I think that tech brokers need an update, mostly in who stocks what, as right now it does not make a ton of sense. The main addition here is making separate human and Thargoid tech brokers, though there are a few other items that I suggest. Any one of the following items could be added independent of all others, particularly the Guardian impulse missile.
Thargoid tech broker
Meta-alloy hull reinforcement, corrosion resistant cargo rack, enzyme missiles, and the ‘Goid bobblehead would all be moved to the Thargoid tech broker.
1. Cargo attractor. This would be an internal module that attracts any non-ignored cargo in its cone to the cargo scoop. If you are going too fast, the cargo would bounce away like normal.
2. Repurposed Thargoid heart. This would be an internal module that would allow your ship to regenerate some hull integrity. Like a heart in a real ‘Goid, after use it would become exerted for a period of time, rendering inoperable for the duration. Because this is a real ‘Goid heart merely repurposed for human ships, it would deal some caustic damage to a few modules while it healed the hull.
3. Shutdown field generator. This would function just like the Thargoid version but only in a cone in front of your ship and only out to 1.5-2 km. It would also have a long cooldown. When one of these went off, every ship within 2-3 km (including the one firing it) would experience a few seconds of HUD disruption and a few random systems would malfunction for a few seconds. As normal, a shutdown field neutralizer would neutralize the field in its radius. This could be an internal module or a weapon (probably large or huge).
4. Thargon catapult. This would be a Large weapon that launches a thargon-like (proto-thargon) missile. The proto-thargon would behave like a normal seeker missile but deal significantly more damage and be unaffected by PDTs.
5. Thargoid shield cell. This would be an internal module which when used would give you ship a large boost to its shield HP. The boost would then slowly degrade. It is essentially piling a ‘Goid shield on a human one.
6. Thargoid Thrusters. This would be standard ‘Goid propulsion system adapted for human use. They would be comparable to A rated thruster but the optimal maneuverability would at around 75% throttle instead of 50%.
Human tech broker
The human tech broker would keep what they have currently (aside from ‘Goid tech), but would also get a few more things to fill in the gaps. The following are some ideas for things that could fill the gap, but I am not necessarily saying they should all be added.
1. Plasma Repeater Turret. These would come in Medium and Large. They would fire a double (or even triple for Large) stream of small plasma bolts (like a SLF or SRV) that would deal 50/50 Thermal/kinetic damage.
2. Enhanced performance thrusters. Currently these are sold at a few select engineers, which doesn’t really make sense, as no other module (that I know of) is sold exclusively at engineer bases.
3. Missile targeting array. This would be a utility mount that allows your missiles/torps to lock onto to anything within the array’s area of coverage (much like they were turreted).
4. Interrogation scanner. This would function as a normal grade A sensor system with normal range. Additionally, it would function as a wake, manifest, and kill warrant scanner but at the grade D or E version of the utility mounts.
5. Full arc scanner. This would function as a normal grade A sensor system, but allow you to perform a basic scan without facing the target. Other scanners installed would still function as normal.
Guardian tech broker
1. Guardian impulse missile. A seeker missile based on the ones fired by guardian sentinels. It would be slow and do small damage but have a large impulse effect. Its primary use would be against Thargon swarms, where it would be ultra-effective, breaking up the swarm and causing the scattered Thargons to self destruct if they could not get back together in time.
Thargoid tech broker
Meta-alloy hull reinforcement, corrosion resistant cargo rack, enzyme missiles, and the ‘Goid bobblehead would all be moved to the Thargoid tech broker.
1. Cargo attractor. This would be an internal module that attracts any non-ignored cargo in its cone to the cargo scoop. If you are going too fast, the cargo would bounce away like normal.
2. Repurposed Thargoid heart. This would be an internal module that would allow your ship to regenerate some hull integrity. Like a heart in a real ‘Goid, after use it would become exerted for a period of time, rendering inoperable for the duration. Because this is a real ‘Goid heart merely repurposed for human ships, it would deal some caustic damage to a few modules while it healed the hull.
3. Shutdown field generator. This would function just like the Thargoid version but only in a cone in front of your ship and only out to 1.5-2 km. It would also have a long cooldown. When one of these went off, every ship within 2-3 km (including the one firing it) would experience a few seconds of HUD disruption and a few random systems would malfunction for a few seconds. As normal, a shutdown field neutralizer would neutralize the field in its radius. This could be an internal module or a weapon (probably large or huge).
4. Thargon catapult. This would be a Large weapon that launches a thargon-like (proto-thargon) missile. The proto-thargon would behave like a normal seeker missile but deal significantly more damage and be unaffected by PDTs.
5. Thargoid shield cell. This would be an internal module which when used would give you ship a large boost to its shield HP. The boost would then slowly degrade. It is essentially piling a ‘Goid shield on a human one.
6. Thargoid Thrusters. This would be standard ‘Goid propulsion system adapted for human use. They would be comparable to A rated thruster but the optimal maneuverability would at around 75% throttle instead of 50%.
Human tech broker
The human tech broker would keep what they have currently (aside from ‘Goid tech), but would also get a few more things to fill in the gaps. The following are some ideas for things that could fill the gap, but I am not necessarily saying they should all be added.
1. Plasma Repeater Turret. These would come in Medium and Large. They would fire a double (or even triple for Large) stream of small plasma bolts (like a SLF or SRV) that would deal 50/50 Thermal/kinetic damage.
2. Enhanced performance thrusters. Currently these are sold at a few select engineers, which doesn’t really make sense, as no other module (that I know of) is sold exclusively at engineer bases.
3. Missile targeting array. This would be a utility mount that allows your missiles/torps to lock onto to anything within the array’s area of coverage (much like they were turreted).
4. Interrogation scanner. This would function as a normal grade A sensor system with normal range. Additionally, it would function as a wake, manifest, and kill warrant scanner but at the grade D or E version of the utility mounts.
5. Full arc scanner. This would function as a normal grade A sensor system, but allow you to perform a basic scan without facing the target. Other scanners installed would still function as normal.
Guardian tech broker
1. Guardian impulse missile. A seeker missile based on the ones fired by guardian sentinels. It would be slow and do small damage but have a large impulse effect. Its primary use would be against Thargon swarms, where it would be ultra-effective, breaking up the swarm and causing the scattered Thargons to self destruct if they could not get back together in time.