shipbuilding Tech Comparison
Rapid Fabrication vs Carrier Operations
Comparing the Rapid Fabrication (Tier 2) and Carrier Operations (Tier 3), 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 | Rapid Fabrication | Carrier Operations |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | T2 | T3 |
| Research time | 9▼ | 32 |
| metal cost | 12,000▼ | 85,000 |
| crystal cost | 6,000▼ | 42,000 |
| antimatter cost | — | 350▼ |
| Effect | +20% -ship build time | enables carrier class: true; +2 carried squadron slots |
▼ marks the lower resource / time cost. Cheaper isn't always better — weigh it against the effect each tech unlocks.
Rapid Fabrication
Parallel nanofab bays reduce all ship build times by an additional 20%.
Unlocks buildings: nanofab bay
Requires: shipbuilding 1
Carrier Operations
Flight-deck engineering and launch-catapult systems unlock the Carrier hull class and its embarked strike wings.
Unlocks buildings: carrier flight deck
Unlocks ships: dawn carrier, phoenix carrier
Requires: shipbuilding 3, drone warfare 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 Carrier Operations.