Well, it was more that absent other incentives, any 2326 design would tend to be limited to a single wave or so, because of the significantly better 2328 Isolinear designs would be following it.
Discussion of the Peacekeeper ship was kind of a separate clause.
Still, don't underestimate the numbers of frigates we could push out in a dedicated single wave.
If a 2328 Isolinear design is going to blow it out of the water, then there's really no point to rushing the earlier frigate to production. The Peacekeepers are going to need awhile to spin up regardless, so losing ~2 years isn't the end of the world. As for waves of production, how much of Starfleet's regular construction are you willing to displace in the building schedule?
...Right, I thought I addressed this, but I guess not clearly enough.
The P6 Hospital Peacekeeper design uses an Automated Core. This is critical to hitting those crew benchmarks, especially 1 Officer, as it reduces crew by a lot.
More, in fact, than a T4 Isolinear Ops Core does. We couldn't design one like-for-like with a T4 Iso Ops core- remember much of the design is about the fictional story these parts tell.
Nor can we use an Iso Automated core as those are Cruiser/Explorer only. Presumably T4 non-Iso cores exist? Shrug. We're at the thresholds I need with a T3 core.
This is thus a ship- specifically the P6 Hospitals one- that has lower-than-usual benefit from Isolinear cores.
(While the Budget design with an Informatics core could benefit from a like-for-like Isolinear core upgrade)
Jeeze, shipbuilding too.
My thinking is that there will be a window where we go 'what ~1Mt ship do we build???' around 2330-1 after the refits, and after say a Kepler-Generalist variant, but before the isolinear designs are protyped.
Those ships will be more of the current stock of designs, OR a Variant of say a Comet, AND/OR a new deliberately limited-run-frigate.
Bringing us back round to the 'what ship could we possibly design in 2326...'
Edit- this is what a Comet-A variant-for-new-build ordered around 2329 could look like (T4 Away teams is the crucial post-Iso part here):
-1En -1T +1CSLPE
Made some 0 supply 1EN crew frigates for the upcoming snakepit the one i would suggest building is the improved escort:
Added for completness but i think 3 is to many small long range sensors to add to a frigate, as the long range sensors and dipomatic facility use the same amount of crew this design can have -2S +2P by swapping the LR for a diplomatic facility.
Just order six hulls per construction cycle, then order the successor design 10-15 years after the first design enters mass production. That should give anywhere from 6-8 production runs of your perfectly serviceable P6 Hospital design without wasting time on unnecessary refits. The Peacekeepers will have a standard ship design without having to scare up enough personnel to operate an entire wave of ~20 hulls in one go.
Just order six hulls per construction cycle, then order the successor design 10-15 years after the first design enters mass production. That should give anywhere from 6-8 production runs of your perfectly serviceable P6 Hospital design without wasting time on unnecessary refits. The Peacekeepers will have a standard ship design without having to scare up enough personnel to operate an entire wave of ~20 hulls in one go.
We won't be doing that with explorers. Not in massive waves like that, they are too expensive and large berths too few. Well, not unless we go with the UltraLight Explorer instead of HC or something.
Not that's much of a consolation for other powers.
See, with the Way of the Industrious tech under the expanded Lone Ranger doctrine, our Heavy Explorers until our Sovereign equivalent will prototype as fast as Heavy Cruisers after the -0.25 prototyping penalty tech, and build in 3 years in HIP berths when build in parallel.
We could launch two of them a year with UP berths alone if wanted to. 4.75y-5y default build time 3.4mt-3.6mt behemoths.
Remember the new Fathership that Caitans have been working on forever now? For almost all powers, 5y ships take 7.5y to prototype, and further 5y before the first production one flies. 12.5y to first wave, and accordingly, 12.5y old tech. Rennie was build with technology that old.
First wave of ours would be using 7.25y old parts, more than 5y more modern, and only about 0.5y older than what our first 1.8mt HC wave would use (6.75y). First wave of large frigates will use 5y old tech for comparison.
Most powers would be launching their first non prototype Ambassadors right now (see the new Fathership). We are about to order a refit for them and start up the next gen HE (16 flat looks like) in two to three years (2328 or 2329 Snakepit).
Another fun fact, most powers don't get Explorer platforms, they get Capital ones. The one on the same tech level as Amby has maximum size of 2.4mt and is 2 months faster to build, but has a massive number of overweight slots allowed. It's what the Sanctuary is build on. What does this mean? That a ship of Amby-As capability (number of slots) build by most powers would be 3.8mt (needing 4mt berths), +40br, +28sr, though interestingly not longer build time as that's not based on weight but number of slots used (seems like it should be the other way around).
Edit: Forgot to factor in research time. Used to be 3y for our best teams for explorers, now its 4Q flat. From Snakepit the next year the tech is gotten, so add 1.75y to age of explorer tech, 1.5y cruisers, 1.25y frigates.
We're building twenty Comets for scout-skirmish and it's arguably not enough considering we're going to have to loan some to Member Fleets in wartime. We aren't going to have Comets for escort.
See, with the Way of the Industrious tech under the expanded Lone Ranger doctrine, our Heavy Explorers until our Sovereign equivalent will prototype as fast as Heavy Cruisers after the -0.25 prototyping penalty tech, and build in 3 years in HIP berths when build in parallel
It also allows you to start the first wave with partially-completed prototypes, rather than having to launch them first. This carries a cost penalty, but is a potent tool to get new better large ships out fast (well fast-ish), the main frustration with these being the decade plus lead times.
I get what you're saying on scaling up, but the ships themselves (1O 2En 2T) will need to be operated by Starfleet crew. Peacekeeper training was pruned of starship operation skills.
Aside from that, recall the premise and "always be prototyping" was to support building the 'best' (across multiple orthogonal criteria) available ship(s) across our berths at any time.
In 2335 we'll have better designs available to build, so the opportunity cost of devoting berth time to a 2326 design is larger than in 2331.
We're building twenty Comets for scout-skirmish and it's arguably not enough considering we're going to have to loan some to Member Fleets in wartime. We aren't going to have Comets for escort.
No, that's not likely to happen. Many members are looking into native Skirmishers, Centaur-Bs have pretty good R7, and there have been planned changes to Skirmish to make quantity of smaller frigates at least not autolose utterly to monsters like the Comet.
But most importantly, so far never has a Member fleet (as in, and entire battlefleet) operated alone in combat during this quest as far as I recall, as opposed to reinforcing Starfleet battlefleets and taskforces.
Not many Comets are needed per battlefleet as far as we know, three per one looked about ideal before the chances if I recall correctly, almost regardless of opposition or the fleets size.
This is because the only reasons known to us to not just win Skirmish with a single Comet are attrition (damage to H reduces performance, and Skirmishing frigates shoot each other... or try to at least. Doubled evasion. Tiny frigate guns, few frigates participating, and a very short time to cause damage in.), and if the Scout, which must participate, lags behind. Each turn a pair of opposing ships are chosen at random to square off in an R contest. If you have a Comet and a Kepler, you have a 50% chance of using Comets D8 (now R13) or Keplers D5 (now R6), if two Comets its 66% of them skirmishing, if three 75%, if four 80%. Diminishing returns.
The planned change mentioned above or the recent upgrade to the TBG universe might have changed this I suppose, but we have yet to see any evidence of that.
Of which some of the most important defensive fronts are not them, such as the Apiata and Honiani. It's also worth pointing out that "looking into" isn't good enough when we face imminent threats; the Comet wave is it until ships are actually laid down. One goes to war with what they have, not what they want.
But most importantly, so far never has a Member fleet (as in, and entire battlefleet) operated alone in combat during this quest as far as I recall, as opposed to reinforcing Starfleet battlefleets and taskforces.
This is both wrong on its surface (we reinforced the Gaeni task force during the Licori War), and wrong in that it presumes you can extrapolate from limited offensive conflicts to a general war scenario against a peer power. We already know that, in the event of a general war, the closest polities will pull their fleets back from task forces to form the bulwark of defending themselves, while Starfleet operates offensively. We know this because during our last war scare with the Cardassians the STO, Apiata, and Indorians explicitly said they would do this. As it stood then, as it stands now, and as it will stand in the foreseeable future, those fleets need our support.
Indeed, when discussing a scout for the Starkin fleets on Discord- if they could build a Kepler (they won't) or maybe develop their own more to their taste, @Jenny mused on whether they could simply borrow a Kepler from us in event of war.
Of which some of the most important defensive fronts are not them, such as the Apiata and Honiani. It's also worth pointing out that "looking into" isn't good enough when we face imminent threats; the Comet wave is it until ships are actually laid down. One goes to war with what they have, not what they want.
Honiani have some old frigates that they are going to refit and very likely variant a few off into a skirmish and perhaps even scout versions. Apiata will have their Stingers which in the new system are build to Skirmish with R6 and numbers, and the Jaffa is coming up soon (finally) with R8. There is already a prototype being build of a smaller, cheaper Skirmisher for those who don't like the Comet (Greenleaf).
Our enemies will have to use the ships they have too. Except for Cardies having a few Capit Couriers (6, last we checked) which our Comets should blow out of the water in both performance and numbers, and Goshawnars... everything (but its old tech, D5 max in the old system, same as C-B), nobody has dedicated skirmishers, much less like the Comet.
We already have enough Comets laid down for four battlefleets and 5 in reserve to help protect the borders, and Centaur-B are really quite good at Skirmishing also, if not nearly as monstrous.
This is both wrong on its surface (we reinforced the Gaeni task force during the Licori War), and wrong in that it presumes you can extrapolate from limited offensive conflicts to a general war scenario against a peer power. We already know that, in the event of a general war, the closest polities will pull their fleets back from task forces to form the bulwark of defending themselves, while Starfleet operates offensively.
Thanks for the correction, forgot about that Gaeni thing. Though, were they members already at the time? Hm.
As for full war, I am aware, and fully expect our members to see combat fighting off raids and such. Groups of ships that would need dedicated Skirmishers however are rather large, we are talking entire battle fleets here, and the enemy will need their ships and their Skirmishers to defend against Starfleet battle fleets and many Comets, they won't have many if any to spare on battles with Member fleets without giving up the Skirmish phase.
Also, Miri-B has R6. We would be using them to guard the borders anyway, Members can use them for the numbers approach to Skirmish if need be.
Btw, when it comes to Apiata I would be far more worried about their Heavy Metal than their Skirmish, if you are thinking about reinforcing their fleets.
On the subjects of low crew ships. Once we get Isolinear, I have a design for a new escort design with 1/1/1 crew for filling berths when we are low on crew, and for member worlds.
It's been a while since I posted my designs here. Have a bunch.
An even better HC. I love how I sometimes think that it's impossible to do any better, and yet later on I do just that.
An UltraLight "Explorer" to compare with the HC. -1SP +1L +5ER +1/1/1 +30sr +2sp. Note, the "Explorer" part comes from this technically being a Capital ship due to the platform used, which I'm not even sure Starfleet has.
New and improved. Happens to have all the capabilities.
My best LC yet, by a good margin. Peacekeeping and Intel Ops both.
Tender Heavy Cruiser. Basically a HC which, like Queenships and HoH Tenders, sacrifices CS (and -1P +1O) to dock... 4mt worth of parasite craft. Enough for a nasty little battlefleet. Scary ship.
Made to fit 700kt berths and older T2 Docking Tethers, but if that isn't a problem just swap Modular Hull for Reinforced for +1H.
2327 Example
xkt x Years +x% Ev +x% Pen +x% Crit
Cx Sx Hx Lx Px Ex Rx
x BR x SR xO xEN xT SP x
x,x,x,x
2327 - The year we unlock the most advanced part used in the ship. Example - Name of the class. xkt - The ship mass in kilotons. Determines what berths can build it. Do note that we currently have +20% berth size expansion technology, and that Starfleet only builds whole megatons berths (1mt, 2mt, 3mt, 4mt..). x Years - The build time of the ship, before any reduction. +x% Ev - Evasion bonus (not score). Roll for Ev to dodge in combat. Has no effect whatsoever on event response (Clogs). +x% Pen - Shield Piercing bonus. Special ability of Phasers, when you roll a successful Pen the attack ignores the targets shields and strikes the Hull directly. No effect on events. +x% Crit - Critical Chance bonus. Mostly the domain of Torpedoes, when you roll a successful Crit you hit a vulnerable target and cause much more damage. No effect on events. Cx - Combat, but Firepower would perhaps be more accurate. One of the kings of the combat engine, and there are some C events though they are uncommon. After E and R the needs the least parts to raise, especially on Explorers. Sx - Science. Pretty self explanatory. Engineering, sensors, technobabble, research, medical, and more. Having higher S than your opponent in combat also raises your Evasion and lowers theirs. A very valuable stat with many uses. A great deal of events use S to resolve. Hx - Hull. How tough the ship is without shields. When shields run out, or when a bomb is smuggled inside, or an ambush is successful (ships don't fly with shields on all the time, burns out the expensive emitters), the damage goes to your hull. Which is bad, as hull damage can cause crew casualties, degrades the ship performance, and significant hull damage requires a year in a berth to repair. Some events test the Hull, and if it is found wanting... the ship can be lost. But generally H is only tested when other tests are failed, as a last resort sort of thing. Alongside L needs the most parts to raise. Lx - ShieLds (S was taken.). A sort of a regenerating Hull (between battles) without the risk of crew casualties or performance degradation if damaged, or the need for repairs afterwards. Valuable as you can see. The downside is, it's not as reliable, as mentioned above. Phasers also have a special ability to sometimes pierce through shields and damage the hull directly. The more H+L you have in combat, the longer you can shoot without diminished performance, destruction, or retreat, and thus the more damage you deal. Alongside H needs the most parts to raise. Px - Presence, and is all things diplomatic and social. Want to convince the unknown ship that you are not an enemy? P. Want to resolve a bloody feud? P. Successful first contact? P. About as many events are P as they are S, so a very valuable stat. Ex - Endurance, and determines long range (cruise) speed and how long the ship can go without resupply. When rolling to respond to planned, expected events like, say, a mapping mission, E + the event resolution stat (S for mapping missions) is used as a bonus. Alongside R needs the least parts to raise. Rx - Reaction, and tells you the ships short range (sprint) speed and how fast and maneuverable it is at impulse (sublight movement). When rolling if the ship can respond to unplanned events such as distress calls, R is used instead. And only R. Alongside E needs the least parts to raise. x BR - Bulk Resource cost. The uncommon materials that the ships superstructure and armor are made from. Generally equals mass in kilotons /10, unless a Modular Hull one of the very rare +BR parts is involved. x SR - Special Resource cost. The truly exotic stuff needed for advanced technologies. One unit of SR weights far less and takes far less space that one unit of BR, like the difference between platinum and construction steel. We earn 0.87 SR per 1 BR per year. xO - Officer crew cost. Our income is 45.9O per year. xEN - Enlisted crew cost. 61.57En per year. xT - Technician crew cost. 56.48T per year. SP x - Supply Point cost. This is a new mechanic, not yet fully understood. In practice, as UFP is an industrial juggernaut, we just need to keep up our Supply Ship numbers to support our ships + reserve, and to keep in mind that during a war only x total SP of ships can operate on a single front as determined by the number of present Starbases, Outposts, Waystations, and other such infrastructure (further modified by raiding probably). The former is easy, the latter could be a problem. x,x,x,x - Capabilities, if any. Such as Peacekeeping (what that means is not quite clear. Deployment of some ground forces seems likely.), Intelligence Ops (also not clear, but expect intel gathering, analysis, counterespionage, etc.), HF Sensors (add a bonus to minesweeping for Frigates, and for seeing through Cloaks for any grade of a ship), and Hospital (+1MP (Medical Point) to the MP pool per ship with this in garrison, twice that if dedicated to it like Hospital Ships are).
Setting up
Read Rules Document and Parts List. Especially the rules. I recommend that you skip the parts and read my Parts and Platforms Analysis two posts below instead, as it has the same information with some added tips, some fixed errors, and far less math.
Open Ship Builder Spreadsheet v4.2. Now, you don't have permission to edit this because it would mess it up for others, so you have two options:
If you have a Google account or are willing to open one (it's easy, quick, costs nothing, and has some perks), you can open File (top left) and click Make a Copy.
Or you can open File, click Download, and save a local copy as a .xlsx or .ods to work with using a desktop spreadsheet editor like Excel, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, etc. (credit to @kimagurena)
If you went with the former, this will open another tab with your copy of the spreadsheet.
If with the latter, open the downloaded file in a desktop editor of your choosing.
You can close the original spreadsheet now, you won't be needing it.
You should be looking at this (if using Google Spreadsheets):
Now, this tab will be your starting point from which you will build all of your ships. As such, you want to delete all the non-infrastructure parts except for the almost mandatory Primary Deflector Shields (B12 to B17) and the name so that you don't have to do it every time you start a new ship. I would also recommend setting all part Tech Tier values to 3 to begin with, as most of our parts at that Tier currently.
Here is my own Builder tab, set up for 2327 tech ships, primarily Frigates, and with the three parts that nearly all new ships should have:
(Except for the Primary SIF, which is sometimes swapped for Secondary SIF or other HL parts during tuning or removed entirely on small frigates. But it is still a good idea to start with it.)
This is how every ship of mine starts.
Only ever edit the light blue colored cells. Do not touch any others unless you know what you are doing. For parts, click on the upside down triangle and choose from the list, or type the first letter of the part you want to get a shortlist.
A tip: All the parts and their stats are in the Parts tab, so feel free to check there if you are looking for something. I didn't think of this and just tried one part after another until I remember them all...
Now, right click on the Builder tab down left, and click Duplicate. It's better to never design in the original Builder tab, to avoid accidentally messing it up, so always start a new ship in a duplicate.
Now, to designing ships!
First thing first, what years tech are you using? I would recommend 2328 tech for simplicity and because except for maybe one class we are not going to launch any new ship classes using older tech than that. It has all parts unlocked and at T3, except for these, which are T4:
T4
Computer Cores
Primary SIF Node
Secondary SIF Node
Cargo Bay
Replicators (1)
Supplemental Armor
Tactical Sensors (1)
High-Fidelity Sensors (T1+) (1)
Scientific Specialists (1) (Req 1 Sensor)
Inpatient Sickbay Ward (1)
Additional Medical Ward
Shipboard Hospital (Req Inpatient Sickbay Ward)
Dedicated Away Teams (1) (2327 maybe, 2328 definitely) Tactical and DamCon Specialists (1) (by 2328 probably T4, we are not sure) Edit: We are now sure. T3.
And we have up to T3 (2320s) Platforms, so the ones that you should use for new ships are:
2320s 500-1100kt Frigate
2320s 1000-1800kt Cruiser
2320s 2200-3000kt +600 Explorer
Tutorial
Now, I personally started by trying my hand on an economical large flat generalist Frigate. A Centaur-B basically, but without the need for high R to be our Skirmisher as well, because we have Comets. A 1100kt Frigate with all stats about equal (except for ER, those are kind of secondary for most generalist ships but don't let them lag too far behind either), so I will try to guide you through that.
Starting point is my default Builder tab in the image above, so make a duplicate of yours and select the same parts and Tiers.
For generalists, I always start with adding our single most powerful (all grade) non weapon part, which are Scientific Specialists (T4) (+2.6S). Those need a sensor first though, and so:
Add Long Range Sensors (1) (+1.3S) 2OE 4 sr (T3)
+1.9S. For comparison, the S and P repeatable parts, Labs and Conference Centers, give +1.8 stats. If a part gives that much its a meh part, if more it's a good part. You can change them later on with, say, Survey Sensors which are equally as good, but right now you need any sensors to allow you to add the part below (or maybe Labs, later), and these are the simplest to work with. I usually add them a row or two below the Replicator part, to keep the various part types separate in rough groups so that I can find parts quickly.
Add Scientific Specialists (1) (Req 1 Sensor) (+1.8S) 1O8T (T4)
+2.6S. This is a very good part which we have at T4 even, making it monstrously powerful.
Now to bring P up in line with our S.
Add Diplomatic Facility (1) (+1.8P) 5 sr, 2O2E (T3)
+2.4P. Almost always the first P part you should add. A necessity for two other P parts, the repeatable Conference Centers and the excellent but crew heavy Xenopsych.
Now you have, except for C, a decently flat statline of C0 S5.8 H3.6 L6.9 P4.3 E4.3 R5.9 So let's add some weapons. Note, while very low H is bad, what matters most in combat is H+L, as both give you the same amount of durability per point. As such, do not be afraid to have H lower on your generalist ships by a point or two than other stats, so long as your (H+L)/2 is about equal to your other stats.
Add Primary Phaser Array and Burst Launchers (T3+) (1 Primary) (+2C, +1% shield pen, +0.5% crit chance) 2O2E 7 sr, +0.5 SP (T3)
+2.6C This is the best weapon part that we have right now, and you need a primary weapon part to add any other besides. Except for the weak Supplemental Phasers that is. Later on, if you have 2En 3sr free, upgrade to Primary Omni-Directional Phaser Array (T3) for -0.5sp, but only if you use no other torp part due to the pesky (Req Torp Primary) that they have. This gives you 2.6C, which is clearly not enough for a generalist.
Now we can add one of three non-primary weapon parts allowed for Starfleet Frigates, all of which are T3. The Supplemental Phaser (5sr, 2En, +1.6C. Basic, weak.), Torpedo Launcher (2sr, 1En, +1.6C +0.5sp. Weak but cheap. All torps cost -3sr and less crew than their phaser equivalents, remember this as it will come in handy.), or the powerful Burst Torpedo Launcher (+2C, 4sr, 2En, +0.5sp, phaser equivalent of Cruiser+ only Twinned Phaser Bank.). My advice: always start from the most powerful and cheapest (so torps), and then if you have more C than you need, have some SR and crew free, or don't like the SP cost that results in, downgrade or swap torps for phasers. As such:
This results in decently flat C4.6 S5.3 H3.6 L6.9 P4.3 E4.3 R5.9. As we wanted a generalist and we have a rough generalist statline already, let's check how much space we have left. As our ship is currently 800kt and the platforms maximum size is 1100kt, we have space for 3 parts left. It is not a good idea to fill up the platform fully for every ship, but for Starfleet designs it often is, especially for Frigates. As we have space left, we don't need to swap around parts to get rid of high decimals in the quest for lower cost or to gather them to raise other stats by a whole point yet, and we can add more parts. The lowest stat is H, but (H+L)/2=4.5 which makes its toughness in line with its other stats right now, and so we should look at C and P first instead which are 4 due to rounding. Let's add the second best (adding the most total event resolution stats) P part, first being already added and non repeatable.
Add Xenopsych Specialists (1) (Req Diplomatic Facility) (+0.2S, +1.6P) 1O8T (T3)
+0.5S, +1.9S for excellent +2.4 total stats, resulting in most welcome +1S +2P on our ship.
The statline is now C4.6 S6.3 H3.6 L6.9 P6.2 E4.3 R5.9 ER are usually pretty secondary stats for multiple reasons, generally simple to attend to at the end by tweaking mostly Infrastructure parts, and Frigates have a harder time raising E than other ship grades besides, so lets see to C instead. As per my advice above:
C6.6 S6.3 H3.6 L6.9 P6.2 E4.3 R5.9 Our ship is taking form. Time to address that lagging H score.
Now, we have síx options here.
First -Supplemental Armor (1H, +0.1E, 0.2 tech scaling) 1O3E1T, 5sr (T4)
+1.8H +0.7E, 5sr, 1/3/1. This would add +2H and fix the statline nicely, leaving the ship only a little bit fragile.
Second -Secondary SIF Node (+0.5H, +0.5L, +0.1E, +0.1R) 2O2E1T, 3 sr (T4)
+0.9HL +0.5ER, 3sr 2/2/1. Note that this is 2sr cheaper and adds +0.3 more E+R compared to Armor. This is one of the major reasons why Starfleet ships have weaker hulls and stronger shields, alongside mandatory Infrastructure parts adding a lot more L than H. Adding it would leave H at 4, but would raise L to 7 for (4+7)/2=5.5, leaving the ship as tough overall as the above part and 4H is acceptable on a Frigate, though higher is better.
Third -Dedicated Away Teams (1) (+0.4C, +0.3P, +0.3H, enables peacekeeping ops) 3O4E (T4)
+0.7C +0.6HP +3/4/0, grants Peacekeeping capability. A good, if crew heavy part. Wouldn't raise toughness by as much as we would want to though. We don't need more P right now as it wouldn't raise it past the threshold (but our future tweaks might allow that, or allow for tweaks that would subtract up to -0.8P safely.), but the +0.7C would get us C7. This is the part that most often decides whether a ship is a 2327 or 2328 tech design. Decimals tend to line up far better with T4 of this part, resulting in whole C and H stats.
Fourth -Tactical and DamCon Specialists (1) (+0.2C, +0.5H, +0.5L) 4O4E4T (T4)Edit: Turns out that they will be T3 for a while. +0.6C +0.9HL Edit: At T3 +0.5C +0.8H +0.8L +4/4/4. Basically a very crew heavy Secondary SIF with +0.6C +0.5C -0.1HL -3sr but without the speed boost. Not often will you have the crew slack to use these without raising crew cost, even more so on Frigates, and we really do not lack for SR, but it is useful sometimes.
Fifth -Cargo Bay (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (2) (+0.5E, +0.2H) 1E, -0.5 SP (T4)
+0.6H +0.9E -0.5sp +0/1/0. A very cheap and...very weak part. Would give us +1H thanks to that x.6H. Note that if you are using this, you could probably, if not always, do better.
Sixth
Upgrade the Hull. Reinforced Hull for +1H +5sr +0/3/0, or even Armored Hull +2H +10sr +0/6/2. Does not take a slot, but is more expensive per point of H than the other options.
Which one to use? Well, that depends on how much our ship currently costs, especially the crew. Because of that and because it is the last part that we have space for, it is time to start tuning. So check the various costs.
55 SR 8O 14En 22T
Adding the first two parts or swapping to Reinforced Hull would raise the ships SR cost by +5sr after rounding. Swapping to Armored +10. SR is not a concern for Starfleet, but less is better nonetheless.
8O: Adding third or fourth part would raise the ships O cost, no other option would.
14En: This means that any part can be used without affecting En cost. Trying for a 1En ship is not a good idea as getting rid of 4En would be quite difficult, and also not enough because all the H parts cost 2En at least (except for the weak Cargo Bay), and shaving off 6En is a no without a lot of work and some sacrifices.
22T means that we can either ignore T costs like with En, or try to adjust the ship to shave off at least 2T which would to lower the final T cost to 2, and allow us to add Away Teams (which would, however, raise O to 11 necessitating some more adjustments) or Reinforced Hull (which is not as cost effective as the other options and thus should not be our first resort on an economical ship, but would not take a slot or any O or T.). Shaving off 3T would allow us enough slack for Supplemental Armor or Secondary SIF.
We can see that unless we were willing to accept that the ship will cost 3T, which seems unnecessary, we need to save some T somewhere. And as while we do that other crew costs are likely to change some, there is no sense in picking the H part now. First we lower T, then we return to it and see what crew slack we have to work with.
C6.6 S6.3 H3.6 L6.9 P6.2 E4.3 R5.9 If you are trying to save something, SR or crew, first look for large decimals. Because only the whole numbers matter in the end.
We have x.6C, which we will have to do something about such as downgrading one weapon for -0.4C -2sr -1En, but neither SR nor En are problem right now and weapons don't cost any Ts, so let's return to it later.
x.3S holds some promise, but not much, especially on a frigate where you don't have many parts to play with.
x.6H, but we are trying to raise it.
x.9L. Promising! The L contributing parts are Primary Shields, SIF, Iso Ops Core, and Deflector. -Primary Deflector Shields (1) (1L+grade) 1O1E3T per grade, 3 sr per grade (T3)
+2.6L. Compare with T4 Armor Plating and Secondary SIF, which both give +1.8 H+L. This is a powerful part that gets even more powerful on Cruisers and Explorers. However, losing it right now would cost us only -2H+L due to the very high L decimal, which is something that those two parts can gain back with if at least x.2 remains (it almost always does on frigates) while costing -2T. A possible solution, but with how powerful the part is, swapping for something else should be among the last solutions you try. We will return to this option later. -Primary SIF Node (1) (+0.7H, +0.7L) 1O2E2T, 3 sr (T4)
+1.1HL. Note that while Primary SIF costs 1/2/2, Secondary is 2/2/1 and -0.2HL +0.5ER compared to it. So if you have the HL slack and space for 1O use them instead for the speed boost alone. This would save 1T without any loss. -Isolinear Ops Core (-2OET per grade, +0.5S, +0.5L, +0.5P, +0.5E all per grade) 10 sr per grade (T4)
+1.3SLPE. We are not changing this. Nuh uh. Iso Ops Core is the single best Computer Core for any class that is not a warship, and sometimes even then. Iso Auto Core is expensive and while it saves some more crew it loses you Ops Cores +5.2 total stats (on a Frigate, on larger ships even more!) which I would more than gladly pay that crew for. Iso Battle Core gives half the stats with +1.3CH, so +2.6 total, which it compensates for by adding Ev and Crit... which are completely irrelevant to event response, the stuff you see in Clogs and 95%+ of what a Starfleet ship does. -Tactical Pattern Deflector (+1L per grade, +0.5R flat) 1O2E2T per grade, 5 sr per grade (T3)
There are three Frigate Deflectors. The one that you should start with on any ship grade, Tactical, which gives the most L and second best R. Response, which is -0.8L +1.1E +1.2R +1sr -1O +1T compared to it (on Frigates). We can eat that L loss without lowering the stat, but we need to lose T not pay more of them. And Economy, which is -0.5L +1.4E -1.4R -3sr -1O +1En -1T. This would cost us -1R, but give us +1E -1En.
x.2P is not much. It would allow us to swap Xenopsych for the basic P part, Conference Center (+1.8P +3sr +2/2/0) to save lots of T, but that would result in 4.8S and thus is not our first choice.
So, we have found a way to lose -2T without losing the excellent Primary Shields.
Swap Primary SIF Node for Secondary SIF Node (T4)
Swap Tactical Pattern Deflector for Economy Pattern Deflector (T3)
Do those two changes break anything, such as raising other crew kinds over the threshold?
Nothing broken! But, we can't add any H part other than the weak Cargo Bay either, without raising the ship's crew cost. We can however swap the hull to Reinforced for +1H +5sr +3En, and as this would make the ship -10br +5sr compared to the Cargo Bay option and leave a slot free for one more part, let's do this.
Change the Hull to Reinforced (T3)
This leaves the ship fragile, but (4H+6L)/2=5 is close to other stats 6, so hardly ideal it is acceptable.
But wait! I spy a x.6C! A weapon downgrade is in order.
Swap Burst Torpedo Launcher for Torpedo Launcher (T3)
5sr saved! Note that we have one slot leftover still! But only 2O 3En to work with. The only parts which fit into that crew cost are:
-Burst Torpedo Launcher (T2+) (FC) (Req Torpedo Primary) (+1.4C, +0.5% crit chance) 2E, 4 sr, +0.5 SP (T3)
+2C, for +5sr 8C. The other two Frigate weapons would fit too, but only give 7C, and you should always start from the most powerful ones. -Small LR Sensors (+0.6S) (T3)
+1.2S, for S7 -Small Survey Sensors (+0.5S, +0.1P) (T3)
+0.8S +0.4P, for S7 -Shuttlebay (1) (Req for 5YM) (+0.5S, +0.5P, +0.5R all per grade) 2OE per grade, 6 sr (T3)
+0.8SPR +6sr +2/2/0 for 7S 7P +10sr ship cost (61sr begs for spending either less or more, in this case I would recommend swapping the Torp Launcher for Phasers for +3sr +1En -0.5sp, resulting in -0.5sp and no cost increase for the ship). Would result in a unbalanced, not a very generalist statline, but a good ship if one that should probably stay away from combat when it can. -Conference Center (Req Diplomatic Facility) (+1.2P) 2OE, 3 sr (T3)
+1.8P +3sr resulting in +5sr +2P. -Cargo Bay (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (2) (+0.5E, +0.2H) 1E, -0.5 SP (T4)
+0.6H +0.9E -0.5sp adding +1HE -0.5sp which would round up the ship nicely!
We wanted an economical generalist, and thus:
Add Cargo Bay (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (2) (+0.5E, +0.2H) 1E, -0.5 SP (T4)
Tada! A cheap, powerful generalist frigate!.
At a glance, those 2 free En and 55sr tell me that the ship could have +5sr -0.5sp by swapping Torp Launchers for Supplemental Phasers. Not, however, primary weapons for Omni Directional Phaser Arrays even though that would add +3sr +2En and thus end up costing the same, because torp parts require torp primary weapons.
Now, for those of you that are curious where swapping the Primary Shields would lead us:
Start with the USS Stepping Stone.
Swapping the Primary Shields for Secondary SIF would result in H4.4 L5.1 55 SR 9O 15EN 20T. What now? We want more free T for the powerful +HL parts, but we can not repeat our other -T tricks, as one would cost -0.2HL losing us a point of L (and adding +1O and thus not allowing for any HL part anyway), and the other -0.5L resulting in the same.
So we are left with swapping for the Reinforced Hull again.
Swap Hull to Reinforced
+5sr over our previous path, and only 1/2/0 crew to play with. Too low L decimals to play with. That, and seeing that x.5H, I think that we both know where this is going.
Add Cargo Bay (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (2) (+0.5E, +0.2H) 1E, -0.5 SP (T4)
And here we are! 6H 5L is not as desirable as 5H 6L, +1R but -2E, and this ship is +5sr, so the previous one is better.
How to share your ship with others.
Your first, simplest option, is to copy the stat sheet and and paste here. This results in:
Max
1100kt
+1.5% Crit
Build Time
2.25 Years
SP
SP Distribution
Design
1200kt
+10% Ev
+1% Pen
2O
3EN
3T
1.5
0.0
C6
S6
H5
L7
P6
E7
R5
120 BR
55 SR
.
Workable, but not pretty, takes a lot of space, and places like Discord can't take tables like this.
.
Another option is to Ctrl+Shift+V instead, which pastes the stat sheet bar any formatting.
Max 1100kt +1.5% Crit Build Time 2.25 Years SP
Design 1200kt +10% Ev +1% Pen 2O 3EN 3T 1.5
C6 S6 H5 L7 P6 E7 R5 120 BR 55 SR
As you can see, it needs some editing.
2327 First Try -tech year and class name
1100kt 2.25 Years +10% Ev +1% Pen +1.5% Crit -mass, build time, Ev, Pen, Crit
C6 S6 H5 L7 P6 E7 R5 -statline
120 BR 55 SR 2O 3EN 3T SP 1.5 -costs
-capabilities (Peacekeeping, Intel Ops, HF Sensors, Hospital) would go here if it had any
Lastly, the most used option. Image. Open the Windows menu (if you have Windows ofc), and search for Snip, full name Windows Snipping Tool. Open it, click on new and select the part of your screen that you want others to see. A new window will open with the snipped image and it is also placed into your buffer (when you Ctrl+V, this image is pasted).
Now comes the complicated part. See, you can't just Ctrl+V the image into your SV post. You have to host it somewhere first and copy the images address.
If you are on Discord this is easy, as you can just copy the image there to host it, click it to enlarge, right click, select Copy Image Address.
If not, open Paint (not paint3d) in Windows, and paste the snipped image in. Save as a .jpg. Open the IMGUR site, click New Post (top left, no sign up necessary), drag the image file there or click Choose Photo/Video and select it, and click on the Share button to get a URL address. (credit to @ClawClawBite )
Now return here. Find Insert Image in the toolbar above the reply box (or Ctrl+P), and paste in that address. Done.
Note: It is polite to hide what images you post here in a spoiler (choose Insert among post editing tools, click Spoiler, write name), because images are large and Internet sometimes slow or expensive, and it makes the thread easier to navigate.
A notional continuation of this post for those of us who haven't memorized the years each part is scheduled to advance, based on the Completion Year given in EAS, thus there will be parts advancing faster than indicated here and has theoretically taken research projects into account. If any of this is in error, please inform me so that I can correct it.
2326
T3 2320s Frigate Platform
T3 2320s Cruiser Platform
T3 2320s Explorer Platform
T3 Hull
T3 Warp Core
T2 Nacelles
T3 Computer Cores
T3 Navigational Deflector
T3 Phasers (and Phaser Array)
T3 Torpedoes
T3 Deflector Shields
T3 Supplemental Armor
T4 Tactical Sensors
T4 High-Fidelity Sensors
T3 Dedicated Away Teams
T3 Tactical and DamCon Specialists
T3 Long-Range Sensors
T3 Survey Sensors
T3 Shuttlebay
T4 Cargo Bay
T4 Replicators
T3 Impulse Thrusters
T2 Communications Array
T3 SIF Nodes
T3 Laboratory Suite
T3 Dedicated Analysis Computer
T4 Scientific Specialists
T4 Inpatient Sickbay Ward
T4 Additional Medical Ward
T3 Shipboard Hospital
No Holosuite
T3+ Diplomatic Facility
T2 Conference Center
T2 Xenopsych Specialists
T3 Intelligence Operations Team
T3 Adaptive Life Support
T2 Five-Year Mission Command
T3 Five-Year Mission Crew Amenities
2327
T3 2320s Frigate Platform
T3 2320s Cruiser Platform
T3 2320s Explorer Platform
T3 Hull
T3 Warp Core T3 Nacelles
T4 Computer Cores
T3 Navigational Deflector
T3 Phasers (and Phaser Array)
T3 Torpedoes
T3 Deflector Shields T4 Supplemental Armor
T4 Tactical Sensors
T4 High-Fidelity Sensors
T3 Dedicated Away Teams
T3 Tactical and DamCon Specialists
T3 Long-Range Sensors
T3 Survey Sensors
T3 Shuttlebay T3 Flight Deck
T4 Cargo Bay
T4 Replicators
T3 Impulse Thrusters T3 Communications Array
T4 SIF Nodes
T3 Laboratory Suite
T3 Dedicated Analysis Computer
T4 Scientific Specialists
T4 Inpatient Sickbay Ward
T4 Additional Medical Ward T4 Shipboard Hospital
T3 Holosuite
T3 Diplomatic Facility T3 Conference Center
T3 Xenopsych Specialists
T3 Intelligence Operations Team
T3 Adaptive Life Support
T2 Five-Year Mission Command
T3 Five-Year Mission Crew Amenities
2328
T3 2320s Frigate Platform
T3 2320s Cruiser Platform
T3 2320s Explorer Platform
T3 Hull
T3 Warp Core
T3 Nacelles
T4 Computer Cores
T3 Navigational Deflector
T3 Phasers (and Phaser Array)
T3 Torpedoes
T3 Deflector Shields
T4 Supplemental Armor
T4 Tactical Sensors
T4 High-Fidelity Sensors T4 Dedicated Away Teams
T3 Tactical and DamCon Specialists
T3 Long-Range Sensors
T3 Survey Sensors
T3 Shuttlebay
T3 Flight Deck
T4 Cargo Bay
T4 Replicators
T3 Impulse Thrusters
T3 Communications Array
T4 SIF Nodes
T3 Laboratory Suite
T3 Dedicated Analysis Computer
T4 Scientific Specialists
T4 Inpatient Sickbay Ward
T4 Additional Medical Ward
T4 Shipboard Hospital
T3 Holosuite
T3 Diplomatic Facility
T3 Conference Center
T3 Xenopsych Specialists
T3 Intelligence Operations Team
T3 Adaptive Life Support
T2 Five-Year Mission Command
T3 Five-Year Mission Crew Amenities
2329
T3 2320s Frigate Platform
T3 2320s Cruiser Platform
T3 2320s Explorer Platform
T3 Hull
T3 Warp Core
T3 Nacelles
T4 Computer Cores
T3 Navigational Deflector
T3 Phasers (and Phaser Array)
T3 Torpedoes
T3 Deflector Shields
T4 Supplemental Armor
T4 Tactical Sensors
T4 High-Fidelity Sensors
T4 Dedicated Away Teams
T3 Tactical and DamCon Specialists
T3 Long-Range Sensors
T3 Survey Sensors
T3 Shuttlebay
T3 Flight Deck
T4 Cargo Bay
T4 Replicators
T3 Impulse Thrusters
T3 Communications Array
T4 SIF Nodes
T3 Laboratory Suite
T3 Dedicated Analysis Computer
T4 Scientific Specialists
T4 Inpatient Sickbay Ward
T4 Additional Medical Ward
T4 Shipboard Hospital
T3 Holosuite
T3 Diplomatic Facility
T3 Conference Center
T3 Xenopsych Specialists
T3 Intelligence Operations Team
T3 Adaptive Life Support
T2 Five-Year Mission Command
T3 Five-Year Mission Crew Amenities
Note that these parts are newer that the latest EAS and we do not know under what technology they belong and thus when they will upgrade from their 2325 Tier:
Adaptive Life Support
Five-Year Mission Command
Five-Year Mission Crew Amenities
Build Time
The minimum build time for any ship is 1.5y even if reductions should bring it lower. The only known exception is the Klingon Bird of Prey, which has a lot in common with runabouts.
Build time reductions
-First, apply Arsenal of Liberty. Universal -1Q to line ships (not auxiliary).
-Second, apply Heavy Industrial Park if present (currently only Sol System, one planned for Antares Fleetworks). For all parallel (multiple ships of the same class started at the same time) or serial (one ship started right after another of the same class finishes in the same berth) builds, -1q per whole year of build time.
-Third, once we have it, apply the Way of the Industrious. For all parallel Explorer builds -1q per whole year of build time, can not lower build time below 3y.
-If UFP has Mobilized, we get further build time reductions depending on the degree. Unknown where in the order they are applied.
Ordering a new ship class
-Post the design in the thread (not just Discord). Every year there will be a vote on what if any ships SDB presents to the main thread. Then the thread has to buy the option to start a new class in a Snakepit. Then there is a vote on which design for the ship to use. Then, in next years Shipyard Ops (2Qs after the Snakepit), the prototype can be laid down. Note, classes so ordered use already available technology. Which means, EAS happening in Q3 while Snakepit in Q2, last years tech. A 2327 tech ship must be ordered in 2328 Q2 Snakepit, 0.75y later.
-Start the prototype. The BR, SR, but most importantly build time of a prototype is multiplied by 1.5, rounding up. Note, we will soon finish the Counterpunch doctrine tech which reduces this multiplier for Cruisers to 1.25. We can now order multiple prototypes simultaneously, but HIP can not apply so there is little point to it. Unless it is an Explorer and we have the Way of the Industrious that is, in which case HIP can apply. Arsenal of Liberty does apply, but after the multiplication.
-Edit: We can now buy in Snakepit Prototyping Replicators for a star system, which give a -1Q build time reduction to prototypes build there, -2Q if building multiple simultaneous ones. Which is expensive and probably not worth mere -1Q most of the time, except for maybe frigates for which it is a substantial reduction of total prototyping time. Explorers with WoI build two prototypes so they get this as an extra. The table below uses only -1Q build time for non-Explorer prototypes.
-During a war, prototyping can be skipped. However, such ships will require a 1y refit after the war to fix issues that results in, and there might be some unreliability.
Prototyping times with Counterpunch and Way of the Industrious
Small Frigate (600kt) 1.75y*1.5-0.25y=2.5y -0.25y (Prototyping Replicators, single prototype)=2.25y
Medium Frigate (900kt) 2y*1.5-0.25y=2.75y -0.25y=2.5y
Large Frigate (1.1mt) 2.25y *1.5-0.25y=3.25y -0.25y=3y
Light Cruiser (1.2mt) 3y*1.25-0.25y=3.5y -0.25y=3.25y
Heavy Cruiser (1.8mt) 3.5y*1.25-0.25y=4.25y -0.25y=4y
Light Explorer (2.4mt) 4.25y*1.5-0.25y=6.25y-1.5y (HIP)=5y-1.25y (WotI)=3.75y -0.5y (PR, double prototype)=3.25y
Heavy Explorer (3.6nt) 5y*1.5-0.25y=7.25y-1.75y (HIP)=5.5y-1.25y (WotI)=4.25y -0.5y=3.75y
Build times with HIP and Way of the Industrious
Small Frigate (600kt) 1.75y-0.25y=1.5y -HIP has no effect.
Medium Frigate (900kt) 2y-0.25y=1.75y-0.25y (HIP)=1.5y
Large Frigate (1.1mt) 2.25y-0.25y=2y-0.5y (HIP)=1.5y
Light Cruiser (1.2mt) 3y-0.25y=2.75y-0.5y (HIP)=2.25y
Heavy Cruiser (1.8mt) 3.5y-0.25y=3.25y-0.75y (HIP)=2.5y
Light Explorer (2.4mt) 4.25y-0.25y=4y-1y (HIP/WotI)=3y -with WotI LEs parallel build in 3y HIP or no HIP
Heavy Explorer (3.6nt) 5y-0.25y=4.75y-1y (HIP)=3.75y-0.75y (WotI)=3y
When will your ship fly?
Take the tech year used (the year alone, no Qs), add +2y (waiting until next years Snakepit, then waiting until SYO), and add prototyping time. If you want to know when it will fly in numbers, add build time on top of that.
Fleet Combat
The commander in charge of the fleet determines which ships will deploy as part of the Skirmish line, Vanguard line, or Heavy Metal (or Dedicated Scout).
Phase 1: Minefield (Only happens when there is a minefield)
The skirmish line ships roll science tests for themselves to detect and avoid mines, with frigates (or perhaps screening ships in general as small cruisers deployed there also seem to benefit from it) receiving a bonus (appears to be +3). Other ships get two chances to avoid mines, one based on the average science of the skirmish line (including the bonus), one based on their own science.
Relevant stats: Science critical, hull and shields help survive hitting a mine anyway.
Phase 2: Scouting
One ship from each side functions as scout and they roll opposing Science checks. The side that wins this clash of Science gets to fire more often next phase, depending on how much they won by, with the loser firing less often to compensate (same number of shots fired overall). If the scouting ship was drawn from the skirmish line it continues the battle as normal, if it is a deployment group all of its own it doesn't participate in the battle any further.
Ships large enough (Definitely Excelsiors, possibly anything larger than a Frigate) can be ambushed and suffer penalties while Scouting.
Relevant stats: Only science matters, but if the Scout has a good R it might be able to contribute some more in Skirmish.
Phase 3: Skirmish
Each round one ship from each side is randomly selected, they roll opposed R checks and one of them fires at the other (this appears to be independent of the result of the check and apparently based on the result of the scouting phase). The side that wins more gets a to fire more often in the Vanguard phase, works the same as Scouting. Damage is halved and evasion appears to be about twice as effective as in other phases of combat (probably no evasion boost for Cruisers however). The skirmish phase lasts 3 * <total number of ships> turns, and the ships initially remain in the battle when the vanguard phase starts. Note that this is how it has worked so far, but as it massively encourages large R specialist Frigates like the Comet there have been mentions of some changes so that masses of small frigates would not autolose to monsters like the Comet (but Comets will still be really, really good at Skirmish).
Relevant stats: Reaction critical. Combat, and shields useful, but typically the phase doesn't last long enough to get through the shields so hull is less relevant. Depending on how exactly the higher evasion in this phase works science may be much more useful than usual.
Phase 3: Vanguard
Vanguard line deploys, which usually includes all the Cruisers. Each round the side that fires next is selected, based on number of ships and the modifier based on the results of the skirmish phase, and then a firing ship and a ship being fired on is selected and the attack processed as normally. The vanguard phase lasts 2 * <total number of ships> turns. Ships from the Skirmish lines retreat at the end of the phase, the Vanguard line stays for the main battle. The Vanguard phase also determines the relative advantage in the main battle as with previous phases, this time based on raw damage dealt by both sides.
Relevant stats: Combat, shields and hull, in that order. Combat is essential for gaining advantage for the main battle, and also helps damaging skirmish line ships before they retreat. Evasion is especially useful in that it denies the enemy the opportunity to inflict damage that would count towards gaining advantage.
Phase 4: Main Battle
The heavy metal joins the vanguard. Combat continues with the same combat mechanics as in the Vanguard phase and lasts until all ships of one side have been disabled (ending the battle), or one side retreats (retreat threshold is set by GMs).
Relevant stats: Combat, shields and hull, hull being a bit more important than in the Vanguard phase due to influencing whether a ship is disabled or destroyed. Science continues to be moderately useful due to effects on evasion.
Bonuses from various technologies
Explorers
+2ER +1C to response, +1 to hard events, +5% hull damage can be repaired on the way (10% base), -1Q (from 1y) repair time if forced into a berth, one time +5pp and some XP when build,
-25% PP new class and refit cost.
Cruisers
+1ER to response, -25% PP new class and refit cost, Increased fire weight (more often chosen to fire than our other ships) and damage in Vanguard,
Frigates
+1S to Minesweeping
Fleet combat
+5% fleet weight (raises the probability that your side fires instead of the enemy) when you have more Explorers in a battle than the opponent, +1L when your ships are outnumbered
Explorers of one chosen class that pass a Hard R-test may participate in the Vanguard.
+2S to Scouting phase,
+2 to initiating battle (?)
+0.25% fleet weight for every ship in the fleet up to +5%, +10% of presumed-dead crew are recovered after a battle (round down)
Reduce sticky-targeting of enemy ships based on total friendly Frigate R compared to total enemy Frigate R. Increased chance of your Frigates to be targeted compared to your Explorers.
Misc:
+1ER to all response (from a Comm tech), +1ER for any ship outside the home sectors, further +2ER for intercepting raiders
Of note:
Attack Pattern Omega: Explorers gain +50% weighting for firing and targeting (maybe being targeted?)
Shield Roll Maneuver: Ships may opt to lose -10% evasion and -1R but gain +1L (at the beginning of battle?)
Thoughts and critique welcome.
Changelist:
V1.3: Split the Part Analysis off, its two posts below now. Cleaned it up some. Added a link to it at the beginning.
V1.4: Just a few tweaks.
V1.5: Added a method to post images without Discord, credit to @ClawClawBite
V1.6: Reworked the step by step guide quite a bit.
V1.7: Added the Misc category
V1.8: Added Basics, Fleet Combat to Misc, few tweaks.
V1.9: CamCon will be T3 for a while recent Clog has revealed.
V2.0: Fixed the deley between ordering a new class and starting a prototype thing.
V2.1: Added a quote from @Godwinson on tech years, as I forgot to link my own old post on the matter and theirs is prettier. Also added wartime build time reductions and skipping prototyping.
V2.2: Added Prototyping Replicators to the prototyping time tables, some clean up.
Edit: Do share your thoughts please of course. I plan the post a link in the main thread when I can't think of anything to change or add. There has been surprisingly few (if any) joining the SDB after the change for how much simpler the mechanics are now.
I might add a reference to the parts tab, and how to read it, so people can look there at the options and not have to pull up the separate parts document at the same time or try every part one at a time.
List of parts, their stats, and my thoughts on them. All Tiers are expected 2327 tech unless noted otherwise. No species specific parts.
Reminder, stats that needs the least (repeatable at least) parts to raise are ER, then C, then SP, with HL being hardest and thus most valuable.
Hullform (T3)
-Economy (H0 + 1 per grade) 2/2/0 per grade. The default choice and the best place to start from I have found.
-Reinforced (H0.5 + 1.5 per grade) 1E flat and 2/4/0 per grade, 5sr per grade On Frigates, +1H +5sr +0/3/0 compared to the above, Cruisers +1.5H +10sr +0/5/0,Explorers +2H +15sr +0/7/0. Contrast with Supplemental Armor (T4) +1.8H +5sr +1/3/1. Is useful for that slotless H, tuning, and using up some En slack on a Frigate.
-Armored (H1 + 2 per grade) 2E flat and 2/6/2 per grade, 10sr per grade. Adds the same +H compared to Reinforced as Reinforced does compared to Economy, for the same cost but +2T per grade. So Reinforced gives cheaper H.
-Modular (H0 + 1 per grade, +1 slot) 2/2/2 per grade, 5sr per grade +5sr +2T per grade compared to Economy, shrinks your ship by -100kt, buying you another slot to fill. More expensive and much less proportionally useful on higher grades, can be very useful on Frigates. Note however, that it prevents you from using the +H hulls, of which Armored (+10sr +0/6/2) pretty much saves you a slot that you would otherwise fill with Supplemental Armor (which, combined with Modular, costs +10br +10sr +1/3/3), so unless you don't care much for H (Kepler, small frigates) or are not En limited you are generally better off without Modular. Can be used to fit more ship into smaller berths.
Warp Core (T3)
-Small Annihilation Core (FC) (+0.5E, +1.5R both per grade) 0/0/2 per grade, 5sr per grade All the Frigates, most Cruisers. Only HCs sometimes need Large to keep their ER in line with their other stats.
-Large Annihilation Core (CE) (+2E, +2R both per grade) 2/2/4 per grade, 8sr per grade All Explorers, some Cruisers. +3E +1R +6sr +4/4/4 for Cruisers compared to Small.
Warp Nacelles T3)
-Compact Standard Pattern Nacelles (F) (+1.5R) 1/2/2 per grade Best place to start for Frigates.
-Compact High Performance Pattern Nacelles (F) (+1E, +2R) 1/3/3 per grade, 6sr per grade For fast frigates or tuning, but is SR expensive. +1E +0.5R +6sr +0/1/1.
-Sprint Pattern Nacelles (CE) (+1E, +2R) 1/3/2 per grade, 3sr per grade (Rules doc is wrong) Best starting Nacelles for Cruisers and larger. This is because they are cheapest and raise the most R, which lags behind quite a bit otherwise, and E doesn't need help to be in line with other stats.
-Garrison Pattern Nacelles (CE) (+2.5E, +0.5R) 2/3/2 per grade, 6sr per grade, -0.5 SP +1.5E -1.5R -0.5sp, +3sr per grade, +1/0/0 per gradecompared to above. More expensive, less R, more (already abundant) E. The most important part here is that -0.5sp. SF doesn't have to care much for SP costs it seems, though.
-Frontier Pattern Nacelles (CE) (Req for 5YM) (+3E, +1R) 3/2/2 per grade, 8sr per grade, -0.5 SP +0.5ER +1O -1En per grade +6sr per grade compared to Garrison. More expensive, only little better, and shifts crew cost from our plentiful En to much more limited O, but sometimes useful for tuning and needed for FYM ships.
Computer (T4) -Isolinear outright obsoletes Duotronic, don't bother with them if using 2327+ tech.
-Automation Core (-2OET per grade) 8sr per grade If you need to save crew. Note that Iso Auto Core is CE only and not for Frigates, but it doesn't matter because both Ops and Battle Iso Cores give the same crew reduction as this one at only +2sr per grade.
-SMP Core (-1OET per grade, +0.5P per grade) 5sr per grade
-Informatics Core (-1OET per grade, +0.5S per grade) 5sr per grade
-Navigation Core (-1OET per grade, +0.5E per grade) 5sr per grade I don't think that I have ever seen it used, E is not as valuable as other stats. Neither is R, generally, But Skirmishers need it at least.
-RPF Core (-1OET per grade, +6% evasion and +1% evasion per tech level) 5sr per grade No effect outside of combat, don't use except for dedicated warships.
-Integrity Core (-1OET per grade, +0.5H per grade) 5sr per grade Additional armor parts (and shields) give 1.6 at T3 compared to most other stats repeatable parts 1.8, so H (and L) is the most expensive and hardest to raise of out stats. If you are using old Cores, start with this one.
-Isolinear Auto Core (CE) (-3OET per grade) 13sr per grade Expensive, costs you all those wonderful stats that Iso Ops Core gives, and all Iso Cores already subtract a lot of crew already. Very niche.
-Isolinear Ops Core (-2OET per grade, +0.5S, +0.5L, +0.5P, +0.5E all per grade) 10sr per grade The King. Always start with this, only some dedicated warship designs will use Iso Battle Core instead.
-Isolinear Battle Core (-2OET per grade, +0.5C, +0.5H, all per grade, +3% evasion and +1% evasion per tech level, +1% critical chance) 10sr per grade Half of its bonuses are applicable to combat only. Starfleet ships fight very rarely.
Deflector Dish (T3)
-Tactical Pattern Deflector (+1L per grade, +0.5R flat) 1O2E2T per grade, 5 sr per grade The best place to start from for any grade of a ship. Raises R which tends to need all the help that it can get, is cheap, and gives lots of precious L.
-Response Pattern Deflector (+0.5L per grade, +0.5E, +2R both flat) 0/2/3 per grade, 6sr per grade (the rule doc says that its 10sr but it's wrong) For when you have a need for speed. On a Frigate, -0.8L +1.1E +1.2R +1sr -1/0/+1 compared to Tac above. If you can eat that -0.8 without losing L, which tends to happen on 2327+ tech frigates, this is a good choice. On larger grades, you will lose L, and thus it is almost never worth it because of how hard L is to raise and ER easy.
-Economy Pattern Deflector (+0.5L per grade, +0.5E flat) 0/3/1 per grade, 2sr per grade Sometimes useful for tuning for Frigates because crew cost and their naturally higher R and lower E, but only useful in the higher grades for the SR starved. -0.5L +1.4E -1.4R -3sr -1E 0/+1/-1 compared to Tac on a Frigate.
-Explorer Pattern Deflector (CE) (+0.5L per grade, +2E, +1R both flat) 0/4/3 per grade, 5 sr per grade A crew expensive, CE only Response that gives less R and more E. Never used it outside of FYM ships.
Primary Weapons (T3)
-Primary Phaser Array and Burst Launchers (T3+) (1 Primary) (+2C, +1% shield pen, +0.5% crit chance) 2/2/0, 7sr, +0.5 SP +2.6C, your first pick. The best weapon part we have.
-Primary Phaser Bank and Burst Launchers (T2) (1 Primary) (+1.7C, +1% shield pen, +0.5% crit chance) 2/2/0, 5sr, +0.5 SP +2.3C For recreations of older ships, but also tuning. -0.3C -2sr.
-Primary Phaser Bank and Torpedoes (T1 and lower) (1 Primary) (+1.4C, +1% shield pen, +0.5% crit chance) 2/2/0, 3sr, +0.5 SP +2C Same thing as above, -0.3C -2sr compared to it.
-Primary Omni-Directional Phaser Array (T3+) (1 Primary) (+2C, +1% shield pen) 2/4/0, 10sr +2.6C For when you have a free 3sr 2En and no torp parts, or really want low SP on a ship.
-Primary Phaser Bank (T2 and lower) (1 Primary) (+1.2C, +1% shield pen) 2/4/0, 8sr +1.8C This is a bad part. Never use it unless you really, really want low SP on an older ship, or for tuning.
Phasers (T3)
-Supplemental Phaser Bank (+1C, +1% shield pen) 0/2/0, 5 sr +1.6C Basic phasers. Have some niche use in saving O on low C frigates by using only these and no primaries, but otherwise only good for tuning.
-Twinned Phaser Bank (CE) (Req Phaser Primary) (+1.4C, +1% shield pen) 1/3/0, 7sr +2C The Cruiser phaser. Burst Torps are -3sr -1/-1/0 compared to it.
-Secondary Phaser Array (E) (Req Phaser Array Primary) (+2C, +1% shield pen) 2/4/0, 9sr +2.6C The Explorer phaser. Multitube torps are -3sr 0/-2/0 compared to it. All torp parts are -3sr +0.5sp and less crew than their phaser equivalents
Torpedo Launchers (T3)
-Torpedo Launcher (+1C, +0.5% crit chance) (Req Torpedo Primary) 0/1/0, 2sr, +0.5 SP +1.6C Supplemental Phaser equivalent, but needs primary torps. -3sr 0/-1/0 +0.5sp.
-Burst Torpedo Launcher (T2+) (FC) (Req Torpedo Primary) (+1.4C, +0.5% crit chance) 0/2/0, 4sr, +0.5 SP +2C Twinned Phaser equivalent, but can be put on Frigates (and not on Explorers, which rarely comes up but can trip you up) and is -3sr -1/-1/0 +0.5sp.
-Multi-Tube Tube Burst Launcher (T2+) (E) (Req Torpedo Primary) (+2C, +0.5% crit chance) 2/2/0, 6sr, +0.5 SP +2.6C Phaser Array equivalent, -3sr 0/-2/0 +0.5sp.
Shields (T3)
-Primary Deflector Shields (1) (1L+grade) 1/1/3 per grade, 3 sr per grade +2.6L on Frigates, more on higher grades. One of our best parts. Unless you don't care for HL use it. Or if have x.6L or greater on a Frigate, in which case losing it costs you 2 points of H+L, which other HL part can get you too +some ER or C.
-Secondary Deflector Shields (+1L, +0.1R, 0.2 tech scaling) 2/1/2, 5sr +1.6L +0.5R due to being T3, you won't be using this one much. Rarely useful for that crew costs distribution.
Armor (T4)
-Supplemental Armor (1H, +0.1E, 0.2 tech scaling) 1/3/1, 5sr +1.8H +0.7E If you need more HL, and the difference between H and L is too large, use these.
SIF (T4)
-Primary SIF Node (1) (+0.7H, +0.7L) 1/2/2, 3sr +1.1H +1.1L does not give ER and has a bit different crew cost from Secondary SIF (-1/0/+1)
-Secondary SIF Node (+0.5H, +0.5L, +0.1E, +0.1R) 2/2/1, 3sr +0.9H +0.9L +0.5E +0.5R. Our very best HL part. Cheaper than all the others by -2sr, and gives +0.3 E+R compared to them at the same grade. If you have x.2HL both and a free 1O, swap Primary SIF for this.
Misc +CHL Parts
T4 in 2328, maybe 2327
-Dedicated Away Teams (1) (+0.4C, +0.3P, +0.3H, enables peacekeeping ops) 3/4/0 At T4 +0.8C +0.7H +0.7P +Peacekeeping. This is a very good part, though watch those O on a frigate. Gives +1.9 total stats at T3 (and good ones too), +2.2 at T4. Scales better with higher Tiers than most other parts, as it gets +0.3 stat points better per Tier compared to majority of others +0.2, and all of those +0.3 are important (so non ER) stats. I use it on all of my Cruisers and bigger, for the Peacekeeping capability at least but it also gives good stats. No SR cost.
T4
-Cargo Bay (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (2) (+0.5E, +0.2H) 0/1/0, -0.5 SP +0.6H +0.9E-0.5sp Gives low total stats, rarely useful unless you need less SP.
-Replicators (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (1) (+0.2H, +0.2P, +1.5E) 0/1/1, 5sr, -0.5 SP +0.6H +0.6P +1.9E -0.5sp One of our best parts. There is a reason why it's part of my starting loadout for all ships. Use it.
-High-Fidelity Sensors (1) (+0.5S, +0.1L, +0.5R, bonus to space mine detection and counter-cloaking) 0/1/3, 5sr +0.9S +0.5L +0.9R +HF Sensor. Give it to Scouts and Skirmishers for the minesweeping and counter cloaking bonus and otherwise forget about it outside of rarely using its +0.5L for tuning.
-Tactical Sensors (1) (+0.1S, +0.5C, +0.5R, +3% evasion/grade and +1% evasion/grade per tech level) 3/1/0, 5sr +0.9C+0.5S +0.9R +Ev. Gives very little S and costs a lot of O, but +C parts that aren't weapons are rare, and it gives Evasion. Mostly for skirmishers and warships.
T3
-Intelligence Operations Team (1) (+0.3S, +0.3P, +0.3C, enables espionage ops) 3/3/2, 2sr +0.6C +0.6S +0.6P +Intel Ops. Atrocious crew cost for +1.8 total stats. Almost entirely only useful for the Intel Ops capability.
-Holosuite (Counts as 5YM Amenities, HoH Tender Amenities) (+0.2C, +0.2S, +0.5P) 0/0/2, 3sr +0.5C +0.5S +0.8P. An interesting part. Crew cheap, +1.8 total stats so on the weaker end (use it to tune but not to bulk up stats, unless you are making an Explorer and have run out of the good one off parts), but gives good ones. Especially the +C is interesting for tuning, as few parts raise that that aren't weapons much less at such low crew cost. Scales well with Tiers, like Away Teams. Keep it in mind when tuning.
-Tactical and DamCon Specialists (1) (+0.2C, +0.5H, +0.5L) 4/4/4 At T3 +0.5C +0.8H +0.8L, so same as SIF only without the +ER but with +C while costing -3sr and more than double the crew. Not a good part for primarily crew limited Starfleet, but less crew/more SR limited powers like it and it is rarely useful for tuning.
Primarily Science
T4
-Tactical Sensors (1) (+0.1S, +0.5C, +0.5R, +3% evasion/grade and +1% evasion/grade per tech level) 3/1/0, 5sr +0.9C+0.5S +0.9R +Ev. Gives very little S and costs a lot of O, but +C parts that aren't weapons are rare, and it gives Evasion. Mostly for skirmishers and warships.
-High-Fidelity Sensors (1) (+0.5S, +0.1L, +0.5R, bonus to space mine detection and counter-cloaking) 0/1/3, 5sr +0.9S +0.5L +0.9R +HF Sensor. Give it to Scouts and Skirmishers for the minesweeping and counter cloaking bonus and otherwise forget about it outside of rarely using its +0.5L for tuning.
-Scientific Specialists (1) (Req 1 Sensor) (+1.8S) 1/0/8 +2.6S. A monstrously powerful part, eats Techs for breakfast. More than worth their sacrifice. The first part to add after Sensors, no SR cost.
T3
-LR Sensors (1) (+1.3S) 2/2/0, 4sr +1.9S. A good part to start raising S with. Note that while it is a Tier lower than the two sensors above, and give less total stats (-0.4), they give 0.9 to R which is not nearly as valuable (outside of, say, Comet) as the other stats because of how much ER parts tend to give. Good for tuning crew by swapping between this and Lab (-0.1S, 1/0/3, +1sr) though remember that Lab needs at least one sensor part to be valid.
-Small LR Sensors (+0.6S) +1.2S No cost but the slot (so 10br). Excellent for tuning.
-Small Survey Sensors (+0.5S, +0.1P) +0.8S +0.4P. Same as above.
-Survey Sensors (+1S, +0.3P) 2/0/2, 4sr +1.3S +0.6P. Exactly as good as LR, just different crew cost (0/-2/+2) and a different stat distribution. Excellent for tuning.
-Laboratory Suite (Req 1 Sensor) (+1.2S) 1/0/3, 5sr +1.8S. The repeatable +S part. Better to use Survey and LR first which both give +0.1 stat for -1sr before resorting to these, unless you are setting up for:
-Dedicated Analysis Computer (1) (Req Laboratory Suite) (+1.8S) 1/0/3, 12sr +2.4S. Costs a massive pile of SR, but we have plenty of that and the +0.6S over Labs is often worth it. The primary obstacle to using these is actually the need to have at least one Lab (and therefore also sensor) making it very rare outside of heavy Explorers and S specialist frigates. Note that it has the same crew cost as the Lab.
Primarily Presence (T3)
-Diplomatic Facility (1) (+1.8P) 2/2/0, 5sr +2.4P Our P starter part, powerful and needed by two other P parts.
-Xenopsych Specialists (1) (Req Diplomatic Facility) (+0.2S, +1.6P) 1/0/8 +1.9P +0.5S. Gives +2.4S+P so it's very good, but with Scientific Specialists being better the required Ts will very likely be spoken for. Note that it gives +0.1P over Conference Center below, so if you have at least x.1P, swapping for those would cost no P (but might cost S) and change your crew cost a lot. No SR cost.
-Conference Center (Req Diplomatic Facility) (+1.2P) 2/2/0, 3sr +1.8P. The repeatable P part.
-Communications Array (1) (Req for 5YM) (+1.8P, +1R) 3/0/3, 7sr +2.1P +1.3R. Lots of total stats, but R is cheap and costs a pile of SR. Still, useful for raising R on say Cruisers, and the crew cost is great for tuning sometimes. Note, does not need Diplomatic Facility.
-Adaptive Life Support (1) (+1.8P, +1E) 0/2/4, 7sr +2.1P +1.3E. Same as above but with E, which tends to be plentiful on Cruisers and Explorers.
-Holosuite (Counts as 5YM Amenities, HoH Tender Amenities) (+0.2C, +0.2S, +0.5P) 0/0/2, 3sr +0.5C +0.5S +0.8P. An interesting part. Crew cheap, +1.8 total stats so on the weaker end (use it to tune but not to bulk up stats, unless you are making an Explorer and have run out of the good one off parts), but gives good ones. Especially the +C is interesting for tuning, as few parts raise that that aren't weapons much less at such low crew cost. Scales well with Tiers, like Away Teams. Keep it in mind when tuning.
SCIENCE! and Diplomacy (Gives both S and P)
T4
-Inpatient Sickbay Ward (1) (Req for 5YM) (+0.7S, +0.7P, +0.5E) 2/1/3, 3sr +1.1S +1.1P +0.9E. Gives +2.2S+P, which is excellent, and a bunch of E on top of that. A very good part, but somewhat crew heavy.
-Additional Medical Ward (+0.5S, +0.5P, +0.5E) 2/1/3, 3sr +0.9S +0.9P +0.9E. Repeatable but weaker version of the above (-0.2SP). +1.8S+P which is meh (but does give E) and large crew cost. Very niche.
-Shipboard Hospital (Req Inpatient Sickbay Ward) (S1, P0.5, E1, adds +1 MP if deployed to medical pool) 4/2/6, 10sr +1.4S +0.9P +1.4E +Hospital. Gives +2.3S+P which is excellent, but that cost... and, of course, more E is not often needed. Mostly useful for that +1MP and for squeezing a bit more stats into larger ships crew allowing.
T3
-Shuttlebay (1) (Req for 5YM) (+0.5S, +0.5P, +0.5R all per grade) 2/2/0 per grade, 6sr +0.8SPR6sr 2/2/0 for Frigates, +1.3SRP6sr 4/4/0 Cruisers, +1.8SRP 6sr 6/6/0 Explorers. Not very useful for Frigates except for tuning and for Skirmishers (mere 1.6S+P, 6sr), but an excellent part for Cruisers (+2.6S+P and a welcome boost to R which tends to lag behind, and must have for Explorers (3.6SP! And R on top!).
-Flight Deck (E) (1) (Req Shuttlebay) (+1C, +1S, +1R, +1P) 10/10/2, 10br, 20sr, +1 SP A horrifically expensive part that I am only very reluctantly willing to use for Heavy Explorers. One of the only parts with a BR cost.
-Holosuite (Counts as 5YM Amenities, HoH Tender Amenities) (+0.2C, +0.2S, +0.5P) 0/0/2, 3sr +0.5C +0.5S +0.8P. An interesting part. Crew cheap, +1.8 total stats so on the weaker end (use it to tune but not to bulk up stats, unless you are making an Explorer and have run out of the good one off parts), but gives good ones. Especially the +C is interesting for tuning, as few parts raise that that aren't weapons much less at such low crew cost. Scales well with Tiers, like Away Teams. Keep it in mind when tuning.
-Survey Sensors (+1S, +0.3P) 2/0/2, 4sr +1.3S +0.6P. Exactly as good as LR, just different crew cost (0/-2/+2) and a different stat distribution. Excellent for tuning.
-Small Survey Sensors (+0.5S, +0.1P) +0.8S +0.4P. No cost but the slot, excellent for tuning.
-Xenopsych Specialists (1) (Req Diplomatic Facility) (+0.2S, +1.6P) 1/0/8 +1.9P +0.5S. Gives +2.4S+P so it's very good, but with Scientific Specialists being better the required Ts will very likely be spoken for. Note that it gives +0.1P over Conference Center below, so if you have at least x.1P, swapping for those would cost no P (but might cost S) and change your crew cost a lot. No SR cost.
Endurance (Gives E)
T4
-Supplemental Armor (1H, +0.1E, 0.2 tech scaling) 1/3/1, 5sr +1.8H +0.7E If you need more HL, and the difference between H and L is too large, use these.
-Secondary SIF Node (+0.5H, +0.5L, +0.1E, +0.1R) 2/2/1, 3sr +0.9H +0.9L +0.5E +0.5R. Our very best HL part. Cheaper than all the others by -2sr, and gives +0.3 E+R compared to them at the same grade. If you have x.2HL both and a free 1O, swap Primary SIF for this.
-Cargo Bay (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (2) (+0.5E, +0.2H) 0/1/0, -0.5 SP +0.6H +0.9E-0.5sp Gives low total stats, rarely useful unless you need less SP.
-Replicators (Req Cargo or Replicators for 5YM) (1) (+0.2H, +0.2P, +1.5E) 0/1/1, 5sr, -0.5 SP +0.6H +0.6P +1.9E -0.5sp One of our best parts. There is a reason why it's part of my starting loadout for all ships. Use it.
-Inpatient Sickbay Ward (1) (Req for 5YM) (+0.7S, +0.7P, +0.5E) 2/1/3, 3sr +1.1S +1.1P +0.9E. Gives +2.2S+P, which is excellent, and a bunch of E on top of that. A very good part, but somewhat crew heavy.
-Additional Medical Ward (+0.5S, +0.5P, +0.5E) 2/1/3, 3sr +0.9S +0.9P +0.9E. Repeatable but weaker version of the above (-0.2SP). +1.8S+P which is meh (but does give E) and large crew cost. Very niche.
-Shipboard Hospital (Req Inpatient Sickbay Ward) (S1, P0.5, E1, adds +1 MP if deployed to medical pool) 4/2/6, 10sr +1.4S +0.9P +1.4E +Hospital. Gives +2.3S+P which is excellent, but that cost... and, of course, more E is not often needed. Mostly useful for that +1MP and for squeezing a bit more stats into larger ships crew allowing.
T3
-Adaptive Life Support (1) (+1.8P, +1E) 0/2/4, 7sr +2.1P +1.3E. Same as above but with E, which tends to be plentiful on Cruisers and Explorers.
Reaction (Gives R)
T3
-Impulse Thrusters (+6% evasion/grade and +1% evasion/grade per tech level, +1.5R) 2/2/1 (unreasonable evasion will be penalized) +2.1R and some Ev. If you are using this on anything but a Skirmisher, you have gone wrong somewhere. All the other +R parts give more total stats, and Evasion is best left to specialists.
-Secondary Deflector Shields (+1L, +0.1R, 0.2 tech scaling) 2/1/2, 5sr +1.6L +0.5R due to being T3, you won't be using this one much. Rarely useful for that crew costs distribution
-Communications Array (1) (Req for 5YM) (+1.8P, +1R) 3/0/3, 7sr +2.1P +1.3R. Lots of total stats, but R is cheap and costs a pile of SR. Still, useful for raising R on say Cruisers, and the crew cost is great for tuning sometimes. Note, does not need Diplomatic Facility.
-Shuttlebay (1) (Req for 5YM) (+0.5S, +0.5P, +0.5R all per grade) 2/2/0 per grade, 6sr +0.8SPR6sr 2/2/0 for Frigates, +1.3SRP6sr 4/4/0 Cruisers, +1.8SRP 6sr 6/6/0 Explorers. Not very useful for Frigates except for tuning and for Skirmishers (mere 1.6S+P, 6sr), but an excellent part for Cruisers (+2.6S+P and a welcome boost to R which tends to lag behind, and must have for Explorers (3.6SP! And R on top!).
-Flight Deck (E) (1) (Req Shuttlebay) (+1C, +1S, +1R, +1P) 10/10/2, 10br, 20sr, +1 SP A horrifically expensive part that I am only very reluctantly willing to use for Heavy Explorers. One of the only parts with a BR cost.
T4.
-Secondary SIF Node (+0.5H, +0.5L, +0.1E, +0.1R) 2/2/1, 3sr +0.9H +0.9L +0.5E +0.5R. Our very best HL part. Cheaper than all the others by -2sr, and gives +0.3 E+R compared to them at the same grade. If you have x.2HL both and a free 1O, swap Primary SIF for this.
-High-Fidelity Sensors (1) (+0.5S, +0.1L, +0.5R, bonus to space mine detection and counter-cloaking) 0/1/3, 5sr +0.9S +0.5L +0.9R +HF Sensor. Give it to Scouts and Skirmishers for the minesweeping and counter cloaking bonus and otherwise forget about it outside of rarely using its +0.5L for tuning.
-Tactical Sensors (1) (+0.1S, +0.5C, +0.5R, +3% evasion/grade and +1% evasion/grade per tech level) 3/1/0, 5sr +0.9C+0.5S +0.9R +Ev. Gives very little S and costs a lot of O, but +C parts that aren't weapons are rare, and it gives Evasion. Mostly for skirmishers and warships.
Five Year Mission Burden (T3?)
-Five-Year Mission Command (1) (Req for 5YM) (+0.3H, +0.3 E) 2O2E, 2 sr
-Five-Year Mission Crew Amenities (1) (Req for 5YM, HoH Tenders) (+0.3P, +0.3 E) 2O2T, 2 sr Cram them into FYM ships and ignore otherwise.
Platforms
Other powers platforms included. Almost never is an older platform a better idea, unless you want a ship smaller than a modern platforms min size would allow.
T -2 (2240s)
-100-300kt Frigate 'Soyuz': -100 Overhead/4 Max Slots/2 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/19 Base Build in Months/10 %Ev Note the negative overhead. Has a very large build time however, 2y when filled (which is a modern 900kt Frigates build time). Can be of some use for tiny specialist frigates, like a dedicated FDS ship.
-400-800kt Cruiser: 100/7/3/0/29/5
T -1 (2260s)
-400-600kt Frigate 'Miranda': 0 Overhead/6 Max Slots/4 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/18 Base Build in Months/10 %Ev
-700-900kt Cruiser 'Constitution': 100/8/5/0/28/5
T 0 (2280s)
-500-800kt Frigate 'Centaur': 0 Overhead/8 Max Slots/5 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/16 Base Build in Months/10 %Ev Note, is not actually the hull that current Centaur recreation uses. That's the latter 900kt one below. Old frigates were hard to recreate, the 900kt hull was available by then (but the 800kt was better in that designer so this one was used instead) and the GMs were kind.
-800-1000kt Cruiser 'Constellation': 0/10/7/0/28/5 The first Cruiser Platform without an overhead.
-1600-2200kt +400 Explorer 'Excelsior': 400/18/12/2/29/0 The very first Explorer platform. Cruiser was the highest grade before this platform was invented alongside Explorers as a concept. Constitution was a Cruiser in TBG.
Foreign
-1000kt-1900kt Generic Cruiser (Non-Starfleet Only) 'Turtleship' 'Hebrinda' 'Kalindrax': 100 Overhead/18 Max Slots/9 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/25 Base Build in Months/5 %Ev That 1900kt max size looks scary, but in practice this is an abstraction of a bunch of different platforms that no one can be bothered to track and it's more to encompass almost any minor power cruiser possible. We are unlikely to see many 1.9mt cruisers, and it doesn't mean that cruisers build on it are going to be refitted to that size. Note the +100kt overhead but also -1Q build time compared to our contemporary cruiser platform and 1mt minimum size.
-1000kt-1700kt Cruiser (Cruiser-Specialist Only) 'Jaldun' 'Kaldar': 0/17/10/0/24/5 -1 max slot, +1 month base build time compared to our T3 2320s 1.8mt Cruiser, but about 40y early... A very, very good (and early!) Cruiser Platform. Don't worry too much though, such specialization has cost them elsewhere.
-1600-1800kt +2200 Generic Capital 'Egillah', 'Cathedral', 'Choreographer', 'Devoras': 400/14/12/11/29/0 What the poor schmucks without Explorer platforms have to use. You can build some monstrous flagships with the number of overhead parts allowed, but it will cost you a bunch. Compared to Excelsior, -4 max slots. Note, the rule doc lists the number of its overhead slots as 2, but that's an error as can be seen from the +2200 in its name. It's 11.
T 1 (2300s)
-500-900kt Frigate 'Centaur': 0 Overhead/9 Max Slots/5 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/15 Base Build in Months/10 %Ev The actual Centaur platform.
-900-1200kt Cruiser 'Renaissance': 0/12/9/0/26/5 Your most modern choice for a 900kt cruiser, if you wanted to build one for some reason (such as fitting it into 750kt berths with our current +20% berth size expansion tech).
-1600-2200kt +400 Explorer: 300/19/13/2/0/30/0 A refinement of the very first Explorer platform, -100kt overhead, +1 max slot, but +1 month. We skipped this one and waited for Amby, not sure why but probably because back then new classes competed with our research for research teams. Also, the rule sheet has an error here, putting max slots at 20 when it is 19, and Min at 14 when it's 13.
Foreign
-1000kt-1800kt Cruiser (Cruiser-Specialist Only): 0 Overhead/18 Max Slots/10 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/23 Base Build in Months/5 %Ev Completely identical to our T3 1.8mt Cruiser platform, only about 20y earlier. +1 max slot -1 month base build time compared to the previous Cruiser specialist platform above.
-1600-1800kt +2200 Capital 'Queenship', 'Basilica', 'Basilica of Lakhept', 'Aggadh', 'Sandworm': 300/15/13/11/28/0 Lower max slots by 4 again compared to the contemporary Explorer platform, but now also -2 month base build time and -1 min slots compared to it.
T 2 (2310s) -all of these now strictly obsolete for us, unless you want to build a 2mt-2.1mt Explorer for some reason.
-500-1000kt Frigate 'Kepler' 'Comet': 0 Overhead/10 Max Slots/5 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/15 Base Build in Months/10 %Ev Just a +1 max slot.
-1000-1600kt Cruiser: 0/16/10/0/24/5 A big jump in our Cruiser technology, adding +4 max slots and removing -2 months.
-2000-2800kt +600 Explorer 'Ambassador': 300/25/17/3/30/0 A massive jump of +6 max slots and +1 overhead, though also +4 min slots.
Foreign
-1000kt-2000kt Cruiser (Cruiser-Specialist Only) 'Scientist' 'Solace' 'Liberator':0 Overhead/20 Max Slots/10 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/22 Base Build in Months/5 %Ev Yeah, HoH being Cruiser specialists. I suspect that it is a result of a legacy weirdness, last designer could build larger cruisers at current tech level and Liberator doesn't fit into the T2 Cruiser platform anymore. It is possible that the Perfidy class (Scientist and Solace) will be moved to the above 1.6mt platform and Liberators get turned into Capitals to prevent Tender Doctrine cruiser specialist weirdness. +2 max slots, -1 month base build time compared to our modern T3 1.8mt Cruiser.
-1800-2400kt +2400 Capital 'Tar'chak' 'Khellian' 'Sanctuary': 300/21/15/12/27/0 Same +6 max slots jump from the previous Capital as the Amby platform, keeping it 4 max slots behind. This time also -2 min slots and -3 month base build time (-1q)
T 3 (2320s) -the current or 2327 tech.
-500-1100kt Frigate: 0 Overhead/11 Max Slots/5 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/15 Base Build in Months/10 %Ev The Kepler platform but with +1 max slot.
-1000-1800kt Cruiser: 0 Overhead/18 Max Slots/10 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/23 Base Build in Months/5 %Ev +2 max slots, -1 month. What all the new Cruiser will be build on, unless we want a 900kt one (or smaller) for some strange reason.
-2200-3000kt +600 Explorer: 300 Overhead/27 Max Slots/19 Min Slots/3 Double-Cost Slots/30 Base Build in Months/0 %Ev +2 max and min slots. Same as above, all new Explorers will be build on this unless we want ultralight ones for some reason.
Foreign
-1000kt-2200kt Cruiser (Cruiser-Specialist Only) 'Next-Gen Cardassian' 'Next-Gen Amarki': 0 Overhead/22 Max Slots/10 Min Slots/0 Double-Cost Slots/21 Base Build in Months/5 %Ev +4 max slots -2 month base build time compared to our contemporary one. Did Amarki being cruiser specialists surprise you too?
T4 (2330s) -a look into our future.
-400-1000kt Frigate: -100/11/5/0/13/10 Same amount of max slots, 11, but a -100kt overhead making it cheaper, smaller and much better for small Frigates. Oh, also -2 months which is pretty important for frigates. From a previous version of designer spreadsheet Platform tab (so quite possibly no longer valid), it seem like the one after this will gain +1 max slot bringing its max size back up to 1.1mt, and the one after that another -100kt overhead. No 1.2mt Frigates anytime soon looks like. Note that once we (should we, but we probably should) gain +30% berth expansion, 850kt berths will be able to build 1.1mt Frigates and 800kt could build 1mt ships.
-1200-2000kt Cruiser: 0/20/12/0/22/5 +2 max slots, -1 month base build time. Next tier looks to add +2 max slots, -100kt overhead, -1 month base build time, and keep the same min size of 1.2mt. The one after that adds the same on top but without more negative overhead.
-2300-3000kt +600 Explorer: 200/25/21/3/27/0 The rules doc has this one all kinds of wrong. Note the mere 200kt overhead, +1 max slot, and -1Q build time while still fitting into +20% 3mt berths. A welcome upgrade, but not worth waiting for, for the next HE. The one after that will be built on this platform though. The next platform is called 'Galaxy' on the older spreadsheet and is a big jump forward like Amby, +6 max slots, +1 overweight slot, -2 months. The one after that is 'Sovereign' and gives +4 max slots, -2 months. Again, note that those are very much not definite, but they are useful indicators as to how platforms are likely to develop.
Changelist:
V1.1: Split from the Guide as per @ClawClawBite 's suggestion. Overwrote an older post of mine with it, to keep it close to the Guide (two posts below the Guide). Removed italics from repeated parts, italicized all analysis because SV seems to hate lines starting a few spaces to the right and I needed something to make part descriptions and their analysis easily distinguishable without doubling the length of the post by separating them with empty rows.
V1.2: Added Platforms.
V1.3: Added some stuff and some tweaks to Platforms.
V1.4: Cleaned up some.
V1.5: Turns out that T4 DamCon is ages away. Edited.
V1.6: Cleaned up the parts a bit, especially made crew costs more readable.
Open Ship Builder Spreadsheet v4.2, open File (top left), click Make a Copy. You might need a Google Account for this. You need to do this because you can't edit the original (it would mess the spreadsheet up for others).
You can also (even while not logged in to a Google account) go to file, download, and save a local copy as a .xlsx or .ods to edit using a desktop spreadsheet editor like Excel, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, etc.
-Flight Deck (E) (1) (Req Shuttlebay) (+1C, +1S, +1R, +1P) 10OE2T, 10 br, 20 sr, +1 SP
A horrifically expensive part that I refuse to use as it is, and have yet to see any design with it. It's not even much better than the Shuttlebay (+0.3CSP compared to it). Ignore it for now.
The ridiculous costs, especially the +1 SP, (twice as much as a torpedo part,) makes me think this part has a yet-to-be-revealed event/narrative bonus similar to Peacekeeping and Intel Ops. Note that it's a tech that won't unlock until 2327:
I made about half a dozen HE variants, and this one is my favorite. And yes, I know that it uses a Reinforced Hull, you don't have to point it out to me. I started with Armored and this is the only variant with Reinforced, yet it seems like the best one. Armored just takes so, so much crew...
Other variants:
+1S -1E +10sr +1.5sp. E is already huge and SR doesn't matter here at all, the reason why its not my favorite is that I really don't like that SP cost. Does not seem like something to skimp on on a FYM HE. But if all that SP cost does is us needing more Supply Ships, this one is probably the better option. Getting rid of that increased SP cost would take +10sr +1En, EC crew is precious though.
+1H -1P -2E +1R +10sr +1.5sp +HF Sensors. Worse stats, but it is 2327 tech. If 2328 you save -0.5sp. Like above, -1.5sp +10sr +1En.
+1SP -1R +20sr +0/1/1 +Hospital. Can trade -1En -10sr for +1.5sp, but 7/9/9 crew cost seems like a worse distribution, and I don't like that high SP on a FYM ship.
+2S +1H -1P -1E +20sr +0/1/1 -0.5sp +HF Sensors, +Hospital. Can buy -1En -10sr but for +2sp.
