Invictus

Up to date for latest version, 0.97a.

Invictus-class Dreadnought
Low Tech Capital
700,000c
Logistical data
CR per deployment	12%
CR per deployment	12%
Recovery rate (per day)	3%
Recovery rate (per day)	3%
Recovery cost (supplies)	60
Recovery cost (supplies)	60
Deployment points	60
Deployment points	60
Peak performance (sec)	1200
Peak performance (sec)	1200
Ordnance points	240
Ordnance points	240
Maintenance (supplies/month)	60
Maintenance (supplies/month)	60
Cargo capacity	1000
Cargo capacity	1000
Maximum crew	6000
Maximum crew	6000
Skeleton crew required	4000
Skeleton crew required	4000
Fuel capacity	800
Fuel capacity	800
Maximum burn	6
Maximum burn	6
Fuel per LY / Jump cost	20
Fuel per LY / Jump cost	20
Combat performance
Hull integrity	40000
Armor rating	10000
Flux capacity	30000
Flux dissipation	500
Top speed	35
Systems
Defense	Canister Flak
System	Lidar Array
Mounts	2x Large Missile 10x Large Ballistic
Hullmods	Heavy Ballistics Integration Ablative Armor Distributed Fire Control Vast Hangar

	A design dating to the first explosive expansion of the Domain, this gargantuan mass of armor and all-big-guns was the gauntleted fist that smashed all opposition, spreading hegemony by fear and force over all of spacefaring humanity that was worth conquering. The steady march of military technology left the hull outdated, however. Its armor design was incompatible with early shield generators, its minimum crew complement staggering, and targeting systems unsophisticated. Modernized replacements were soon developed and the Onslaught-class, among others, was churned out by the great Domain forges. An age passed. And, as if by Providence, an expedition sent by the Knights of Ludd discovered an uncorrupted museum archive on a murdered world. A council of inquisitors weighed whether to destroy the Domain-era knowledge, holding a fiery - and secret - debate over the line between sin and virtue, between righteous craft and corrupting technology. An unusually open-minded senior knight-inquisitor examined the contents in detail and persuaded the council to defer the destruction order indefinitely. This hull was christened "Invictus", a testament to the impossibly heavy armor and vast mass of this absurd cathedral of war. No proper navy would field this monstrosity, but the Church and its Knights can count on a bounty of faithful volunteer-militants to crew the huge munition feeders and crude targeting stations.
–In-game description

The Invictus-class Dreadnought is an ancient design fielded by the Luddic Church.

Overview

The Invictus boasts enormous ballistic firepower in a vast hull supported by a pair of large missiles, with the potential to act as a carrier. However, it's costly to field and maintain compared to its contemporaries.

Even though it has absurdly high ten-thousand points of armor, the built-in hullmod Ablative Armor reduces the effective armor strength to 10%, which means this ship will have the same amount of damage reduction as a ship with only a thousand points in conventional armor. Even then, that amount of armor is nothing to dismiss; it will take the equivalent of two Reaper-class Torpedoes to strip the armor and expose the hull in a reasonable time frame, compared to only needing one Reaper to strip the armor of an Onslaught. Even then, it also has a Canister Flak defense system designed to catch such an attack.

The Lidar Array system greatly increases accuracy, range and rate of fire of fixed weapons for a short amount of time, allowing the Invictus to overwhelm and destroy most targets unfortunate enough to be caught in its frontal arc after the Lidar Array's activation. Any reasonably high rate-of-fire weapons can even be used to completely suppress incoming missiles and strike craft which might otherwise strike the frontal armor.

Despite having an extremely high flux capacity, and no shield to share this load with its weapons, the Invictus still has the same low flux dissipation typical of other low tech ships. This can even make active venting dangerous if flux is near full, as it can take almost twice as long as an Onslaught to finish venting. Is it usually unnecessary to actively vent anyway; kinetics on the turret hardpoints can be sufficient to keep the target pressured while the passive vents get rid of the flux. Even if the ship is sorely pressed, its better to hold fire, passively vent and use the Canister Flak to catch any dangerous missiles in the interim - this also allows the zero-flux bonus to assist with speed and maneuverability if the ship's officer has Helmsmanship.

Strategy and tips

The following section contains user-submitted suggestions, these may be inaccurate or outdated.

The Invictus has fairly low OP for a capital ship, comparable to improvized retrofits like the Atlas Mk.II and Prometheus Mk.II. While Heavy Ballistic Integration helps keep the cost low, this consequently limits how many hullmods it can equip, unless a Story point is used, or its weapon loadout is compromised.

Heavy Armor is not recommended. Already possessing a massive amount of armor, the addition is hampered by the Ablative Armor hullmod, adding only a tenth of its normal protection. In contrast, the Armored Weapon Mounts hullmod is significantly more effective, increasing the armor of the Invictus by a set percentage, and further augmenting the benefits provided by its built-in Distributed Fire Control.

The unmatched hull integrity of the Invictus also make Reinforced Bulkheads and Blast Doors extremely effective, with the latter providing additional protection to the ship's vital crew.

The Invictus' built-in Vast Hangar hullmod nullifies the downsides of using the Converted Hangar hullmod. The ship's deployment cost won't change, and one extra fighter bay will be added. This may not be as useful as expected, since the Invictus has a massive skeleton crew requirement, but equipping the ship with some cheap, defense-focused fighters can help cover the gaps in its defense, especially when it is trying to bring the flux level down.

The enormous logistical profile of the ship can also be lightened significantly with Efficiency Overhaul.

With its LIDAR Array system, the primary focus of the Invictus should be in its four hardpoint mounts. Along with its deep flux capacity, even sub-optimal weapons can simply batter their way through a target's shields and armor through sheer volume of fire. That said, high tech and [REDACTED] heavy units can stand up to a hailstorm of high-explosive shells surprisingly well, so it is recommended to pressure them with kinetic weapons on the turret hardpoints until they are vulnerable.

The large missile slots on the Invictus are not as valuable as on other ships. The LiDAR array provides similar range and burst fire damage potential and so leaving the slots empty should be considered. Especially if running a quad Mjolnir or Gauss, max dissipation build.

While at base flux dissipation, venting can be a dangerous option. Focusing on it can allow the Invictus to dissipate its entire flux capacity in the time it takes LiDAR to recharge and so maximise DPS and dissipation when under player control. Flux regulation, ordinance expertise and polarised armour skills with 55 vents, built in resistant flux conduits and flux distributors plus a few capacitors will let you run quad Gauss or Mjolnir. A barrage from them will saturate even most High Tech ships' entire flux capacity and still deal a bit of damage and then do so again in 10 seconds.

As its most effective weapons are in fixed positions, Auxiliary Thrusters can help the ponderous Invictus bring them to bear more quickly if it finds itself caught in close quarters fighting.

Trivia

• Invictus is a latin word that can mean unconquerable or invincible. As done in-universe, it reflects the ship's immense armor and bulk.

Changelog

Patch 0.96a-RC10: LIDAR Array now allows missiles to fire while it's active Patch 0.96a-RC9: Reduced flux capacity to 30000 (was: 40000); Reduced flux dissipation to 500 (was: 600) Patch 0.96a: Added to game.