I’m curious to see how you other captains of the zee are going about upgrading your ship. I’m about ready to upgrade mine, that is, I have enough for a Lampad-class Cutter, and I’d like to know how it handles before I… take the plunge.
There hasn’t been much discussion about weight / fuel efficiency in the release build, so let’s have at it.
Never used the Cutter, i usually go for the Merchant Ship, but also the Corvette is fine right now, just totally different playstyle.
My lineup is usually Steamer–>Merchant–>Frigate (don’t like Dreadnought at all) but sometimes i’ve used the curator reward ship or the corvette in the meantime.
edited by Frenzgyn on 2/8/2015
[li]I used the Cutter once, and never again. Too little hold, too little crew which will bite you in the ass when you inevitably lose even a few. The Veils upgrade is nice, but ultimately not worth it.
[li]The Corvette seems to be basically the starting steamer with actual firepower and hull, so that’s all good if you want to fight. If you don’t, or want that sweet trade money, as Frenzgyn said, get the Merchant Cruiser. It should allow you to make ridiculous profits shipping goods in bulk.
[li]Myself, I’m going to get me the Yacht. Not because I think it’s especially good, but because I want to go North with the Merchant Venturer, and I find a Space Yacht slightly more awesome than a Space Cruiser.[/li][li]
edited by Curious Foreigner on 2/8/2015
For me it was the merchant ship. I loved it. I would highly suggest getting it.
Curious Foreigner: You might want to check the Yacht’s weapon capacity before going for it. I believe it can only equip a deck gun and nothing else.
I’d also suggest the merchant ship as a first upgrade. The cargo capacity let’s you make enough money to really focus on following quest lines in my experience. This helps you get to know the world enough that you can then run the smaller cargo ships profitably. I run the cruiser now and pay the bills with quest rewards and by hunting lorne flukes and Mt Nomad.
edited by Shivah on 2/8/2015
I know, it can only equip the same stuff as the starting ship. I’m not getting it for the firepower though, I’m getting it so I can travel through space on a Yacht.
Great responses. Just an update, I did get the Cutter. The speed is slightly faster but not extremely noticeable. I will note that the Veils upgrade, combined with strategically turning off your lights, makes you near impossible to spot. It’s a fantastic ship for avoiding fights.
Combine that with only having to feed 5 crew, and it’s a decent exploratory vessel. I’m sure as time goes on I’ll miss the cargo space, though.
Ha, i could understand that, it’s so bourgeois!
I didn’t bother upgrading until I needed to carry 40 units of cargo somewhere for an interested party and kill a Lorn-Fluke for another. At that point I went straight for the Frigate (and also upgraded everything else at once, because up until that point I had basically done zero combat and was very nervous about the prospect).
Honestly it seems like there isn’t much reason to get anything except the Merchant Cruiser.
To be honest, I think what would solve these balance problems is actually using Ship Weight in the speed calculations. Right now there just isn’t enough of a difference in ship speed between a giant ponderous merchant vessel and a supposedly quick and agile Cutter.
You may not see the point of other ships, but I’m happy with my Frigate and others have sung paeans of the Dreadnought.
Merchant cruiser and I’ve yet to save up enough for the dreadnought on any captain. I would like to be able to use forward guns someday.
Frigate has a forward slot! I think Corvette does too?
edited by Fretling on 2/8/2015
Went Merchant over here.
I jumped from the default ship to the Merchant Cruiser, I named it Nautilus. It served me excellently. Now I have exchanged it for a Frigate named Ulysses. Hoping it does well too. :)
I like the frigate the most. Frigate is probably the most average. It has 25 crew which makes it less expensive to feed and not vulnerable to crew damage. It has 450 HP with is really helpful against high level zee beasts. Good stat bonus’ and low weight make it speedy esp. going full power. It also has all the slots, which allow for the Memento Mori - The strongest weapon in the game, and a key part of my victory vs 3 mount nomads at a time earlier this week. 70 cargo capacity is decent - it’s no merchant ship but it will do. All in all a great ship.
edited by nameless on 2/8/2015
I’m running a long line of dynasty captains so go straight for the Frigate but I like fighting things.
I think if I started a game from scratch I would probably wait until that dynasty could afford it before upgrading.
No debate for me, the Frigate is the best all rounder, particularly now the easy money grinds have been removed from the options, it’s the first ship that can have all the weapons and still has the aft slot for running concealed cargo or zipping around the map with an Avid Suppressor, good weapons options, sufficient hold to take the venturer to the horizon and be able to help supply the apes on the far side of the world, best all around ship by far. The Dread is a more formidable ship, but far more crew and it’s practically invulnerable, which is fine if that’s what you’re after, but the running costs (particularly now) make it impractical. I used to run a merchant cruiser, but the lack of weapons doesn’t suit my style. I don’t like being caught with a slow ship and no forwards gun. But that said, on the latest captain, I switched to using the Corvette and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it, faster than the frigate, but no good for long trading runs, figure it won’t replace the frigate as the main ship I like to use, but it’s a nice stopover and it’s got enough gun to take anything you encounter on the seas, which is useful.
I’ve kind of set out to do a sort of planned dynasty run - different captains with different backgrounds, different specialities and different playstyles. So, rather than linearly upgrading through the ranks of ships, I aim straight for my goal ship for each captain. I’m starting out small, running the Cutter - it’s no good for trading (only barely adequate for running Sphinxstone!), but it’s fun to zip about in. Later on, I’ll use the Corvette for an explorer-type, the AMC for a merchant trader, the Dreadnought for a fierce privateer, and so on.