Sol Ships

Sol ships tend to be utilitarian and functional in design, with a focus on longer ranged weaponry and force fields. Usually traveling in groups of three ships or more, they concentrate on disabling enemy ships from a distance and minimize casualties, and destroying Genari marine pods before they attach.

 

Will be posting a lot of photos of Sol ships here, but here is a Mercury Type III Light Cruiser up closer in a shipyard near Earth.

 

Approximately 60 different Sol ships and 60 different Genari ships available to players from the start. Though every player starts with a Corvette (Class III) ship -- about a dozen choices there -- and so you have to acquire XP to get to the more powerful ships.

 

CLASS III SOL SHIP: The Bengbu Armored Corvette
Four Variants
As a starter ship for Sol, I think this ship will be quite popular for players who want to 'play it safe'. It has a lot of armor and strong force fields, so it can take a lot of punishment for a Corvette. But it does sacrifice firepower and maneuverability, so it won't give you easy kills. Greater staying power when defending a region though, especially in the early game.

 

At some point I'll make a thread will all the numbers/calculations, but here is how the OFF/DEF is calculated:

OFFENSE: (Total weapon rating + Marine strength) x maneuverability rating x Sensor rating
DEFENSE: [Hull Points + (MaxShieldstrength x2 x shield tier)] x (maneuverability rating/2) x sensor rating

Maneuverability rating = Maxiumum movement a ship can have at full power divided by 10.
Shield Tier = Level1 1x multiplier Level2 1.4x multiplier Level3 1.8x multiplier

 

Shield tiers = is how advanced the shield is. For Genari, they have 1:1 power shields (every power gives 1 point of shields) and 1:2 power shields (every power gives 2 shield points). Sol has an additional tier of level3 (1:3). Ma'Alaketh goes even beyond that with some of its shields being 1:4 and 1:5. Hive does not have shields.

 

CLASS III SOL SHIP: The Mendi Corvette
Four Variants
Another Sol starter ship, the Mendi will probably be popular with those who like a lot of firepower. Its focus is on multiple laser weapons, with a tremendous damage output for a small ship. Of course, it does not have the survivability of the Bengbu, but it has three times the firepower of the Bengbu. Overall, its a well-rounded warship, and I think it will be the most popular (maybe just even for its looks).

 

CLASS III SOL SHIP: The Orchis Scout Corvette
Four Variants
The third Sol starter ship, this ship sacrifices both offensive and defensive for speed -- in fact it is one of the most maneuverable ships in the game, and possibly the fastest when it comes to initiative. It may be the toughest starter ship to play, but using it properly, its a perfect scout, allowing you to identify hidden enemies for the rest of your team. One variant improves on the defensive, the other on the offensive, and one pushes its speed even further. The last variant literally becomes a long range plasma beam platform.