ok, so large cargo or small cargo ships?

I have a feeling that small cargo ships are more effective than large ones
-reasoning: Large cargo ships have a much larger capacity, the equivalent of five small ones, making them cheaper on gas and otherwise more "efficient" on resources, however, after the impulse upgrade for small cargo ships, the comparative speed is laughable. large cargo's combustion engines make them a perfect anchor for your ships (only a ten percent increase per tech); slowing ur entire fleet down to the same slow speeds. small cargo ships, which have the same base speed as bc's and bs's, have a much more effective technology behind them (20% per tech on impulse); allowing your fleet to travel at maximum speeds, whether it is for raiding other planets or moving your own resources. so, the real questions are as fallows- when you can make tens of thousands of ships, is that extra gas money really that important? and when sent on a raid, does a small cargo ship's performance lack when compared to large cargo ships? (do they survive as well?)

please share your thoughts, all of the above is pure theory (I don't want to sink money into a fleet of small cargo ships to see it crash on the first raid, lol)

i think large cargos are better as 1 is cheaper than 5 small cargos (matching capacity) and they have better armour and shields ive never used small cargos since first week
my advice is LC for attacking and raiding (i dont think speed is that important early on in game, wasnt for me)
maybe use small cargos for shuttling resources between your colonies (i use LC for that also though cos cheaper to build)

plus the big fleeters with thousands of ships dont need any cargos so when you get to that level wont need SC or LC

Personally i like the small cargos to raid inactives because they're faster. I usually don't send LC nor SC when attacking enemy fleets.

im thinkin of maybe using recyclers
cos even though are very very sloooooooooooow
they can recycle, shuttle and carry all your resources when fleetsaving
not sure yet

reading more reminded of deut cost so will stick to rec for rec and LC for transport and raid/attack

this is pretty interesting i dint realized they were alot faster than lc

I didn't study the ratios too closely, but it seemed like the small cargoes didn't get as fast with the Impulse Engine as they should. I didn't really look into it further, it is possibly a glitch. Either way, I found the speed was not that much greater for the small cargoes.

using recyclers is very Deut expensive compared to LC,the only real purpose for a SC is that it gives you a small boost during your first week. Currently with no RF, they could be used as an expensive Def/fodder, but LF are same cost with greater shield/firepower, so SC=week 1 only, then useless.

as a fleeter i would not even dream of using small cargo...Deut is my blood line and spending 3 to 4 times what i need to to accomplish anything in this game is not gonna happen. Not to mention if someone farts in the next galaxy they will blow up. to say they are paper weights is giving them more credit then they are worth.
small cargo
Structure points 4.000
Shield Strength 10
Attack Points 5
Cargo Capacity 5.000 Units
Base Speed 5.000 (10.000)
Fuel Consumption (Deuterium) 20 (40)

large cargo
Structure points 15.000
Shield Strength 25
Attack Points 5
Cargo Capacity 25.000 Units
Base Speed 7.500
Fuel Consumption (Deuterium) 50

EX 1 small scale inner section transfer

8 SC transfer 50,000 materials deut consumption 38 time 6:47
2 LC transfer 50,000 materials Deut consumption 13 Time 7:03

EX 2 inactive target 1 section over

Metal 635.288 Crystal 262.066
Deuterium 121.545

the required cargos to hit this for max profit is 52 LC or 260 SC

52 LC attack deut consumption 832 time 11:40
260 SC attack deut consumption 3321 time 11:15


EX 3 inactive 50 zones away still same galaxy

Metal 1.131.338 Crystal 538.222
Deuterium 152.929

required for max profit 92 LC 460 SC

92 LC deut 3917 time 19:02
460 SC deut 15,673 time 18:20


so it comes down to answer your question to if the deut or the few seconds are more important to you..and add the fact that if there is any planet D say good bye to a few of them that a LC would deflect.

also to build 5 SC costs 12,500 metal and 7500 crystal
LC is 7500/7500 each so you are looking to spend more to make and send them for less protection and spending more fuel

that concludes our lesson for the day!

gumppy wrote:Not to mention if someone farts in the next galaxy they will blow up. to say they are paper weights is giving them more credit then they are worth.

Very accurate description of the small cargo.

I am going to use my Combustion and Impulse Tech to describe the problem.

I have Level 14 Combustion and Level 13 Impulse.

LARGE CARGO
The base speed of the large cargo is 7500. To calculate the projected speed of the large cargo with lvl 14 combustion assumes the following formula...

Projected speed = Base Speed * (100% + combustion tech x 10%)

PS = 7500*(100% + 140%)= 7500*240% = 18,0000

For the large cargo, the projected speed matches up.


SMALL CARGO
Base speed is 5000 and becomes 10,000 at level 5 where it is replaced by the Impulse engine (and thus should increase at 20% per level after 5)

My Impulse engine level is 13, so 13-5 = 8

Projected speed = Base speed * (100% + impulse engine tech * 20%)
PS = 10,000 * (100%+160%) = 10,000*260% = 26,000

Unfortunately, the real max speed of my small cargos is 23,000. Only 3000 right? Well, if I was confident that it would increase properly, I would upgrade the Impulse tech to level 15, making its speed 30,000. A worthwhile investment for small cargos if they could travel that fast. However, I don't believe they would.

Please correct my equation if I am calculating it wrong, if not I will throw this in the bugs section. Keep in mind the order of operations for these calculations (PEMDAS).

EDITED: For the small cargo, it seems the new speed is based on a level 13 combustion engine with a 10,000 base speed. PS = 10,000* (100%+130%) = 10,000 * 230% = 23,000 The actual speed of my small cargo at the moment.