Abandoned Ship?

[Rockmongrels]

I found a abandoned ship... It has a few techs I don't have yet, if i bring ship back to home planet and dismantle can I get the techs on it?

[CyclopsSlayer]

You will get some progress towards one or more of the techs it has once you Scrap the ship. The game says one, but it seems that sometimes multiple techs will show progress.
It seems to grant a number of RP that may or may not grant a full tech. Late game it sometimes is only 10-20%, early it is often a full tech.

[Rockmongrels]

Thank-You! Great, AWESOME HELP.

[NephilimNexus]

Note that the value of salvaging abandoned ships is really dependent on what difficulty level you've set tech research at. If you're at standard tech costs they might be more useful as part of your fleet. At cheap tech they definitely are. However, on games with tech costs set to maximum they become treasure troves of free research points that otherwise might take years to acquire and can definitely put you ahead of the competition.

[CyclopsSlayer]

ORIGINAL: NephilimNexus

Note that the value of salvaging abandoned ships is really dependent on what difficulty level you've set tech research at. If you're at standard tech costs they might be more useful as part of your fleet. At cheap tech they definitely are. However, on games with tech costs set to maximum they become treasure troves of free research points that otherwise might take years to acquire and can definitely put you ahead of the competition.

Very valid point. I had neglected this as I commonly play a fixed set of setup settings.

[NephilimNexus]

Yes. If you're playing as an Empire, playing at cheap/easy tech gains might be to one's advantage. If playing Pirate, though, it's best to make tech as expensive/hard as possible.

Reason: Empire tech growth is inherently slow, as your RP cap is based off the size of your Empire, which can be very slow to expand - especially from a PreWarp startup - so speeding that process up can keep from falling asleep at your keyboard. AI controlled pirates never put enough emphasis in tech, either, so you'll close the gap on them faster as well.

Pirates, on the other hand, get huge cap increases & bonuses from their bases - so to maximize this advantage you'll want tech to be costly because you can afford it while the Empires can't & will get left in the dust. Even if they try to max their output they'll still face that tiny Empire size cap. Played smart, you'll end up with gravity wells while they're still using maxos blasters.

[Von Roon]

Interesting tips above, thanks. FWIW, I usually try and repair / dismantle 1 of each type found (for example, if there's a cluster of abandoned ships, I might repair 1 capital, 1 cruiser, 1 transport, etc.). If there are other empires snooping around, I usually attach a small fleet or strike group to the construction ship. When nosey parkers show up, I tell one or two of my naval ships to "head toward" the interloper. It usually cuts and runs (especially if it's from a smaller, weaker empire). Ocasionally, larger opposing empires just respond by sending more ships for a 'Hunt for Red October' mess of ships in the area. I can usually scare off opposing empires' construction ships, but occasionally destroying them has to be done.

Anyhow, other than repairing / dismantling 1 of each ship type, I have my military destroy all the other abandoned ships in the area. Scorched earth, so to speak, to keep the other guys from getting their own hands on the tech.

Last game I spent hours repairing the Desolation Moon planet destroyer. Used it once, my rep dropped to "Evil" ('cause the enemy's rep was "respectable"). Ended the war pretty damn quick. But then I got distracted and central government 'retrofitted' it to an ordinary capital ship. Cussing and cussing ensued.

[NephilimNexus]

I know it can be a hassle, but it's in your best interest to turn off all automation possible. The only thing I ever leave on autopilot are exploration ships and pirate garrison fleets, and the later only until I get my base set up and move on.

[Bingeling]

I know it is a hassle, and it can be in your interest to keep some automation on. Telling people how to play the game is not the best idea ever

The most fun game I ever had was with automated diplomacy (broken as it was). And most other stuff as well (but not my dear fleets and military ship distribution).