So I've managed to take out both raid engines with a pair of penetrators - that immunity to gravity effects was a beautiful thing. Without it I probably could have done something with my stealth battleships (perhaps with an EMP or suicide champion to get past the tachyon guardian) or a later unlock (from an ARS or the suggested Spire Starship). Taking both raid engines out at the same time wasn't my brightest idea, but I pulled through, although it got hairy when a regular wave decided to spawn as well. Fortunately, THAT wave decided to hit one of my satellite systems with spider,sniper, and logistics. I lost a good fraction of my power, but fortunately I'd been maintaining a reserve.
I've been focusing on clearing out the mark iv systems in my cluster now, and have made good progress. Ideally, hybrids will only be able to spawn outside my cluster.
I accidentally found a way to draw the 1000+ ship patrols off position- handy with clusters I suppose, especially since their default gathering point is in one of the directions I want to expand.
I'm about to flip an ARS in my cluster, which should give me Zenith Reprocessors. I cannot get a research lab mk2 through to the other ARS due to tachyon microfighters and a gravity well, unfortunately (I may try fighting my way through or at least clearing the wormholes). If I hack this nearby one, I should be able to select either Electric Shuttles or Zenith Paralyzers. Both sound like great options, but I'm leaning towards just grabbing the default reprocessors. They're not excellent, but they combine two features I greatly want: per UNIT, they have good firepower against (unshielded) hybrids and the inconvenient spire shield (8x multiplier) and command shield guard posts (just low health on those posts). Basically, they'd be supporting the small strike forces necessary in a gravity well/Eye system, especially against some of the more obnoxious posts to kill with a small force, while helping to hold off the inevitable couple of hybrids. I'm curious to see how the reprocessing helps since I'm running a mostly balanced budget. My only concern is that the niche might already be filled by the spire stealth battleships. These would be my short-term investment/beta testing choice. They also would be outclassed by a few spire frigates.
Alternatively, Zenith Paralyzers would be a pretty effective force multiplier against incoming waves, greatly supporting my spider turrets and riot starships. On the other hand, they'd be next to useless against some of the later exo-galactic threat, armor rotter waves, and hybrid hives. If I don't switch to a traditional centralized defense, these guys would be perfect, however, letting me free the rest of my fleet from the more traditional waves.
Electric Shuttles are also attractive for much of the same reason as the Paralyzers, but in addition they might be able to help me on the offense with that huge patrol going around. I have
other plans* for those patrols right now, however. All that electric damage able to be used on defense and offense is especially attractive. In the short term, I'm really not at all interested. In the long term it may be the best investment.
*Taking out the engineers in a hostile gravity well system, setting up an offensive beachhead, loading up on the spider turrets and riot starships, maybe an attritioner or two. I've already seen a large portion of the AI patrols crawling around at speed 1. I don't know if the AI simply doesn't repair them, or just didn't have an engineer in the system (far more likely, given my previous assault and retreat). I did have to quickly refocus my attention elsewhere.
To my surprise, I've used a variety of tactics against the systems with eyes. On Drill-less ones, I use the raid starships I've so dearly invested in, and get out before the patrols get in. On gravity drill systems with Ion Cannons, I use my stealth battleships - but I often cannot get them back because of the giant patrol that camps out in the system, complete with tachyon microfighters, and often over the wormhole. So when I can (no ion cannon), I instead use a small strike force of the basic triangle with champion support to do most of the work.
I'm going to secure the other world in *my* cluster, but not push out to the ideal chokepoint on their side yet. Instead, I'm going to push south first, and liberate the broken hive golem there, as well as give me a shot at my first couple of nebula (though more are in the center cluster).
I'm deciding whether to establish my my chokepoints AND/OR spire city hubs on the far side of the cluster connecting paths. But before I get there I need to actually get the outpost set up. Each branch has a nearby broken golem OR ARS.
- Gravity Drills are going to be both the best and worst things ever. First, they slow down Spire Frigates/etc, though not Spirecraft. If I establish my spire hubs in these systems, anything that manages to get close to the one wormhole (after riot starships, attritioners, implosion artillery, spider and sniper turrets) into my territory will get shredded, but any defensive forces in the outlier systems are completely cut off from reinforcements. If I establish my spire hubs on my side of the cluster connections, then I get to establish turret farms that even exogalactic threats and hybrids have to break through first, as well as the potential AIP progress savings from having to clear the surrounding systems and last but not least, my entire fleet COULD rapidly respond to each chokepoint. I couldn't establish a hub on each choke, unfortunately.
- If I set up my outer choke (not the hub) in the gravity drill system, I get to leverage the gravity well to the fullest, and have all the time in the world to get my fleet into position while the AI crawls slowly across the system. I'll need Spirecraft Siege Towers in order to defend a gravity drill, potentially. I need to doublecheck where the gravity drills are located... If they're on a hostile wormhole, it isn't worth bothering.
- If the gravity drill system is my secondary choke, then I get to set up logistics and sniper/spiders in outlying systems, and dilute the strength of the waves. There's a fabricator I'd be loathe to lose, but it isn't essential. It'd be at risk anyways since it is in one of the golem/ars systems I plan to flip regardless of where I set up a choke.
- In the long run, neither choke point is ideal for access to the universe at large unless I take out the gravity drills. I'll have to consider a forward production base or human warp gates.
- The clearing of these gravity well systems should provide excellent cover to help my scouts access the universe at large. There might be something incredibly nasty I'm missing outside of my current scouting range.
In conclusion, not having any nearby nebula was a great thing for my game. I made a lot more progress using the basic shield ability to cover a blob of fleetships (and incredibly useful raid starships ignoring those silly stacking shield modules of hybrids), then I would have made back trying to get to Destroyer classes asap. Against the stacking hybrid hive shields and combined with the champion's FF, Raid Starships outclassed Heavy Bomber Starships by a ridiculously huge margin, even in Gravity Drill systems. From my co-op games, I can say the outcome would be entirely different with multiple champions and less grav drill/defensive AI/hybrid hives... but in this game, even a single champion more than paid for itself at the basic frigate level in a mere supporting role. I'm not talking about merely taking out guard posts and warp gates either, though it did enough of that to reach level 3 without any nebulae (I should have an easier time with that first one now, too). Force multiplier aside, it didn't hurt that I was no longer splitting my attention between incoming waves, hybrid hives, nebula, stealth battleship raids, patrolling AI forces, AND attack+defense in nebula systems. It's the first Gravity Drill + Hybrids + "Normal+Champion" game, where I've reached 5 systems well before the first CPA. I'm soon to have 7 once I decide to hack or flip the nearby ARS. And then take my chokepoint worlds for another four systems. Normally, I'd have three or five by the time the CPA hits or the defensive hybrids mobilize and wipe me out. I've been able to keep pushing forward a lot more and keep the momentum in my favor.
