Capital ship tier list, by Grievous69 - 0.95.1a

Discussion

Saw there's a demand for decent up to date tier lists so I thought might as well make one. u/PureLSD made a great one a while back so this is going to be heavily inspired by it since there's no need to fix what ain't broken. Also I think ships in Starsector can greatly change depending on who's piloting it, so there's going to be 2 ranks usually (when it makes a difference), first one always being in hands of AI, after all AI commands all but one ship, and the other score will be for a flagship. I will naturally take campaign stats into account because after all, it's the campaign where people decide what to do with their credits.

Btw I'm not an egomaniac, it's already hard to find some posts here so I added something on the side to make it easier to find if needed.

There will be no civilian ships in my lists since I'm first and foremost a bounty hunter who spends a lot of time in combat. There's probably a bunch of other folks including new people who figured out which freighter/tanker/transport is most efficient.

Astral: B-

Once a fearsome capital, it got hit with multiple nerfs in previous patches leaving much to be desired. Still a good and useful ship with nice missile firepower, but sadly pigeonholed to a single build because of its system. Feels a bit too expensive for what you get now, I'd rather have 2 Herons in my fleet honestly.

Atlas Mk.II: B

You probably won't find another ship with better firepower/DP ratio. Mainly an artillery ship best left in backlines, this thing only costs 24 DP yet it has stupid amounts of firepower along with AAF system. Recent buffs to 7 burn speed made it much more viable in my eyes. And that's where the positives end. It's slow, dies to a fart, civilian grade hullmod and not a lot of OP. You also won't get too much from piloting it yourself since it sloooow as all hell. Still a fun ship to spam and laugh maniacally as you shower your enemies with missiles and bullets.

Conquest: B- / A+

Yes you read that right, I gave the most controversial capital in the game am A+ as a flagship. It's the ship I spent most time flying it, coming up with various builds and it's just so so good for the player. It is slower that some other capitals but the good thing is it can use its system to go backwards. Another great sniper candidate with amazing missile firepower, that role is usually given to AI, while more ballsy builds are better suited for the player. It basically needs some hullmods to make it survive, but even the AI should manage it if you have tankier ships in your fleet.

Legion: C

Base Legion is disappointing to me as its design and idea seem fun and cool, but once you start using it in fights, you'll see how it falls apart. Battlecarrier ships are inherently flawed due to how officers work, and Legion is very obvious with that. There usually won't be enough OP left for you to make a strong build that has decent fighters while also having long range guns that you can fire. It's semi-usable as a missile spammer but the upcoming ship is even better at that.

Legion(XIV): A

It's honestly crazy how couple of mounts on a capital make for a totally different ship. Base Legion with flux issues? Goodbye flux, hello 2 large missile turrets. Having a tough low tech capital that can burn into enemies and have 2 large torpedo weapons is the pinnacle of low tech tomfoolery. It's just so much more versatile than the base version, while you don't need to worry as much if the ship will overflux itself in 5 seconds. Still it won't be the star of the show in the toughest campaign fights.

Odyssey: B- / A

Very overrated for AI use since Plasma burn is the bane of its decision making. This ship does a little bit of everything, good energy damage output, nice missile mounts, great speed in combat, 2 fighter wings, and crazy good campaign stats. But I honestly can't give it a higher rank just due to how frail it is, and how it just loves getting into death situations. That said it's a damn fun player ship that will make you feel like you're piloting a cruiser, and not a capital. Amazing exploration capital, not the best for hard battles though imo.

Onslaught: A / S-

My little boy just keeps getting better and better with each update. There have been so many good things impacting it right now I'm pretty sure Alex has a soft spot for it. New skills, cancellable burn drive, TPC buff, Large ballistics integration, Heavy armour buff. This is the tankiest motherfucker to ever be a part of your fleet (currently) while still dishing out enormous damage. In my low tech run this was all I piloted, fuck Ziggurat. It probably has too many mounts to fill but the absolute firepower while giving zero shits if fired at is just something else. AI doesn't even have to be smart, give it an officer with armour skills, point it at general direction of enemy -> no more enemy. All that for only 40 DP. Truly a beast. Only downside I can think of is meh campaign stats (mainly fuel use).

Paragon: S-

The reason I'm not giving it pure S tier is because pretty much everything around it got buffed. Yes it's still a monster but not as much as before. Everybody knows the donut, slap 4 Tachyons and call it a day right? I'm kinda upset how many people just try out one build and then wonder why it isn't doing so well versus the real challenges in campaign. Also not smart to spam them, one in your fleet is enough, you need escorts. But yeah, for 60 DP you pretty much get what you expect, nigh unkillable battleship that can devastate any lone opponents while it slowly turtle walks towards the action.

Prometheus Mk.II B / B+

The most underrated capital in the game, no clue why people don't talk about it. Recent buffs made it very viable, also burn 7 as Atlas Mk.II. And it has such a unique mount setup not seen in any other ship, 2 hybrid mounts. Just imagine, you can combo large ballistics with a HIL or a Tach lance. It also has a large system hardpoint and 2 fighter wings, so it might resemble a cursed Odyssey, jack of all trades kinda ship. But this one only costs 30 DP, same as Aurora!! Come on, who wouldn't love burning towards the enemy fleet in a converted fuel tanker with torpedoes and energy weapons. Seriously guys, give it a shot in 0.95.1

Feel free to give me feedback, I might've missed a detail or two so I'll adjust things accordingly.

Posted May 5, 2022, 7:32 PM UTC · edited

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