When to use Motherboard/Circuits vs Hull/Armor (power 2.0)

[Xpertice]

It would seem that many, newcomers or not, would misuse or underuse the motherboard, circuit/charged circuit, and hull/armor blocks.

This has minutes ago become a huge disappointment to me and I will write a simple guide to use these. Like any guide there will be people who post "Oh, I already knew that!" - This is not what this thread is for. Leave replies exclusively for updates, improvements, and who was helped, as well as reactions and constructive criticism.

With that out of the way - my list of do's and don'ts with motherboard/circuits.

• Do use motherboard blocks for the texture, even on a space station/homebase, but hopefully sparingly
• Do use motherboard blocks with adequate shielding
• Do use circuit blocks/wedges for a tinted substitute for the weak glass as well as charged circuit blocks/wedges if you want it to glow, as well as for the texture or for large/small hologram displays
• Do use both on decorative sections where you don't want it to have much mass
• Do use either if you want to save mass on crafts where saving energy on thrust to get energy for shielding is important
• Do use for cool looking interiors or if you're building a Borg cube so, with other systems in place like layering, it doesn't look like a bricknaught
• Don't use if you need an armored section for a system that needs protection, such as stabilizers, chambers, conduits, and reactors, ship cores, unprotected crewed/computered interiors
• Don't use if you need extra armor HP or if you want piercing protection
• Don't use if you have enough shielding/power to run ample sized thrusters, warp drive, weapons, and more (cloaking mass requirements are now irrelevant due to stealth chambers)
• Don't use if you need to protect a section from boarding - torches and pistols can destroy it very easily
• Don't use if you have a macrostructure that can look adequate with the normal hull/armor blocks
• Don't use on a space station or a homebase unless the texture is a requirement - these structures can be built far larger and have to protect other objects - including NPCs/players which are still somewhat vulnerable despite homebase protection, and much moreso near entrances or external things like rooftop docking yards
• Don't use if you are building something where the texture would be unfitting

Invert list to get benefits for hull/armor blocks.

And - bottom line - if you need a TL;DR don't use guides. Don't read them. Don't even reply to them. Especially do/don't lists. You need to read this in its entirety - total 100% - in order to understand. I laid it out sublimely.
Sorry if 10% of this guide was a rant but I needed this information to be released as no one else seems to do that - calling out TL;DR requesters as well as feature non-users as calmly as possible. Good luck and fly safe with these new tips.

UPDATE: It seems as though mass still affects jump drive and stealth drive charging/usage in a direct manner. Keep up with using mobo blocks, guys.

 

[Coyote27]

Of course, this may be all invalidated with the weapons update, as armor is supposed to be changing. It's possible that basic hull will be stronger to the point that motherboard is decorative only.

 

[Xpertice]

Motherboard already has low HP and no armor, as do normal and charged circuits. Its mass is incredibly low compared to hull, and so it is very good for replacing massive amounts of thrusters with bulk shields/power/weapons (power is not as easy to implement in bulk with power 2.0 but this works to cut down thruster power consumption and it used to be important for permacloakers/jammers). Thrusters are sometimes referred to as the new power bars.
You don't use it for protection - you use it for decorations for/because of its low mass. You do not use it for protection. Even basic hull is already powerful enough but it would need mass reduction to fit the gap of motherboards. Sorry if my point wasn't clear enough.
(By the way - notice all of the exploded motherboard blocks on the scout ship attachment - that was only one pirate attack. It's not meant to be a tank; view its page - I uploaded it.)

Also on the subtopic of building with power 2.0 - specialize your ship more. I know people want to build omnipotent titan ships that can fit every role perfectly min-maxed which they miss with with the advent of power 2.0. You can make your aesthetics more fitting too ^_^

 

[Xpertice]

On the loading screen (in a certain tip) it actually says to use Hull as a decorative block - not the worst idea as it provides armor HP. From my experience, armor HP seems to affect your ship based on a percentage so due to hull not having an armor value it really depends on whether you want to concentrate your armor in one spot which might be hard to reach or hit, with your systems packed deep within, or you can distribute your armor HP for lower risk.

It's obviously up to the user to decide whether to use motherboard or hull at this point due to System-HP being deprecated, which allows for hull and motherboard to be used in interesting decorative ways up to the user's risk/reward style. I honestly prefer using motherboard in this case. It's a high-risk, high-reward playstyle. I like high-risk high-reward playstyles because they skew the deal in my favor due to my naturally far higher luck and cubic learning curve. Nothing compared to the power of skill and building, but still viable. You do what you want.

 

[Fays]

xD

 

[EricBlank]

Ill do what i want!