MT toys

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MT toys are components that cannot be researched by players, but are only available from the Mystery Trader.

class ID# Ener Weap Prop Cons Elec Bio Mass Resr Iron Bora Germ Name
2 19 21 21 0 0 16 12 8 40 6 40 6 Multi Contained Munition
3 8 0 11 12 0 0 21 8 50 3 8 1 Anti Matter Torpedo
4 9 0 12 0 0 12 12 5 5 1 5 0 Hush-a-Boom
6 15 20 10 10 20 10 20 0 5000 0 0 0 Genesis Device
7 7 5 0 0 10 5 5 20 20 8 0 2 Alien Miner
9 5 5 0 0 11 5 0 9 25 12 0 3 Multi Cargo Pod
9 10 16 0 20 20 16 0 10 40 0 0 50 Jump Gate
10 5 11 0 11 0 11 0 2 15 5 0 5 Multi Function Pod
11 7 12 0 9 0 9 0 10 20 10 2 6 Langston Shell
13 10 14 0 0 14 14 6 20 65 18 6 6 Mega Poly Shell
14 9 7 0 13 5 9 0 20 40 12 15 11 Enigma Pulsar
15 31 0 0 0 8 0 0 70 100 30 8 8 Mini Morph

Hush-a-boom

Hush-a-boom.JPG
  • Type: Bomb
  • Tech: Weap 12, Elec 12, Bio 12
  • Cost: I=1,B=2,no g,Res=2 Mass: 5
  • Abilities: Bomb=3% Kill/2 instal Destroy

Comments: This is just a bomb, which is kind of like a Smart Bomb, in that it's very good at pop killing (better than a Cherry, and almost as good as Enriched Neutron) but not so good at installation destroying (only as good as Lady Finger). The special thing about this, is that it's very cheap and light. Light means ships other than Mini Bombers are gateable, and cheap means (especially with a non-NRSE race where engines aren't expensive) vast hordes can be churned out without eating up valuable minerals or resources. You get it pretty early tech-wise too, before bombs of comparable firepower.


Enigma Pulsar

Enigma Pulsar.PNG
  • Type: Engine
  • Tech: Ener 7, Prop 13, Cons 5, Elec 9
  • Cost without miniaturization: I12 B15 G11 R40
  • Cost at max. tech: I6 B7 G5 R19
  • Mass: 20
  • Abilities: Cloak=10%, +1/8 Movement

This Mystery Trader part is one of the best engines in the game, as it can reach Warp 10, acts as a Warp 5 ramscoop, and - most importantly - gives the equivalent of half a Maneuvering Jet without taking up a device slot (it's an engine). Eighths are rounded up by the Stars! engine, so this is effectively a free Maneuvering Jet for most ships, a free Overthruster for the Super Freighter, Battleship, Galleon, B-52 Bomber, Maxi-Miner, Super Mine Layer, Nubian and Meta-Morph, and three free Maneuvering Jets for the Dreadnought. Races with NRSE especially like this engine, as it's almost strictly better than the Interspace-10.

Mega Poly Shell

Mega Poly Shell.JPG
  • Type: Armor
  • Tech: Ener 14, Cons 14, Elec 14, Bio 6
  • Cost: I=14,B=5,G=5,Res=52 Mass: 20
  • Abilities: Armor=400, Shield=100, Cloak=20%, Jam=20%, Scan=80/40

Comments: This item is incredibly powerful. It's the second strongest Armor in the game. It has the same dp as Valanium, but you get it 2 Cons levels earlier. It weighs half as much too, and we all know how important weight is in getting those Cruisers and Nubians under 300kt. Mega Poly has a shield component, so you can have the advantages of shield stacking without having to waste a slot on an actual shield. It's also has other very useful goodies, such as a decent cloak, and a 40 ly pen scanner which is great to get when you have NAS. However the best thing about it is the built in Jammer 20. This allows you to get very high jamming without having to waste Elec slots (which are better used on computers) on actual jammers. Fill one armor stack on your SB's and start with 73% jamming! This is a great thing to hold you over the big gap in Cons tech until you get Superlatanium and Jammer 30's, and even then you lose some of the advantages this gives you.


Langston Shell

Langston Shell.PNG
  • Type: Shield
  • Tech: Ener 12, Prop 9, Elec 9
  • Cost: I=6,B=1,G=4,Res=12 Mass: 10
  • Abilities: Shield=125, Armor=65, Cloak=10%, Jam=5%, Scan=50/25

Comments: Other than going in shield slots, this is basically a small Mega Poly Shell, with less expensive tech so you can start building with it sooner. It's clearly the third best shield in the game, with 15 more dp than the Gorilla Delegator, and you get it 2 Ener levels earlier too. A 25 ly pen-scanner isn't that good, but if you have NAS you'll still be glad to have it.


Multi-Function Pod

Multi Function Pod.PNG
  • Type: Electrical
  • Tech: Ener 11, Prop 11, Elec 11
  • Cost: I=5,no B,G=5,Res=15 Mass: 2
  • Abilities: Cloak=30%, Jam=10%, +1/4 Movement

Comments: This item is of somewhat-limited use, as it's only slightly better than the Maneuvering Jet and not generally as effective as the Overthruster which comes one techlevel later. The main use for this toy is that unlike those competitors it is an Electrical part, and can therefore be placed in Electrical-only slots (found on the Super Freighter, Destroyer, Battleship, Dreadnought, Rogue and Stealth Bomber hulls) to give additional battlespeed beyond that attainable with a hull's Mechanical slots. In particular, this allows construction of speed 2.5 battleships, and eases the construction of speed 2.25 battleships for races utilising ramscoops.

While starbases also possess Electrical-only slots, placing the Multi-Function Pod in them will not allow a starbase to move during combat, and as such this part is useless to them.

Anti-Matter Torpedo

Anti-Matter Torpedo.PNG
  • Type: Torpedo
  • Tech: Weap 11, Prop 12, Bio 21
  • Cost: I=3,B=8,G=1,Res=50 Mass: 8
  • Abilities: Damage=60, Range=6, Initiative=0, Accuracy=85%

Comments: About the only thing this is good for is tech transfers of biotech, as no other item in the game requires a higher bio level. Actually, it's a medium strength torpedo, that's very light and cheap to build. As such it might be useful in a horde fleet, although I'd probably still use normal capital missiles myself, and save the Boranium for the Anti-Matter Pulverizers, especially since I rarely have bio at such a high level. No other torpedo has a higher base accuracy, making this about like a Rho torpedo or Juggernaut missile. It's range 6 too, like only the top two cap missiles, which combined with its lightness would make a good 2. 5 movement sniper to get those pesky 2. 5 movement scouts before they get away.

Jump Gate

Jump Gate.PNG
  • Type: Mechanical
  • Tech: Ener 16, Prop 20, Cons 20, Elec 16
  • Cost: no i,no b,G=38,Res=30 Mass: 10
  • Abilities: Allows ship to jump from space to planetary stargate

Comments: Realistically, this item often appears too late in the tech cycle to be useful, and its actual uses are somewhat limited. However I'm ranking this as high as it is to make a point that is often overlooked with it: Ships with the Jump Gate can gate cargo. With the Jump Gate, you basically become an IT, or at least can annoy the heck out of that IT player because you've negated many of their advantages. Put one of these on a freighter, and you to can quickly send colonists and minerals across your empire. Note it basically takes you two years to ."gate." cargo from planet to planet, as you have to move away from a planet into space first before jumping, because while at a planet a ship will always attempt to use a planetary gate. Ignore the ."never." sign on the warp dial if one appears, your ship and its cargo will arrive where you send it!


Genesis Device

Genesis Device.PNG
  • Type: Planetary
  • Tech: Ener 20, Weap 10, Prop 10, Cons 20, Elec 10, Bio 20
  • Cost: no i,no b,no g,Res=5000
  • Abilities: Randomly resets hab and mineral concentrations

Comments: This is useful in the very late game, and as such often never plays a role as the game is over long before it becomes efficient to use this or even before you get the requisite tech. The power of this is that it basically gives you a free planet: You can convert that low 20% hab planet with mineral concentrations of 1 in everything, to a 100% planet with tons of minerals. Or at least you can reset a planet so you can remote strip mine it again, making it so you can never run out of minerals in your empire. As it does destroy all factories and mines, it's more useful for AR races as they don't have to rebuild anything. A CA (especially with TT) will have a much better chance of a high value or even a 100% planet from the start after a planet rebirth. The 5000 resources to set one off once is a bitch, especially for a normal race trying to make a green out of a red, but in the ."my stack of 3000 Nubians can beat up your stack of 2000 Nubians." stage of the game when tech is maxed and minerals are scarce, it's certainly more productive than Alchemy.


Multi-Contained Munition

Mcm.PNG
  • Type: Beam Weapon
  • Tech: Ener 21, Weap 21, Elec 16, Bio 12
  • Cost: I=5,B=32,G=5,Res=32 Mass: 8
  • Abilities: Damage=140, Range=3, Initiative=6, Cloak=10%, Torp accuracy +10%, Scan=150/75, Bomb=2% Kill/5 instal Destroy, Lays 40 mines/yr

Comments: Wow, what a mouthful! This item can do almost everything, although that doesn't mean it's actually better to use than the more focused items. It's first and foremost a beam weapon, which has twice the fp of Blasters, but is a little shy of Disruptors, the next class up. It is range 3, although if I have Weap 21, I might prefer to just research one more Weap level and go with Mega Disruptors, or use normal range 2 Disruptors for half the mineral cost. As a bomb, it's about as good as an M-80, although it does have the advantage of being not much more heavier than any beam weapon, so you can load a BB with these and have a gateable bomber that packs quite a bit more punch than those two slot Mini Bombers. Perhaps it's best use is as a pen-scanner for NAS races, where 75 ly of yellow is very good. One might be able to load a Nubian or some other ship with these, and have a multi-purpose SB killing, planet bombing, mine laying to secure the area capital ship. They say that the only way to get a capital ship in the limited to tech 10 demo is by getting the MT Lifeboat (which has these on it).


Alien Miner

Alien Miner.JPG
  • Type: Mining Robot
  • Tech: Ener 5, Cons 10, Elec 5, Bio 5
  • Cost: I=4,no b,G=1,Res=10 Mass: 20
  • Abilities: Mines 10 kt/yr, Cloak=30%, Jam=30%, +1/8 Movement

Comments: This can be a game winner for the simple reason that one 5000kt investment can negate the disadvantages of taking OBRM. Building massive fleets of mini-miners with these will actually pay off very quickly, and you can strip mine all those unused worlds in your space and keep the BB's churning out in the mineral short late game as fast as those ARM types. The Alien Miner is very cheap to build, it's very light, and a Mini Miner with these is actually gateable. The built in Jammer 30 (!), cloak, and half jet is at least semi-useful in helping keep your new mining fleet from being seen or destroyed.


Multi-Cargo Pod

Multi Cargo Pod.PNG
  • Type: Mechanical
  • Tech: Ener 5, Cons 11, Elec 5
  • Cost (without miniaturization): I=12,no b,G=3,Res=25 Mass: 9
  • Cost (with miniaturization): I=10,no b,G=2,Res=20 Mass: 9
  • Abilities: Armor=50, Cloak=10%, Cargo=250

Comments: The Multi Cargo Pod adds a lot of storage capacity to whatever ship. Each one of these is 2.5 Super Cargo Pods or a free Privateer. With a few of these you can easily make a Galleon have more capacity than two Large Freighters (or make a Nubian be more than seven Large Freighters.  :) This may help in shuttling the massive minerals your massive mining fleets generate. However, I usually don't care to use up a valuable ship slot, and I'll just built twice the number of Freighters if I have any heavy duty transportation needs. Note that this is the only Mechanical or non-Armor or Shield item that adds dp. So if you say wanted to make the toughest Destroyer possible, put one of these in the Mech slot, and you'll not only be tougher, you'll be able to scoop up some of the minerals of the ships you snipe (no, I'm not recommending that as a ship design. :) Note this is also a Mech item like the Jump Gate, where Mech is the only item category to have two MT toys for it.

Mini Morph

Mini Morph hull layout
  • Type: Ship Hull
  • Tech: Cons 8
  • Cost (without miniaturization): I=30,B=8,G=8,Res=100 Mass: 70
  • Cost (with miniaturization): I=8,B=2,G=2,Res=28 Mass: 70
  • Abilities: Armor=250, Fuel=400, Cargo=150, Initiative=2

Comments: This is the hull that the MT Scout and Probe are based on.

It requires 2 engines, and has 10 General Purpose items total (1 slot of 3, 2 slots of 2, and 3 slots of 1).

This basically gives it the same capacity as a Cruiser, which also has 2 engines and 10 other items.

The Mini Morph may have more flexible slots and have 150 free cargo, but the Cruiser has more fuel and nearly 3 times the base armor.

The Mini Morph at least might make a good cloaked Scout, a more versatile larger Colony ship than a Privateer or a fast moving scout killer.


MT Probe

MT Probe

MT Scout

MT Scout

MT Lifeboat

MT Lifeboat