Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares/Warship technologies

Research has types of effect which apply only to warships' components, but which are very important in warship design (covered later) and which are mentioned briefly in the description of the relevant technologies. Explaining these concepts here will make it much easier for you to understand the tech descriptions.

Since some sub-classes of these effects relate to how damage is done in combat, this will be summarized first.

How damage is done in combat
A well-equipped warship has up to 4 parts:
 * Shields reduce the damage of every beam/warhead the ship is hit with, by a static amount(this effect applies to all damage taken, no matter if the shields have been depleted), and absorb further damage until they are depleted. A ship's shields have 4 sides, and only the side that is hit takes damage (except enveloping weapons, which hit each side once).
 * Armor absorbs damage once the shields have been depleted, until it is destroyed.
 * After the shields and armor have been taken down, damage is usually done to the target's structure and the target is destroyed when its structural integrity is reduced to zero.
 * Enemy fire can also hit the internal systems, instead of the structure. Hits on a ship's engines can immobilize it or even cause the engines to explode, which destroys the ship and does severe damage to any other object in close range.

The strength of a ship's shields depends on their tech level and on the ship's size class:
 * 1) Frigate ("small")
 * 2) Destroyer ("medium")
 * 3) Cruiser ("large")
 * 4) Battleship ("huge")
 * 5) Titan
 * 6) Doomstar

Miniaturization
After you research a particular warship component, researching each of the next 5 levels in the same subject reduce the component's cost (PP) and size, so that you can include more combat-related equipment in each size of warship. The effects are dramatic, for example the 5th level of miniaturization usually reduces a component's size and cost to about 25% of their initial values.

But there are a few types of component that are not miniaturized, for example Heavy Armor.

Note that miniaturization works even if the next few techs you research in the same subject are not combat-related, so it's available to non-Creative and Uncreative empires as well as to Creatives. But generally miniaturization happens by doing research, not via techs thet you gain by trading or conquest. The exception is that if trading or conquest gives you the last tech at a level, you get all the miniaturization associated with that level. If you get by trade or conquest a higher-level tech than you've researched in that subject, it stays at its initial space and cost values until you research beyond the level that contains that tech.

After you have researched all the techs in a subject, you can research "Hyper Advanced" levels of that subject. These do not provide any new techs, but enable you to miniaturize the game's most advanced warship components. Most competitive games never reach this level, but in single-player games against AI opponents it can be fun to produce the Warship From Hell, stuffed with a huge number of very advanced weapons plus a collection of special systems that increase their effectiveness.

The detailed ratios of miniaturization are:

Weapon modifications
Every weapons has a range of possible modifications, of which some are available initially and others become available after 1 or 2 levels of miniaturization. These modifications are often referred to a "mods", but this guide will not use the abbreviation as it is also widely used to describe adaptations of the rules of many games, including MOO II.

All weapons allow some modifications, but hardly any allow all types of modification.

"Beam" weapons
This includes the "machine-gun" weapons Mass Driver and Gauss Cannon. All hit their targets instantly (if they hit).

Level 0 modifications
These are available immediately: All beams have HV versions which have 50% greater damage, 100% longer range, and the range penalties for dissipation and accuracy are reduced by 50%, but cost twice as much and use twice as much space. Although this appears poor value, HV weapons have 2 important uses: increasing your range and penetrating through shields. Increased range is particularly important in the early game when warships are very slow in combat; without increased range ships with "beam" weapons would often be destroyed by missiles before they could fire a shot. Note: HV weapons cannot target small objects such as missiles and fighters. PD weapons have half the cost, size, range and firepower of normal weapons, but they have a 25% bonus to accuracy(beam attack) and therefore the most effective against small objects such as missiles and fighters.
 * Heavy mount (HV)
 * Point defense (PD)

Level 1 modifications
These are available after 1 level of miniaturization and apply in varying combinations to some weapons: The weapon's fire passes right through armor and hits the targets structure or systems, once its shields have been penetrated (see below). This effect is blocked by Heavy Armor and by the exotic Xentronium Armor, which you cannot research and can only gain by defeating Orion's Guardian or by capturing and scrapping an Antaran ship (both very difficult) - or by espionage or conquest, if another empire got Xentronium Armor the hard way. AP increases a weapon's size and cost by 50% of the current standard value (after miniaturization), which makes it useless, since without Heavy Armor, armor is only 25% or less of the ship's durability and with Heavy Armor the effect is blocked. This prevents a "beam" weapon from overheating and thus allows it to fire for a longer period, allowing the ship's targeting computer to adjust its aim and therefore the increasing the chance of hitting by 25%. This is particularly useful if you do not have advanced targeting computers, or against opponents with a Ship Defense bonus. CO increases a weapon's size and cost by 50% of the current standard value (after miniaturization). Most "beam" weapons do reduced damage at longer ranges. NR eliminates this, but is availabe for very few weapons. It increases a weapon's size and cost by 25% of the current standard value (after miniaturization). The weapon's fire passes right through the target's shields, including the shield's damage reduction effect. This effect is blocked by the Hard Shields special system. SP increases a weapon's size and cost by 50% of the current standard value (after miniaturization).
 * Armor Piercing (AP)
 * Continuous Fire (CO)
 * No Range Dissipation (NR)
 * Shield Piercing (SP)

Level 2 modifications
These are available after 2 levels of miniaturization and apply in varying combinations to some weapons:'' Allows a beam weapon to fire 3 separate times in rapid succession, each time with a 20% penalty to its accuracy. This modification increases the size and cost of the weapon by 50 and is not applicable until the intended weapon has undergone 2 levels of miniaturization. Hits at all 4 sides of the target simultaneously. If the weapon hits and the enemy has no shields or its shields are down, the damage is quadrupled. ENV increases a weapon's size and cost by 100% of the current standard value (after miniaturization).
 * Auto-Fire (AF)
 * Enveloping (ENV)

"Missile" weapons
This section covers both missiles and torpedoes. Although these are very different in some ways, both take a few combat turns to hit their targets but have unlimited range and greater accuracy than "beam" weapons.

All missiles (but not torpedoes) can have a modification which is not dependent on miniaturization but on a specific technology: Emissions Guidance (EMG) makes all missiles that penetrate a ship's anti-missile defenses and shields do all their damage to its engines, either immobilizing it or making it explode. EMG quadruples a missile's size and cost. It provides no advantage against Star Bases and planet-based defenses.

Level 0 modifications
None.

Level 1 modifications
These are available after 1 level of miniaturization and apply in varying combinations to some weapons: Missiles are protected by the empire's best grade of armor and this grealty increases the damage required to destroy the missile. ARM increases a missile rack's size and cost by 25% of the current standard value (after miniaturization). This halves the chance that a missile or torpedo will miss because of jamming by the target's ECM (Electronic Counter Measures). ECCM increases a missile rack's size and cost by 25% of the current standard value (after miniaturization). Increases a missile's or torpedo's speed by 8 squares per combat turn, and makes it harder to hit. FST increases the weapon's size and cost by 25% of the current standard value (after miniaturization). Applies only to Plasma Torpedoes, whose strength normally decreases for every combat turn between launch and impact. NR eliminates this reduction, but increases the weapon's size and cost by 25% of the current standard value (after miniaturization).
 * Heavily Armored (ARM)
 * Electronic Counter-Counter Measures (ECCM)
 * Fast (FST)
 * Not Reduced by Range (NR)

Level 2 modifications
These are available after 2 levels of miniaturization and apply in varying combinations to some weapons: Like the similar modification for "beams", this torpedo modification makes it hit at all 4 sides of the target simultaneously. If the weapon hits and the enemy has no shields or its shields are down, the damage is quadrupled. ENV increases the weapon's size and cost by 100% of the current standard value (after miniaturization). MV missiles carry 4 full-strength warheads, and so quadruples the damage. MV increases the missile rack's size and cost by 100% of the current standard value (after miniaturization). Applies only to torpedoes and increases the weapon's power by 50%. OV increases the weapon's size and cost by 50% of the current standard value (after miniaturization).
 * Enveloping (ENV)
 * MIRV (MV)
 * Overloaded (OV)