New guy: confused about ship classes (i.e. why bother?)

[Timotheus]

As I play 100% micromanage (otherwise why play, right?) I research bigger and bigger possible ships.

But instead of designing a cruiser, or a capital ship, I start the game with a basic frigate (why not?) and then as I research better equipment and weapons, I pile them onto the design, as much as I can up to the current research limit.

So that in effect what started as a frigate becomes a much, much bigger ship.

Is there a benefit to making a cruiser, or capital ship, instead of just making your starting design bigger and better?

Is there something I am missing?

[Canute0]

Ship class are only for Automation use, how the AI handle them.
Ship class has nothing to do with ship size, you can design Escort ships with 1000+ size what other would call capital ship.

The AI would let frigate's patrol/escort job rather then capitals.

[feygan]

Unless things have changed in the last expansion pirates can steal your ship designs. It used to be escort/frigate classes they could build as their own. This meant if you had some 800 size frigate of death roaming around it could come back to haunt you from local pirates.

[NightReaper]

@feygan: "Unless things have changed in the last expansion pirates can steal your ship designs. It used to be escort/frigate classes they could build as their own. This meant if you had some 800 size frigate of death roaming around it could come back to haunt you from local pirates."

…whoa! That's certainly a nice thing to know…and I thought it was just the AI being clever and all this time I was drinking my own poison! Yeeach![X(]

[ReadeB]

I use the different classes for different missions.

Keeps things clear for me, but monoculture ships would probably work as well.

Just use spheres or cubes of death for extra menace. [:D]