Planetary Defence Centre

Planetary Defence Centre (abbreviated to PDC) is a ground based bunker that can perform a variety of military tasks. PDCs are manufactured using industry instead of shipyards. PDCs get a substantive armor level for free and require no upkeep. Certain components cannot be fit on PDCs and certain components can only be fit on PDCs.

Overview

PDCs get four free layers of armor to represent being dug out of a mountain. They can mount PDC-only fire controls which get a 1.5x range modifier and missile launchers in PDCs have half the reload time of ship-based systems, but PDCs are unable to use certain components such as shields.

An atmosphere reduces beam damage (except mesons), so beam weapons will not work on a planet with more than 1 atm. PDCs are typically equipped with long-range sensors and missiles. They can serve as planetary fighter/FAC bases. Additionally, PDCs require no upkeep and generally used to boost planetary protection value (PPV) without incurring additional cost.

PDCs make ideal defensive positions for ground forces, as they provide some shelter from orbital bombardment, and receive a ground combat bonus dependent on the PDCs armor level. If equipped with barracks, they can be used to house troops, so that anyone trying to capture the planet would have to attack the PDCs. However, if attacked your population suffers collateral damage and the planetary environment is damaged. One option is to base your PDCs on nearby moons rather than on the populated planet, so you get the armour advantage without endangering the population.

Note that Combat Engineers get a 100% attack and defend bonus in combat vs. PDCs.

Construction

PDC's are built using planetary industry in the same way as installations. In some cases, a PDC may be intended for use in a location other than where it is built. In order to transport a PDC to another location it must be prefabricated as opposed to built. Prefabricating a PDC causes it to be built in disassembled sections. The precise amount of sections can be determined from the PDCs design information on the design screen (F6). Once the PDC has been prefabricated it can be transported via ships with large enough cargo bays and then assembled at the destination. The destination of the PDC will require both minerals and the ability to generate construction points to complete the assembly of the PDC.

How to

To Design a PDC, use the Class Design window F5. Then use the dropdown at the top and change the type from ship to PDC. This will cause invalid components to become unavailable for inclusion on the design and will remove existing ones.

Once the design is finished PDC's can be built or prefabricated using planetary industry in the same way as installations, and can be selected from the drop down menu on the Economics window, industry tab F2.

• In the "Construction Options" area use the drop down to select "Build PDC" or "Prefab PDC."
• Select which PDC design you would like to build\prefabricate and then input the quantity desired as well as the "percentage of industry devoted to the task and then click "Create." The cost will be minerals equal to the amount as if one were building the PDC normally.
• In case of prefab, after the industry task is complete, the disassembled PDC will be visible in the "stockpiles" window of the planet the industry task was completed on and will be ready for pickup by a ship capable of carrying cargo.

Tip: As the PDC is in several sections, the cargo ship need not be able to carry them all in one trip. The cargo ship can take several trips carrying the PDC piece by piece if necessary, however, assembly cannot begin until all pieces have been delivered to the destination. Remember, each section of pre-fabricated PDC takes up 5,000 units of cargo space.

Scrapping

In 7.1 this section does not seem to apply. PDCs do not leave wrecks when destroyed or abandoned.

Since PDC's were not built in shipyards, you cannot scrap a PDC in a shipyard. Instead, you have to destroy them and you can then salvage the minerals from the wreck.

1. On the Individual Unit screen F6 select the PDC you want to scrap.
2. Either Press the Destroy Ship button at the bottom (if you don't care about the crew) OR select the Damage Control tab & press the big red Abandon Ship button (if you do).
3. Either method will create a wreck, which can then be salvaged using a ship equipped with a salvage module (and teamed up with suitable cargo capacity) - If you have used the Abandon ship method then the crew will be in life pods which can also be picked up.

Example Designs

• Example PDC - Nautilus
• Example PDC - Solgae
• Example PDC - Majestic
• Example PDC - Sonora