Utility components are devices that can be installed on military ships to enhance their defensive capabilities and thus increase their survivability in combat against enemies.
Small, Medium, and large utility components increase the durability of a ship by providing extra hit points. These come in three forms: shields, armor, and hull.
Shields form the first layer of hit points of a ship. They have inherent regeneration of 1% of their base health per day. All shield techs except Psionic Barriers, Psionic Shields and Dark Matter Deflectors can be obtained through normal research. Psionic Barriers can only be acquired via The Doorway event; Psionic Shields can only be acquired as a psionically ascended empire through the appropriate Shroud Event; Dark Matter Deflectors can only be acquired through reverse-engineering Fallen or Awakened Empire ships.
Pros
Cons
Effective against most energy weapons.
Inherent regeneration makes them sustainable out-of-the-box for operations away from base.
Cheaper Alloys cost than armor.
Vulnerable to kinetic weapons.
Penetrated by guided weapons, strike craft, and some exotic energy weapons (Disruptors, Arc Emitters, and Cloud Lightning).
Advanced shields require Strategic Resource to make.
Consumes power.
Component
Small
Medium
Large
Description
Cost
Power
Shields
Regen
Cost
Power
Shields
Regen
Cost
Power
Shields
Regen
Deflectors
5
15
75
0.5
10
30
190
1.2
20
60
450
3
Energy deflector screens can stop a limited amount of incoming enemy fire before overloading. Their main drawback is that they consume large amounts of power.
Improved Deflectors
7
20
100
0.6
13
40
250
1.6
26
80
600
4.0
These updated deflector screens are capable of soaking up even more punishment before they overload.
Shields
9
25
125
0.8
17
50
315
2.1
34
100
750
5.1
These new shield generators represent the next generation of energy screens, replacing the older deflector technology. They offer significantly better protection.
Advanced Shields
9 0.25
35
165
1.1
17 0.50
70
415
2.7
34 1.00
140
990
6.6
An updated shield generator that produces an even stronger energy field. Only sustained enemy fire can penetrate this barrier.
Hyper Shields
12 0.33
45
220
1.4
22 0.66
90
550
3.6
44 1.33
180
1320
8.7
These reinforced and hardened energy shields are incredibly powerful. The protection they offer is second to none.
Dark Matter Deflectors
16 0.25
55
280
1.8
29 0.50
110
700
4.6
57 1.00
220
1680
11.1
These deflectors utilize dark matter to deflect incoming projectiles in a way that seems to utterly defy the laws of nature.
Psionic Barrier
7
0
100
1.4
13
0
250
3.6
26
0
600
8.7
These barriers are generated out of pure psychic energy by a cadre of psionic specialists. They will be able to stop some incoming fire, like our Energy deflector systems, but without the prohibitive power consumption.
Psionic Shields
21 0.11
75
360
2.0
38 0.22
150
900
5.0
74 0.33
300
2160
12.5
These extremely powerful shields are generated out of pure psychic energy by a cadre of psionic specialists. Their powers are further augmented by large arrays of psi emitters.
Armor forms the second layer of hit points of a ship. All armor techs can be obtained through normal research except for Dragonscale armor which must be obtained by defeating the Ether Drake.
Pros
Cons
Effective against kinetic weapons.
Does not consume power.
Does not require Strategic Resources to build.
Vulnerable to energy weapons.
Penetrated by some exotic weapons (Disruptors, Arc Emitters, and Cloud Lightning).
Lacks inherent regeneration (but can gain it through some exotic sources).
Cost more Alloys than shields.
Component
Small
Medium
Large
Description
Cost
Armor
Cost
Armor
Cost
Armor
Nanocomposite Armor
10
100
20
250
40
600
Reinforced nanocomposite hull plating can provide an extra layer of protection that could be the difference between life and death in a combat situation.
Ceramo-Metal Armor
13
130
26
325
52
780
A combination of different metals and ceramics that result in a strong armor without sacrificing flexibility.
Plasteel Armor
17
170
34
425
68
1020
Plasteel is an elastic material that combines many of the qualities of plastics and metal. It is relatively cheap to produce and can be used to augment ship armor.
Durasteel Armor
17
220
34
550
68
1320
This strong yet flexible material is capable of withstanding severe punishment. It serves well as ship armor.
Neutronium Armor
22
290
44
725
88
1740
This incredibly dense and strong material can resist firepower that would turn armor made of any other alloys into slag.
Dragonscale Armor
29
370
57
925
114
2220
The Ether Drake's scales are made up of multiple layers of unique mineral nanostructures. Unorthodox manufacturing techniques allow us to closely emulate these self-repairing structures.
Hull is the last layer of a ship's hit points; the ship is destroyed if the hull points reach 0. All ships have some inherent hull points; this can be increased with these Plating components.
These can be acquired either by completing the Crystalline Entity event chain, by reverse-engineering destroyed Crystalline Entities, or through searching an abandoned ship left by Caravaneers.
Pros
Cons
Few weapon weaknesses (Energy Torpedoes, Matter Disintegrators, Mining Lasers).
Does not consume power.
Does not cost Alloys.
The only layer that matters against bypassing weapons.
More hull allows for greater chances of emergency jump, thus increasing longterm survivability.
Far, far cheaper than any other source of health, point for point.
Fewer available percentage bonuses.
No repeatables.
Hull damage reduces ship performance.
Most non standard weapons come with a bonus against hull in addition of the armor or shield bonus.
Only Null Void Beam suffer from penalty against hull
Lacks inherent regeneration (but can gain it through some exotic sources).
Must use Rare Crystals to build.
Component
Small
Medium
Large
Description
Cost
Hull
Cost
Hull
Cost
Hull
Crystal-Infused Plating
0.25
65
0.50
160
1.00
390
An alloy of elements harvested from the ultra-hard Crystalline Entities lines the inner layers of this plating, improving hull integrity.
Crystal-Forged Plating
0.33
110
0.65
275
1.30
660
Modifications to the process of forging the crystalline alloy further improves its durability.
Auxiliary modules go in Auxiliary slots and have a variety of effects. Regenerative Hull Tissue can be acquired by defeating various spaceborne aliens. Nanite Repair Systems can be acquired after defeating the Scavenger Bot. Orbital Trash Dispersers can be acquired via the Racket Industrial Enterprise. Enigmatic Encoders and Decoders can be acquired by defeating the Enigmatic Fortress. Marks can be obtained by gaining maximum favor with a Shroud patron. Other components are simply obtained by researhing the technology with the same name.
Name
Cost
Power usage
Effects
Description
Reactor Booster
5
+20 Power Generation
Additional power generation systems increase the ship's reactor output.
Improved Reactor Booster
10
+50 Power Generation
The discovery of fusion power allows for better reactor boosters to be fitted onto our ships.
Advanced Reactor Booster
15
+100 Power Generation
The discovery of antimatter power allows for highly advanced reactor boosters that can greatly enhance ship reactors.
Afterburners
4
10
+10% Sublight Speed +5% Evasion
Afterburners provide additional combat speed for the ship.
Advanced Afterburners
6
20
+20% Sublight Speed +10% Evasion
These improved afterburners provide even more combat speed for the ship.
Reactive Armor
10 1
15
+15% Armor Hardening
Incorporating a crystal lattice in our ship's defenses provides some resistance to weapons that normally cut through armor.
Living Reactive Armor
30 1
25
+25% Armor Hardening
Threads of living metal react to incoming fire, rearranging itself to better resist penetrating weapons fire.
Regenerative Hull Tissue
20
10
+5% Daily Hull Regen +10% Daily Armor Regen
These bacteria are imprinted with the ship's structural design and will attempt to restore hull integrity should it be compromised.
Nanite Repair System
10 1
10
+15% Daily Hull Regen +20% Daily Armor Regen
A highly effective hull auto-repair system comprised of billions of microscopic nanomachines was found among the smoking remains of the Scavenger, and has been repurposed for our uses. Whether the Scavenger pilfered this system from an ancient derelict, or was originally constructed with it remains unknown.
Shield Capacitor
10 1
20
+10% Shield Hit Points
These capacitors store surplus energy which can quickly be transferred to reinforce a ship's shields.
Shield Hardener
10 1
15
+15% Shield Hardening
With these modifications, the fields generated by our shield emitters will partially deflect attacks that would otherwise bypass the shields.
Advanced Shield Hardener
30 1
25
+25% Shield Hardening
Zro particles raised to a high energy state add fluctuations to our shields that can deflect certain weapons that would otherwise easily penetrate the fields.
Auxiliary Fire-Control
10
10
+5 Chance to Hit
By installing an auxiliary fire-control system our ships can afford to make more advanced calculations, increasing accuracy.
Enigmatic Decoder
20
20
+5 Chance to Hit +5 Tracking
While producing average results in standard tests, the accuracy of Enigmatic Decoder's prediction algorithms seemingly increases as the target's flight path grows more erratic.
Enigmatic Encoder
20
20
+1 Disengagement Opportunities
The Enigmatic Encoder scrambles flight path data according to some indeterminable design before feeding it back to fleet command.
Orbital Trash Disperser
10
10
+25% Orbital Bombardment Damage
This component overwhelms planetary defensive grids with trash data by spamming them with millions of minute, high-velocity projectiles. Ships equipped with this component cause more damage during orbital bombardment.
Mark of the Composer
20 2
10
+15% Daily Hull Regen +20% Daily Armor Regen
The mark of our Shroud Patron amplifies our psionic abilities and allows us to influence entire ships.
Mark of the Eater
20 2
10
+5 Chance to Hit +25% Orbital Bombardment Damage
The mark of our Shroud Patron amplifies our psionic abilities and allows us to influence entire ships.
Mark of the Instrument
20 2
10
+25% Sublight Speed −5% Upkeep
The mark of our Shroud Patron amplifies our psionic abilities and allows us to influence entire ships.
Mark of the Whisperers
20 2
10
+15% Evasion
The mark of our Shroud Patron amplifies our psionic abilities and allows us to influence entire ships.
While shields have inherent regeneration, armor and hull do not. This means that, by default, damaged ships cannot be restored to full fighting capability without returning to a starbase, which limits operations far away from said starbases. Therefore, securing at least one source of hull and armor regeneration is useful, especially for lengthy offensive operations. Options include:
Regenerative Hull Tissue, and its upgraded version, Nanite Repair System, can be slotted to any ship, making it one of the most reliable sources of regeneration. However, they both take up a precious auxiliary slot and the Nanite Repair System requires very valuable Nanites in order to function.
The Nanobot Cloud aura can be fitted to Titans, with effects slightly stronger than Regenerative Hull Tissue. Of course, this again takes up a very valuable slot that could have been used for something else.
The Engineer admiral trait gives hull and armor regeneration, but this cannot necessarily be counted on for any particular admiral to have.
Devouring Swarms have inherent hull and armor regeneration.
Psionically ascended empires may have an option for hull and armor regeneration as a Shroud boon. However, this cannot be counted on to be an option at any given time.
A Juggernaut accompanying a fleet can act as a mobile starbase, repairing allied ships.
Capturing an enemy starbase and using it as a forward base allows you to repair and upgrade inside enemy territory.