Thanks for this. I am incredibly new to this game and am still trying to figure out how to git-gud/etc. Im still trying to figure out what tech levels i should be actually building ships at and/or just researching my way past. Also i had no idea that my TS was THAT godsawful comparatively. I mean i know im probably not helping myself by turning off all of the external threats in my current game but i cant even design a defensible bucket of bolts, as is clearly seen here. Much less fight an interstellar war. Any pointers would be wonderful.
So having a backup reactor just incase one explodes/gets disrupted is actually a bad idea in this game?
You'd figure that a lot of that power-tonnage could've been used for more armor, more weapons. Having a bit of extra redundancy is good for not dying to mesons, but you're emphasizing redundancy on the most explody part of your PDC. And by the look of your tech level, it seems like the entire thing is going to get LIT when one of those power cores go off. If you really want redundancy, try seeing if Damage Control tech is available for PDCs, if so, then just stack a bunch on it as tonnage isn't a concern for PDCs ussually. Less likely to make your PDC go up in a catastrophic gamma flare if it's power is knocked, as less hullspace to explody bits is less DAC chance to get hit, and less explodings when you do get hit anyway.
Also, while not necessarily the most useful thing against AI, i personally stick some sort of PDC barracks on every PDC of importance to me, as the resistance to boarding is enough role play value to keep in.
That and it also accommodates a decent amount of DAC on it's own as well.