Crippling Overspecialization: A Major Problem for Infinite Space Fleet Commanders

Crippling Overspecialization: A Major Problem for Infinite Space Fleet Commanders

Much like BattleTech (and the MechWarrior games spawned from it), the Infinite Space trilogy allows one to customize units (especially in Sea of Stars) to tailor them for a specific role. However, this has the potential to create builds that are either capable of fulfilling multiple roles, but none of them well, or too specialized at one specific task to be truly effective in others. Here, we're discussing the latter - a phenomenon known as crippling overspecialization.

To show this off, let's consider a fleet comprised of just two vessels: a Garthan scout armed with nothing but a Nova Cannon, and a Calatian destroyer carrying four Proton Blasters. The scout's Nova Cannon is well-suited to long-range sniping against capital ships (up to and including Yellow Kawangi dreadnoughts), but its slow fire rate makes it far less effective against fighters. The end result is a high-alpha build that delivers a lot of damage when it hits, and none at all otherwise - but the Scout's innate speed helps mitigate the cannon's inaccuracy to some extent, since it can get into position more quickly. On the other hand, the Calatian destroyer's array of rapid-fire turrets higher fire rate (and hence more damage per second) has a comparatively low alpha strike potential and shorter range. Considering the strengths and weaknesses of these builds, it's therefore best to use the two together, with one ship's specialty compensating for the other's deficiencies.

Above, from top: This battle sequence between a Garthan fleet (comprised of three light carriers and four frigates) and a custom two-ship fleet (consisting of a Calatian destroyer armed with four Proton Blasters, and a Garthan scout carrying a Nova Cannon) shows why having one ship specialized in a specific role is a bad idea unless supported by another specialized ship configured to compensate for the other ship's deficiencies. The scout's long-range weaponry is best used against other capital ships, since its fire rate is too slow to be truly effective against fighters - the exact kind of target that the Calatian Destroyer is generally meant to counter, although that ship's weapons have a shorter maximum range and damage by comparison.

The need to specialize some ships in your fleet within the Infinite Space trilogy reminds me of having to do the same thing in BattleTech (and, by extension, MechWarrior), where some units are configured as long-range snipers, and others are used as close-range brawlers, alongside fast, agile scouts and heavily armed (yet fragile) missile boats providing indirect-fire bombardment. In a typical battle scenario, units of these different types are used in concert, with one type covering the other's weaknesses, and vice versa.

Above, from top: Two examples of highly specialized 'Mech builds from MechWarrior Online. The Firestarter FS9-K is built as a fast, agile brawler with high DPS, and requires a high speed (plus two Jump Jets) to leverage it due to its low tonnage. The Dire Wolf DWF-Prime, on the other hand, has been set up as a slow but strong and powerful sniper, with four Clan ER Large Lasers (fired in pairs to avoid ghost heat) in each arm providing a combined alpha strike of 88 - too much to use in reality, in fact, but still nearly 50% more than a Warhawk Prime carrying four Clan ER PPCs.

In short, just as in BattleTech and MechWarrior, specialization in Infinite Space can be a good idea... until it's taken too far, at which point you'll need another specialized unit to negate the resulting weaknesses in your formation. Even then, you'll need to use them all in concert to create a truly effective fighting force, but when you do, you should not have any trouble conquering the battlefield.