shipbuilding Tech Comparison
Armed Merchant Cruiser III vs Rapid Fabrication
Comparing the Armed Merchant Cruiser III (Tier 3) and Rapid Fabrication (Tier 2), 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 | Armed Merchant Cruiser III | Rapid Fabrication |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | T3 | T2 |
| Research time | 6▼ | 9 |
| metal cost | 6,000▼ | 12,000 |
| crystal cost | 3,600▼ | 6,000 |
| Effect | unlock ship: merchant-galleon | +20% -ship build time |
▼ marks the lower resource / time cost. Cheaper isn't always better — weigh it against the effect each tech unlocks.
Armed Merchant Cruiser III
Unlocks construction of the merchant-galleon (cruiser class).
Unlocks ships: merchant galleon
Rapid Fabrication
Parallel nanofab bays reduce all ship build times by an additional 20%.
Unlocks buildings: nanofab bay
Requires: shipbuilding 1
Which Should You Research First?
The Rapid Fabrication is the lower-tier prerequisite step and typically comes first in the shipbuilding branch, opening the path toward Armed Merchant Cruiser III.