Why does High Preset select TER travel engines?

[thijso]

For L ships, for example, when I select 'High Preset' for a Barbarossa, it selects TER travel engines, while for the stats (that I can see) all of them are worse than of, for example, the ARG travel engines:

- speed (185 vs 158)
- acceleration (66 vs 56)
- boost (371 vs 315)
- travel (6119 vs 5516)

Is there some stat that isn't shown? Or is it preferring TER build method? Why doesn't it select the best engine there is available? It's not that I don't have the blueprints, or whatever.

[-=SiR KiLLaLoT=-]

Because their acceleration in travel mode is exceptional. It is a feature that you will not see in the numbers and it applies to all other ship categories

[Imperial Good]

The high presets almost certainly works by cost and Terran equipment is generally more expensaive than alternatives. This is why it chooses TER shields, SPL Combat 4 engines (if applicable) and TER L Laser Turrets. This is also why NPCs can sometimes end up with questionable loadout as they will choose the most expensive turrets (beam) on their elite ships and defence stations even if such equipment is not really good in that use case.

That said TER L and XL engines are some of the fastest you can get when traveling around the universe. They might have slower speeds on paper, but their travel acceleration ("attack") is the best of all engines by a huge margin, allowing them to reach top travel speed while other faction engines are barely starting to move. In practical applications, such as L traders moving product around, they usually tie or even beat ARG L and XL engines which have the top travel speed.

[thijso]

Well, so I *was* missing information. Is this my not looking in the right places, or is this something that isn't really documented and you need to figure out somehow else? (If so, why?)

Anyway, thanks for that, I guess then I should go with the suggested engines...

[Nanook]

...
Anyway, thanks for that, I guess then I should go with the suggested engines...

Not necessarily. It depends on what the ship's role is going to be, and what resources are available. Terran parts generally require Terran resources. And if you're looking to do combat and/or boarding, then combat speed may be more important than travel speed. In the final analysis, it's up to the player to decide what's best for their particular ship, based on the stats. Take those presets as suggestions, not rules. I like to make my own presets for any particular ship.