So, you are ready to build your own starship?<br /><br />Great! Where will you build it?<br /><br />As everyone knows, the choice of Ship Construction Center is an important one for both controlling costs and avoiding delays.<br /><br />Everyone also knows that Class I is more cost effective than Class II is more cost effective than Class III.<br /><br />And everyone knows that Class III can only build system ships.<br /><br />But before you choose the SCC you will award the contract to build your next ship, maybe there's a little more to look into.<br /><br />After many minutes of research into the existing SCCs on the Frontier, Quekblortz Guide has created the following ranked profile for SCCs from most to least capacity, and reviewed them to find the most desirable place to build your next ship.<br /><br />#1 SCC Gran Quivera (Prenglar)<br />Class: I<br />Type VI Hulls: 8<br />Military Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Capacity: 140 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: Yes<br />Specialization: Servicing Task Force Prenglar and Strike Force Nova<br /><br />Naturally this monster shipyard heads the list for capacity.<br />Built up from eight Type VI station hulls, this shipyard can handle anything, along with the most space for support facilties.<br />The central location at the hub of the Frontier also has most charted routes out to the Frontier to improve deliveries.<br />The downside of building at SCC Gran Quivera is simply the constant backlog caused by servicing the UPF fleets. <br />Both Task Force Prenglar and Strike Force Nova are based here creating a constant workload for the construction bays.<br />If you ever wondered why SCC Gran Quivera needed those extra Type VI station hulls, billeting all that bureaucracy and ship crews along with the inevitable business that spring up around them would be why.<br /><br />#2 SCC Triad (Cassidine) - Class I<br />Class: I<br />Type VI Hulls: 6<br />Military Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Capacity: 140 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: Yes<br />Specialization: Custom naval architecture and builds<br /><br />SCC Triad is the second largest SCC in the Frontier, and is the only other Class I which easily lands it at number two on our list for capacity.<br /><br />#3 SCC Terledrom (Fromeltar)<br />Class: II<br />Type VI Hulls: 4<br />Military Hull Sizes: 1-6<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-14<br />Capacity: 50 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: Yes<br />Specialization: Specializes in resource miners<br /><br />As the largest of the Class II, SCC Fromeltar is the top of the heap for the second tier SCC's.<br />The Vrusk and Dralasite Council regulations here can be a bit tricky for the newcomer to navigate and any attempt to bend a "rule" of shipbuilding should be avoided here. <br />This SCC does things by the book (by a great number of very large books in reality).<br /><br />#4 SCC Minotaur (Theseus) <br />Class: II<br />Type VI Hulls: 3<br />Military Hull Sizes: 1-6<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-14<br />Capacity: 50 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: Yes<br />Specialization: Specializing in exploration and probe builds<br /><br />SCC Minotaur scored a little higher than similar sized Class IIs mostly due to a more convenient location.<br />This SCC has been the focus for builds supporting the Frontier's exploration into the space near and around the Frontier.<br />This SCC also finishes military and starship work for its partner SCC Clarion.<br /><br />#5 SCC Hentz (Araks)<br />Class: II<br />Type VI Hulls: 3<br />Military Hull Sizes: 1-6<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-14<br />Capacity: 50 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: Yes<br />Specialization: Specializing in long jumpers with advanced astrogation gear and Yazirian comforts<br /><br />Far out on edge, SCC Hentz provides most of the shipwork for the Yazirian-dominated end of the Frontier.<br />"By Yazirians, For Yazirians" seems to be the unofficial motto, but this SCC has a great reputation for quality work regardless of client.<br />SCC Hentz is second to none in long range astrogation gear.<br />If you are looking for the crew and gear to build a long jumper, SCC Hentz is the place to start.<br /><br />#6 SCC Rupert's Hole (Cassidine)<br />Class: III<br />Type VI Hulls: 1<br />Military Hull Sizes: None<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Capacity: 50 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: No<br />Specialization: Specializing in system ships<br /><br />While frequently overshadowed by its larger neighbor, SCC Triad, this SCC has quietly built itself an impressive reputation as the foremost place in space for system ship builds.<br />The quality of SCC Rupert's Hole work benefits greatly from the
proximity to the community of builders and architects on SCC Triad.<br />Many of the Frontier's best naval architects did their apprenticeships on SCC Rupert's Hole's docks, before graduating to the advanced naval architecture programs on SCC Triad.<br /><br />#7 SCC Clarion (White Light)<br />Class: III<br />Type VI Hulls: 1<br />Military Hull Sizes: None<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Capacity: 50 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: No<br />Specialization: Specializing in luxury and initial builds of militia ships for engine finish elsewhere.<br /><br />SCC Clarion began as a bit of a royal boondoggle, originally commissioned to build royal yachts and other luxury facilities.<br />However, the wealthy of the Frontier took notice and SCC Clarion soon gained a reputation as the place for the elite to get their custom luxury ship fittings done.<br />Despite the central location with four jump routes, development of this SCC has lagged due to bureaucratic interference. <br />However, with the rise in pirate activity in the belt, and the creation of the Frontier Expeditionary Force, the focus from casual luxury builds to speedy military builds has sparked a program to upgrade this Class III to a Class II where it can really shine.<br /><br />#8 SCC Pale (Truane's Star)<br />Class: III<br />Type VI Hulls: 1<br />Military Hull Sizes: None<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Capacity: 50 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: No<br />Specialization: Specializing in exploration builds<br /><br />After the savaging of the Pale worlds in the first Sathar War, it was only sensible for the UPF to build up the space construction capability here.<br />However, the development of SCC Pale has been delayed by the necessity of diverting so much industrial capacity to the rebuilding of Pale and New Pale themselves.<br />As these worlds recover, more and more capacity is freeing up and UPF economic planners expect to increase construction of additional Type VI wheels to upgrade Pale to Class II in the near future.<br />Despite, or because of, the recovery work, SCC Pale has built itself a reputation as a quality exploration support supplier.<br /><br />#9 SCC Outer Reach (Dramune)<br />Class: III<br />Type VI Hulls: 1<br />Military Hull Sizes: None<br />Civilian Hull Sizes: 1-20<br />Capacity: 50 HS<br />System Ships: Yes<br />Starships: No<br />Specialization: Specializing in piracy and we don't just mean the docking fees.<br /><br />Only the most desperate or foolhardy would consider SCC Outer Reach as their choice for new builds.<br />Strikes, graft, thefts, and the general corruption can significantly delay any ship build.<br />Despite these problems, this SCC is one of the best for returning damaged ships to spaceworthiness.<br />There are also numerous rumors floating around that this SCC is a virtuoso artist for hidden compartments and design customizations so necessary to the smuggling trade.<br /><br />And now the moment you've been waiting for.<br />The Quekblortz Guide recommendation for the single best SCC in the Frontier to award your ship build contract goes to:<br /><br />*** SCC Triad (Cassidine) ***<br />While not the largest, SCC Triad edged out SCC Gran Quivera as the single best shipyard.<br />During the review and scoring, the complications of Task Force Prenglar and Strike Force Nova on SCC Gran Quivera scheduling created far more delay and variability than expected, despite the additional 2 wheels of capacity and more numerous jump routes.<br /><br />Also scoring in SCC Triad's favor was the proximity of SCC Rupert's Hole, giving SCC Triad an unparalleled scheduling flexibility by being able to offload or onboard work in tandem with SCC Rupert's Hole as needed.<br />SCC Rupert's Hole was also able to fit in auxiliary builds for SCC Triad on an opportunistic basis, supplying work pods, lifeboats and shuttles quickly, ready to drop in to the longer running Triad build as needed.<br />The architects of SCC Triad and Rupert's Hole dovetail their work nicely, making SCC Rupert's Hole almost the 7th wheel of SCC Triad.<br /><br />While Cassidine may be a little further to jump to reach, the savings in money and time for getting Class I work done more than makes up for it.
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