EMP Guardians

[mindloss]

So, I haven't played a lot of diff 7 yet, and this is the first time I've run into these nasty things. Little help? I thought I was doing well, and all of a sudden lots of red flashiness, all my defenses and fleet and fancy buildings are dead and buried, and the game's basically over. Is there a way to anticipate/counter/avoid these guys?

[Ranakastrasz]

Oh god, I hate EMP guardians.

I personally scout every planet I can, and periodically (generally a good 2 minutes before any of my attacks, or  enemy wave) (Ideally, I generally forget to do it, hence why I keep losing) check nearby planets for them. IF I see any, I send my raid star-ships to take them out, generally along with any other targets of interest on said planet.

[dotjd]

As far as I know, EMP Guardians only go on the offensive if something disturbs them and releases them as threat.  Which means 1. if it joins a fight, take it out immediately, and 2. etherjet fighters/tractor ships that drag your fleet through wormholes are evil

[Trandrin]

Oh boy do I love the sight/sound of tractor types grabing ships and running... Then *Emp* from the guardian next door. Such a hot neighbor my entire fleet just sits there with its tongue dragging. As it moves on to the next house/system

[zoutzakje]

yeah, I've had my share of bad experiences with EMP guardians as well (though that's kind of a wrong way to put it, since there are no good experiences with them...).Most of it is all been said above already really, Raid starships can be used to deal with them and enemy tractor ships are your funeral. If your ships do get tractored, scrap them before the AI ship moves into a wormhole. You'll have to rebuild a lot of your forces this way if you encounter lots of tractor platforms, but at least it won't trigger the EMP guardian(s).
HINT: If you know the enemy uses tractor ships, build Gravity turrets! They will save you.