Overview
This guide looks at general uses for ship classes and appropriately defines the size and scope of those classes from a multiplayer perspective. This guide is meant to serve as a quick reference for those that need it but will include more in depth explanations of ship classes for those who want to know the background behind why the classes have been defined in this way.
Foreword
Just a few things you need to be aware of when reading this guide:
Armour on a ship is totally optional and is up to the ship’s designer to decide what they want on their ships. Comments on armour and shields that I have made in this guide are just how I have seen them described and used on a multiplayer server, which I feel is a fairly accurate assessment.
This guide is a reference! Only you as a ship designer can decide ultimately if you want it to be in a particular class or not. I have simply tried to lay out my knowledge of multiplayer ships as best I can.
To make this guide better I need reviews! If you don’t like part of this guide or wish a part of it to be expanded or changed then comment on it in as much detail as possible. I will try and incorporate feedback into the guide so that the StarMade community can get more out of it.
Quick Reference Table
Civilian Reference Table
In defining the sizes for each class within the Civilian category I realized that block count did not provide any meaningful description of each class. Instead cargo volume and salvage beam (group) counts were used for Freighter and Mining types respectively.
Ship Subclass Reference Table
The below table shows generally what characteristics are expected when you decide a ship should be a Light Something or Assault Something. More +’s mean stronger characteristic, more -‘s mean weaker characteristic.
Strike Craft
Strike Craft are the smallest, and usually the first, player controlled ships used in combat on a multiplayer server. Typically you will find these in a more RP based server or docked on carriers to make them look useful.
These ships are in the Strike Craft category:
- Fighter
- Corvette
Typically fitted with only light weapons, minimal armour and large engines, fighters have their primary use in RP, competitions, or simply as something nice to fly every once in a while. This unfortunate situation is due to the light weaponry on this class of ship being unable to cause more than superficial damage to most Frigates and larger ships, and most players preferring to bring the largest ship they can field to a fight.
Corvettes are typically slower than Fighters, but are more armoured and pack more of a punch. This allows them to take on Frigates and even some Cruisers directly. This class of ship sees use in initial engagements between players on an individual level, and also use en masse as escorts in AI based fleets.
Light Starships
Light Starships are typically fast and manoeuverable with moderate firepower and decent point-defence weaponry. These ships are used in escort roles and are generally found chasing down newer players who are piloting Strike Craft or other light vessels.
Ships considered as Light Starships are:
- Frigate
- Destroyer
Frigates are the primary escort ship for player and AI fleets within a faction and as such typically have strong defensive weaponry, focused against missiles, Destroyer class ships and below. This class of ship is found often on servers, being both cheap to construct and efficient for it’s size.
Destroyers bridge the firepower gap between Frigates and Cruisers. They ususally carry a complement of weapons designed to target larger ships such as Cruisers and Battlecruisers in addition to a moderate point-defence system. They also fulfil the Frigate hunter role, easily being able to overwhelm their meagre shielding.
Medium Starships
This category of ships combines the firepower of heavier ships and the manoeuverability of destroyers, but lacks somewhat in shielding compared to their larger cousins. The classes of ship represented in this category are very common on multiplayer servers and usually represent the peak of a faction’s war machine.
Classes considered as Medium Starships are:
- Cruiser
- Battlecruiser
Cruisers combine the Frigate and Destroyer classes in a larger chassis, providing significant boosts to firepower over the Destroyer while retaining the strong defensive posture that the Frigate enjoys. This comes at a price of slightly reduced manoeuverability compared to their smaller counterparts and much weaker shielding than their larger ones. Cruisers typically have their firepower spread over many weapons, allowing them to engage groups of Frigates and Corvettes very effectively.
Battlecruisers are essentially scaled down Battleships, keeping the few very strong guns present on Battleships at a cost of reduced shielding and armour. Quite often ships of this size represent the largest and most effective ship a faction has to offer. It can even be argued that these ships are “late-game” technology. The purpose of this class of ship is to hunt and engage larger ships while in a group, allowing the large guns to work on the target while circling to avoid return fire from their main guns. This class also represents the largest ships such a strategy still has meaning for.
Heavy Starships
Heavy Starships come in a variety of flavours, each with their own uses. Battleships provide heavy firepower and heavy armour, Carriers sacrifice most of that firepower for a flight deck and internal storage for Strike Craft, and Dreadnaughts carry enough ordnance to fight most wars by themselves with superb shielding to back it up. When a ship from this category is deployed into a combat zone the outcome is decided very quickly.
Classes considered Heavy Starships are:
- Carrier
- Battleship
- Dreadnaught
This class of ship is typically a modified Battlecruiser or Battleship with a substantially reduced weapons complement in exchange for a flight deck and usually internal storage for Strike Craft. Currently they serve no useful purpose on a multiplayer server other than RP. One day there is the hope that fleet AI may advance to the point where it is intelligent enough to handle classic sci-fi carrier functions.
Battleships carry very heavy guns backed up by very good shielding and armour. It cannot be said enough: do not make a Battleship angry! your ship will not survive to regret it. They might manoeuver worse than a truck but once one has you in its sights parts of your ship will still be being recovered in 20 years across the other side of the quadrant. Battleships can and will regularly take on a myriad of smaller ships, but will struggle against ships equipped to take them on.
Dreadnaughts carry the weapons equivalent to several battleships, allowing them to take on multiple Battlecruisers or Battleships with ease. They also have superb shielding and ultra-dense armour to back it up. Their use in multiplayer supports these characteristics, but often Dreadnaughts are called on to engage ships of equal size or greater, as the factions which maintain them do not have the capability to construct larger ships for that purpose.
Superheavy Starships
Anything in this category falls under the never build anything bigger than your head rule. If you are building in this category you are probably ignoring this adage. These ship classes are the biggest of the big guns, with firepower and defenses rivalling that of the Second Deathstar. These kinds of ships can, and will, be found engaging entire fleets of battleships without taking more than superficial damage. If you want to build something within this category you should probably consult with the Staff on your server so you don’t break anything. Keep in mind that any servers with the default sector radius (2km or smaller) WILL NOT be able to have these ships used without serious repercussions.
Ships considered Superheavy Starships are:
- Super-dreadnaught
- Super-carrier
- Titan
- Behemoth
Super-dreadnaughts are probably the largest ship most players will get to see, even on a multiplayer server. They are designed around a few extremely powerful weapon systems backed up by a myriad of turrets to account for any possible combat scenario. Once ships get this big then shield recharge ceases to become effective against ships of a comparable size as their weapons will rip through even the strongest shields like so much tissue paper.
A carrier of equivalent size to a Super-dreadnaught. Corvettes and Frigates can be used as part of the ship’s combat wing due to the increase in the size of the carrier.
These two classes of ships have one purpose only: destruction on a massive scale. Their construction is ultimately similar to Super-dreadnaughts, though on a much larger scale. The ultimate in “zone-kill” strategies these classes of ship are as rare as they come and truly one of a kind.
Civilian Ships
This category of ships is comprised of freighter, mining or other ships that should never see combat but provide some use to players in their other activities.
Ships in this category are:
- Freighter (all variants)
- Miner (all variants)
Freighters are designed soley to carry and transport material across the StarMade universe. Typically they will have larger than usual engines and jump drives for their size and depending on the designer may have substantial defensive weaponry in the form of turrets. Freighters are generally seen transporting goods between stations within a faction, or to sell to other factions. They can also be used as mobile constructor units for ships too large to be built within a shipyard.
Mining ships are the workhorse of most civilian activites within StarMade. They are used to gather the raw materials needed to build everything in the game. These ships are generally seen orbitting planets or asteroids, working them over with their salvage beam arrays.
Changelog
- Added Freighter and Mining classes
- Added civilian category and table
- Guide release