0
MASTERS OF ORION 3
BOOK OF ARMAMENTS
V0.72 03/26/03 Corrections and fixes on armor, PD and fighters
Copyright 2003 Mario Laubacher (Alastair)
Send comments, feedback, additions or corrections to alastair412@yahoo.com,
mentioning the FAQ's name in the subject header.
Flames or comments on the quality of MOO3 will go straight to /dev/null.
"ARTHUR: Consult the Book of Armaments!
BROTHER MAYNARD: Armaments, Chapter Two, verses Nine to Twenty-one.
SECOND BROTHER: And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying,
'O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade that with it thou mayest blow thine
enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin, and the people did
feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and
breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--
MAYNARD: Skip a bit, Brother." -- Monty Python's Holy Grail
Contents
========
1 Introduction and Legal Notice
2 Revision History
3 Design Guidelines
3.A When to redesign
3.B Specialized vs. Combined Arms
3.C Point Defense
3.D Comparing Weapon Types
3.E Missiles and Racks
3.F Defense
3.G Electronics
3.H Speed
3.I Ship types and TFs
4 Hull Table
5 Defense Tables
6 Direct Fire Tables
7 Fighter Tables
8 Missile Tables (TBA)
9 Electronics
10 Misc techs (TBA)
11 Credits and Thanks
12 Hosting Information
/=================================\
================== ¦ 1 Introduction and Legal Notice ¦ =======================
\=================================/
This FAQ covers Masters Of Orion 3's ship design and weaponry.
This FAQ is copyrighted by Alastair (Mario Laubacher), and may not be published
without my consent. If you wish to maintain a copy of this document on your
site, please send me an e-mail at alastair412@yahoo.com.
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public
display without written permission is strictly prohibited, and a violation of
copyright.
Masters of Orion 3 (MOO3) is copyrighted and trademarked by Quicksilver and
Infogrames.
Acronyms used:
The following will appear in the FAQ quite often:
TF Taskforce
IF Indirect Fire weapons (Missiles)
DF Direct Fire weapons
LR / LRS Long Range Ships
SR / SRS Short Range Ships
Hulls acronyms
LC Light Cruiser
CR Cruiser
BC Battle Cruiser
BS Battleship
DN Dreadnought
SDN Super Dreadnought
/====================\
==================== ¦ 2 Version History ¦ ==================================
\====================/
03/21/03 v0.5 Working version (not published).
03/24/03 v0.6 Initial Release.
03/25/03 v0.7 DF weapon analysis done, added Ch. 7and 9, acronyms and some
other fixes here and there.
03/26/03 v0.72 Corrections and fixes on armor, PD and fighters
/=======================\
==================== ¦ 3 Design Guidelines ¦ ===============================
\=======================/
--------------( 3.A When to redesign )----------------------------------------
----------------------
With a wealth of techs and weaponry available, the timing for redesign is
quite important. Several options are available, but in general terms, I
recommend redesigning in the following situations:
- New warp drive: Speed is crucial. The faster your ships travel down those
jump lanes, the better your ability to keep the initiative or to react to AI
actions. Further, newer drives take up less space per speed units (this also
applies to system drives, BTW).
- New hull type: what's the use of getting that shiny Leviathan hull if you
don't use it? Superior hull space packs more firepower - use it to your
advantage. I don't necessarily redesign other hulls at that point, though.
- New weaponry: I don't prioritize that part myself. There are a few weapon
techs which almost beg for a full redesign, though, mainly Lightning fields.
Normally, I obsolete old types within 3 turns of a full redesign. Your mileage
may vary, though.
Finally, I scrap obsolete reserves as soon as a sizeable reserve of a superior
design is available, which means between 10 and 20 turns of introducing the
new designs.
///New v0.72
In relationship with Antaran expeditions, note that launching one will pull
the required amount of ships from your reserves, apparently at random
(excluding transports, colony and outpost). To have better control on what
gets sent out, scrap what you don't need or put it into active taskforces.
On the matter of transports, you'll have noticed that MOO3 has a tendency to
overdo transport building. This is a recognized bug adressed in the upcomming
patch. In the meantime, make sure you obsolete any transports as soon as you
have suitable reserves.
///
--------------( 3.B Specialized vs. Combined Arms )---------------------------
-----------------------------------
When building cruiser and bigger hulls, you tend to get enough space to
seriously consider whether you want a "pure" design per ship type or rather
"mixed" weaponry.
Obviously, a "pure" design will pack more damage for the weapon type of
your choice. However, this comes at the cost of versability both in offense
and defense. We'll comment briefly on the pros and cons of each weapon group
a bit later on, but my personal preference goes to "mixed" designs. Whatever
your choice, though, keep in mind that combined arms brings a huge advantage
in being able to confront any situations. If you go for "pure" ship designs,
try at least to mix your ship types when assembling a new TF, even in the main
body.
--------------( 3.C Point Defense )-------------------------------------------
-------------------
Currently, before the first patch gets released, PD is broken. You can't count
on PD weaponry to protect your fleet against incoming missiles, which can lead
to severe losses.
However, there is a workaround: it appears that as long as your ships have any
missiles left, the PD weapons will do their job. Hence make sure to equip all
your ships with one single rack of Nuclear warheads (PD mount does fine). Some
people recommend always putting 20 of them. This is not necessary in all
situations, though, as you can waste valuable space doing so. Your PD weapons
will fire as long as the rack isn't empty - so if you're quite ahead in the
tech race, 8-12 missiles will do nicely. This is related to the duration of
your battles: if most fights end within 3 minutes, chances are you won't be
able to deplete even 8 missiles.
Zhaneel also mentions that the PD bug can be completely offset by issuing
a patrol command (without the missile racks). I haven't verified this myself,
also note that for my taste, it limits my actions too much.
In terms of equipment, my preference goes to a combination of PD-mounted
phaser beams coupled with a second series of light-mount phaser beams. While
damage is equal, the light mount exchanges range for rate of fire. In practice
though, I find it an advantage to be able to fire a few shots at incoming
missiles from farther away, diminishing the amount of work the PDs have to
perform to shoot down what's left.
After analyzing the weapon tables, I would recommed replacing phasers with
disruptor cannons once you have all improvements researched for it. See
the analysis in the DF weapon tables for a rundown.
For fighter protection, the most efficient PD weapon by far are lightning
fields. If they aren't on your tech tree, your scientific spies and your
diplomats should work overtime to get it - it's just too invaluable to miss.
--------------( 3.D Comparing Weapon Types )----------------------------------
----------------------------
As you will have noticed, MOO3 offers three weapon types: direct fire,
fighters and missiles. Here's a rapid rundown of the pros and cons of each
type:
Direct fire
Pros:
- unlimited firepower
- vast choice of mounts
- Good damage
- Lots of modifications
Cons:
- Maximal range / damage requires a lot of space
- The truly damaging mounts have a very low rate of fire
- Can't be used to bombard planets
Fighters
Pros:
- Unlimited supply
- Virtually unlimited range
- Deep scouting
- Expendable targets for enemy missiles and fighters
Cons:
- Need to lose a complete squadron before a new one is generated
- Low speed
- "Fish school" flight AI
Missiles
Pros:
- Best damage / weight ratio
- Speed
Cons:
- Grouped targetting wastes a whole volley in overkill
- Limited supply
This quick comparison explains my preference for mixed designs. At the very
least, both my carriers and IF have at least one spinal-type beam weapon so
they aren't useless once their last volley has been fired or their fighter
complement is out fighting planetside while a SR TF approaches your ships.
To maximize the weaponry effect for fighters and missiles, when fighting near
armed planets, I always select each TF and target the planet every 5 seconds
to make sure all my indirect weaponry is in flight and ready to react to
enemy TFs popping up midway. Usually, the first or second volley wipes out
planetary bases, leaving the rest available to re-acquire whatever target lies
in-between.
The benefits of using lots of fighters in any fleet can't be stressed enough.
They provide deep recon by forcing enemy ships to uncloack when firing,
and plenty of distraction for fighters and especially missiles.
When a 1000-damage warhead blows up a 30-HP fighter, that's 970 damage gone to
waste. Of course, this works both ways. Note that normally, though, with
decent cloaking and ECM on your TFs, the AI seems incapable of targetting your
main fleets, giving the human player a distinct advantage. To maximize this,
use the launch method described above as soon as you have a target.
--------------( 3.E Missiles and Racks )--------------------------------------
------------------------
When designing your missile complement, keep in mind that there are two weight
components: individual missile weight and rack weight. Adding several racks
ensures larger volleys being shot, adding more missiles per rack ensure that
more volleys can be shot. On large hulls, I tend to limit myself to 5 racks,
counting 5+ missiles per rack. But this is also due to my preference for mixed
designs, as the rest of the space gets occupied by a bunch of fighters and a
couple of Spinal+ direct fire weapons.
--------------( 3.F Defense )-------------------------------------------------
-------------
Armor doesn't take up space, but tends to cost a lot. Shields are relatively
cheap compared to armor, but take up quite a bit of space, have less stopping
power, and tend to get depleted pretty quick.
Hence I usually boost industry DEAs on 5-10 size-12 planets and skip shields
altogether.
When in need for shielding, though (the enemy is close in techs or ahead of
me in techs), I go for damper fields as soon as they are available. Although
they are weaker in sheer power than Class VII+ shields, they recharge to full
strength every 5 seconds, never running out, while traditional shields run
out after 1-2 blasts.
--------------( 3.G Electronics )---------------------------------------------
-----------------
Due to the lack of explanations on the manual, some confusion exists about the
respective effect of ECM and ECCM.
To summarize what those _should_ do:
- ECM jam enemy battle computers, rendering the detection of your TFs more
difficult
- ECCM unscrambles your own battle computers.
ECM and ECCM of the same level cancel each other out. However, contrary to
some people's assumption, this doesn't mean that having both in your TFs makes
them usueless. By design, they are matched against enemy devices, not your
own.
But where to place them?
Putting both devices on the same ship is a pure waste of space. ECM is a
defensive device, it is probably best placed on your PD ships. ECCM, on the
other hand, is a detection device, and it's best located on your recon ships.
Note that ECM protects your whole TF to a point, while ECCM, like the scan
devices, work a tad differently.
In MOO3, whenever one single ship notices an enemy ship or weapon, your whole
fleet sees them at once.
In practice, the computer adds up all the values of each individual ECM in
your fleet and matches them against the total of the opposing ECCM. If your
ECM values (see the tech tables below) totals are higher, your fleet will be
protected. If it's lower, it won't - and vice versa.
Cloaking: I haven't had much time to delve into specifics so far, but from a
cursory look, it seems to have two effects: a visual cloaking value, and an
ECM value. There's a big difference, though: The weakest cloak's ECM value is
as good as ECM V... for a much smaller space and a ludicrously low cost.
Which would mean that using any ECM device over cloaking is just a waste of
space and money as long as you're ahead in the tech race.
*sigh*. Yet another area where a better manual would have helped... I miss
SMAC / SMAX's detailed encyclopedia...
///New v0.72
Note that contrary to ECM, ECCM and detection devices, cloaks can't be
stacked. Which means it's usually a good idea to have your PD ships adding
to your TF's total jamming value.
///
--------------( 3.H Speed )---------------------------------------------------
-----------
As my tactics mainly involve sniping from afar or using missiles with
fighters, planet-side fights don't recquire a lot of speed.
That doesn't mean you should spare the space and drop your system drive speed
to 1 - when flying interception missions or fighting a guardian, your IF and
carriers are exposed, as they won't launch their weaponry before they spot a
target.
I tend to have my system drives at 60%-75% of max speed at any times. For LRs,
which need a bit more mobility, I usually select 80% of max speed.
Note that your TFs will (obviously) always move at the speed of your slowest
ship within that TF, so keep that in mind when designing and assembling your
TFs.
--------------( 3.I Ship types and TFs )--------------------------------------
------------------------
Apart from the obvious like colony and outpost ships, what to build?
As highlighted in the weapon comparison, carriers and IF ships pretty much own
the battlefield, especially when building mixed designs or at least mixed TFs.
When bombarding planets, keep in mind only missiles are able to deal damage.
This makes IF ships an almost mandatory complement to your fleets.
In complement to carriers and IF ships, I build a set of mixed LRS as well, to
add some punch to my TFs when combat becomes more close and personal.
I don't like SR ships nor SR TFs. They simply have to get too close to be
effective - which means lots of losses. Also, to be effective, you would
probably want to go for full speed and shields - at the expense of firepower.
I tend to have several hull sizes per ship type, so that all my planets can
contribute to the building effort.
For TFs, I build nothing but armadas for offense fleets. A carrier armada
sports the following combination:
- 1-2 cap-ship carriers (by turn 200+, titans or bigger)
- 4-5 smaller carriers (by turn 200+, BC to SDN)
- 1 cap IF
- 4 smaller IFs
- 1 big LRS (DN or better)
Escort ring:
- 2 PD ships (currently one LC and one BC)
- 2 BC+-sized LRS
Picket ring:
- 2 medium-sized reco
IF armadas are currently very similar, I usually only invert the carrier and
IF ship numbers. In practice, however, as I use mixed ship designs as well, I
tend to limit myself to building IF TFs, unless I run out of IF cap ships.
Note that in combat, you are limited to 10 TFs per assault. The CPU selects
your best TFs present in the system to do the job.
This _seems_ to exclude system ships and orbitals, but I need to confirm this
sometime soon.
One use I have for SR TFs is to build one brand of mid-sized SR ships,
and include sensor-heavy recon ships in the TFs. I group them in smaller
TFs and use them as detectors / decoys in heavily defended and cloacked areas,
typically guardians and Orion. Those throwaway TFs don't survive for long, but
usually allow to detect the opponent and attract its fire without risking the
lives of my main (and expensive) armadas.
/===============\
==================== ¦ 4 Hull Table ¦ =======================================
\===============/
--------------( Hull Sizes )--------------------------------------------------
----------
Type Cost Capacity
---------------------------------
Lancer 100 50
Cutter 142 70
Corvette 204 100
Frigate 298 140
Destroyer 438 200
Light Cruiser 650 285
Cruiser 974 405
Battle Cruiser 1458 575
Battleship 2264 815
Dreadnought 3502 1155
Superdreadnought 5472 1635
Titan 8646 2310
Behemoth 13706 3265
Leviathan 22244 4615
Notes:
The advantage of bigger sizes are of course their sheer payload. On the other
hand, though, their cost can become quite a burden on your PP. Keep track of
your production capacities: A behemoth-sized ship requires you have at least
a couple of worlds capable of churning out 7000+ PPs per turn in order to get
built at a reasonable pace.
/==================\
==================== ¦ 5 Defense Tables ¦ ====================================
\==================/
--------------( Armor Types )-------------------------------------------------
-----------
Name Cost ArmorVal Deflect
----------------------------------------------
Zortrium 20 100 2
Duranium 60 200 6
Titanium 140 400 10
Neutronium 300 800 14
Adamantium 620 1600 18
--------------( Armor Plating )-----------------------------------------------
-------------
Type CostMult ArmorMult DeflectMult
-----------------------------------------------------------
No Armor 0 0 0
Very Light Armor (VLA) 0.75 0.50 0.5
Light Armor (LA) 1.00 1.00 0.66
Medium Armor (MA) 3.00 2.00 1
Heavy Armor (HA) 7.00 4.00 1.5
Very Heavy Armor (VHA) 12.00 8.00 1.75
Ultra Heavy Armor (UHA) 18.00 16.00 2
Notes:
When selecting building VHA or UHA ships, note that going for lower type + UHA
will be much cheaper (hence faster to build), at the expense of about 25%-40% in
deflection value. But it might be worth considering.
Example: Duranium UHA: cost 1080, Armor 3200, Defl 12
Titanium VHA: cost 1680, Armor 3200, Defl 17.5
--------------( Shields )-----------------------------------------------------
-------
Shield Generators come in three variants: small, standard, and large.
Each size provides 1.5x regen rates and shield str over the smaller size,
but cost and space doubles every time. If you need the space, absolutely
prefer better armor and smaller generator.
There are 10 shield types plus Damper fields available. For an increase
in cost, each size gives you better defletion values and recharge rates, at
the same space cost - therefore only cost is a consideration when deciding on
the type you need.
Notes:
Traditional shield purchasing gets completely outclassed if you manage to
research Damper fields. Damper fields cost quite a bit more than normal
shields, and take thrice the space, but they regenerate their whole strength
every 5 seconds. Although technically, the shield resistance for class VII+ is
better, it gets chipped away with every shot, usually way faster than its
recharge rate. Meanwhile, your damper fields keep recharging until the end of
the battle.
/=======================\
==================== ¦ 6 Direct Fire Tables ¦ ===============================
\=======================/
--------------( General Data and abbreviations )------------------------------
------------------------------
FireDlay = Delay between two shots
MultFire = # of shots fired per salvo
NearDmg = The weapon's max damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisSt
FarDmg = The weapon's min damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisEn
DmgDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where damage
starts to decrease.
DmgDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will do any damage.
DmgDelta = The difference between NearDmg and FarDmg. Note that the value
doesn't seem to get used at all at present.
MaxAccry = The maximum accuracy at AccDisSt? or AccDisEn? No way to know.
AccDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where accuracy
starts to decrease. The decay is not known.
AccDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will manage to hit a target.
Cost = The cost in AU.
Space = The space used.
ShldPen = Shield Penetration. Not certain how the value is used.
ArmrPierc = Armour Piercing. Not used in the game atm. (1)
Space/Dmg = A simple measure on the weapons "quality" vs space.
Lower = better. See bottom of chapter for more.
Improvements:
M1 / M2 = Miniaturization: Space * .8 per level (both = space *.64)
I = Improved: NearDmg * 1.5, FarDmg * 1.1
AP = Armor Piercing: ArmorPierc *.75, Space * 1.5 (1)
AF = AutoFire: MultFire * 3, Space *2
C = Continuous: Accuracy *1.5, Space * 1.25
E = Envelopping: ShieldPen *.5, Space *1.66
/// Updated v0.72
(1) It looks like all tests indicate that ArmorPiercing has been entirely
removed from the game. I don't really take those into account when
evaluating weapons atm, and a good thing it is, since if this does get
patched back in, this could severely affect weapon effectiveness.
This means that at this moment, using AP improvement is a good way to
waste space for no effect.
--------------( Mounts )------------------------------------------------------
------
Name Space Cost Dmg Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Fire
DisSt DisEn DisSt DisEn Dlay
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point Defense(1) 0.8 1.0 0.33 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75
Light Mount 0.8 0.75 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8? 0.8
Standard Mount 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Heavy Mount 1.75 2.0 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2
Very Heavy Mount 2.75 3.0 2.0 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.4
Ultra Heavy Mount 4.0 4.0 2.5 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.6
Spinal Mount 1.5 3.5 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.2
Improved Spinal Mount 2.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2 3.5
Ultra Spinal Mount 3.0 7.0 5.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 5
(1) PD has MultFire value of 2. Which means a PD should shoot twice as much
as any other mount. In practice, it doesn't work. Yet another bug.
Note that Ultra Heavy Mounts are better than Spinals and Improved Spinals,
at the expense of space and cost. The lower Fire Delay is also worth
considering.
In practice, you can fit twice as much Improved Spinals than Ultra Heavies,
but they will fire less than half often. If cost is a factor (because your
production capabilities are an issue), though, prefer Ultra Heavy Mounts.
--------------( Beams )-------------------------------------------------------
-----
Beams wield the longest range overall. However, this comes at a cost:
Both damage and accuracy are severly lowered at the longer ranges.
They also sport a good Damage / space ratio. They are very well-suited for PD
to standard mounts on short distances. If you plan to snipe from afar, though,
avoid beams.
Adding to their PD suitability is the fact that Ion Pulse and Phasers sport
the AutoFire improvement.
Note that the stellar converter, with a Fire Delay of 8 and a huge space cost
is simply not worth the trouble for a combat weapon. It's only use: converting
planets to ashes, period.
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser 2.5 1 7 1 4500 7167 6 0.7 4500 7166 5
Hard Beam 2.5 1 15 7 4500 11333 8 0.7 4500 11333 10
Ion Pulse 2.5 1 33 4 4500 15500 29 0.7 4500 15500 22
Cannon
Phasers 2.5 1 48 5 4500 17583 43 0.7 4500 17583 32
Disintegrator 2.5 1 105 23 4500 21750 82 0.7 4500 21750 70
Beam
Stellar 8 1 1000 200 4500 28000 0 1 27999 28000 666
Converter
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser 10 1 1 M1, M2, I, AP, AF, C 1.43
Hard Beam 7 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.47
Ion Pulse 10 1 0.8 M1, M2, I, AF 0.30
Phasors 14 1 1 M1, M2, I, C, AF, AP 0.29
Disintegrator 25 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.24
Stellar 495 1 1 0.50
Note that for the space / Dmg ratio, the lower the better.
--------------( Mass Drivers )------------------------------------------------
------------
Mass drivers have one huge thing going for them: damage remains constant over
distance. Their accuracy, however, is only 50%. This makes them a risky bet
to use as PD weapons, IMO.
In the early turns, never use mass drivers over lasers - they're just worse
all over the band.
For PDs, a decent late-game alternative to Phasers would be the Disruptor
cannon, though. It's range / damage ratio is almost 4 times better than
phasors for a slight cost increase, and it holds the AF improvement as well.
Also consider that you need 44 Phasors to match the damage of 10 disruptors -
making them longer to design. With the extra range, the disruptor has plenty
of time to shoot a second time if the first shot misses. A good investment for
cap ships.
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Driver 2.5 1 14 3 5732 5733 0 0.5 4500 5733 9
Rail Gun 2.5 1 30 7 9065 9067 0 0.5 4500 9067 20
Gauss Cannon 2.5 1 97 9 14065 14067 0 0.5 4500 14067 64
Disruptor 2.5 1 209 20 17399 17400 0 0.5 4500 17400 139
Cannon
Dark Matter 2.5 1 453 30 20732 20733 0 0.5 4500 20733 302
Projector
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Driver 22 1 1 M1, M2, I, AP, AF 1.57
Rail Gun 13 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.43
Gauss Cannon 27 1 1 M1, M2, I, AP, AF 0.28
Disruptor 54 1 1 M1, M2, I, AF 0.26
Dark Matter 95 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.21
--------------( Particle )----------------------------------------------------
--------
Particle weapons are quite similar to beams in general. However, their
Dmg / space ratio is none too impressive, the loss of damage on max distance
is bad.
Initially, the Death Ray would seem like a decent pick due to its short Fire
Delay. However, the absence of any improvements leaves is sorely outclassed.
Altogether, particles are just not worth the trouble. If you could steer your
research, I would never bother in the first place...
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quark Cannon 2.5 1 15 3 4500 8017 14 0.7 4500 8017 10
Neutron Blstr 2.5 1 33 3 4500 11628 30 0.7 4500 11628 22
Graviton Beam 2.5 1 49 3 4500 13433 46 0.7 4500 13433 33
Particle Beam 2 1 49 10 4500 13433 39 0.9 4500 13433 33
Dark Ener Bm 2.5 1 107 20 4500 17044 87 0.7 4500 17044 71
Death Ray 2 1 157 50 4500 18850 107 0.9 4500 18850 105
Tachyon Beam 2.5 1 231 27 4500 20656 204 0.7 4500 20656 154
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quark Cannon 12 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, 0.80
Neutron Blstr 15 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, C 0.45
Graviton Beam 18 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, C 0.37
Particle Beam 18 0.1 0.9 0.37
Dark Ener Bm 33 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, 0.31
Death Ray 45 0.8 0.7 0.29
Tachyon Beam 61 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, 0.26
--------------( Plasma )------------------------------------------------------
------
Plasma weapons offer the shortest max range, but pack an excellent Damage /
space ratio. They are altogether a tad lighter than their counterparts in
other DF weapon types.
Of all the plasma weapons available, the Megabolt Cannon is the best choice,
provided you manage to research or steal all three improvements available.
With a Fire Delay of 4, and a disappointing damage spread, the Mauler,
however, is just a waste of space.
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fusion Beam 2.5 1 31 2 4500 6167 29 0.8 4500 6167 21
Hellfire Can 2.5 1 67 10 4500 8944 57 0.8 4500 8944 45
Lightng Fld 2.5 5 36 36 4500 6364 0 0.9 4500 6364 24
Plasma Can 2.5 1 213 6 4500 13111 207 0.8 4500 13111 142
Megabolt Can 2.5 1 314 23 4500 14500 291 0.8 4500 14500 209
Mauler 4 1 679 1 4500 15889 0 1 15887 15889 453
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fusion Beam 15 1 1 M1, M2, I, C, E 0.48
Hellfire Can 19 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.28
Lightning Fld 10 0.7 0.7 M1, M2, I, 0.28
Plasma Cannon 44 1 1 M1, M2, I, C 0.21
Megabolt Can 59 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.19
Mauler 113 0.5 1 M1, M2 0.17
--------------( Bottomline )--------------------------------------------------
----------
Altogether, consider DF weapons to be more of a support and defense weaponry.
Sure, on short ranges, they are well worth the trouble, but short range comes
with higher casualties OR requires additional shielding (which removes space
for more firepower).
For a serious bruising effect, however, Ultra Spinal Mounts transform the
weakest DF into a serious threat - but the FireDly gets huge as well.
However, consider this: If your first shot is a guaranteed kill, you don't
need to worry about FireDly for the second one. Plus, on the range bonus
granted, 5 seconds more just means an already severly diminished TF closes
in a tiny bit, exposing itself to heavier damage on the second shot.
/==================\
============== ¦ 7 Fighter Tables ¦ ==========================================
\==================/
--------------( General Data and abbreviations )------------------------------
------------------------------
FireDlay = Delay between two shots
MultFire = # of shots fired per salvo
NearDmg = The weapon's max damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisSt
FarDmg = The weapon's min damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisEn
DmgDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where damage
starts to decrease.
DmgDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will do any damage.
MaxAccry = The maximum accuracy at AccDisSt? or AccDisEn? No way to know.
AccDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where accuracy
starts to decrease. The decay is not known.
AccDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will manage to hit a target.
Cost = The cost in AU.
Space = The space used.
ShldPen = Shield Penetration.
ArmrPierc = Armour Piercing. Not used in the game.
Size = Currently used to determine the fighter's base HP.
Improvements:
AP = Armor Piercing: ArmorPierc *.75, Space * 1.5
AF = AutoFire: MultFire * 3, Space *2
DP = DualPod: MultFire * 2, Space *1.8
E = Envelopping: ShieldPen *.5, Space *1.66
/// New v0.72
Notes:
- Fragility and DamagCap have been removed from the tables, as they seem to
lack any tangible effect. For base HP, it seems size is considered - has been
added to the tables.
- Armor Piercing doesn't work. Don't pick that!
///
--------------( Chassis )-----------------------------------------------------
-------
Note that as for DF mounts, the values indicated are multipliers over the base
value for each fighter.
Type Space Cost NearDmg FarDmg
-----------------------------------------------------------
Interceptor Chassis 1.5 1 1 1
Space Control Chassis 3 2.5 1.4 1.2
/// New v0.72
Visage on the official board points out that with double space versus just
40% damage bonus, Space Control Chassis isn't worth it.
Indeed, with only interceptors, you get twice as many fighters and hence
twice as many shots...
///
--------------( Fighter Types )-----------------------------------------------
-------------
Type Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Accry DisSt DisEn
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fighter Laser 2.5 1 4 1 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Fusion Bm 2.5 1 15 2 3k 4k 0.8 3k 4k
Fighter Neutron Bl 2.5 1 17 2 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Gravit Bm 2.5 1 25 2 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Phasors 2.5 1 24 4 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Plasma Cn 2.5 1 107 5 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Disrup Cn 2.5 1 105 30 3k 4k 0.5 3k 4k
Fighter Mass Drv 2.5 1 7 5 3k 4k 0.5 3k 4k
Fighter Gauss Cn 2.5 1 48 14 3k 4k 0.5 3k 4k
Fighter Ion Pulse 2.5 1 16 4 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Particle 2.5 1 25 8 3k 4k 0.9 3k 4k
Fighter Death Ray 2 1 78 38 3k 4k 0.9 3k 4k
Type Cost Space Shld (Armr Size Improvements
Pen Pier)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fighter Laser 4 6 1 1 6 AF
Fighter Fusion Bm 15 14 1 1 6 E
Fighter Neutron Bl 17 7 1 1 6
Fighter Gravit Bm 25 9 1 1 9
Fighter Phasors 24 7 1 1 6 DP
Fighter Plasma Cn 107 41 1 1 15 DP
Fighter Disrup Cn 105 32 1 1 12
Fighter Mass Drv 7 13 1 1 6 AP
Fighter Gauss Cn 48 17 1 1 6
Fighter Ion Pulse 16 5 0.5 0 18 DP
Fighter Particle 25 9 0.1 0.8 9
Fighter Death Ray 78 22 0.7 0.7 18
--------------( Bottomline )--------------------------------------------------
----------
From those tables, the best fighter to use is the Phasors Fighter with Dual
Pods. It has the best Dmg/Space ratio and the best Dmg/cost ratio. It is,
comparatively, dirt cheap and small.
Even though sheer firepower is rather small and Fragility is very low, you can
safely swarm out any opposing force with dozens of fighters, which means an
equivalent amount of targets to shoot down.
Important note: AP doesn't have any effect right now. This also means that
until ArmorPiercing gets patched in, the best fighter could actually be the
Ion Pulse cannon: they have thrice the HP of phaser fighters, and both lower
cost and space.
/==================\
============= ¦ 8 Missile Tables ¦ ===========================================
\==================/
TBA v0.8 - sorry for the delay :)
/===============\
============== ¦ 9 Electronics ¦ =============================================
\===============/
To evaluate jamming and sensors is a tricky business, as the formulas involved
in MOO3's calculations are probably anything but obvious stuff.
I've been fiddling with my spreadsheets for hours and still lack any clue
about a comprehensive formula about how Jamming / cloaking offsets detection.
My main issue is to try to calculate the effective detection range versus
jamming / cloaking, in other words, the distance beyond which a cloaked ship
will remain invisible for each device used.
For the moment, though, it is safe to assume that cloaking is more effective
than detection, hence you need more detection devices to offset cloaking.
In practice, detection devices use a value called OffTgtRg (Offense Target
Range?), which seems like the rounded inverse to DefTgtRg (Defense Target
Range?) used by cloaking devices. Due to the rounding, cloaking devices are
more effective than detectors.
Anyway, without more sterile ravings, here is the raw data. If someone can
find out exactly how MOO3 calculates Invisibility range vs. Detection range,
drop me an e-mail. I'm curious.
--------------( Detection )---------------------------------------------------
---------
Cost Space OffTgtRg
---------------------------------
ECCM I 30 15 0.9
ECCM II 90 20 0.75
ECCM III 150 35 0.6
ECCM IV 210 55 0.45
ECCM V 270 90 0.3
Sensor I 30 15 0.8
Sensor II 90 20 0.7
Sensor III 150 35 0.55
Sensor IV 210 55 0.4
Sensor V 270 90 0.25
(Proper Sensor names to be patched in once I have access to wStrings.txt. Grr)
--------------( Cloaking )----------------------------------------------------
--------
Cost Space DefTgtRg Cloaking
----------------------------------------------------
ECM I 30 15 1.15
ECM II 60 20 1.35
ECM III 120 35 1.65
ECM IV 240 55 1.9
ECM V 480 90 2.2
Cloaking Device 30 15 2.2 2.2
Phased Cloaking 30 20 3.3 3.3
Reactive Cloaking 30 35 4.95 4.95
Ghost Device 30 55 7.425 7.425
A quick glance on this table confirms that cloaking is both cheaper and more
effective than jamming (ECM devices). However, cloaks can't be stacked.
Also, cloaks have a Cloaking value. How this one is used is anyone's guess.
Possibly, DefTgRg works for missile acquisition and is offset by ECCM, while
Cloaking works for visual detection, and is only offset by sensors. If that is
the case, this would mean that missiles might be able to target a fleet,
while it remains untargettable by the main fleet? I wish I could do some
serious multiplayer testing for that, but that almost requires a second MOO3
CD - and this game is not THAT good.
/=======================\
============== ¦ 11 Credits and Thanks ¦ =====================================
\=======================/
This FAQ owes to the various contributions posted on both Gamefaqs' and
Infogrames' official boards. Thanks to all the people who have posted their
initial findings and who have commented on those, in particuliar GothFather,
and Visage.
Also thanks to Zhaneel and dakgm from the Gamefaqs boards for direct feedback.
/========================\
============= ¦ 12 Hosting Information ¦ =====================================
\========================/
The latest update of this document can usually be found on gamefaqs.com
Currently authorized hosts:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
http://www.actiontrip.com/
http://www.neoseeker.com/
http://faqs.ign.com/
BOOK OF ARMAMENTS
V0.72 03/26/03 Corrections and fixes on armor, PD and fighters
Copyright 2003 Mario Laubacher (Alastair)
Send comments, feedback, additions or corrections to alastair412@yahoo.com,
mentioning the FAQ's name in the subject header.
Flames or comments on the quality of MOO3 will go straight to /dev/null.
"ARTHUR: Consult the Book of Armaments!
BROTHER MAYNARD: Armaments, Chapter Two, verses Nine to Twenty-one.
SECOND BROTHER: And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying,
'O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade that with it thou mayest blow thine
enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin, and the people did
feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and
breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--
MAYNARD: Skip a bit, Brother." -- Monty Python's Holy Grail
Contents
========
1 Introduction and Legal Notice
2 Revision History
3 Design Guidelines
3.A When to redesign
3.B Specialized vs. Combined Arms
3.C Point Defense
3.D Comparing Weapon Types
3.E Missiles and Racks
3.F Defense
3.G Electronics
3.H Speed
3.I Ship types and TFs
4 Hull Table
5 Defense Tables
6 Direct Fire Tables
7 Fighter Tables
8 Missile Tables (TBA)
9 Electronics
10 Misc techs (TBA)
11 Credits and Thanks
12 Hosting Information
/=================================\
================== ¦ 1 Introduction and Legal Notice ¦ =======================
\=================================/
This FAQ covers Masters Of Orion 3's ship design and weaponry.
This FAQ is copyrighted by Alastair (Mario Laubacher), and may not be published
without my consent. If you wish to maintain a copy of this document on your
site, please send me an e-mail at alastair412@yahoo.com.
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public
display without written permission is strictly prohibited, and a violation of
copyright.
Masters of Orion 3 (MOO3) is copyrighted and trademarked by Quicksilver and
Infogrames.
Acronyms used:
The following will appear in the FAQ quite often:
TF Taskforce
IF Indirect Fire weapons (Missiles)
DF Direct Fire weapons
LR / LRS Long Range Ships
SR / SRS Short Range Ships
Hulls acronyms
LC Light Cruiser
CR Cruiser
BC Battle Cruiser
BS Battleship
DN Dreadnought
SDN Super Dreadnought
/====================\
==================== ¦ 2 Version History ¦ ==================================
\====================/
03/21/03 v0.5 Working version (not published).
03/24/03 v0.6 Initial Release.
03/25/03 v0.7 DF weapon analysis done, added Ch. 7and 9, acronyms and some
other fixes here and there.
03/26/03 v0.72 Corrections and fixes on armor, PD and fighters
/=======================\
==================== ¦ 3 Design Guidelines ¦ ===============================
\=======================/
--------------( 3.A When to redesign )----------------------------------------
----------------------
With a wealth of techs and weaponry available, the timing for redesign is
quite important. Several options are available, but in general terms, I
recommend redesigning in the following situations:
- New warp drive: Speed is crucial. The faster your ships travel down those
jump lanes, the better your ability to keep the initiative or to react to AI
actions. Further, newer drives take up less space per speed units (this also
applies to system drives, BTW).
- New hull type: what's the use of getting that shiny Leviathan hull if you
don't use it? Superior hull space packs more firepower - use it to your
advantage. I don't necessarily redesign other hulls at that point, though.
- New weaponry: I don't prioritize that part myself. There are a few weapon
techs which almost beg for a full redesign, though, mainly Lightning fields.
Normally, I obsolete old types within 3 turns of a full redesign. Your mileage
may vary, though.
Finally, I scrap obsolete reserves as soon as a sizeable reserve of a superior
design is available, which means between 10 and 20 turns of introducing the
new designs.
///New v0.72
In relationship with Antaran expeditions, note that launching one will pull
the required amount of ships from your reserves, apparently at random
(excluding transports, colony and outpost). To have better control on what
gets sent out, scrap what you don't need or put it into active taskforces.
On the matter of transports, you'll have noticed that MOO3 has a tendency to
overdo transport building. This is a recognized bug adressed in the upcomming
patch. In the meantime, make sure you obsolete any transports as soon as you
have suitable reserves.
///
--------------( 3.B Specialized vs. Combined Arms )---------------------------
-----------------------------------
When building cruiser and bigger hulls, you tend to get enough space to
seriously consider whether you want a "pure" design per ship type or rather
"mixed" weaponry.
Obviously, a "pure" design will pack more damage for the weapon type of
your choice. However, this comes at the cost of versability both in offense
and defense. We'll comment briefly on the pros and cons of each weapon group
a bit later on, but my personal preference goes to "mixed" designs. Whatever
your choice, though, keep in mind that combined arms brings a huge advantage
in being able to confront any situations. If you go for "pure" ship designs,
try at least to mix your ship types when assembling a new TF, even in the main
body.
--------------( 3.C Point Defense )-------------------------------------------
-------------------
Currently, before the first patch gets released, PD is broken. You can't count
on PD weaponry to protect your fleet against incoming missiles, which can lead
to severe losses.
However, there is a workaround: it appears that as long as your ships have any
missiles left, the PD weapons will do their job. Hence make sure to equip all
your ships with one single rack of Nuclear warheads (PD mount does fine). Some
people recommend always putting 20 of them. This is not necessary in all
situations, though, as you can waste valuable space doing so. Your PD weapons
will fire as long as the rack isn't empty - so if you're quite ahead in the
tech race, 8-12 missiles will do nicely. This is related to the duration of
your battles: if most fights end within 3 minutes, chances are you won't be
able to deplete even 8 missiles.
Zhaneel also mentions that the PD bug can be completely offset by issuing
a patrol command (without the missile racks). I haven't verified this myself,
also note that for my taste, it limits my actions too much.
In terms of equipment, my preference goes to a combination of PD-mounted
phaser beams coupled with a second series of light-mount phaser beams. While
damage is equal, the light mount exchanges range for rate of fire. In practice
though, I find it an advantage to be able to fire a few shots at incoming
missiles from farther away, diminishing the amount of work the PDs have to
perform to shoot down what's left.
After analyzing the weapon tables, I would recommed replacing phasers with
disruptor cannons once you have all improvements researched for it. See
the analysis in the DF weapon tables for a rundown.
For fighter protection, the most efficient PD weapon by far are lightning
fields. If they aren't on your tech tree, your scientific spies and your
diplomats should work overtime to get it - it's just too invaluable to miss.
--------------( 3.D Comparing Weapon Types )----------------------------------
----------------------------
As you will have noticed, MOO3 offers three weapon types: direct fire,
fighters and missiles. Here's a rapid rundown of the pros and cons of each
type:
Direct fire
Pros:
- unlimited firepower
- vast choice of mounts
- Good damage
- Lots of modifications
Cons:
- Maximal range / damage requires a lot of space
- The truly damaging mounts have a very low rate of fire
- Can't be used to bombard planets
Fighters
Pros:
- Unlimited supply
- Virtually unlimited range
- Deep scouting
- Expendable targets for enemy missiles and fighters
Cons:
- Need to lose a complete squadron before a new one is generated
- Low speed
- "Fish school" flight AI
Missiles
Pros:
- Best damage / weight ratio
- Speed
Cons:
- Grouped targetting wastes a whole volley in overkill
- Limited supply
This quick comparison explains my preference for mixed designs. At the very
least, both my carriers and IF have at least one spinal-type beam weapon so
they aren't useless once their last volley has been fired or their fighter
complement is out fighting planetside while a SR TF approaches your ships.
To maximize the weaponry effect for fighters and missiles, when fighting near
armed planets, I always select each TF and target the planet every 5 seconds
to make sure all my indirect weaponry is in flight and ready to react to
enemy TFs popping up midway. Usually, the first or second volley wipes out
planetary bases, leaving the rest available to re-acquire whatever target lies
in-between.
The benefits of using lots of fighters in any fleet can't be stressed enough.
They provide deep recon by forcing enemy ships to uncloack when firing,
and plenty of distraction for fighters and especially missiles.
When a 1000-damage warhead blows up a 30-HP fighter, that's 970 damage gone to
waste. Of course, this works both ways. Note that normally, though, with
decent cloaking and ECM on your TFs, the AI seems incapable of targetting your
main fleets, giving the human player a distinct advantage. To maximize this,
use the launch method described above as soon as you have a target.
--------------( 3.E Missiles and Racks )--------------------------------------
------------------------
When designing your missile complement, keep in mind that there are two weight
components: individual missile weight and rack weight. Adding several racks
ensures larger volleys being shot, adding more missiles per rack ensure that
more volleys can be shot. On large hulls, I tend to limit myself to 5 racks,
counting 5+ missiles per rack. But this is also due to my preference for mixed
designs, as the rest of the space gets occupied by a bunch of fighters and a
couple of Spinal+ direct fire weapons.
--------------( 3.F Defense )-------------------------------------------------
-------------
Armor doesn't take up space, but tends to cost a lot. Shields are relatively
cheap compared to armor, but take up quite a bit of space, have less stopping
power, and tend to get depleted pretty quick.
Hence I usually boost industry DEAs on 5-10 size-12 planets and skip shields
altogether.
When in need for shielding, though (the enemy is close in techs or ahead of
me in techs), I go for damper fields as soon as they are available. Although
they are weaker in sheer power than Class VII+ shields, they recharge to full
strength every 5 seconds, never running out, while traditional shields run
out after 1-2 blasts.
--------------( 3.G Electronics )---------------------------------------------
-----------------
Due to the lack of explanations on the manual, some confusion exists about the
respective effect of ECM and ECCM.
To summarize what those _should_ do:
- ECM jam enemy battle computers, rendering the detection of your TFs more
difficult
- ECCM unscrambles your own battle computers.
ECM and ECCM of the same level cancel each other out. However, contrary to
some people's assumption, this doesn't mean that having both in your TFs makes
them usueless. By design, they are matched against enemy devices, not your
own.
But where to place them?
Putting both devices on the same ship is a pure waste of space. ECM is a
defensive device, it is probably best placed on your PD ships. ECCM, on the
other hand, is a detection device, and it's best located on your recon ships.
Note that ECM protects your whole TF to a point, while ECCM, like the scan
devices, work a tad differently.
In MOO3, whenever one single ship notices an enemy ship or weapon, your whole
fleet sees them at once.
In practice, the computer adds up all the values of each individual ECM in
your fleet and matches them against the total of the opposing ECCM. If your
ECM values (see the tech tables below) totals are higher, your fleet will be
protected. If it's lower, it won't - and vice versa.
Cloaking: I haven't had much time to delve into specifics so far, but from a
cursory look, it seems to have two effects: a visual cloaking value, and an
ECM value. There's a big difference, though: The weakest cloak's ECM value is
as good as ECM V... for a much smaller space and a ludicrously low cost.
Which would mean that using any ECM device over cloaking is just a waste of
space and money as long as you're ahead in the tech race.
*sigh*. Yet another area where a better manual would have helped... I miss
SMAC / SMAX's detailed encyclopedia...
///New v0.72
Note that contrary to ECM, ECCM and detection devices, cloaks can't be
stacked. Which means it's usually a good idea to have your PD ships adding
to your TF's total jamming value.
///
--------------( 3.H Speed )---------------------------------------------------
-----------
As my tactics mainly involve sniping from afar or using missiles with
fighters, planet-side fights don't recquire a lot of speed.
That doesn't mean you should spare the space and drop your system drive speed
to 1 - when flying interception missions or fighting a guardian, your IF and
carriers are exposed, as they won't launch their weaponry before they spot a
target.
I tend to have my system drives at 60%-75% of max speed at any times. For LRs,
which need a bit more mobility, I usually select 80% of max speed.
Note that your TFs will (obviously) always move at the speed of your slowest
ship within that TF, so keep that in mind when designing and assembling your
TFs.
--------------( 3.I Ship types and TFs )--------------------------------------
------------------------
Apart from the obvious like colony and outpost ships, what to build?
As highlighted in the weapon comparison, carriers and IF ships pretty much own
the battlefield, especially when building mixed designs or at least mixed TFs.
When bombarding planets, keep in mind only missiles are able to deal damage.
This makes IF ships an almost mandatory complement to your fleets.
In complement to carriers and IF ships, I build a set of mixed LRS as well, to
add some punch to my TFs when combat becomes more close and personal.
I don't like SR ships nor SR TFs. They simply have to get too close to be
effective - which means lots of losses. Also, to be effective, you would
probably want to go for full speed and shields - at the expense of firepower.
I tend to have several hull sizes per ship type, so that all my planets can
contribute to the building effort.
For TFs, I build nothing but armadas for offense fleets. A carrier armada
sports the following combination:
- 1-2 cap-ship carriers (by turn 200+, titans or bigger)
- 4-5 smaller carriers (by turn 200+, BC to SDN)
- 1 cap IF
- 4 smaller IFs
- 1 big LRS (DN or better)
Escort ring:
- 2 PD ships (currently one LC and one BC)
- 2 BC+-sized LRS
Picket ring:
- 2 medium-sized reco
IF armadas are currently very similar, I usually only invert the carrier and
IF ship numbers. In practice, however, as I use mixed ship designs as well, I
tend to limit myself to building IF TFs, unless I run out of IF cap ships.
Note that in combat, you are limited to 10 TFs per assault. The CPU selects
your best TFs present in the system to do the job.
This _seems_ to exclude system ships and orbitals, but I need to confirm this
sometime soon.
One use I have for SR TFs is to build one brand of mid-sized SR ships,
and include sensor-heavy recon ships in the TFs. I group them in smaller
TFs and use them as detectors / decoys in heavily defended and cloacked areas,
typically guardians and Orion. Those throwaway TFs don't survive for long, but
usually allow to detect the opponent and attract its fire without risking the
lives of my main (and expensive) armadas.
/===============\
==================== ¦ 4 Hull Table ¦ =======================================
\===============/
--------------( Hull Sizes )--------------------------------------------------
----------
Type Cost Capacity
---------------------------------
Lancer 100 50
Cutter 142 70
Corvette 204 100
Frigate 298 140
Destroyer 438 200
Light Cruiser 650 285
Cruiser 974 405
Battle Cruiser 1458 575
Battleship 2264 815
Dreadnought 3502 1155
Superdreadnought 5472 1635
Titan 8646 2310
Behemoth 13706 3265
Leviathan 22244 4615
Notes:
The advantage of bigger sizes are of course their sheer payload. On the other
hand, though, their cost can become quite a burden on your PP. Keep track of
your production capacities: A behemoth-sized ship requires you have at least
a couple of worlds capable of churning out 7000+ PPs per turn in order to get
built at a reasonable pace.
/==================\
==================== ¦ 5 Defense Tables ¦ ====================================
\==================/
--------------( Armor Types )-------------------------------------------------
-----------
Name Cost ArmorVal Deflect
----------------------------------------------
Zortrium 20 100 2
Duranium 60 200 6
Titanium 140 400 10
Neutronium 300 800 14
Adamantium 620 1600 18
--------------( Armor Plating )-----------------------------------------------
-------------
Type CostMult ArmorMult DeflectMult
-----------------------------------------------------------
No Armor 0 0 0
Very Light Armor (VLA) 0.75 0.50 0.5
Light Armor (LA) 1.00 1.00 0.66
Medium Armor (MA) 3.00 2.00 1
Heavy Armor (HA) 7.00 4.00 1.5
Very Heavy Armor (VHA) 12.00 8.00 1.75
Ultra Heavy Armor (UHA) 18.00 16.00 2
Notes:
When selecting building VHA or UHA ships, note that going for lower type + UHA
will be much cheaper (hence faster to build), at the expense of about 25%-40% in
deflection value. But it might be worth considering.
Example: Duranium UHA: cost 1080, Armor 3200, Defl 12
Titanium VHA: cost 1680, Armor 3200, Defl 17.5
--------------( Shields )-----------------------------------------------------
-------
Shield Generators come in three variants: small, standard, and large.
Each size provides 1.5x regen rates and shield str over the smaller size,
but cost and space doubles every time. If you need the space, absolutely
prefer better armor and smaller generator.
There are 10 shield types plus Damper fields available. For an increase
in cost, each size gives you better defletion values and recharge rates, at
the same space cost - therefore only cost is a consideration when deciding on
the type you need.
Notes:
Traditional shield purchasing gets completely outclassed if you manage to
research Damper fields. Damper fields cost quite a bit more than normal
shields, and take thrice the space, but they regenerate their whole strength
every 5 seconds. Although technically, the shield resistance for class VII+ is
better, it gets chipped away with every shot, usually way faster than its
recharge rate. Meanwhile, your damper fields keep recharging until the end of
the battle.
/=======================\
==================== ¦ 6 Direct Fire Tables ¦ ===============================
\=======================/
--------------( General Data and abbreviations )------------------------------
------------------------------
FireDlay = Delay between two shots
MultFire = # of shots fired per salvo
NearDmg = The weapon's max damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisSt
FarDmg = The weapon's min damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisEn
DmgDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where damage
starts to decrease.
DmgDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will do any damage.
DmgDelta = The difference between NearDmg and FarDmg. Note that the value
doesn't seem to get used at all at present.
MaxAccry = The maximum accuracy at AccDisSt? or AccDisEn? No way to know.
AccDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where accuracy
starts to decrease. The decay is not known.
AccDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will manage to hit a target.
Cost = The cost in AU.
Space = The space used.
ShldPen = Shield Penetration. Not certain how the value is used.
ArmrPierc = Armour Piercing. Not used in the game atm. (1)
Space/Dmg = A simple measure on the weapons "quality" vs space.
Lower = better. See bottom of chapter for more.
Improvements:
M1 / M2 = Miniaturization: Space * .8 per level (both = space *.64)
I = Improved: NearDmg * 1.5, FarDmg * 1.1
AP = Armor Piercing: ArmorPierc *.75, Space * 1.5 (1)
AF = AutoFire: MultFire * 3, Space *2
C = Continuous: Accuracy *1.5, Space * 1.25
E = Envelopping: ShieldPen *.5, Space *1.66
/// Updated v0.72
(1) It looks like all tests indicate that ArmorPiercing has been entirely
removed from the game. I don't really take those into account when
evaluating weapons atm, and a good thing it is, since if this does get
patched back in, this could severely affect weapon effectiveness.
This means that at this moment, using AP improvement is a good way to
waste space for no effect.
--------------( Mounts )------------------------------------------------------
------
Name Space Cost Dmg Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Fire
DisSt DisEn DisSt DisEn Dlay
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point Defense(1) 0.8 1.0 0.33 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75
Light Mount 0.8 0.75 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8? 0.8
Standard Mount 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Heavy Mount 1.75 2.0 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2
Very Heavy Mount 2.75 3.0 2.0 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.4
Ultra Heavy Mount 4.0 4.0 2.5 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.6
Spinal Mount 1.5 3.5 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.2
Improved Spinal Mount 2.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2 3.5
Ultra Spinal Mount 3.0 7.0 5.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 5
(1) PD has MultFire value of 2. Which means a PD should shoot twice as much
as any other mount. In practice, it doesn't work. Yet another bug.
Note that Ultra Heavy Mounts are better than Spinals and Improved Spinals,
at the expense of space and cost. The lower Fire Delay is also worth
considering.
In practice, you can fit twice as much Improved Spinals than Ultra Heavies,
but they will fire less than half often. If cost is a factor (because your
production capabilities are an issue), though, prefer Ultra Heavy Mounts.
--------------( Beams )-------------------------------------------------------
-----
Beams wield the longest range overall. However, this comes at a cost:
Both damage and accuracy are severly lowered at the longer ranges.
They also sport a good Damage / space ratio. They are very well-suited for PD
to standard mounts on short distances. If you plan to snipe from afar, though,
avoid beams.
Adding to their PD suitability is the fact that Ion Pulse and Phasers sport
the AutoFire improvement.
Note that the stellar converter, with a Fire Delay of 8 and a huge space cost
is simply not worth the trouble for a combat weapon. It's only use: converting
planets to ashes, period.
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser 2.5 1 7 1 4500 7167 6 0.7 4500 7166 5
Hard Beam 2.5 1 15 7 4500 11333 8 0.7 4500 11333 10
Ion Pulse 2.5 1 33 4 4500 15500 29 0.7 4500 15500 22
Cannon
Phasers 2.5 1 48 5 4500 17583 43 0.7 4500 17583 32
Disintegrator 2.5 1 105 23 4500 21750 82 0.7 4500 21750 70
Beam
Stellar 8 1 1000 200 4500 28000 0 1 27999 28000 666
Converter
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser 10 1 1 M1, M2, I, AP, AF, C 1.43
Hard Beam 7 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.47
Ion Pulse 10 1 0.8 M1, M2, I, AF 0.30
Phasors 14 1 1 M1, M2, I, C, AF, AP 0.29
Disintegrator 25 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.24
Stellar 495 1 1 0.50
Note that for the space / Dmg ratio, the lower the better.
--------------( Mass Drivers )------------------------------------------------
------------
Mass drivers have one huge thing going for them: damage remains constant over
distance. Their accuracy, however, is only 50%. This makes them a risky bet
to use as PD weapons, IMO.
In the early turns, never use mass drivers over lasers - they're just worse
all over the band.
For PDs, a decent late-game alternative to Phasers would be the Disruptor
cannon, though. It's range / damage ratio is almost 4 times better than
phasors for a slight cost increase, and it holds the AF improvement as well.
Also consider that you need 44 Phasors to match the damage of 10 disruptors -
making them longer to design. With the extra range, the disruptor has plenty
of time to shoot a second time if the first shot misses. A good investment for
cap ships.
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Driver 2.5 1 14 3 5732 5733 0 0.5 4500 5733 9
Rail Gun 2.5 1 30 7 9065 9067 0 0.5 4500 9067 20
Gauss Cannon 2.5 1 97 9 14065 14067 0 0.5 4500 14067 64
Disruptor 2.5 1 209 20 17399 17400 0 0.5 4500 17400 139
Cannon
Dark Matter 2.5 1 453 30 20732 20733 0 0.5 4500 20733 302
Projector
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Driver 22 1 1 M1, M2, I, AP, AF 1.57
Rail Gun 13 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.43
Gauss Cannon 27 1 1 M1, M2, I, AP, AF 0.28
Disruptor 54 1 1 M1, M2, I, AF 0.26
Dark Matter 95 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.21
--------------( Particle )----------------------------------------------------
--------
Particle weapons are quite similar to beams in general. However, their
Dmg / space ratio is none too impressive, the loss of damage on max distance
is bad.
Initially, the Death Ray would seem like a decent pick due to its short Fire
Delay. However, the absence of any improvements leaves is sorely outclassed.
Altogether, particles are just not worth the trouble. If you could steer your
research, I would never bother in the first place...
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quark Cannon 2.5 1 15 3 4500 8017 14 0.7 4500 8017 10
Neutron Blstr 2.5 1 33 3 4500 11628 30 0.7 4500 11628 22
Graviton Beam 2.5 1 49 3 4500 13433 46 0.7 4500 13433 33
Particle Beam 2 1 49 10 4500 13433 39 0.9 4500 13433 33
Dark Ener Bm 2.5 1 107 20 4500 17044 87 0.7 4500 17044 71
Death Ray 2 1 157 50 4500 18850 107 0.9 4500 18850 105
Tachyon Beam 2.5 1 231 27 4500 20656 204 0.7 4500 20656 154
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quark Cannon 12 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, 0.80
Neutron Blstr 15 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, C 0.45
Graviton Beam 18 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, C 0.37
Particle Beam 18 0.1 0.9 0.37
Dark Ener Bm 33 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, 0.31
Death Ray 45 0.8 0.7 0.29
Tachyon Beam 61 0.9 1 M1, M2, I, 0.26
--------------( Plasma )------------------------------------------------------
------
Plasma weapons offer the shortest max range, but pack an excellent Damage /
space ratio. They are altogether a tad lighter than their counterparts in
other DF weapon types.
Of all the plasma weapons available, the Megabolt Cannon is the best choice,
provided you manage to research or steal all three improvements available.
With a Fire Delay of 4, and a disappointing damage spread, the Mauler,
however, is just a waste of space.
Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc Cost
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Delta Accry DisSt DisEn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fusion Beam 2.5 1 31 2 4500 6167 29 0.8 4500 6167 21
Hellfire Can 2.5 1 67 10 4500 8944 57 0.8 4500 8944 45
Lightng Fld 2.5 5 36 36 4500 6364 0 0.9 4500 6364 24
Plasma Can 2.5 1 213 6 4500 13111 207 0.8 4500 13111 142
Megabolt Can 2.5 1 314 23 4500 14500 291 0.8 4500 14500 209
Mauler 4 1 679 1 4500 15889 0 1 15887 15889 453
Space Shld Armr Impr. Space /
Pen Pier Dmg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fusion Beam 15 1 1 M1, M2, I, C, E 0.48
Hellfire Can 19 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.28
Lightning Fld 10 0.7 0.7 M1, M2, I, 0.28
Plasma Cannon 44 1 1 M1, M2, I, C 0.21
Megabolt Can 59 1 1 M1, M2, I, 0.19
Mauler 113 0.5 1 M1, M2 0.17
--------------( Bottomline )--------------------------------------------------
----------
Altogether, consider DF weapons to be more of a support and defense weaponry.
Sure, on short ranges, they are well worth the trouble, but short range comes
with higher casualties OR requires additional shielding (which removes space
for more firepower).
For a serious bruising effect, however, Ultra Spinal Mounts transform the
weakest DF into a serious threat - but the FireDly gets huge as well.
However, consider this: If your first shot is a guaranteed kill, you don't
need to worry about FireDly for the second one. Plus, on the range bonus
granted, 5 seconds more just means an already severly diminished TF closes
in a tiny bit, exposing itself to heavier damage on the second shot.
/==================\
============== ¦ 7 Fighter Tables ¦ ==========================================
\==================/
--------------( General Data and abbreviations )------------------------------
------------------------------
FireDlay = Delay between two shots
MultFire = # of shots fired per salvo
NearDmg = The weapon's max damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisSt
FarDmg = The weapon's min damage, applied between point-blank and DmgDisEn
DmgDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where damage
starts to decrease.
DmgDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will do any damage.
MaxAccry = The maximum accuracy at AccDisSt? or AccDisEn? No way to know.
AccDisSt = The distance between point-blank and the point where accuracy
starts to decrease. The decay is not known.
AccDisEn = The max range at which the weapon will manage to hit a target.
Cost = The cost in AU.
Space = The space used.
ShldPen = Shield Penetration.
ArmrPierc = Armour Piercing. Not used in the game.
Size = Currently used to determine the fighter's base HP.
Improvements:
AP = Armor Piercing: ArmorPierc *.75, Space * 1.5
AF = AutoFire: MultFire * 3, Space *2
DP = DualPod: MultFire * 2, Space *1.8
E = Envelopping: ShieldPen *.5, Space *1.66
/// New v0.72
Notes:
- Fragility and DamagCap have been removed from the tables, as they seem to
lack any tangible effect. For base HP, it seems size is considered - has been
added to the tables.
- Armor Piercing doesn't work. Don't pick that!
///
--------------( Chassis )-----------------------------------------------------
-------
Note that as for DF mounts, the values indicated are multipliers over the base
value for each fighter.
Type Space Cost NearDmg FarDmg
-----------------------------------------------------------
Interceptor Chassis 1.5 1 1 1
Space Control Chassis 3 2.5 1.4 1.2
/// New v0.72
Visage on the official board points out that with double space versus just
40% damage bonus, Space Control Chassis isn't worth it.
Indeed, with only interceptors, you get twice as many fighters and hence
twice as many shots...
///
--------------( Fighter Types )-----------------------------------------------
-------------
Type Fire Mult Near Far Dmg Dmg Max Acc Acc
Dlay Fire Dmg Dmg DisSt DisEn Accry DisSt DisEn
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fighter Laser 2.5 1 4 1 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Fusion Bm 2.5 1 15 2 3k 4k 0.8 3k 4k
Fighter Neutron Bl 2.5 1 17 2 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Gravit Bm 2.5 1 25 2 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Phasors 2.5 1 24 4 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Plasma Cn 2.5 1 107 5 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Disrup Cn 2.5 1 105 30 3k 4k 0.5 3k 4k
Fighter Mass Drv 2.5 1 7 5 3k 4k 0.5 3k 4k
Fighter Gauss Cn 2.5 1 48 14 3k 4k 0.5 3k 4k
Fighter Ion Pulse 2.5 1 16 4 3k 4k 0.7 3k 4k
Fighter Particle 2.5 1 25 8 3k 4k 0.9 3k 4k
Fighter Death Ray 2 1 78 38 3k 4k 0.9 3k 4k
Type Cost Space Shld (Armr Size Improvements
Pen Pier)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fighter Laser 4 6 1 1 6 AF
Fighter Fusion Bm 15 14 1 1 6 E
Fighter Neutron Bl 17 7 1 1 6
Fighter Gravit Bm 25 9 1 1 9
Fighter Phasors 24 7 1 1 6 DP
Fighter Plasma Cn 107 41 1 1 15 DP
Fighter Disrup Cn 105 32 1 1 12
Fighter Mass Drv 7 13 1 1 6 AP
Fighter Gauss Cn 48 17 1 1 6
Fighter Ion Pulse 16 5 0.5 0 18 DP
Fighter Particle 25 9 0.1 0.8 9
Fighter Death Ray 78 22 0.7 0.7 18
--------------( Bottomline )--------------------------------------------------
----------
From those tables, the best fighter to use is the Phasors Fighter with Dual
Pods. It has the best Dmg/Space ratio and the best Dmg/cost ratio. It is,
comparatively, dirt cheap and small.
Even though sheer firepower is rather small and Fragility is very low, you can
safely swarm out any opposing force with dozens of fighters, which means an
equivalent amount of targets to shoot down.
Important note: AP doesn't have any effect right now. This also means that
until ArmorPiercing gets patched in, the best fighter could actually be the
Ion Pulse cannon: they have thrice the HP of phaser fighters, and both lower
cost and space.
/==================\
============= ¦ 8 Missile Tables ¦ ===========================================
\==================/
TBA v0.8 - sorry for the delay :)
/===============\
============== ¦ 9 Electronics ¦ =============================================
\===============/
To evaluate jamming and sensors is a tricky business, as the formulas involved
in MOO3's calculations are probably anything but obvious stuff.
I've been fiddling with my spreadsheets for hours and still lack any clue
about a comprehensive formula about how Jamming / cloaking offsets detection.
My main issue is to try to calculate the effective detection range versus
jamming / cloaking, in other words, the distance beyond which a cloaked ship
will remain invisible for each device used.
For the moment, though, it is safe to assume that cloaking is more effective
than detection, hence you need more detection devices to offset cloaking.
In practice, detection devices use a value called OffTgtRg (Offense Target
Range?), which seems like the rounded inverse to DefTgtRg (Defense Target
Range?) used by cloaking devices. Due to the rounding, cloaking devices are
more effective than detectors.
Anyway, without more sterile ravings, here is the raw data. If someone can
find out exactly how MOO3 calculates Invisibility range vs. Detection range,
drop me an e-mail. I'm curious.
--------------( Detection )---------------------------------------------------
---------
Cost Space OffTgtRg
---------------------------------
ECCM I 30 15 0.9
ECCM II 90 20 0.75
ECCM III 150 35 0.6
ECCM IV 210 55 0.45
ECCM V 270 90 0.3
Sensor I 30 15 0.8
Sensor II 90 20 0.7
Sensor III 150 35 0.55
Sensor IV 210 55 0.4
Sensor V 270 90 0.25
(Proper Sensor names to be patched in once I have access to wStrings.txt. Grr)
--------------( Cloaking )----------------------------------------------------
--------
Cost Space DefTgtRg Cloaking
----------------------------------------------------
ECM I 30 15 1.15
ECM II 60 20 1.35
ECM III 120 35 1.65
ECM IV 240 55 1.9
ECM V 480 90 2.2
Cloaking Device 30 15 2.2 2.2
Phased Cloaking 30 20 3.3 3.3
Reactive Cloaking 30 35 4.95 4.95
Ghost Device 30 55 7.425 7.425
A quick glance on this table confirms that cloaking is both cheaper and more
effective than jamming (ECM devices). However, cloaks can't be stacked.
Also, cloaks have a Cloaking value. How this one is used is anyone's guess.
Possibly, DefTgRg works for missile acquisition and is offset by ECCM, while
Cloaking works for visual detection, and is only offset by sensors. If that is
the case, this would mean that missiles might be able to target a fleet,
while it remains untargettable by the main fleet? I wish I could do some
serious multiplayer testing for that, but that almost requires a second MOO3
CD - and this game is not THAT good.
/=======================\
============== ¦ 11 Credits and Thanks ¦ =====================================
\=======================/
This FAQ owes to the various contributions posted on both Gamefaqs' and
Infogrames' official boards. Thanks to all the people who have posted their
initial findings and who have commented on those, in particuliar GothFather,
and Visage.
Also thanks to Zhaneel and dakgm from the Gamefaqs boards for direct feedback.
/========================\
============= ¦ 12 Hosting Information ¦ =====================================
\========================/
The latest update of this document can usually be found on gamefaqs.com
Currently authorized hosts:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
http://www.actiontrip.com/
http://www.neoseeker.com/
http://faqs.ign.com/