Sheild Boat

Shield Boats are a type of Grappler Ship that strengthen and repair the shield pad network of capital ships. They can carry four capital shield pads and sixteen standard units. They are specialized Role Type ships produced in military design competitions. Some Traders aboard mass haulers use armed shield boats as their main protection.

Equipment
Shield boats all carry shield pads on pad chargers otherwise they act as medium sized grappler ships. Some use the Structure Slot upgrade as an airlock allowing spacewalks to repair shield pads while others rely on the grappler arms. Most classes have four arms attached to the lower section with extra capacitors where the legs would be. Shield pad demands mean that Shield Boats cannot operate drones.

Crew
Required crew are standard plus the requirement that the pilot of the crew has capital shield skills or a designated shield officer is aboard.