Utility Ships
Utility ships are not a shipclass, like some may think. The designation, "Utility Ship" or more commonly referred to one of the subgroups, such as Travel Ship/ Base Management Ship/ Lulz Ship/ Bank Ship, is a widely applied term.
Utility ships are in common usage in Star Sonata and provide the statistics, such as incredible hull space, high speed, stealth, or just fun, that a combat ship cannot.
Travel Ships
Travel Ships are an integral part of Star Sonata. Also doubling as exploration and scout ships, Travel Ships are generally low visibility with high speed. However, most travel ships cannot tank a combat focused ship or some of the more powerful AI, and generally the higher Danger Factor you enter the more speed and stealth you require to be safe.
The key to designing a good Travel Ship is as follows:
Speed- You want a fast ship. Slow ships take a long time to travel in excess of 30 jumps and therefore make creating a travel ship impractical. Fast ships are harder targets for AI and players/ bases to hit and therefore survive better. Common Shields for use on travel ships are Phantomstreams, Jetstreams, Firestreams, Paxian Galactic Exploreres, and Paxian Sovereign Explorers. Each of said shields gives a decent speed bonus, along with low electricity consumption and high regeneration.
Stealth- Of course, speed isn't the only factor in designing a good travel ship. Stealth is important as it can allow you to slip by hostile AI and players without notice. Stealth is generally acheived by Augmenters such as the Hermes and Hera augmenters and their "+" versions, along with cloaks.
Size- Large ships make big targets. You need a small ship as it's much less likely for projectiles to hit a small ship going fast than a large ship.
Agility- Unknown to most people, agility is incredibly important. Most engines put on travel ships are NOT stealthy, and therefore the more time you thrust the more you are visible. Also, the faster you turn and accelerate, the less time you spend at a slow speed, therefor bringing your top speed up.
Common ships include the Locution, Ancient Scoutship, and Apprentice's Ward.
