Providence Class Resource Collector

Stats:

max speed m/s Yaw Rate mass (tons) Armour 300 0.75 400 10800 Self healing Self healing (combat) 4 pts/s 4 pts/s Hyperspacing min cost (5km) cost per extra km max cost reached at 150 Ru 4 Ru's 500 Ru ( 93 km ) Kamakazi Damage Damage/ru 6100 9.4

Resource Collectors have the hardest hitting kamakazi damage. which makes them great for sneaky tatics. Check this one. In a game where you start with only one research ship. jump your harvester and kamakazi it into his research ship. No more research for your opponenet. Enjoy

Abilities:
Resource Collectors harvest RUs from asteroids, dust clouds, and nebulae. Generally collectors will go for the closest resource item, but they can be ordered to harvest specific chunks. When a collector scrounges up a full load (650 RUs) it will immediately head back toward the nearest Resource Controller, Carrier, or Mothership to dock. Collectors can be forced to attack enemy units, using the CTRL+SHIFT click, but their attack is so laughably weak it's not worth it. Much more useful is the ability to kamikaze a collector, which inflicts buttloads of damage on the target.

Tactics:
Always, always, always set collectors to Aggresive tactics! When set on Normal or Evasive, collectors will run back to the nearest docking point the instant they start taking fire. This makes it very easy for 10 enemy Scouts to pin down your entire resource gathering operation. When set to Aggresive your collectors will keep working no matter what, which is what you want. Get in the habit of hitting F4 whenever selecting a newly-built collector. Generally it's a good idea to build at least three collectors at the beginning of the game; on large maps build a few more later on when the money starts rolling in.

Collectors are not a fire-and-forget unit. It is not enough to simply hit the H key and send them on their merry way. Actively directing your resource collecting will greatly improve your income. Large, densely-packed resource pockets can yield the most money with the least movement and are therefore most desirable. Avoid the tiny gravel-sized asteroids and go for the nebulae, dust clouds, and big rocks. Here are the distinct types asteroids and dust clouds as listed in the MissionMan documentation:

Types of Asteroids
0 -- 0 RUs per rock
1 -- 25 RUs per rock
2 -- 40 RUs per rock
3 -- 100 RUs per rock
4 -- 400 RUs per rock

Types of Dust Clouds
0 -- 0 RUs per cloud
1 -- 108 RUs per cloud
2 -- 250 RUs per cloud
3 -- 700 RUs per cloud

As you can see, even the small dust clouds make a pretty good haul. Nebulae are tough to quantify since the game generates them pseudo-randomly, but they seem to be as good if not better pickings than dust clouds. Still, don't let this stop you from harvesting asteroids if they're right in front of your face.

Collectors are fairly tough and can take a good amount of abuse. This is good since they will probably be your opponent's favorite target. Winning the income war is a good way to win the game. On large maps send out groups of fast-moving strike craft to hassle your opponent's collectors but keep an eye on the sensor manager for incoming threats. On small, centralized maps, resource collection usually turns into a chaotic orgy in the middle of the map where both sides are simultaneously trying to kill enemy collectors while protecting their own collectors. Expect to lose at least one or two collectors in a melee like this, just make sure you keep most of them alive.

Finally, a word about kamikaze. Sending your collectors to kamikaze is a two-edged sword: It does a lot of damage to the target, but you lose a collector. Don't even think about using collectors as offensive units (it takes something like 28 to kill a Mothership), but do consider them as an act of desperation. If a collector is getting whomped by frigates and can't be saved, send it crashing into the nearest enemy frigate. The frigate will end up very close to death and easy to finish off.

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