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General Discussion / Re: Atlas - Most useful ship in the game?
« on: January 18, 2022, 02:02:46 AM »While I agree capital ships will have more terrain penalties, slowing you down, and the logistics capitals have a max burn speed of 9 without skills, I don't see how it puts a dent in your supply/fuel economy. Can you give an example?
Sure thing.
Say you got hit by a storm or an asteroid. Due to CR restoration mechanic you're going to pay dozens of supplies for Atlas, while smaller ships are much more manageable. Your burn speed became 15 inside a nebula? Now your whole fleet is going to reach its destinations a bit later, consuming more supplies and spending more on crew wages (not to mention your own sanity, flying at those speeds is bad for your health). Doesn't really happen with pure frigate/destroyer 10 base burn fleet. A-and you've spent precious SP on a ship you simply might not want later in the game. A-and let us not forget the Salvage Gantry. Free loot, anyone?
So, what about eventual combat scenarios? Got caught with your pants down and forced to retreat? Smaller ships are no problem, Buffalo/Phaeton with UI might stand a decent chance. But Atlas? Yeah, that thing is dead and gone. Really early into a playthrough Shepherds provide Salamander spam and basic PD/distraction, while later on you can simply repurpose them with converted hangar or even scuttle without a second thought. You have options. Atlas provides none, it's there to haul stuff. Stuff you might not even find, depending on your luck (for example, in may latest game I've found exactly one pile of precious loot, 1k volatiles and 1,5k transplutonics, in about 2 years of exploration).
In the end I'd say it's only a matter of personal preference. If trading doesn't bore you to tears - go for it, Atlas is great for its intended purpose. Otherwise there are far better options to play with.