That is because the priority system is arcane and the player must have at least one specimen of every category the game thinks it needs checked, or else it ignores your priority settings and picks what it wants.
For combat ships, probably need to check one of each size.
For carriers, you can check one, and you get that.
For phase ships, you can check one, and that one is the only phase ship you will get.
For civilians, you need one tanker and one freighter checked. If not, it will pick any you have.
Some ships qualify for multiple categories, but only one is shown. For example, Gemini is both a carrier and a freighter.
Good rule of thumb is to filter by size and role and make sure there is a priority if you want to tightly control ships.
For fighters, there are bombers and non-bombers. Prioritize bombers you want, and anything else for non-bombers.
No idea how weapons get picked. I just check what I want my battlestations to use.
As tricky as priority system is, it needs to be learned because player who wants to raid probably does not want to see the same blueprint he does not want to learn be dropped over and over again. (Just learn the stupid blueprint so the remaining good ones drop in future raids!)
It could be better. I think a blacklist that puts red Xs to block unwanted hulls would be nice and make things easier or at least clearer.
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Topic: Why can't I assign ships to colony defense? (Read 1038 times)