ShipWright Guide

Walkthrough: The Shipwright has two primary roles. One, obviously, is the crafting of player-made starships for use by pilots in the new Jump to Lightspeed space zones. Secondly, Shipwrights have the ability to transform looted spaceship components into significantly better versions of those components - known as Reverse Engineering. Make no mistake, Shipwright is a very complex and demanding profession. There are a large number of schematics with large variances in resources, and the options at your disposal when it comes to customizing the strengths and weaknesses of your items is vast. You will feel demand from all who have purchased the new expansion, whether it be rebels, imperials, or neutrals, and whether they are interested in the galactic civil war or not. Before we get into the details of these roles, let’s start out with the basics. If you are new to the artisan aspect of SWG, please visit the artisan forums, and check out the SWG Advanced Crafting Guide. This guide is intended for Shipwrights and is from a crafting perspective. If you are a pilot looking to understand or purchase a new ship, this guide may suffice, but for a pilots perspective, check out Odan_Pazzmar's Ship Buyer's Guide. Skills/Requirements     As with most other crafting professions, the basic profession upon which Shipwright is based is the Artisan profession. Advancing to Engineering IV in Artisan grants you the ability to train in the Novice Shipwright skill (an additional 30,000 General crafting experience). This will allow you to craft the most basic of components and chassis. Additionally, as is inherent to any crafting profession, the farther you advance, the better quality items you will be able to craft. The total skill point investment for Master Shipwright is no different than any other Elite Crafting profession at 63 points. Coupled with the Artisan prerequisites, the total skill point investment totals 92 points. Additionally, you may wish to create a new character as your shipwright. Ithorians recieve +10 to Chassis, Power Systems, Shields, and Advanced Assembly (capacitors and droid interfaces), while Sullustans recieve +10 to Boosters, Engines, and Weapons Assembly. While these benefits are not huge, they will help a little. Tools/Resources     To go along with the existing crafting system, the shipwright will need special tools in order to craft his trade-specific items. A Spaceship Crafting Tool and Spaceship Crafting Station have been added, and you will need these to make everything from repair kits to chassis. The most basic schematics can be made with your crafting tool without a crafting station, but as you pick more complex items to craft, you will need to be near a public crafting station. For the very high level items, a private crafting station will be required. A basic Equipment Factory can be used to mass produce some shipwright items - namely all ship subcomponents, ammunition, repair kits, paint kits, and analysis tools. Resources, as with any crafting profession, are going to play a large part in the quality of your crafted ships and their subsystems. The majority of Shipwright resources share the same resource table as all the other professions. Specifically, you will eventually need: Steel, Aluminum, Iron, Copper, Radioactive, Low-Grade Ore, Fiberplast, Polymer, Lubricating Oil, Liquid Petrochemical Fuel, Reactive Gas, and Inert Gas. However, with the introduction of the expansion, some new specific resources have been added to the current resource categories. Minerals: High Grade Polymetric Radioactive Used in Booster Overdriver Booster Extended Life Fuel Cell Various Missile Packs Reactor Limiter Reactor Overcharger Weapon Armor/Shield Effectiveness Intensifiers Perovskitic Aluminum Used in Armor Mass Reduction Kit Crystallized Bicorbantium Steel Used in Armor Reinforcement Panel Conductive Borcarbitic Copper Used in Capacitor Energy Saver Battery Capacitor Extended Life Battery Capacitor Heavy Battery Capacitor Quick Recharge Battery Droid Brain Upgrade Droid Maintenance Reduction Kit Fermionic Sciliclastic Ore Used in Engine Limiter Engine Overdriver Weapon Quick Shot Upgrade Weapon Speed Limiter Chemicals Gravitonic Fiberplast Used in Shield Energy Saver Kit Shield Intensifier Shield Limiter Shield Overcharger Gas Unstable Organometallic Reactive Gas Used in Booster Fast Charge Fuel Cell Booster Heavy Fuel Cell Weapon Min/Max Damage Intensifiers All of these specific new shipwright resources will always be available somewhere in your galaxy at any given time. There is also an additional new resource type introduced, Hardened Arveshium Steel, but there is currently no schematic in shipwright that requires this resource type. The individual resource statistics that are relied upon for the quality of your item depends from schematic to schematic. But generally, the important stats to consider are: Overall Quality (OQ) Applies to all schematics. Conductivity (CON) Applies to most schematics involving electrical systems and their subcomponents. Unit Toughness (UT) Applies to many schematics, usually related to hitpoints. Heat Resistance (HR) Applies to chassis, armor and its subcomponents. Potential Energy (PE) Applies to a number of schematics, such as engines, weapons, and reactors, and their subcomponents. Shock Resistance (SR) Applies to shields and chassis. Malleability (MA) Applies to chassis. Different items will call for different weights of resource stats, that then vary even between experimental attributes. Examine your schematics carefully to decide which resource will work best. For a great breakdown of all the different resource types and their maximum/minimum stat values, check out Lunariel's Guide to Resource Caps. Crafting Ships and Components     Once you have gathered all the resources and tools you need, you’re ready to begin making ships! Obviously, starting out, you will not be able to craft the best items. It will take time (depending on your stockpile of resources, or ability to acquire them) to reach Master Shipwright. But by practicing along the way, you can learn a great deal about what you can make and sell. Using practice mode on Chassis will yield the quickest road to master, but be prepared to consume somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 million units of resources, very quickly. There are basically 4 major different kinds of items a shipwright can craft. The Chassis, the equipment, equipment subcomponents, and ammunition. Chassis The hull, or shell of the vessel. Whether it be X-Wings or TIE Fighters, this is what the ship looks like, its performance, and its functionality. There are a few things to know about the variation in Chassis design. Chassis Classes There are currently 6 different Chassis Classes to add variety to your choice of chassis. Light Fighter Low mass light fighter. Very very crisp rotation, but sacrifices acceleration and deceleration to accomplish this. Very slide heavy, but very little rotation penalty at high speeds. Medium Fighter Moderate mass medium fighter. Sloppier rotation, slightly more acceleration, less sliding and more significant rotation penalty. Heavy Fighter High mass heavy fighter. Much sloppier rotation, but amazing acceleration and deceleration. Penalty when going at top speed for rotation is severe. Interceptor Fairly light mass space superiority fighter. Mixes characteristics of light and heavy fighters. Expect to sacrifice mass to get the maximum performance out of this one. Bomber Very high mass, very heavy craft. A brick. More diverse weapons arsenal available. POB There are 3 master level ships which are considered POB (portalized object) ships. The YT-1300 (Corellian Transport), VT-49 Decimator (Imperial), and the YKL-37R Nova Courier (Rebel.) These incredibly cool ships have decorateable interiors that can be occupied by group members as if it were the inside of a house. These ships have turrets that can be jumped into and out of by people aboard the ship. POB ships, because they have interiors, will take up one of your customers structure lots when any number (maximum of 75) of items are stored on board. Make sure your customer realizes this... Maneuverability Each chassis has a different maneuverability rating, based on its class and its mass. The lighter ships are generally more nimble, while the heavier more advanced ships tend to be less maneuverable. Capacity Different chassis have different slot setups. Most allow for one projectile(energy) weapon, one missile bank, and one countermeasure bank. Some of the more advanced ships have additional banks of these kinds. Mass An experimental quality of chassis. A somewhat misleading attribute title, this stat puts a hard cap on how much equipment you can load onto your ship, rather than stating the ships actual mass. More advanced components will have a much higher mass value and consume your ships mass allowance faster. Lower end chassis are lighter, thus less advanced or less overall equipment can be used. This creates a welcome variation among chassis. Loading a chassis up with the very best equipment in the very highest level ship may not always be the kind of fighter your customer is interested in. Hitpoints The amount of damage the chassis itself can sustain before being destroyed. Basically this is your last line of defense, and generally not very high. See Armor and Shields to see this more in depth. Multiplayer ships Some non-POB chassis are 'multiplayer' ships, meaning more than one person can be on board when flown. Chassis such as the TIE Aggressor have a rear gunner turret that has its own weapon slot for the second player to fire. Equipment Equipment is divided into 5 'technology' levels, corresponding to the certification required by the pilot in order to use them. These are designated as Mark I through Mark V on all equipment except for projectile (energy) weapons. The relationships are as follows. Mark I (a.k.a. Light Weapons) Equipment Level 1 Pilot Novice Mark II (Mid-grade Weapons) Equipment Level 3 Pilot Tier 1 Mark III (Heavy Weapons) Equipment Level 5 Pilot Tier 2 Mark IV (Advanced Weapons) Equipment Level 7 Pilot Tier 3 Mark V (Experimental Weapons) Equipment Level 9 Master Pilot All piloting professions gain equipment certifications at the same Tiers. Now, before I go on, instead of mentioning it for each piece of equipment individually, you should know that all equipment shares four common experimental attributes - Armor Hitpoints, Hitpoints, Mass, and Energy Maintenance. Armor Hitpoints, Hitpoints This basically works as though each component is its own little ship with its own little armor plating. The item can take damage up to its Armor Hitpoints level before it starts taking damage that compromises the performance of the equipment. Once both armor and standard hitpoints are depleted, the equipment is disabled. Experimenting on these is not always worth the points - when a pilot's shields are out and armor is destroyed, the equipment is not going to last long no matter how many points you put in - it just simply doesn't get high enough. Increasing Hitpoints will lengthen the life of the equipment, however, but it depends on how often the pilots equipment is damaged. Your customer will probably want increased performance rather than high hitpoints. Mass This is where the chassis Mass comes in to play. The sum of the Mass of all your equipment can not exceed the mass allowance of the chassis. Experimenting on mass is very tricky but important in the grand scheme of things when designing an entire ship from the ground up. Putting too many points into the performance of the item without considering its mass can lead to an overburdened ship design, and your customer will not be able to use everything he is asking for. Conversely, spending too much on mass reduction may decrease the performance of your equipment, and in the end you may discover you had plenty of mass to spare. Get a general idea of how much mass your components use with your skill and resources, and tweak on an individual basis. Energy Maintenance This is how much power your piece of equipment will draw from the ship's power supply. While it may not be as easy to draw too much energy as it is to overburden a ships mass, it is a notable experimental attribute nonetheless. When you are over your energy limit, equipment will fail and/or decrease in performance. This does not apply to armor as armor does not require energy to maintain, nor Reactors as they provide the energy (see below). Now on to the different equipment! Reactors A ship's main fusion reactor is what gives a ship its power. Power is needed to drive every single component loaded onto the ship (with the exception of armor). Additional experimental attributes (1): Energy Generation Rate Similar to the Mass attribute, each piece of equipment draws a certain number of energy units from the ship's reactor. A superior reactor has a high EGR, saving you points in Energy Maintenance in your other equipment. It also allows for more advanced, higher maintenance equipment. Engines Engines are arguably the most important aspect to any starfighter. They dictate how fast a pilot can go, how fast they can get there, how fast they can stop, and how fast they can turn. Additional experimental Attributes(4): Speed How fast the ship can travel! Note: The ship's actual top speed may be modified by chassis limitations. Pitch Acceleration Rate/Pitch Rate Maximum Pitch is a term used to represent up and down motion. Since this is a space-based game, up and down is relative to a players orientation and/or controller. The acceleration rate dictates how immediately the ship turns and changes direction. The maximum rate indicates how fast (rotational speed) that turn will be. Yaw Acceleration Rate/Yaw Rate Maximum Yaw is a term used to represent side to side motion. Roll Acceleration Rate/Roll Rate Maximum Roll is your ships ability to spin upon its Z-axis. Shields Shields are another incredibly important piece of equipment to any pilot. It is the first and most important line of defense in battle. Shields, while one piece of equipment, are divided into front/back deflector screens. Additional experimental attributes (3): Front Shield Hitpoints, Back Shield Hitpoints You are given the ability to determine whether to equally distribute shields front and back, or to bias them to one side. Different pilots may ask for different setups - some may want more protection when charging an enemy head on, while others may prefer some extra points to the rear shields when being persued. Shield Recharge Rate How fast the deflector recharges after absorbing a hit. A vital statistic. Armor Armor is a pilot's second, but more fragile, line of defense. There are front and rear sections of armor, but unlike shields, they are their own seperate components. Once shields are depleted, the armor further protects the ship from damage to its key components. Once its Armor Hitpoints are depleted, the ship's chassis and equipment begins to take any damage that comes through. Experimental attributes are Armor Hitpoints, Hitpoints, and Mass. (See shared attributes, above) Keep in mind, armor is very heavy. Watch the mass carefully, and if needed, add a Mass Reduction Kit (more on subcomponents later in this guide.) Additionally, if your shields are of excellent quality, the highest possible level of armor may weigh more than it is worth. Consider using lighter armor to save mass as well. Capacitors Capacitors are basically an energy storage unit for a pilot's projectile weapon. When this stored energy runs out, the weapon ceases to fire until some energy has recharged inside the capacitor. Additional experimental attributes (2): Energy The amount of total energy the capacitor can store. The higher the better, obviously. The pilot can take more shots in a row before running out of energy. Recharge Rate How fast the capacitor recharges itself. The higher the better. Boosters A booster is a temporary boost to the output speed of a ship's engine. This can be very useful when your customer needs to get away in a hurry, or catch up to something quickly. Additional experimental attributes (5): Speed The amount of extra speed the booster applies to the engine. Note: When a booster is engaged, it applies this value to the current engine speed, not the maximum speed. Energy The booster has a finite amount of energy it can devote to boosting. When this energy is depleted, the booster ceases to function and must recharge. Consumption Rate The rate at which the booster drains its energy supply. Lower is better. Acceleration The rate at which the booster accelerates the ship from its current speed to its maximum boosted speed. Recharge Rate The rate at which the booster recharges. Note: Boosters do not recharge while in use. Projectile Weapons A rather misleading name to some, Projectile weapons are the "blaster" type weapons on starships. They are the main source of offensive capability and a vital component to any starfighter. A pilot will most likely state this as his most valuable component. Projectile weapons are craftable in three flavors - Blasters (equally effective versus shields and armor), Disruptors (very effective versus armor plating, less effective versus shields), and Ion Cannons (very effective versus shields, less effective versus armor.) Additional experimental Attributes (6): Armor Effectiveness, Shield Effectiveness The weapons effectiveness when striking armor or shields. Weapons will only strike armor when no shields are present. This modifier is mulitplied by the raw damage of the weapon. For Example: If the weapon hits for 1200 damage and the shield effectiveness is 0.500, the damage done to the shield will be 600. Damage Minimum, Damage Maximum Energy Per Shot This stat determines how much energy the weapon will drain from the ship's capacitor each time it is fired. Lower is better. Firing Rate The time between successive shots. Lower is better. Blasters can be crafted in basic Red, but also green to comply with Imperial standards. Droid Interface A droid interface is useable in some ships to allow a pilot to use an Astromech droid to augment, enhance, and manage the systems of his starship beyond the capabilities of the pilot. Additional experimental Attributes (1): Droid Speed The speed at which the droid can execute a command given by the pilot. Ships that can not carry Astromech droids will be forced to use Flight Computers, which are essentially the same thing, and available from your local Droid Engineer. For additional information on Astromechs and Flight Computers, check out TK421's JTL Droid Guide. Missile Launchers/Countermeasure Launchers These allow the pilot to launch missiles and/or countermeasures. Missiles add spice to many combat situations. Your customer may ask you to attempt to outfit his ship with these for added offensive punch. Countermeasures are a pilot's first defense versus missiles, and can often fend off missile attacks. Launcher experimental attributes are Armor Hitpoints, Hitpoints, and Mass. (See shared attributes, above) Missiles and countermeasures come in a few different flavors. Missiles Concussion Missiles Highly effective versus shields, does zero amage to armor. Comes in Mark I, II, III (Levels 2, 5, 8) variants. Image-Rec Missiles Advanced missiles with advanced targeting system Tracks longer than standard missiles and avoids standard countermeasure systems. Equally effective versus shields and armor. Comes in Mark I and II (Levels 4 and 6) variants. Proton Missiles Lightweight missiles, which allows the pilot to carry more in his arsenal Moderately effective versus shields and armor. Comes in Mark I, II, III, IV (Levels 1, 3, 6, and 9) variants. Seismic Highly effective versus armor, weak versus shields. Comes in Mark I, II, III (Levels 3, 6, 9) variants. Space Bomb High yield missiles that are slow and bulky. Easily deterred by countermeasures and lose track easily. Effective versus capital ships and slow moving/unaware ships. Comes in Mark I and II (Level 5 and 10) variants. Countermeasures Chaff Launcher The most basic countermeasure. Only somewhat effective. Available to all pilots. Sensor Decoy Launcher Slightly improved countermeasure. Moderately effective. Available to Tier 1 Pilots. EM Emitter Launcher Creates an Electromagnetic field to disrupt incoming missile subsystems. Very effective. Available to Tier 3 Pilots. Micro-Chaff Launcher More effective than standard Chaff/Decoy systems, but slightly inferior to EM Emitter. Still, Very effective. Available to Tier 3 Pilots. IFF Confuser Launcher Launches a small device that confuses enemy missiles. Highly effective. Available to Master Pilots. Ammunition You can craft ammunition for the missile launchers and countermeasures. These ammo packs are loaded into the missile launcher themselves, and can not be removed. They must be completely exhausted before a new pack can be inserted. Additionally, new packs can only be loaded when the pilot is on the ground. Missile Experimental Attributes (4) Quantity Damage Minimum, Damage Maximum Firing Rate The time between successive missile firings. Arguably this should be an experimental option on the launcher, but for now it is tied to the missiles themselves. Chaff Systems Experimental Attributes (3) Quantity Chaff Effectiveness Minimum, Maximum Item Subcomponents Most ship components allow for optional subcomponents that alter the main component in some fashion. These are crafted first, and may be added during the crafting process of the main component. Each subcomponent has a benefit that comes with a drawback, so adding a subcomponent will not always make your components better suited for your ship. These also come in Mark I-V levels that correspond to the level of the component they can be inserted in to. For instance, you may only put a Mark IV subcomponent into a Mark IV or higher component. You may sometimes find it advantageous however to put a lower level subcomponent into a high level component. Reactors Limiter Reduces mass, but reduces energy output. Overcharger Increases energy output, but increases mass. Engines Limiter Reduces energy maintenance, but lowers speed. Overdriver Increases speed, but increases energy maintenance. Armor Mass Reduction Kit Reduces mass, but lowers armor hitpoints. Reinforcement Panel Increases armor hitpoints, but increases mass. Shields Energy Saver Reduces energy maintenance, but reduces shield hitpoints. Intensifier Increases shield hitpoints, but increases energy maintenance. Limiter Increases recharge rate, but decreases shield hitpoints. Effects are fairly offsetting, this subcomponent will likely either be changed or removed. Overcharger Increases shield hitpoints, but decreases recharge rate. Effects are fairly offsetting, this subcomponent will likely either be changed or removed. Capacitors Energy Saver Battery Reduces energy maintenance, but decreases maximum energy storage. Heavy Battery Increases maximum energy storage, but increases energy maintenance. Extended Life Battery Increases maximum energy storage, but reduces recharge rate. Effects are offsetting, this subcomponent will likely either be changed or removed. Quick Recharge Battery Increases recharge rate, but decreases maximum energy storage. Effects are offsetting, this subcomponent will likely either be changed or removed. Boosters Overdriver Increases speed/acceleration, but increases mass. Extended Life Fuel Cell Increases maximum booster energy, but decreases recharge rate. Fast Charge Fuel Cell Increases recharge rate, but decreases maximum booster energy. Heavy Fuel Cell Increases maximum booster energy, but increases consumption rate. Effects are offsetting, this subcomponent will likely either be changed or removed. Weapons Armor Effectiveness Intensifier Boosts Armor Effectiveness, but reduces shield effectiveness. Max Damage Intensifier Increases Max Damage, decreases Min damage. Min Damage Intensifier Increases Min Damage, decreases Max damage. Quick Shot Upgrade Increases firing rate, but increases capacitor energy per shot. Shield Effectiveness Intensifier Boost Shield effectiveness, but reduces armor effectiveness. Speed Limiter Upgrade Decreases capacitor energy per shot, but decreases firing rate. Droid Interface Droid Brain Upgrade Increases droid command speed, but increases energy maintenance. Maintenance Reduction Upgrade Decreases energy maintenance, but decreases droid command speed. Misc Items Shipwrights also craft: Repair Kits You may wish to craft and sell these repair kits to your customers, or through a public market. There is a seperate repair kit for every component. When you craft these, they are given a hitpoint rating which is the amount of points they will repair a component before being used up. Most players will not choose to seek these out rather than just get their ships repaired at a space station. Some space stations only repair to 75%, so perhaps it will come in handy then, or if the pilot is so low on cash as to want to save a few credits on your kits. Paint Kits Rebel and Privateer pilots will more than likely wish to personalize the hull of their starships with your paint kits. The empire will not allow their pilots to paint the outside of their TIE Fighters, however. There are 6 texture kits. Each is a one-use item that changes the PATTERN of colors on a ship. The existing colors are not changed, only their location on the ship. Each type of kit (1-6) will apply a specific unique pattern. Paint kits are one-use items that can be used to apply BOTH a primary color and a secondary color of your choosing. You actually use it twice, first to apply one, then use it again to apply the other. A Quick Word On Decay This wouldn't be a very efficient system if people didn't keep coming back for new parts, now would it? Decay is definately a factor in starships. When a pilot takes enough damage that a components Armor Hitpoints or Hitpoints are reduced, they must repair them. It is at this point that a reduction to Armor HP/HP are applied, thus decaying the component slightly. Overwhelmed yet? It's O.K. We're almost done... Reverse Engineering   A new concept to SWG, Reverse Engineering adds a whole new dimention to crafting. With this ability, shipwrights are able to take components looted from other starships, analyze them, and improve on their design! To Reverse Engineer, you can either collect looted components on your own while piloting your starship, or you can reverse engineer components your customers bring to you. The process is very simple - build a component analysis tool (all tools are of equal quality, but you can experiment on the # of charges per tool), put the component(s) inside, and analyze it(them). Depending on the equipment level of the component you wish to reverse engineer, you may need multiple components of the same type(not necessarily the same name) to succesfully reverse engineer a single improved item. For example, to reverse engineer a looted level 5 capacitor, you will need 5 looted level 5 capacitors in your analysis tool. To RE a level 7 booster, you will need 7 looted level 7 boosters. The reverse engineered component's stats will be determined by taking each stat of all the items in the tool and picking the optimal stat in each category from all the items. A bonus will be and applied (1% per equipment level) to each stat, and written back out to the new component. You will be presented with a Technical Readout at the end of a reverse engineering session showing you the compiled stats, the percent bonus applied, and the finalized stats of the new item. You will also have a chance to name the component after reverse engineering it. That's all there is to it! :smileysurprised: Shipwright is a unique and great new profession, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! Special thanks to all those who helped me polish up this guide - Red-Dwarf, Niacia, DeathMvp2, Brilyn, CeryionSkydreamer, Arconis_Runicblade, Sedana123, CommanderKendall, Nacoa, ShivKatal, Ribfeast, CapnKate, and of course Darth_Platypus