowest weapon damage mod. Get nearly 20& on each gun. Turrets I generally choose gimbal. Engine I think was forward thrust mod? Anyway you can see the difference when you install them and sometimes the negative traits hardly affect your ship lol so like I said, you can really buff it up. Basic mods are a must at least.

[Wraith]

Originally posted by Gibbo:

The basic mods are well worth installing. Really buff your ship up.

I like to play it safe and went with piecer? I think that is what it is? The lowest weapon damage mod. Get nearly 20& on each gun. Turrets I generally choose gimbal. Engine I think was forward thrust mod? Anyway you can see the difference when you install them and sometimes the negative traits hardly affect your ship lol so like I said, you can really buff it up. Basic mods are a must at least.

Some green mod are actually stronger then their exceptional mod comparison as well

Like basic weapon modification slasher being the king of Turret modifcations.

[Gibbo]

Originally posted by Wraith:

Originally posted by Gibbo:

The basic mods are well worth installing. Really buff your ship up.

I like to play it safe and went with piecer? I think that is what it is? The lowest weapon damage mod. Get nearly 20& on each gun. Turrets I generally choose gimbal. Engine I think was forward thrust mod? Anyway you can see the difference when you install them and sometimes the negative traits hardly affect your ship lol so like I said, you can really buff it up. Basic mods are a must at least.

Some green mod are actually stronger then their exceptional mod comparison as well

Like basic weapon modification slasher being the king of Turret modifcations.

Cool I'll switch to that for turrets. :)

I think people see the word "basic" and think they'll be rubbish like basic baked beans lol. But they're not. The engine mod turns a 700 m/s M class into a 1000+ m/s and that's probably not the best there either? Yeah, you can have fun with them.