Random

[Nodor]

Setup: Normal + Champion.

AI 7.6: Golemite
AI 7.6: Heroic

Spoke Map - 80 planets.

Randomed unknown factions.

Minor Factions Generated:
Human Marauders 1, Human Resitance Fighters 1, HUman Colony Rebellions 2. Zenith Traders, Zenith Dyson Sphere, Nienzul Rocketry Corps 2, Nienzul Preservation wardens 2, Nienzul Roaming Enclaves 2, Spire Civilian Leaders, Broken Golems (Hard) 4, Spirecraft (Hard) 4,

AI Plots: (First AI) Avenger, Hybrid Hives 1, Advanced Hybrids 1
AI Plots: Second AI Hybrid Hives 1

Disabled Ship Types: Teleporting
Combat Style: Epic.

Starting Ship: Spire Rail Cluster

[Nodor]

Unsurprisingly, I lost at around 4 hours.


Highlights:

Cleared the first wormhole (hit level 7 doing so) and got the Zenith Shadow Frigate.  Used Raid starships/champion to take down the level 4 planets 2 steps into the backfield from my homeworld.

Scouting  was difficult.

Discovered the Human Shadow Frigate can't mount Mark 3 Lasers after buying them.   

Because I took (Murdoch) the spoke planet leading out after I had mostly cleaned out the short chain behind my homeworld, I had an 8 entry world as planet 5.  With the Spire Civilians bumping up the threat level as fast as they did, this meant at 5 planets I was at 160+ AIP. 

Because I had built about 300 turrets on my homeworld (along with the modular fort) to defend against Champions, I did not have the turrets needed to hold Murdoch against the 4+ AI Champions that would pop through the worm holes to assist the very large waves (because I only had one entry point at that point). 

My homeworld turrets saved the day after a complete fleet loss from a wave +champion mix-up, but Murdoch was lost.

4 waves later I have 2700 threat (since they all parked on the Murduch gate), with my fleet not yet rebuilt, the timers for the CPA and the Exo-waves pop up.    Because Exo's + 3,000 threat + CPA is not going to cut it, pulled the threat into my homeworld to try to drop them.. and the 6 Spire Champions and 10 Hyrbids cleaned my clock.


Knowledge Unlocks at this point:
Mk 2 of all available fleet ships.
Mk 4 Scout Starships
Mk 3 Crystal/Metal Harvesters
Decloakers
Modular Fortress

Champion Unlocks:
Laser 3
Missle Module 1
Shield Module 2


On the champions/new stuff:
This game felt lost when the bonus ship from clearing the first wormhole was the Zenith Shadow Frigate.   I did not feel like I got a firepower boost from clearing the wormhole and the civilians had given me +20 AIP while I cleared it.   

Working on wormholes takes a lot of time...  and spire civilians means you do not have time.  If there is a "time pressure" issue and champion rewards have a chance of being terrible, your best strategic choice may be to treat the champion as a raid starship. 

The no whipping boy mechanic is really messing with me.   Defending with fleet ships is not a viable option when the AI sends a Black Widow Golems (released from the Dyson Sphere Planet) And mark 1 ships do BADLY vs. AI Champions.  Dealing with 500+ bombers + AI champions +threatballs is hard to do without efficient defenses.

It isn't clear which tech needs to be researched to improve the modular fortress - Hardened Shields or Shields?

The new energy collectors make defense more of an all or nothing thing.  Losing 2 additional planets to stealth ships because you dropped to -4K energy after losing a planet and all the shields went down..  puts you at -300K+.  This is not something you can "power stuff down" and survive.   Not being able to run some extra hamsters adds additional risk to the players.
 

[keith.lamothe]

Discovered the Human Shadow Frigate can't mount Mark 3 Lasers after buying them.

The champion hull's description says that it can mount stuff up to MkII, but I imagine you weren't looking at the hull description   I can try adding a line to that effect to every single champion module description, I was just trying to avoid it.   

This game felt lost when the bonus ship from clearing the first wormhole was the Zenith Shadow Frigate.   I did not feel like I got a firepower boost from clearing the wormhole and the civilians had given me +20 AIP while I cleared it.

The first one won't give you a destroyer anymore, the second one has a chance to.  Spire Civilian Leaders + Champions may just be a particularly tough deal though generally a 7.6 setup doesn't mean critical-mass attacks at AIP 50.

The no whipping boy mechanic is really messing with me.

You can still whipping-boy, it just is more likely to send large waves infrequently than small ones frequently.  It's not actually being given more ships or whatever.

It isn't clear which tech needs to be researched to improve the modular fortress - Hardened Shields or Shields?

The standard ones.

The new energy collectors make defense more of an all or nothing thing.  Losing 2 additional planets to stealth ships because you dropped to -4K energy after losing a planet and all the shields went down..  puts you at -300K+.  This is not something you can "power stuff down" and survive.   Not being able to run some extra hamsters adds additional risk to the players.

You can build matter converters to convert m+c to e, and having a buffer if losing a planet would do that is advisable.


Thanks for the playtesting

[Oralordos]

It isn't clear which tech needs to be researched to improve the modular fortress - Hardened Shields or Shields?

The standard ones.

Perhaps we need to rename the standard shields powered shields or something. It has more health thus I would think it has more power in the shield.

[Nodor]

@ Keith

From the comments in the Heroic AI thread, I also suspect that 3-5 Destroyer champions as free roaming threat when AIP  is less than 150 was not "expected". 

I'm about 4 hours into round 2 (using Tractor Drones) and I lack a Dyson Sphere - which limits my fear of Hybrids.   I just found out I have Golems & Spirecraft Hard.... this should be an exciting Exo.  I'm also aggressively hunting the Destroyer Champions - it looks like they might be spawning from special forces guard posts as they wander about.