That is there by design actually. I'm not sure why exactly it's there, but it's been discussed before. Since I rarely have that much money, it doesn't make that much of a differance to me, so I never took the time to read the reasons that were given.

The same system existed in Dread Lords, it isn't new to DA. You may not have noticed it in DL before, but it is there.

If your economy model worked in DL, it will do just fine in DA.

So... what kind of fighters do you build that cost 10,000 bc each? Most of my capitol ships are only in the 10-15 range (if that).

Hi!

It is by design, and it is in DL too. The aim is to penalize money-hoarding. After your treasury grows over 20k your econ ability non-transparently decreases by about 20%. But in DL I remember also having a decrease of about 5% after my treasury went over 10k. That's no more present in DA.

BR, Iztok

Sorry, that is the cost of an older design that I forgot to make obsolete.

My current dreadnought costs 3,532 bc according to the shipyard. However, if I were to rush production by purchasing it in one turn it would cost 47,970 bc.

---------------------------------------
The specs are as follows:

Hull Size:
Huge

----------------------------------
Ship Components:

+ Blackhole Eruptor (Missile +25)
+ Blackhole Eruptor (Missile +25)
+ Blackhole Eruptor (Missile +25)
+ Blackhole Eruptor (Missile +25)
+ Blackhole Eruptor (Missile +25)
+ Blackhole Eruptor (Missile +25)

+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)
+ Zero Point Armor (Armor +10)

+ Ultimate Invulnerability (Shield +9)
+ Ultimate Invulnerability (Shield +9)
+ Ultimate Invulnerability (Shield +9)

+ Hyper Warp Drive MK. III (Speed +6)
+ Hyper Warp Drive MK. III (Speed +6)

+ Sensors MK IV (Sensor Range +2)
+ Ultra Support (Range +14)

-----------------------------------
Ship Attack & Defense (including all bonuses):

Missle Weapon Attack : 507

Shield Defense: 88
Armor Defense: 459

-----------------------------------


I'm guessing my ships are overkill, I have not tested any of my ships in combat yet. Since this is only my 2nd game (playing Challenging level) I'm still trying to understand and master the galactic economy and starship combat strategies.

Can anyone tell me why there is a discrepency between the shipyard cost (3,532 bc) and the actual cost (47,970 bc) if I were to simply buy it out right?

I assume it is the price premium to purchase all the matterial at once and overtime for the shipyard workers. But I would like to know from experienced players what is exactly driving those costs.

Your assumption is indeed correct. It's similar to rush buying a planetary improvement instead of allowing it to build. The concept is that you can always "throw money" at the problem and get things completed faster, however as you've seen it costs quite a bit of money to do this.

Note that at if you're neutral the ship buying premium is a bit reduced. Another thing you can do is to allow the ship to partially build before paying for it's completion. Also one "trick" is to build the hull only and then "upgrade" to the final ship configuration. However, none of this is cheap. If you want to build ships the most cost effective way then build up a lot of planets with a lot of industry.

I believe balance to be the best. It has to do with the combat system. As your offense goes up, you're rolling a die between 0-weaponMax value. So the average damage you're doing goes up by less and less as you get bigger and bigger weapons. But the defenses are fixed, in effect--assuming you've got the right defenses for the weapons you're attacked with. So there's a balance somewhere.

I have also noticed defense is nice when your ship is seeing multiple combats without healing first. In other words, if you have 2 defense and enter 3 combats, that 2 defense will save you 6 hit points. You don't have to go healing all the time.

I do believe the Good defensive bonus works better on larger maps, because you're paying a one-time cost for that 20% defensive boost. Evil has to pay for the expensive psyonic missiles over and over again.

I'm still trying to figure out why I never realized this in Dread Lorads only Dark Avator. Did they up this in DA over DL? Maybe I just didn't pay that much attention when I had that much who knows.