Do you use Ship Maintenance Bays?

[Scoob]

Hey all,

Wondering if, like me, others make good use of the Ship Maintenance Bays.

For me, I find there can be some great benefits to running one of these. I like to attach one - usually just the S/M Class one - to Defence Platforms where there are high levels of enemies. For example, Hatikvah's Choice I. It's a regular Defence Platform initially, with some Defence Drones assigned. However, I can then assign various Fighters and even Corvettes and Frigates in a Defence role, which makes it significantly more effective, extending it's engagement range by a long way. Fighters also see and travel to enemies promptly, far more reactive than a regular patrol it seems. They also effectively overwhelm enemies, which is dead cool to watch. Seeing dozens of Fighters all having a go at that invalid Xenon I is dead cool. The major feature here of course is that the ships will dock to repair and rearm - as will allied ships potentially, earning some additional credits. So, it will maintain the defensive fleet in tip-top condition, repaired and rearmed. Sure, there will still be losses, but badly damaged or ships needing more missiles will be provided for automatically.

As Hatikvah's Choice I is a fairly high civilian traffic area for my ships too, I'd often see my Traders or Miners calling in, to repair or stock up on countermeasures and Laser Towers. The further away such a station is from an allied Shipyard / Wharf / Equipment dock, the more likely it is to get visitors from other Factions using your facilities. When I've pushed the "front line" further into Xenon space for example, I get more customers. Indeed, if you have a situation like ARG / HOP or ARG / ZYA and are friendly with both, you can service BOTH Faction's ships at your Maintenance Bay. I've made millions in such situations. You have to maintain a supply line of course, but that's all part of the fun for me.

The main strength of the Maintenance Bay, or rather the major weakness of the regular bay that actually builds ships, is that it's limited to JUST repairs and servicing. If we could turn on/off Ship sales and repairs/servicing independently, it's likely a Maintenance Bay would be moot, though it is still a lot cheaper. So, I'm just repairing and rearming ships, no sales for a pitiful price. I build my ships at a proper Shipyard / Wharf just for me.

In v6.x and prior I've make great use of Maintenance Bays. With certain Mods installed - those that change the map being of note, more opportunities for forward bases - they can become even more useful for holding the line as well as supporting allies whose own Wharf / Equipment Dock might be several sectors away.

Once I'm at the stage where I can also build my own ships, S-Class Fighters are true disposable assets. However, with a Defence Platform / Maintenance Bay combo, they work very very well and attrition is much reduced. It's also great for the Fireworks of course. I've usually got basic S/M Class ship manufacture up and running - with a supporting scrap-based economy - before I start adding the Maintenance Bay to Defence Platforms. Once I can quickly, easily and technically for free, build all the Fighters etc. I want, stocking up these stations is trivial. It's great to see a working station, with defensive groups attacking all enemies (shame we cannot select Intercepts / Bombard etc., ships assigned to Defence of a station Intercept EVERYTHING lol) and, critically, returning for repairs when damaged, as well as to rearm.

Special Note re: V7.0 Beta. Sadly, currently at least, Ship Maintenance Bays aren't actually working. I built a new Defence Platform in Hatikvah's Choice I, assigned Fighters to it and watched the fireworks while standing on one of the new observation modules. Great. I eventually added an S/M Maintenance Bay, but subordinate ships never return for repairs and will only reliably return to rearm (missiles) ONCE, before they stop returning. None of my nearby (non-subordinate) ships dock there autonomously either, unlike in my v6.2 game. I get the odd, rare visit from other Faction's ships, but then there are two Faction-owned repair facilities (Wharf and Equipment Dock) one sector away, so they're less likely to visit mine. This is a problem of course, and I've reported it as a bug. However, it did make me wonder if I'm in a minority pairing Defence Platforms with Maintenance Bays...

Anyway, do others use Maintenance Bays like I do? Do you love the utility? I use Carriers a lot too - mainly only once I can build them - but a Station with a Maintenance Bay can really make a difference. Plus, it's fun to have swarms of Fighters engaging enemies.

[GCU Grey Area]

Yes - tend to build far more maintenance bays than fabrication bays. Of the latter I generally only build S/M fabrication bays because they're essential for production of terraforming drones. Aside from that all I need are maintenance bays to refit captured ships, add crews, replenish consumables, etc. No point expending the additional resources to construct fabrication bays if I'm not going to use their primary function. Don't like having the capability to build infinite free ships (tried that in 3.0, spoiled the game for me). Warfare's more fun if it stings a bit every time I lose a ship.

[Jar B]

I never used maintenance bays in any of my games. I couldn't see the value of spending the extra cash and effort to build the supply line if I can have the real deal for a few more million credits. Until today, that is. I didn't expect an effective difference in the behaviour of the defending fleet. I'll give it a try once the issue you've mentioned has been fixed (and my epicondylitis has faded).

[LameFox]

I wanted to do that once but was disappointed to find I could not assign more specific roles to subordinates of a station with those like I can with a carrier. So I ended up ditching that idea.

[Scoob]

I didn't use them for years, however, the S/M Maintenance Bay is relatively affordable and certainly helps with refitting costs. It's when added to a Defence Platform, as mentioned, that I find them the most fun though. The last couple of games I've been role-playing "scrap only" so, everything from scrap. Stuff that cannot be built from Scrap (no closed-loop recipe) is off the cards. Means I cannot use any of the Destroyers with main guns (no closed-loop recipe for those guns) so it's Fighters (lots of Fighters!) Corvettes, Frigates and Carriers.

I just love having dozens of Fighters patrolling around a station, able to dock, repair and rearm, before heading off to patrol again. I would like more subordinate control - all the same roles a Carrier has pretty much - for stations. That'd all enhance this gameplay further for me.

[Y-llian]

Personally, I really enjoy them.

In my most advanced game, I’ve refitted my HQ as a mobile forward station when I go on campaign. It has, maintenance bays for both fighters and cap ships, with plenty of storage loaded - decent amount of docks and habs for crew. The idea is, that when I jump into an enemy sector, I need to be self-sufficient until I can get my supply lines established. Once in enemy space, I setup a fighter screen until I can get my caps ready for demolition duty. Before I jump, I also make sure I have some traders in the hold loaded with materials I’ll need for the campaign, in addition to what’s in the HQ storage. Once I’ve cleared out a path that’s safe - my traders then trade normally (as subordinates) to bring materials in for the campaign. This works really great, as not only will your carririers/aux ships repair fighters, having an EQ as a forward station means you can also repair /refit any cap ships. There’s some micro-managing sometimes but I find it works well.

For more general use… I’ve also setup EQs near conflict zones and once properly stocked, they can make a decent bit of money from customers looking to repair / rearm. It also gives you a presence if ever you want to turn from the friendly repair shop to imperial conquerer.

[BitByte]

I had full sized Equipment Dock (1*S/M + 4*L + 1*XL) located in Second Contact II but since it never became profitable even it was quite lots used by NPC.
I replaced 4*L + 1*XL maintenance bays with same amount fabrication bays and left only S/M maintenance bay. While station was still under tranformation from EQ to Shipyard it became profitable.

Based on that I have decided to install S/M maintenance bay to my Shipyard IF station is located multiple sectors away from my own Wharf. This helps especially maintaining any type of shp near warzone(s).
L & XL maintenance bays are waste of credits (S/M maintenance bay too if it's only income source for the station).

[Y-llian]

Yes, BitByte is correct. If you use NPCs to fill your EQ then it will struggle to make a profit. But, if you already have production setup for ships, and you make all the wares, then it costs you nothing... Simply import the wares from your production area and your repair shop will make profitssss.

In theory it should also be profitable to part import from NPCs and part supply yourself.. But, I've not run the numbers on that so can't be 100% sure. In this scenario you import tier I goods e.g. energy cells but you supply the higher tier wares from your production area...

[BitByte]

Yes, BitByte is correct. If you use NPCs to fill your EQ then it will struggle to make a profit. But, if you already have production setup for ships, and you make all the wares, then it costs you nothing... Simply import the wares from your production area and your repair shop will make profitssss.

In theory it should also be profitable to part import from NPCs and part supply yourself.. But, I've not run the numbers on that so can't be 100% sure. In this scenario you import tier I goods e.g. energy cells but you supply the higher tier wares from your production area...

My EQ was initially supplied by my own production and them were on same sector (exception were advanced electronics stations located in Argon Prime and turret parts in Holy Vision).
My stock quantities are much higher than "automatic" values are to make sure there is wares to handle maintenances (and later construction of multiple ships).

Problem was if repairs gave 100-2000cr it does not much keep running costs in balance.

[SpaceCadet11864]

In my last playthrough I had at least 4 equipment bays, in locations where I had tons of bombers. It worked so well, it also was really good at refilling my carriers or aux ships in a pinch. The greatest part is how ships of all sizes uses it to repair without me telling them to. It costs more, but is a lot less hassle than an aux ship, though I used those too. I used just about everything in the last game. I'll probably use eq dock again.

[Scoob]

I admit, I've pretty much stopped playing the v7.0 Beta now, despite being up to the four game-days mark. I'd developed a solid scrap-sourced supply chain feeding my own production as well as two Maintenance Bays and was continuing to expand my presence. I have my own Food and Medical Supplies manufacturing set up, feeding and medicating all Station staff. I have some solid military assets as well as further stations set up to manufacture all the additional wares needed for non closed-loop recipes. Things are going well in that regard.

However, with Maintenance Bays not working, it's somewhat broken things for this play through. Subordinates do occasionally return to restock missiles, but they won't restock counter measures or Drones (Frigates) nor do they return for repairs. I get the occasional NPC docking to restock, but it's rare, however, this specific Maintenance Bay - attached to a Defence Platform as it is - was more about MY requirements, any earnings from friendly faction ships docking is a pure bonus. Now, I can use a Carrier in this role, but they cannot be automatically re-supplied while staying in position, which is a little daft. I could deploy an Auxiliary Support Ship, but they're far from ideal for front-line duties. A heavily armed Defence Platform with a working Maintenance Bay is THE way to do things. It's effective (prior to v7.0 beta) and really fun to both set up and watch in action. Such a shame it's not working.

My bug report in the Beta Forum doesn't appear to have gained any dev attention thus far, even though I have saves that show the issue. As you can imagine, it takes a decent amount of effort to get to the point where you can build and keep fed an S/M Maintenance Bay. With it not working, I'm suffering from attrition where I should not: Fighters not returning for repairs are lost rather than patched up and sent back into the fight. Other ships are left de-fanged without Missiles and yet others are not restocking their Drones. Maintenance Bays simply do not work as of v7.0 Beta 5, I really hope this gets addressed.

Thought: As a lot of stuff the player does is exactly the same for the other Factions, I wonder if they're suffering from excess attrition too as their own ships are not being looked after properly. I see ARG ships occasionally heading to a dock with that little spanner icon on them, suggesting they're going for repair and resupply. However, if they're never repairing - like my own ships - and only rarely actually resupplying, they'll be a far less effective force.

Credit to v7.0 that I've played 100% vanilla for so long, I usually play modified games, but Maintenance Bays not working has really scuppered my plans.

[jlehtone]

I have always assumed that my ships do not automatically use Bays of any kind.
The NPC do visit my Maintenance Bay in 6.2.

[Scoob]

I have always assumed that my ships do not automatically use Bays of any kind.
The NPC do visit my Maintenance Bay in 6.2.

There was a time I didn't see the point of Maintenance Bays vs. a full Ship Fabrication Bay. However, with Maintenance Bays being a cheaper Blueprint, they do (prior to v7.0 Beta) work well in the roles I've described in this thread. Regular logistics (station-assigned ships) will sell to them (my own production) keeping them topped up on supplies. In turn my ships will (did) automatically repair and resupply from them, even if not a direct subordinate. As mentioned, passing civilian Traders of mine could be seen occasionally diverting to such stations if they needed repair / resupply.

When I did a Star Wars Interworlds modded game - which has a far more sprawling map of course - deploying such stations with Maintenance Bays was great for my forward fleets. As the Factions I was aligned with didn't have any nearby Repair Facilities, they made extensive use of my stations. I made many millions of credits just servicing allied ships - station set-up costs easily paid for - let alone the savings (and automation) of repairing an resupplying my own. It all felt very strategic. Taking multiple sectors from an enemy, then fortifying with a combo Defence Platform / Maintenance Bay station, with a subordinate fleet as well as my various roaming / invasion fleets. Such Stations would really help secure the area, and ensure allied ships stayed close as they could repair and rearm locally.

Note: when Maintenance Bays could be seen not working well in v7.0 Beta, I did wonder if I'd previously been seeing some form of modified behaviour. However, the mods I use make no mention of this. Additionally, during this Beta where my game is 100% vanilla of course, I have seen ships dock for resupply, but never for repairs. Regarding the former, I can play for hours and not see a single ship dock. I'll then save and reload only to be greeted with multiple ships instantly docking to resupply upon reloading. This strongly suggests that something isn't working properly if only a save / reload cycle triggers an empty (missiles) ship to return to restock.

I've noticed we now have Beta 6, I've updated my game and will check it out, but there's no mention of this specific issue in the change notes.

[Good Wizard]

Hey all,

Wondering if, like me, others make good use of the Ship Maintenance Bays.

For me, I find there can be some great benefits to running one of these. I like to attach one - usually just the S/M Class one - to Defence Platforms where there are high levels of enemies. For example, Hatikvah's Choice I. It's a regular Defence Platform initially, with some Defence Drones assigned. However, I can then assign various Fighters and even Corvettes and Frigates in a Defence role, which makes it significantly more effective, extending it's engagement range by a long way. Fighters also see and travel to enemies promptly, far more reactive than a regular patrol it seems. They also effectively overwhelm enemies, which is dead cool to watch. Seeing dozens of Fighters all having a go at that invalid Xenon I is dead cool. The major feature here of course is that the ships will dock to repair and rearm - as will allied ships potentially, earning some additional credits. So, it will maintain the defensive fleet in tip-top condition, repaired and rearmed. Sure, there will still be losses, but badly damaged or ships needing more missiles will be provided for automatically.

<...>

Nice to learn something new - did not know this, but are far away to build a Ship Maintenance Bay in my game.

Pity, that this problem is ignored by the devs. I think I'll wait this time until at least 7.1 before updating and buying the DLC, since I was burned with 6.0...

[Scoob]

Nice to learn something new - did not know this, but are far away to build a Ship Maintenance Bay in my game.

Pity, that this problem is ignored by the devs. I think I'll wait this time until at least 7.1 before updating and buying the DLC, since I was burned with 6.0...

Indeed it is. I can't recall when I first realised their utility when part of a Defence Platform, I think it may have been in that Star Wars Interworlds modded game, due to the nature of the map and that "friends with everyone" really isn't a thing.

I don't know if they're ignoring it, they just not commented yet. Usually, once they take a look at an issue and are able to recreate it, they'll mark the topic with a number, so you know they're on it. I'm guessing this isn't high priority for them though, for me, it's fairly critical in how I play.

I'm testing again now, having updated to Beta 6, and I still have ships in need of resupply not doing so, despite reporting to a fully-stocked Maintenance Bay equipped Defence Platform.

As an aside: What I did was equip numerous Eclipse Heavy Fighters with 2x Bolt and 2x Missile Launchers. They're using the Heavy Smart Missile so they can damage larger targets better. However, limiting my testing, I just have ONE of these Ships in action currently, so I can better monitor it. As of right now, it's totally out of Missiles and also out of Flares, so it's not so effective. The Plan was to have dozens of these ships as well as loads with lighter missiles able to swarm enemies, then return for rearm and repair - all automatic once set up. It's not working though. Will continue watching how things play out. Note: I did wonder if Pilot level had any influence on how promptly a ship might return for repair and resupply, however, the Pilot of this specific ship is Three Stars overall, Three Stars in Piloting and four and two-thirds Stars in Morale. Aka, a pretty decent Pilot.

It'd be great if someone, not necessarily a dev, who's dug into how all this works could explain the logic behind a ship returning for repairs and rearming. With Carriers, it appears to work just fine with ships repairing and rearming as needed between Intercept or Bombard Sorties - though I've not tested this much in v7.0 - with a Maintenance Bay equipped station though, not so much.