Far as I can tell, ship XP --> raises level --> increases Attack power + Defense Power + HP



Example: no hero modifers, just normal ship same design/spec, Level 2 --> Level 3 increase

Kinetic power: 462 --> 484

Deflector power: 63 --> 66

HP: 2640 --> 2700



Ok, so great. Higher level ships are good. But after early game and going towards mid game, you get access to ship construction tech that adds a significant boost to initial ship HP: two buildings that stack, +25% and +20% ship HP



That's +45% by mid game or late-early if you rush military only.



So general thought question - my 3 main hero fleets have seen lot of combat by then, usually my ships are level 5 or better - maybe bit higher. On one hand, I want to keep those veteran ships because of the nice attack/defense power boost. Non-vet ships can't compete there.



But the new non-vet ships built with the whopping +45% initial HP are so much tougher, I feel like I should rush those buildings, scrap my existing fleets and get those new tougher ships out into combat fast as I can to replace the XP I lost by scrapping.



Thoughts?



p.s. I now play mostly on serious with a few tries on endless now and then, but mostly Serious mode. So lots of combat, lots and lots of AI stacks so I no longer design ships for glass cannons you can on lower difficulty. I find I need good defense. Are you keeping your veteran but weaker HP ships around or scrap them for the lower xp but tougher ships?

You can upgrade your veteran ships, so that is your answer. (Exception is if you play Harmony since they don't have access to dust, which is required to upgrade ships.)



Step 1 to upgrade your ships is to modify/improve your existing design(s). Then, go to your fleet list and you can retrofit any fleet at a friendly system. You cannot move the fleet on the turn that you retrofit it.



Each time you modify a design, a version number is added to the class name. When you retrofit a fleet, it will automatically upgrade each ship class in the fleet it to the latest design--you can't choose a previous version (i.e., for example, if I upgrade a Priya 2 class destroyer and my latest version is a Priya 5, I can't choose to a Priya 3 or 4.) The system you upgrade a fleet at must have access to any resources necessary to build all versions of ships in the fleet.

coyote303 wrote:
You can upgrade your veteran ships, so that is your answer. (Exception is if you play Harmony since they don't have access to dust, which is required to upgrade ships.)



Step 1 to upgrade your ships is to modify/improve your existing design(s). Then, go to your fleet list and you can retrofit any fleet at a friendly system. You cannot move the fleet on the turn that you retrofit it.



Each time you modify a design, a version number is added to the class name. When you retrofit a fleet, it will automatically upgrade each ship class in the fleet it to the latest design--you can't choose a previous version (i.e., for example, if I upgrade a Priya 2 class destroyer and my latest version is a Priya 5, I can't choose to a Priya 3 or 4.) The system you upgrade a fleet at must have access to any resources necessary to build all versions of ships in the fleet.

Oh I definitely upgrade my veteran fleets - but it looks like what the upgrade does is upgrade to whatever latest design you made for improved weapons, defense, modules, etc.



But it does not re-set your ship HP to the new +45% hp boost that newly constructed ships get if you have the two ship buildings.



Say I have a level 6 fleet with all tech 2 weapons - I get some tonnage increase tech plus level 3 kinetics. So I modify the design and upgrade this fleet, cool.



But at a the same moment, I can now build a level 1-3 (depends if built the ship xp buildings as well) ship with exact same design as my veteran fleet above, but with +45% more HP.



My veteran level 6 fleet above will have gained some hp via being higher level, but it won't be anywhere close to the +45% boost that my lowly level 1-3 ships get from being built with the hp boost buildings.



So that's my real dilemma / question - it's a good problem to have definitely, but just wondering how other people handle that situation since it comes up every game regardless scenario or victory type.

I understand your question now. So, my simple answer is no, I don't scrap my veteran ships.



I am usually swimming in dust by the time I have extra-hp buildings, so what's the point? (If you're dust starved, then I guess you do have a tough decision.)



One thing I will do if I have an imminent key ship tech advance, such as a HP building, is put my ship building on hold for a turn or two (or even more if the situation allows) until I can take advantage of the new tech.