UP-TO-DATE as of version 1.0.5



EDIT: New version of Optimiser available at the bottom of this post. 2012-07-09 1544 EST(UTC-5)



EDIT: The analysis below is still generally correct though the numbers have changed.



Change notes here: ...



Ok so I have not found any threads regarding getting the maximum possible HP on your ship with limited space.



In the game, I noticed with my dreadnought that MIXING reactive hulls in conjuction with high-end armour give HIGHER HP for the SAME WEIGHT.

However this does not always hold true for other ship sizes.



I have a solution in form of excel (.xlsx) calculator! Attached Below!



Did you know that: for a dreadnought with 195tons available for +HP armor you can get max 3648 HP by using 10 reactive hulls, and 5 defensive lensing? (numbers rounded down)



In general, more tonnage available for armour means adding higher ratio of reactive hulls will increase HP more.





****THOUGHT PROCESS****



ie, 120 tons available on a dreadnought for armor, how to maximize its HP with available armor?



At first this seems pretty simple, just add the best available armor until 120 tons have been added.

Well, this is WRONG, because of "Reactive Hulls" unlocked by "Specialized Isotopes"



The armour, Reactive Hulls, gives a flat +HP, but unlike other armour, it also gives a +%HP.

After some crazy idiocy(math, lots of math) trying to understand how the game handles +HP and +%HP, it turned out fairly simple. Results as follows:



eg., Reactive Hulls: +32hp, +2%hp, 7tons on Dreadnought base 1200hp;

If you add 1 reactive hull, the game does (1200 + 32) * (1 + 0.02).

If you add n reactive hull, the game does (1200 + 32) * (1 + 0.02*n)



**This means not a compounding increase, which would be (1+0.02)^n.



**** MATH = very messy ****



After minor chicken scratching, I arrived to this



Total HP = (a * xp + b) * (1 + rho * xp)



where,

a = q - f / TF * TP

b = H + f / TF * T

H = base HP of vessel

f/TF = flat +HP added by flat+HP armor divided by mass of flat +HP

rho = +% health

T = mass available for armour

xp = the number of +%HP armour to add; limited by 0 and T / TP

For "reactive hull" : q = 32; TP = 7;



If xp <= 0 don't add it to ship; if xp * TP >= T then only add reactive hull.



EDIT: In a moment of sheer idiocy or pure genius, I forgot to state the optimal xp;

Optimally: xp = -0.5(1/rho + b/a); notice that xp>0 when a > -b*rho





**** Results ****



Surprising to say the least. Basically, you cannot add the same ratio of armor to all ship sizes and not for all available space.



NOTE: my excel 2010 spread sheet does not use macros; it is currently prone to rounding errors; change stuff in yellow.

supersoaker9 wrote:


Total HP = (a * xp + b) * (1 + rho * xp)



where,

a = q - f / TF * TP

b = H + f / TF * T

H = base HP of vessel

f/TF = flat +HP added by flat+HP armor divided by mass of flat +HP

rho = +% health

T = mass available for armour

xp = the number of +%HP armour to add; limited by 0 and T / TP

For "reactive hull" : q = 32; TP = 7;



If xp <= 0 don't add it to ship; if xp * TP >= T then only add reactive hull.

Supersoaker9: video gamer + naval engineer

Good stuff! Thanks.

Ok after further observation, it seems when you have better armour tech, it is always better not to use reactive hulls except on dreadnoughts.



For the amount of tonnage dedicatable to +HP & +%HP armour, only dreadnought gets higher HP when using more reactive hulls than normal hulls. Of course as always, using higher ratios of reactive hulls is better when you dedicate more space to armour.

Interesting - I always found the very different armour modules confusing

Thank.



Also, since someone has moved this thread up.



I have completed the calculations for UE faction with base +%HP



New version attached here: Optimize HP wUE v1_0.zip



Observations: Higher initial +%hp implies flat-adds are better at end game tech levels.



Also, most of the sheet is protected. The plain values are usually editable, but the formulae are protected. There is no password, so you can change it if you want to, but please do the math first and please share.



Thanks.



EDIT: Mathwise, accounting for the racial +% was much easier than I first thought:

NOW with UE +%HP:



xp = -0.5(gamma/rho + b/a);



Where:

gamma = 1+ racialHP%





EDIT: Furthermore, armor seems to be useless in late game. It is much better to add uber amounts of all 3 types of defenses and fleet-wide defense power module, because one(maybe more than one) volley unblock volley of anything during the late game can kill your ship instantly.

I've moved your thread to the strategy guides section. Seems worthwile to have it in this game mechanics collection.

Hi All who read game mechanics threads,



I have updated the HP Optimiser, again. Link is below.

Information is current to Beta v0.45.3



Noticeable Changes:

+New Functions

>Change armor count manually to see how best to fill up that remaining space

>Flat and Special armor can both have +%HP

+More user-friendly

>Drop down-list for all components: no more entering component values manually

>Less rounding errors: altered rounding methods
Optimize HP wUE v2_0.zip

Get this man a nice bump works hard and keeps his guide up to date. Way to go man, you are an Endless Hero.

My newest set of recommendations for armor. Just stick to the best +%HP armor you have and you can't go wrong.



You can always refer to the tool to optimise, but using this tool during multiplayer requires much dexterity and alt-tab finesse.

Recommended only for single player games when you perfect your ship builds.



Also, I wish I had more time to polish up my weapons and defense analysis and excel book. It has been very useful to me thus far.

ArrowLance wrote:
Get this man a nice bump works hard and keeps his guide up to date. Way to go man, you are an Endless Hero.

Thanks, and I well try to update this after every patch.

Is the +HP% from xp/levels added as part of the +HP% on those armors, or after?

my info is very out of date: the last I checked, all +- % of same name (%hp, %defense, etc) are additive instead of compounded.



It is my rule of thumb: add%