shipbuilding Tech Comparison
Heavy Cruiser Armour III vs Dreadnought Engineering
Comparing the Heavy Cruiser Armour III (Tier 3) and Dreadnought Engineering (Tier 4), both shipbuilding technologies in Starforge MMO. Use this to decide which to queue first when your research lab can only run one project at a time.
Research Comparison
| Attribute | Heavy Cruiser Armour III | Dreadnought Engineering |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | T3 | T4 |
| Research time | 6▼ | 80 |
| metal cost | 6,000▼ | 180,000 |
| crystal cost | 3,600▼ | 90,000 |
| antimatter cost | — | 1,200▼ |
| dark matter cost | — | 600▼ |
| Effect | unlock ship: iron-fortress | enables dreadnought class: true; enables capital class: true |
▼ marks the lower resource / time cost. Cheaper isn't always better — weigh it against the effect each tech unlocks.
Heavy Cruiser Armour III
Unlocks construction of the iron-fortress (cruiser class).
Unlocks ships: iron fortress
Dreadnought Engineering
Multi-segment superstructure design and redundant reactor cradles unlock the Dreadnought — a Capital hull rivaling the Titan in mass.
Unlocks buildings: dreadnought foundry
Unlocks ships: titan dreadnought, hammerfist battleship
Requires: shipbuilding 7, shipbuilding 8, shipbuilding 5
Which Should You Research First?
The Heavy Cruiser Armour III is the lower-tier prerequisite step and typically comes first in the shipbuilding branch, opening the path toward Dreadnought Engineering.