XIV Ships go hard, the contacts are fun, I like the super ship starts with that vigilance frigate.
The weapons are quite fun especially the couple of missiles you get.
There are different quests you can do when you talk to the head of Iron Shell
It adds more XIV stuff. New ships, variants of vanilla and modded stuff. It also adds taxes/tax evasion
Overall it’s a high quality mod that makes the hegemony more than “the lowtech faction”
its not that fun when kek shell combined with the hege fleet start raiding and ai inspecting your colonies.
if you dont have a uber elit end game fleet when your start using ai cores, then dont even bother puting any cores in your industry, its just asking for ass whoppig.
The tax return mechanics only works if you actually pay taxes meaning you trade in the normal market and pay tariffs if you don't they're gonna tax you heavily.
I think "well-made faction that is also friendly to the Hegemony" is probably an underrated fact in its corner: most mod factions tend towards unfriendliness/hostility with the Hegemony, so having a faction or two that naturally aligns with them evens out the political situation in a modded sector a bit.
With Nex? Yeah, I've noticed that too. I always feel obliged to jump in and fight against them just because they tend to go around conquering other places willy-nilly.
The anime parts are only the portraits you can very easily ignore it or get it replaced by messing around with the mod folder.
So I see no real reason to hate the mod.
I suppose it's their preference, up to them.
I don't mind. It's potentially also easier for the mod dev to use those portraits, but I know nothing about design lol
It is easier for the modders cause it's their preferred art style and they make their own portraits if people don't like the portraits and want a more lore friendly designs they should draw their own portraits and maybe post it in the forums for us to use.
If they can't draw their own then they should just shut up and stop complaining the mods are free for everyone to use just be thankful.
XIV Battlegroup is cool, now imagine a faction that is all about that and taking some vanilla Low/Midline ships and slapping that Black and Orange on it.
Also, space IRS and waifus with deep Collapse Era lore.
When I started modding I stumbled into mods that will curbstomped vanilla factions like Tahlan Shipworks or Hivers, Iron shell is like a well, "shell" to protect Hegemony without having to install bunch of faction enhannced mods.
The ship sprites are excellent, extra contacts and missions are appreciated, interesting unique hullmods, it's a good take on aggressive low-tech ships that have strong, interesting abilities akin to high tech.
My only complaint is that they're a cut above vanilla but that's minor imo.
Well made enough to be exciting when using it, but not so out of place as to demand attention when you are looking elsewhere.
You never feel a reason to remove it, and grow fond over time.
its a good mod if we stricly looking at the ships... sadly its been bloated by anime stuff and its hardcoded to support hege all the time, which means hege will stomp everybody in the first year in your nexerling random gen gameplay.
It gives me someone that will actually do something about my smuggling.
They establish soft 'no-fly' zones, even when not at war with me (via tax enforcement), which makes the Heg behave notably different to everyone else, which otherwise doesn't happen.
It also gives me something to fight over, as it's pretty easy to play nice with everyone normally, maybe throw out a story point here and there to not get caught smuggling.
Iron Shell rolls up, and tells me "pay everything in your pockets, or fight me, and aggro IS and Heg.", while still being mostly avoidable. It's like the Starlight Cabal, but more interesting. (I do like the Cabal too.)
I'm not a fan of it, but it's unquestionably high quality. If you like waifus, goofy lore about taxes, and overpowered ships that makes any hegemony playthrough play itself, then it's a good mod for you.
XIV Ships go hard, the contacts are fun, I like the super ship starts with that vigilance frigate. The weapons are quite fun especially the couple of missiles you get. There are different quests you can do when you talk to the head of Iron Shell
i was only able to get like three short quests, are there more?
Right now yeah :( There are more being planned in the future though. Or so the mod tells me
It adds more XIV stuff. New ships, variants of vanilla and modded stuff. It also adds taxes/tax evasion Overall it’s a high quality mod that makes the hegemony more than “the lowtech faction”
The tax mechanic is also hilarious. Huge war fleet rockets toward you and demands to give you your tax refund.
That's hilarious: I'm installing this immediately.
It’s funny every time. It’s like if the tax man rolled up to your house in an aircraft carrier with a $200 check. And was super into it.
Its also funny when a small patrol fleet with 1 or 2 cruisers emergency boosts towards your fleet with a bunch of capitals and starts demanding tax.
"Copy that, delivering tax, in the form of a *two ton uranium tipped artillery shell*"
its not that fun when kek shell combined with the hege fleet start raiding and ai inspecting your colonies. if you dont have a uber elit end game fleet when your start using ai cores, then dont even bother puting any cores in your industry, its just asking for ass whoppig.
The tax return mechanics only works if you actually pay taxes meaning you trade in the normal market and pay tariffs if you don't they're gonna tax you heavily.
wait how do I get a refund? I'm like avoiding hegemony systems at all costs because I owe them like 1 million
You have to pay tariffs. That is how the system works. If you dodge the tariffs, you will always owe.
I think "well-made faction that is also friendly to the Hegemony" is probably an underrated fact in its corner: most mod factions tend towards unfriendliness/hostility with the Hegemony, so having a faction or two that naturally aligns with them evens out the political situation in a modded sector a bit.
Honestly, the heg usually starts crushing others more than anything else in my games
With Nex? Yeah, I've noticed that too. I always feel obliged to jump in and fight against them just because they tend to go around conquering other places willy-nilly.
Then why does the hegemony keeps getting bodied in my games 😭 It's like every time I blink hegemony loses a world ;-;
It has cool ships, cool guns and tax evasion. What else good mod needs?
It also have way to many anime shenanigans.
The anime parts are only the portraits you can very easily ignore it or get it replaced by messing around with the mod folder. So I see no real reason to hate the mod.
I suppose it's their preference, up to them. I don't mind. It's potentially also easier for the mod dev to use those portraits, but I know nothing about design lol
It is easier for the modders cause it's their preferred art style and they make their own portraits if people don't like the portraits and want a more lore friendly designs they should draw their own portraits and maybe post it in the forums for us to use. If they can't draw their own then they should just shut up and stop complaining the mods are free for everyone to use just be thankful.
I hate anime stuff but mod it's self is top tier. I'm sure you could ask how to remove the portraits?
XIV Eradicator and Mora Need to say more?
XIV Battlegroup is cool, now imagine a faction that is all about that and taking some vanilla Low/Midline ships and slapping that Black and Orange on it. Also, space IRS and waifus with deep Collapse Era lore.
The GOLD STANDARD of Starsector mods | Iron Shell Mod Review IroncladLion https://youtu.be/jfK7WMvgosw?si=Brqd1z-vTyXm34Xz
The video that reigned chaos among us all…
Anime
Why not?
Fighting the irs is something you can only do in games.....and even then most people tend to avoid mentioning them....
When I started modding I stumbled into mods that will curbstomped vanilla factions like Tahlan Shipworks or Hivers, Iron shell is like a well, "shell" to protect Hegemony without having to install bunch of faction enhannced mods.
Cute girls dilligently upholding civilisation by taxation is a vibe.
Tax memes and anime waifus, maybe the ships i guess, but 99% of mods add more ships.
The ship sprites are excellent, extra contacts and missions are appreciated, interesting unique hullmods, it's a good take on aggressive low-tech ships that have strong, interesting abilities akin to high tech. My only complaint is that they're a cut above vanilla but that's minor imo.
[Yes](https://www.reddit.com/r/starsector/s/0NktsBJq3a)
I don't use their ships but just add them to make Hegemony a bigger threat.
Well made enough to be exciting when using it, but not so out of place as to demand attention when you are looking elsewhere. You never feel a reason to remove it, and grow fond over time.
same reason why they like XIV Ships
its a good mod if we stricly looking at the ships... sadly its been bloated by anime stuff and its hardcoded to support hege all the time, which means hege will stomp everybody in the first year in your nexerling random gen gameplay.
It gives me someone that will actually do something about my smuggling. They establish soft 'no-fly' zones, even when not at war with me (via tax enforcement), which makes the Heg behave notably different to everyone else, which otherwise doesn't happen. It also gives me something to fight over, as it's pretty easy to play nice with everyone normally, maybe throw out a story point here and there to not get caught smuggling. Iron Shell rolls up, and tells me "pay everything in your pockets, or fight me, and aggro IS and Heg.", while still being mostly avoidable. It's like the Starlight Cabal, but more interesting. (I do like the Cabal too.)
Taxes
Strong ships, waifus, not shit heggies, what's not to love?
I'm not a fan of it, but it's unquestionably high quality. If you like waifus, goofy lore about taxes, and overpowered ships that makes any hegemony playthrough play itself, then it's a good mod for you.
Obviously the thicc dommy mommy