The Comprehensive Combat Engineering Guide (Base Modules)
14 Jan 2023Deftbridge
Welcome to the Comprehensive Combat Engineering GuideBase Modules Section
The goal of this guide to provide a fully comprehensive knowledge base for both PVE and PVP combat engineering that is geared towards newer and less knowledgeable CMDRs. This guide focuses on conveying the most globally accurate and correct information as possible, this necessitates making generalizations. Rare exceptions may exist, but are outside the scope and goals of this guide. If you have a suggestion for an important correction, addition, or revision please feel free to send me a DM with your suggestions.
To view this guide in its original format, please follow this link: The Comprehensive Elite Dangerous Combat Engineering Guide
To see the Hardpoints section of this guide, please follow this link: WORK IN PROGRESS
This section includes: All Core Modules, Hull, HRPs, Shield Generator, and Shield Boosters.
I hope this guide and quick reference enriches your experience with and knowledge about Elite Dangerous.
Armour Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Lightweight | GREAT | Combined with Heavy Duty it's "free" HP, useful on a lot of combat builds and other builds where speed is prioritized. |
| Reinforced | DON'T | Never useful, inferior to all other hull types and only raises the rebuy cost. |
| Military Grade | GOOD | Generally better to use either Mirrored or Reactive blueprints. Except for AX builds. |
| Mirrored Surface | GREAT | Generally better for PVP builds; requires a patch Kinetic Resist HRP. |
| Reactive Composite | GREAT | Generally better for PVE builds; requires a patch Thermal Resist HRP. |
While it is objectively better to use Mirrored or Reactive Composite over Military Grade, in cases where build cost or rebuy cost is a concern Military Grade is a still a great option. Engineered Lightweight hulls are pretty strong as is, not every combat ship NEEDS an upgraded hull as often upgraded hulls have higher costs, lower speed, and lower jump range.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Blast Resist | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Heavy Duty | GREAT | Useful in almost all builds, best with Lightweight or Military hulls. |
| Kinetic Resist | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Lightweight | GREAT | Paired with Mirrored or Reactive hulls and HRPs to patch resistance holes, this is a great choice. |
| Thermal Resist | DEPENDS | Used only for Mirrorball builds. |
Generally, Heavy Duty + Deep Plating is the preferred engineering on hulls, however Lightweight + Deep Plating is great on Reactive Composite and Mirrored Surface hulls. Lightweight Hull + Heavy Duty + Deep Plating is a perfect combo: Extra HP for no mass increase.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Angled Plating | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Deep Plating | BEST | Hull boost (raw HP) out performs resist oriented experimentals (resist HP). |
| Layered Plating | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Reflecting Plating | DEPENDS | Used only for Mirrorball builds. |
Deep plating will generally outperform total resist HPs vs. the resistance oriented experimentals because the resist HPs are based on the multiplication of hull HP by the resist factor.
| Base | Blueprint | Experimental | Resist HRP? |
| Lightweight Alloys | Heavy Duty | Deep Plating | None |
| Mirrored Surface | Lightweight | Deep Plating | 1 Kinetic Resist |
| Reactive Composites | Lightweight | Deep Plating | 1 Thermal Resist |
Hull Reinforcement Package Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Blast Resistant | DEPENDS | Used only for Mirrorball builds. |
| Heavy Duty | BEST | This is a great overall engineering option. |
| Kinetic Resistant | DEPENDS | Used only for Mirrorball builds or patching the Kinetic resist hole of a Mirrored hull. |
| Light Weight | NICHE | Used only for C1 HRPs on ultra fast builds. It is always lighter and better armor to go a size down + Heavy Duty. |
| Thermal Resistant | DEPENDS | Used only for patching the Thermal resist hole of a Reactive hull. |
Generally, Heavy Duty/Deep Plating is the best option; the majority of your HRPs should be Heavy Duty / Deep Plating with one HRP as a resist hole patch. The HRP used to patch a resist hole in your Hull engineering should usually be the smallest HRP to ensure you maximize absolute HP provided by the larger HRPs.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Angled Plating | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Deep Plating | ONLY CHOICE | Hull boost (raw HP) out performs resist oriented experimentals (resist HP) |
| Layered Plating | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Reflective Plating | DON'T | Never useful. |
Deep plating will generally outperform total resist HPs vs. the resistance oriented experiments because the resist HPs are based on the multiplication of hull HP by the resist factor.
| Blueprint | Experimental |
| Heavy Duty | Deep Plating |
| Kinetic Resist (w/ Mirrored Hull) | Deep Plating |
| Thermal Resist (w/ Reactive Hull) | Deep Plating |
Power Plant Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Armoured | PREFERRED | Provides the perfect balance of extra power, additional integrity, and better thermals. |
| Low Emissions | NICHE | Useful in stealth/AX builds, Monstered experimental is great with this blueprint. |
| Overcharged | GOOD | Use ONLY if Armoured has insufficient power or in lightweight builds. |
Generally, use the coolest plant that will work for your power needs. usually that will be Armoured, LE where you can, and OC where you have to. Avoid OC G5 at all costs, only use it if you must. Use smart power priorities such as putting FSD interdictors, FSD boosters, and Fuel Scoops or even the FSD itself into the lowest power priority (5) and turning off the cargo hatch entirely will allow you to deploy hardpoints with less power requirements.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Double Braced | NICHE | Only useful for hulltanks. |
| Monstered | GOOD | Used only for Armoured G5 (to avoid using OC2), Overcharged G5 (to make a build work), or LE power plants. |
| Stripped Down | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Thermal Spread | BEST | This is the best experimental, outside of the stated cases above. |
Generally try to use Thermal Spread, use Armoured + Monstered to avoid using OC. Always use Thermal Spread on OC'd Power Plants, it is always better to use the next grade of OC + Thermal Spread vs. using Monstered on the grade lower.
| Blueprint | Experimental |
| Armoured | Thermal Spread |
| Armoured | Monstered |
| Overcharged | Thermal Spread |
| Low Emissions | Monstered |
Power Distributor Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Charge Enhanced | BEST | This is the best blueprint option. |
| Engine Focused | DON'T | Never useful, when compared at G5, Charge Enhanced has better Engine capacitor recharge rate. |
| High Charge Capacity | DON'T | Never useful, limits DPS compared to Charge Enhanced |
| Shielded | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Systems Focused | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Weapons Focused | NICHE | Useful only in very niche builds. Some AX builds require this. |
Due to it's lack of capacitor regeneration, High Charge Capacity limits your DPS over the course of combat. Engine and Systems Focused distributors, only improve one focus at the cost of others. While, Weapons Focused and High Charge Capacity can be useful in VERY niche builds to allow you to fire the hardpoints, in the overwhelming majority of cases, Charge Enhanced is ALWAYS the best engineering for your Distributor.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Cluster Capacitors | NICHE | Useful in some niche cases, but generally Super Conduits is best. |
| Double Braced | DON'T | Never useful, module integrity is not worth giving other experimentals for |
| Flow Control | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Stripped Down | NICHE | Sometimes useful in Ultrafast ships. |
| Super Conduits | BEST | Offers more DPS and capacitor flexibility during combat. |
Similar to High Charge Capacity vs Charge Enchanced, Cluster Capacitors lack of capacitor regeneration limit DPS over the course of combat. Cluster Capacitors should only be used if you need to use it to have sufficient capacitor capacity to fire all weapons at once (VERY rare). Super Conduits will be the best experimental for your Distributor in an overwhelming majority of builds.
| Blueprint | Experimental |
| Charge Enhanced | Super Conduits |
Thrusters Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Dirty Drives | BEST | This is the only good blueprint option. |
| Clean Drives | DON'T | In reality Dirty Drives are actually colder than Clean Drives, due to how power plants and heat mechanics work. |
| Strengthened | DON'T | Never useful |
Clean Drives are less power efficient than Dirty Drives. Due to Elite's heat mechanics, this increased power draw actually generates more passive heat than is offset by the decrease in Thermal Load. This means that in actuality Clean Drives passively run hotter than Dirty Drives. However, Clean Drives DO significantly reduce the heat generated by boosting and while inside high G environments, though this advantage is massively offset by the sacrifice of much better rotation rates, speed, manuevering power, less power draw, and less heat in SC. Overall, Clean Drives are completely outperformed by Dirty Drives.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Double Braced | DON'T | Never useful, module integrity is not worth giving up other experimentals for. |
| Drag Drives | BEST | Use in the vast majority of builds. |
| Drive Distributors | DEPENDS | May outperform Drag Drives on smaller ships, especially Enhanced Performance Thrusters. |
| Stripped Down | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Thermal Spread | DON'T | Never useful. |
Choose either Drag Drives or Drive Distributors based on which one performs better for your specific build, usually this will be Drag Drives.
| Blueprint | Experimental |
| Dirty Drives | Drag Drives |
| Dirty Drives | Drive Distributors (Enhanced Perf. Thrusters only) |
Frame Shift Drive Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Faster Boot Sequence | GREAT | Useful when you need to turn off your FSD to deploy hardpoints and in builds where Grom attacks are expected. |
| Increased Range | BEST | Useful in most Combat builds. |
| Shielded | DON'T | If you are worried about your FSD being shot out, you've already lost. (Some REALLY niche builds have this BP) |
While Faster Boot has some uses in PVP and power limited builds, Increased Range will be more useful for the vast majority of builds. While the ability to travel is up to CMDR preference, generally a combat ship isn't particularly useful if it spends a long time in transport, either via manual jumping, carrier jump, or station transer. An important consideration is if an opponent is running Crimes On and you are killed you will respawn in a detention centre very distant from your previous system. It is going to be difficult getting back into system if you lack jump range. Generally try to aim for 20-35 LY jump range for most combat builds. An important note: you can purchase a Double Engineered Size 5A FSD at a Tech Broker, which is engineered with both Increased Range and Faster Boot.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Deep Charge | GOOD | Less fuel efficient, useful in small ships. |
| Double Braced | DON'T | If you are worried about your FSD being shot out, you've already lost. |
| Mass Manager | GREAT | Most fuel efficient and generally best. |
| Stripped Down | NICHE | Sometimes useful in Ultrafast ships. |
| Thermal Spread | DON'T | Never useful, any thermal benefits do not out-weigh longer jump range. |
For FSDs size 4 and smaller, Deep Charge will give the longest jump range but less overall range. For FSDs size 5 and larger, Mass Manager will give the longest jump range.
| Blueprint | Experimental |
| Increased Range | Mass Manager (C5 and larger) |
| Increased Range | Deep Charge (C4 and smaller) |
Life Support Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Lightweight | ONLY CHOICE | Reduced mass = more speed and higher jump range. |
| Reinforced | DON'T | Out-performed by Lightweight's benefits. |
| Shielded | DON'T | Out-performed by Lightweight's benefits. |
The vast majority of builds should use D-rated Life Support. The additional time allowed by using A-rated module is only useful if your canopy breaks, the loss of canopy (and HUD) is typically a massive impact to your combat effectiveness and ends the engagement, the D-rated timer is usually enough to run and repair, and additional air is cheap to synth when the timer hits 30-45 seconds. A-rated Life Support has niche uses in AX combat, as often the fight can continue well past a canopy break than in standard PVE or PVP. However, even this is a stretch given the increases to weight and power required.
| Module Type | Blueprint |
| D-rated | Lightweight |
Sensors Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Lightweight | GOOD | Useful in some PVP builds, best paired with A-rated. (Used extensively in most non-combat ships) |
| Long Range | GREAT | Usually best in most builds up to LR3, LR5 is usually overkill, best paired with D-rated |
| Wide Angle | DON'T | Never useful. |
Long Range is very useful in most PVE and PVP situations, Lightweight is also useful in a variety of more focused combat builds, it is also extensively used in most non-combat builds. Unless you have a strong reason for extreme range sensors, LR3 is sufficient for most use cases. With exception of extremely light and fast builds, your best option is usually D-rated LR3 sensors, if you need the sensors to be lighter but don't want to give up a lot of range, use A-rated LW5 sensors.
| Module Type | Blueprint |
| D-rated | Long Range Grade 3 |
| A-rated | Lightweight Grade 5 |
| D-rated | Long Range Grade 5 |
Shield Generator Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Bi-Weave Shields | GREAT | Regen end of the spectrum (generally best option for PVE). |
| Normal Shields | LAST RESORT | Rarely useful. Bi-weaves or Prismos are just better. (Use only if you do not have Prismos). |
| Prismatic Shields | GREAT | MJ end of the spectrum (generally best option for PVP). |
If you have access to Prismatic Shields, Normal shields are out-performed by all other shield variants; Bi-Weave Shields, which have better shield regen rate and sufficient MJs for PVE, or Prismatic Shields, which have effectively no shield regen and huge amounts of MJs for PVP. The Standard Shields are a poor combination of both, having neither a good regen rate nor large amounts of MJs, thus should never be used on combat ships. A reminder that while you can reboot/repair with FAon to regen 50% of your Prismo, a well designed beefy Bi-weave will typically have and retain significantly more MJs throughout a PVE combat session than a Prismo at 50%. This is further enhanced by having a wingmate with Concordant Sequence which will guarantee you will never need to reboot/repair. Once a Prismo is broken you MUST either dock or you must reboot/repair, during these periods your ship is extremely vulnerable.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Enh. Low Power | NICHE | Only useful in very niche Ultrafast or Long Jump Range builds. |
| Kinetic Resistant | DON'T | Shields are naturally strong against Kinetic DMG. |
| Reinforced | GREAT | Always use on Prismos, also works great on most Bi-weaves. |
| Thermal Resistant | GREAT | Great on regen focused Bi-weaves. |
Prismo's should always be engineered with Reinforced/Hi-cap, their strength is raw MJ; any other engineering is wasting their potential. To engineer a beefy Bi-weave, use Reinforced + Fast Charge or Thermal Resistant + Hi-Cap, combined with Guardian Shield Reinforcement Boosters. To engineer a regen focused Bi-weave, use Thermal Resistant + Fast Charge.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Double Braced | DON'T | Never useful, module integrity is not worth giving other experimentals for. |
| Fast Charge | GREAT | Great option for Bi-weave builds with a big distro, enhances the Bi-weaves' strength. |
| Force Block | DEPENDS | Good pair with Thermal Resistant to patch kinetic hole. However, generally better to use Hi-Cap or Fast Charge. |
| Hi-Cap | GREAT | Great option in the majority of builds. |
| Lo-Draw | GOOD | Useful for builds with power limitations or Bi-weaves builds with a small distro. |
| Multi-Weave | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Stripped Down | DON'T | Never useful; if you are concerned with weight you've already ELW'd the shield, use a different experimental. |
| Thermal Block | DON'T | Never useful. |
Hi-Cap is best general all around experiemental. On Bi-Weaves: use Fast Charge when the Power Distro module size is greater than or equal to Shield Generator module size; use Lo-Draw when the Power Distro module size is less than Shield Generator module size.
| Base | Blueprint | Experimental |
| Prismo | Reinforced | Hi-Cap |
| Bi-Weave | Reinforced | Fast Charge |
| Bi-Weave | Thermal Resistant | Hi-Cap / Fast Charge |
Shield Booster Engineering
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Blast Resistant | DON'T | Shields are naturally strong against Explosive DMG. |
| Heavy Duty | GREAT | Usually the majority (≥50%) of boosters should be engineered with HD, except in Regen focused builds. |
| Kinetic Resistant | DON'T | Never useful. |
| Resistance Augmented | GREAT | RA and HD should be balanced to gain the highest resistance HP and raw HP, depending on the use case. |
| Thermal Resistant | GREAT | Great for patching the Reinforced thermal hole. |
Generally best practice is to experiment with the ratio of Heavy Duty and Resist Aug boosters, finding a balance of MJ, resistances, and regen time based on the build requirements. Occasionally it is useful to also have a 1 or 2 Thermal Resist boosters. Generally, the best booster combinations are: 1) Majority HD Boosters with 1 RA and/or 1 TR Booster | 2) Majority HD Boosters with 2 TR Boosters | 3) Majority RA Boosters with 1 or 2 HD Boosters | 4) half and half HD/RA boosters.
| Type | Grade | Comment |
| Blast Block | DON'T | Shields are naturally resistant to Explosive DMG. |
| Double Braced | NICHE | Only used on very niche builds that use E-rated boosters. |
| Flow Control | DEPENDS | Useful in builds with severe power limitations, generally avoid using. |
| Force Block | DEPENDS | Useful in balancing resists, compare with SC. |
| Super Capacitors | GREAT | Starting point: Compare other exps to the MJ of this. |
| Thermo Block | DEPENDS | Useful in balancing resists, compare with SC. Often used with Thermal Resistant to further increase Thermal Resist. |
Best practice is to experiment with the booster base engineering and then comparing between the Resist Exp's and Super Cap to see which has more effect on the resist MJ you are trying to increase. In the vast majority of cases, it is best to use Super Capacitors.
| Blueprint | Experimental |
| Heavy Duty | Super Capacitors |
| Resistance Augmented | Super Capacitors |
| Thermal Resistant | Super Capacitors |