Validus-class Star Destroyer

Designed to be the pinnacle of the First Order's "Big guns, heavy armor, low mobility" concept that was created to please the New Republic that demanded the First Order to have a purely defensible military force. The Validus-class Star Destroyer was heavily armored and shielded capable of completely withstanding the full firepower of an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer. This heavy armor and shielding was supplemented by the craft's main armament of a single Ultra Heavy Anti-capital Ship Turbolaser Cannon (that was originally designed to be mounted on Orbital Defense stations and a scrapped 12 km Dreadnought) that was capable of penetrating the larger ship's armor and shielding regardless of their rating. This powerful main weapon granted the ship a huge boost in firepower, though the gun was slow to fire and was fixed to the ship's hull requiring the entire ship to move to stay on target or to acquire a new target. This weakness was covered up by two means, the first was the ship's numerous Duel Heavy Turbolaser turrets and point-defense laser cannons that were mounted on the bottom of the craft specifically to defend te big gun. The second means to protect the big gun was a shared feature with all First Order Capital Ships, it's advanced gyroscopes that allowed the ship to twist, turn and pivot in spot very quickly, allowing the ship to keep it's front pointed at ships that are much smaller and faster than it.

The Validus-class Star Destroyer's development started in 29 ABY and it was intended to act as the First Order's primary Planet defender, freeing up hundreds of other ships to perform other tasks. After a prototype was built and tested, it entered it's final phase, New Republic inspection. After a full three months of inspections, the New Republic handed the First Order a list of changes that were to be made if the ship was to be allowed into First Order service. Most of the changes were understandable, slower speed (the prototype was made faster for ease to transport), lower crew and a slower hyperdrive. Many of these points the First Order would argue the New Republic over, and lose as the New Republic still held access to the exits of many First Order trade routes, but their final demand was none negotiable in the eyes of the First Order, the removal of the Ultra Heavy Anti-capital Ship Turbolaser Cannon. All other demands were met, but the finale one was ignored. When the first 10 came off the shipyard production lines, the New Republic was angered to see their demands not fully met and issued an ultimatum, either remove the big guns, or face the closer of their trade routes. In simpler terms: Either obey our demands, or suffer the lose of the one thing keeping your nation afloat. The First Order refused to back down and they sent out their own ultimatum: "Either keep our trade routes open, or we'll send our big guns on a field test". This marked the point the two nations came closest to all out war and many in the New Republic called for it, a finale end to the last shard of the Empire. However, the New Republic decided it was in their own best interest to back down, the First Order more than likely fight a defensive battle and with the amount of resources stockpiled of emergencies, the New Republic would spend too many lives and to much resources to win.

By the time the First Order destroyed the New Republic capital in 34 ABY, the FIrst Order had fielded around 30 Validus-class Star Destroyer. Not enough to complexly take over planetary defense, but enough to begin removing ships away from the planets and into defensible positions around their trade routes and borders. This granted the First Order increased border protection in the possibility of a Resistance attack.