This topic is for discussion of ship #273: 17^2 POWER
(http://knucklecracker.com/particlefleet/queryShips.php?query=thumbnailid&id=273)
Size: 17x17
Designer: Zakhep
Corporation:
(http://knucklecracker.com/particlefleet/queryCN.php?logo=2f529a4e94c16c4d72edeb6723252801)Giant Alien Spiders are no joke!
CEO: Zakhep
Desc:
Larger version of the 9 by 9 ships, the 17 by 17 reactor generates and provides energy to other ships. Only works if said other ships are outside the range of an energy mine.
I've been messing around with these 'reactor ship' designs myself. Producing 1.5e/s from each reactor can help to power some behemoth cannon or missile ship, or a sustain bank of lasers.
I've not really encountered a map where energy mines are small enough to really warrant the need for this kind of ship though. Normally the range is extended through the use of simple CM-to-Port links. Perhaps I should make a map to utilise this kind of ships potential.
In all honesty, Reactors are rarely cost-effective. The added build time, and the additional hull which is nonweaponised, results in a less useful ship. By the time a ship is large enough to warrant Reactors for power, it is too expensive for them to be useful.
The only real application I found was for a ship such as the Aegis (mine, that is), or as a gimmick, to require power platforms to be constructed.