The Ko Combine r450 "Shepherd" sets the standard for civilian drone tenders with unmatched reliability, low cost, and internal volume given to crew comfort. A wildly popular combat modification package has been assembled by various survivalist and pirate groups, the "HK" mod, which consists of specifications to up-armor the hull for combat and supercharge factory-spec systems for greater burst speed and weapon function. Even modified, the Shepherd is fragile, so as in civilian life it relies on a swarm of ﾓBorerﾔ utility drones to do its work.
–In-game description
The "Borer" is built on a hardy, maneuverable semi-autonomous drone chassis with shielding suitable for hazardous operations in which high radiation or physical impacts may be expected. Commonly used in mining applications, they have also found use in salvage, ordnance disposal, and even fission meltdown clean-up. The HK mod package gives specifications for altering the primary cutting beam's focus and patches the rudimentary AI with crude tactical algorithms pirated from obsolete Domain Colonial Garrison drone software. Appendices of the mod package recommend caution when employing HK-modified drones in non-combat situations.
A low tech, Drone Tender class Frigate, the Shepherd is primarily a logistics/exploration vessel, with a small hangar of 'Borer' drones that can serve as chaff in combat situations. The Shepherd is one of two ships that comes equipped with the Salvage Gantry hullmod that boosts the amount of salvage gained by 10% and also comes with Surveying Equipment that reduces the cost of planetary surveys by 5 supplies & heavymachinery.
The Shepherd is equipped with a hardpointed small universal mount and a starboard (right side) ballistic turret with a 200* firing arc. It has a poor omni shield with a 1.2 flux/damage efficiency and a 90* arc. The Shepherd is also very lightly armored but reasonably mobile at 90 speed.
As a Frigate sized class the Shepherd receives a 10% salvage bonus from its Salvage Gantry compared to the 25% salvage bonus on the Destroyer sized class Salvage Rig. To check how this bonus stacks mouse over the Salvage Gantry hullmod on the Refit screen.
Availability
The Shepherd is ubiqiotus throughout the sector, and can be found primarily in Civilian (Open) market across the Luddic Church, Hegemony, Luddic Path and Independant aligned factions.
Variants
Notes
Tips and strategies
The following section contains user-submitted suggestions, these may be inaccurate or outdated.
Loadout tips
The Shepherd's drones can be sacrificed to give the Shepherd 50 more cargo space (on top of it's base 100 cargo space) with the Converted Fighter Bay, this gives the Shepherd class leading cargo capacity for it's maintenance cost, beating combat freighters like the Wayfarer, Hound and Cerberus on top of it's surveying and salvage capabilities.
The Surveying Equipment built into the Shepherd does not add to the usual 2 logistic type hullmod count, the Shepherd can still fit another 2 logistic hullmods.
The universal small on the Shepherd is key to making a decently effective combat frigate should the need arise, it is highly recommended to fit missiles. Options include a Swarmer SRM Launcher which can be linked to the small ballistic turret for light suppression, Gorgon DEM SRM for a general purpose assault/finisher missile, or Salamander MRM for fleet support. The reason for missiles being favored over the other weapon types is due to Shepherd's general fragility and unlikelihood to survive for a long time in combat.
An Ion Cannon may also be effective in the early game but quickly becomes too risky for the Shepherd's survival due to it's poor range without several other frigates in the fleet.
While not recommended for general use, heavy investment into improving the Shepherd's shield can be beneficial with Hardened Shields and/or Accelerated Shields. This is especially valuable if the player aims to use multiple Shepherds as escort to a large capital ship to defend it against frigate harassment.
Be careful not to invest too heavily into hullmods, the Shepherd's has a very low Ordnance Point pool, and hullmods may be less efficient than simply investing points into capacitors or vents.
Defensive Targeting Array can be beneficial in the very early game when doing early bounties, by allowing the Shepherd's own firepower to combo with it's borer drones. This can be surprisingly effective against similar DP frigates that are common in this stage of the game as well as improving the point defense capabilities of the Borer Drone Wing.
Fleet advice
As a combat asset, the Shepherd's value derives from it's very low deployment cost/maintenance cost and drone swarm. True to the Borer Drone Wing's description, a small detachment of several Shepherds can reliably scare frigates away with the mass of drones. The Shepherd should not be relied upon as if it were a primary combat ship however but can be an effective force multiplier (as carriers tend to be).
The Shepherd's logistical facilities remain operational regardless of the player's intention and loadout, ensuring that the Shepherd remains a viable ship at every stage of the game due to it's flexibility and affordability.
The Shepherd is a civilian type vessel. This means that certain skills that only affect combat ships such as Tactical Drills and Crew Training do not affect it without installing Militarized Subsystems. This can be useful if the player seeks to get the full benefit from these skills on other dedicated combat ships without exceeding the DP limitations. Note that Support Doctrine does not consider if a ship is classed as a combat or civilian type.
Changelog
Patch0.8a:
Added Salvage Gantry as built-in hullmod; +10% potential salvage
Up to date for latest version, 0.97a.
The following section contains user-submitted suggestions, these may be inaccurate or outdated.