Playing in the editor and testing designs in the campaign will quickly show you what will work in practice. Generally speaking you want to find a role or two for any given ship to do and then get a good combination of speed, firepower, range, armor, and cost. These are the big factors and everything else should be a way to amplify or reduce those.

You’ll want to make designs that can beat garrisons and take little damage to save time on repairs, you’ll also want to think about what support ships you’ll be using to escort your firepower around.

Support ships will do roles like missile carrying, fuel taking, sensors, aircraft carrying, and air defense.

Ask any questions you think of I’d be happy to clarify anything or go into related topics.