Shipwright crafting 101
I've probably made lots of errors so any corrections are welcome and if you have any Q not answered here post them and I'll see if I can figure out an answer.
Shipwrights have three primary roles:
The first is to craft blueprints - these are traded in to NPC's to get empty ships, aka a chassis (for a fee from 10k for a novice level ship to 250k (?may have changed) for a Master level ship)
The second is to craft components - these are installed into ships (install done by the pilot of the ship - see ship components 101)
The third is to reverse engineer loot (more details below)
Basics of crafting: First get yourself a tool, the generic one you got as a novice artisan won't last long. If you are planning on just taking engineering 4 and not master artisan then find someone to make you a +10 or better tool (+15 is cap) or check the bazaar. Use the tool from either the inventory or the toolbar (drag and drop from inventory to the hotkey positions)
Select the schematic you wish to make - Note - if you think you have a schematic but it's not listed here it may need a crafting station.
Public ones are available near most starports and private ones are available from architects or DE's (Architect stations can be placed on board POB ships)
Once you have the schematic chosen add the resources (either drag and drop or double click to add to the slots automatically) make sure the 'filter items' check is ticked (that way everything listed will work in one slot or another) Once done if you are not near a crafting station just accept each box (name your creation if you want - more important later when selling - ship names are assigned later)
If you are near a crafting station you will have three options - Experiment, Create Prototype and Create Manufacturing schematic Experiment - In my opinion not worth it until you have at least +50 experiment / assembly as risk of failure too high, however this is the most important stage of production (see the resources section of "How to craft better" for how to get better results). Select a line and run the experiment - standard warning - you can fail and take your item to 0% experiment.
Create Prototype - this is what happens if you are not near a station and gives you a physical item
Create Manufacturing Schematic - these are used to load into factories to create crates of items - no factory yet added for shipwrights. To use a factory load the schematic and put enough resources in the input hopper (you can check the resources needed in the radial menu) Make sure it has power and cash (maintenance) and turn it on - you will get an e-mail when it stops.
One final note - responding to earlier pressure the devs added a practice button to crafting - don’t touch it! Shipwrights can sell what we make and don't need to waste the resources on a mere 5% xp boost.
Tool / Crafting Station
All shipwright components are made using the space crafting tool - found under engineering 1 it has the same variables as any other tool (try and get a +14 one) A crafting station is available near most starports and also in droids from your friendly DE. A factory is under design at the moment ( It will make sub-components and possibly some components - not chassis)
PLEASE NOTE: Each schematic describes itself as needing either a generic tool, a specialised tool, or a specialised tool and a crafting station. If it says you need a crafting station and the compexity is 26 or higher then it means a private crafting station, these are made by architects and DE's only, it is not a bug if you are standing by a public station and can't see the YT-1300 schematic.
Resources
Shipwrights make use of a number of new named resources introduced for JTL, these are of unknown rarity so watch server forums for details (or swgcraft) (edit - Devs have guaranteed they will always be in spawn somewhere, but may be junk)
Primary resources for chassis are Steel, Ore, Aluminium, Inert Petrochemical, Iron, Fibreplast, Silicastic Ore
Other Resources needed are Copper, Carbonate Ore, Radioactive, Reactive Gas, Inert Gas, Chemical and Liquid Petrochem Fuel
The Named Resources are Bicorbantium Steel, Perovskitic Aluminium, Polymetric Radioactive, Borcarbitic Copper, Fermionic Silicastic Ore, Organometallic Reactive Gas and Gravitonic Fibreplast.
Schematics
Full schematic list will not be published here (it'll go on swgcraft after launch anyway)
Chassis schematics:
Steel Ore Alu. In.Pet. Iron Fibreplast Total
Novice 2000 1000 1000 1000 0 0 5000
Tier 1 7000 4000 2000 2000 0 0 15000
Tier 2 12000 6000 3000 3000 3000 3000 30000
Tier 3 24000 12000 6000 6000 6000 6000 60000
Tier 4 32000 16000 8000 8000 8000 8000 80000
Master level 70000 20000 10000 10000 10000 10000
also Master needs Silicastic Ore 10000 and Copper 10000 150000
Macro
basic crafting macro, this will help if you are making a set of ships
/ui action toolbarSlot00 number of hot key slot tool is in (less 1 - so F3 is Slot02)
/selectDraftSchematic xxx number of schematic you wish to make (nb is based on tool and crafting station)
/pause y time to add resources to schematic
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/nextCraftingStage
/createPrototype
/createPrototype
/pause 2 covers lag in completing process
/ui action toolbarSlot13 number of following macro
N.B. You can modify this macro to use practice mode which destroys the item but gives a 5% boost to xp. In my opinion this is a massive waste for a shipwright. This is useful for getting xp quick, but it also lets you build (non-experimented) ships quick, which I find useful at lower levels since my assembly rating is often so low that I fail experiments more than I succeed.
Reverse Engineering This is the really cool bit that's new to crafters:
In essence some people have likened RE to slicing and it holds similar characteristics but there is more to it than a random boost. Reverse Engineering is done on looted items (it will have a Reverse Engineering Rating if it can be RE'd) A Shipwright can RE anything his skill can cover (RE skill is gained in various boxes).
For a level 1 item you simply place one item in the tool and it will give a small boost to it (yes, just like slicing) For a level 2 or above item you must place the same number of items (not the same name but the same class and level) in the tool. The tool will then create 1 new item. The new component will take the optimal stat from each line and then add a bonus (which increases for higher levels but is not a simple 1% per level). This means if you can get a lvl 2 engine with great mass but no speed and another that weighs a ton but goes like the falcon then mix the two and you get the great mass and the high speed (and a bonus to boot).
The other key thing to note about RE is it's the ONLY way to get the Firespray (Fett's ship type). There is a random chance of the shipwright getting a disk (8 in total) which when combined produce a limited-use schematic for the Firespray.
How to craft Better
Ok, first you need to understand your resources.
All resources have statistics, all have OQ (Overall Quality). Most have DR( Decay Resistance), some have PE (potential Energy) The key statistics for Shipwright are OQ Overall Quality, CD Conductivity, ML (malleability)
UT (Unit Toughness) / HR (Heat Resistance) PE (Potential Energy) DR (Decay Resistance), SR (Shock Resistance are also important in some stats.
The most common stat required is OQ, until I get more crating experience with different materials I won't know what are better combinations to try.
What happens as you add resources to a schematic is SWG calculates the total of the stats and averages them. The details of which stats are used and in what ratio is shown in the schematic on the right. Finding the right resource for the job is essential if you want to make a top-notch ship. Please note: All resources are gated - OQ is always between 1 and 1000, however other stats have hidden maximums, while Copper can reach 1000 CD barely a handful of steel get over 650 CD on live (per SWGcraft.com) Watch for good resources but don't pass on a steel without checking if the stat you want is gated or not.(edit new steel avershiam has no conducitvity cap)
At the end of this SWG has a maximum % for each attribute of the schematic (i.e. Mass / Hit Points / Max Damage / Min Damage) The experiment box (which will need to be scrolled down on weapons!) shows this and gives 10% blocks by each line. These 10% blocks are where you experiment. Note the number of points is capped at 10 (possibly 12 if skill tapes are added.)
Where you put your skill points is up to you.
My recommendation is currently to consider this - it's no use having the biggest engine in the universe if you can't fit it in the ship, and it's no use having the biggest gun if you haven't got the power to fire it!
Other Experimentation impacts:
Assembly - your assembly skill affects how likely you are to succeed at an experiment (not how many times you can experiment). As such see the species bonuses.
Tool - tests show the higher the rating the better, how much I don't know but since if you have 4400 artisan you have 10 points and you only need some high cond copper and junk chemical so it's not difficult to get decent tools.
Droid stations - these are the same as a +0 Architect station (TH says so)
Architect stations - these range from -15 to +45. Tests have been inconclusive, some have shown no difference at all, some have shown a difference between a -1 and +1 but no difference between a -15 and a -1 or a +1 and a +45, while others have shown a positive impact from a +20. Dev comments have been few and far between but I'd suggest get the best you can find, if you have some really good copper and can find a good Master DE / Artisan then take the components to a novice architect (stations are based on artisan experiment/assembly) and you can get a decent station.
Skill tapes - these can improve experimentation (number of experiments) or assembly (chances of success) and are capped at +25 (not seen in beta yet for shipwright)
Research Centre - this improves the assembly role in a level 4 or 5 city, although it costs a pretty penny to run it.
Ship Components 101
Starter ships
When you start out you receive a free ship from your trainer. These ships are very basic and while they will get you through your first few missions they are not designed for the more dangerous areas of space. Unless you think you can outfly Luke Skywalker flying with one hand tied behind your back don't try to do fly round dath in a starter ship. (Beta note - the balancing of more dangerous areas are ongoing - just because you can survive there now in your starter TIE, don't expect to in live) The key difference for starter ships is they are free and they cannot be upgraded, so if you want to use that nice looted engine you just picked up you need to read on:
Certifications
Before you go jumping around buying the highest power gun you can afford you need to make sure you can use it. All components and all ships have certifications granted from your relevant pilot trainers. Examine any component and it will tell you the certification you need to be able to use it.
Not everyone will do refunds so remember the first rule of trading 'caveat emptor' (Let the buyer beware)
Chassis
The first thing you need is a ship of your own, this is made by a shipwright and you can either buy a ship from another player (datapad transfer for ship) or buy a blueprint (either from a player or vendor). If you have a ship in the datapad skip on to the next section, if you got a blueprint you need to visit a starship chassis broker these guys are found in most starports and will take your blueprint and give you a chassis.
NOTE they charge a fee for doing this so don't spend all your cash on the blueprint or you won't be able to fly it! Once you have the chassis use the radial menu on it in your inventory to transfer it to your datapad. Congrats you now have a ship that can be upgraded!
Classes of components
There are three classes of upgrades, the first is a looted item, these are simple drops in space on the same principal as on the ground. If you are certed for them you can use them. The second type is crafted components, these are made by shipwrights and will typically be found on bazaars/vendors. The final type is RE'd (Reverse Engineered) these are loot components that have been analysed by a shipwright, in practice they are 'sliced' loot items. (Beta note - RE has changed a lot recently and I need to get some more experience on the new results)
Now you are ready to buy, you know which components you can use and have found a friendly Mon Cal vendor with a good stock. So what do you buy? You need at least one of each of the following, Reactor, Engine, Armour, Shield, Weapon, Weapon Capacitor, Droid Interface, Flight computer (or Astromech)
Key factors affecting component choice
The key issue you need to consider is what type of fighter do you want. You see, not every x-wing is the same, they can be tweaked to give different benefits, some are that bit quicker some have a bit more juice in the shields. However you are limited by one key factor and one secondary factor in selecting components.
These are Mass and Energy
Every ship has a maximum mass it can hold. Try to breach it and the port authorities won't let you take off (they know you'll crash and take out half the starport!)
Therefore you need to make sure the components you are going to buy don't break the maximum (or buy a higher mass ship - but be aware you may get lower hit points in exchange) The second factor is energy, your reactor produces energy and everything else uses it so watch carefully on the reactor you use, get the wrong one and your whole ship might run out of energy just as those pirates get in range!
The balance between mass and energy is a personal choice and some may choose to go for the really big reactor that lets them use very energy guzzling guns (that are experimented on to reduce their mass). (Beta note - The balancing of these is a complicated issue that is currently under testing and will change)
Shipwrights can experiment to reduce the mass and energy consumption and you should check with your local SW if you have a special request (i.e. you really want a reactor with under x mass to fit with the other stuff you have)
Upgrades
The final key issue in components is the presence of upgrades. All upgrades have a positive and negative influence - for example the Reactor Overcharger raises the power output, but also increases the mass. All components have at least two different upgrades available and they are available in levels 1-5 with each component taking a maximum upgrade (so a lvl1 overcharger will fit in a lvl4 reactor, but a lvl5 overcharger will only fit in a lvl5 reactor). The upgrades are found in the same section of the schematic list on the shipwright tool as the associated components.
Please note - all upgrades are optional and currently use new resources(not yet spawned on live, such as organometallic reactive gas). A component will work fine without an upgrade.
Key Components
Common key stats are the Mass and Energy usage which you must balance against the specifics of the items below:
Reactor - the powerhouse of your ship, key stat is it's energy production
Engine - not going far without this, key stats are max speed, acceleration and maneuverability
Armour - the final layer of defence, key stat is hit points
Shields - the primary defense system, key stats are max shield (split front and back) and recharge rates
Booster - a key escape system, key stats are speed boost and length of boost (split between charge amount and consumption)
Droid Interface - the system controlling your 'specials commands', key stats are the speed of response and the number of commands.
Weapon Capacitor - this controls how long a burst of firing you can do, and how long till you can fire again
Weapons
There are three primary weapon types, blaster disruptor and ion cannon.
Shields Armour
Blasters Average Average
Disruptors Poor Good
Ion Cannons Good Poor
Step by step Installation guide
Ok, so you've got the components, checked they won't overload your ship and you can use them all.
Now you need to find a starship terminal, don't worry, these are at every starport (they are also the launch console).
On the screen select a fighter if you have more than one in your datapad, then select Manage from the lower left.
You then have the ship management screen.
On the left is a list of all components you have in your inventory or on the ship categorised by type.
On the bottom is a summary of stats for your ship, watch this to make sure you don't overload it.
In the top middle is details of the current item selected from your component list on the left.
On the top right is the current component fitted in that slot on your ship.
To fit a component simply select it in the left hand list, then select the load button
Please note if a component can fit in more than one 'slot' it will show up twice on the component list unless it is already loaded. I.e. I have a disruptor installed and two blasters in my inventory. (two weapon slots) The list will have the first slot with "Disruptor (Installed)" and then two "Blasters" If I load one blaster in the second slot it will then show for the first slot "Disruptor (installed)" and one "Blaster" while the second slot shows "Blaster (installed)" and "Blaster"
Repairing components
Damage to your ship is done first to the shield, then to armour, then to a random component. Once the component is destroyed then your ship itself takes damage. This means its quite likely your components will take damage over time and need repair (and ultimately replacing). You can either find a shipwright to repair your components or use the space station repair facilities. When in range use /comm and tell them you need repairs, they will give you a list of options depending on how much you want to spend. Alternatively, land, find a shipwright /vendor and buy a new component
Droids / Flight Computers
Ahh, you've realised you need something else to run a ship, yeah, you need a droid or a navicomputer but TK-421 has done a far better post than I could ever do so go see his post to find out all about droids.
Cheers all, feel free to post corrections and comments
Red-Dwarf
I'm waitin!!
