Warp gates and proper whipping boy setup.

[Catma]

Apologies for asking, this is a bit difficult to search for.

"Q: What does gate raiding really accomplish? I was reading that there are situations where enemy waves appear from nowhere - because while they have no immediate gate connections, they do still warp things to their planets and then walk them over.

A: The AI will always attack your planets directly if possible. That rule you are referring to only kicks in if there is literally no way for them to do that."

 Does this mean that a) if I leave one gate adjacent to one of my worlds, all waves will come through that gate? Or b) If I have a section of worlds with no gates adjacent, these will be vulnerable to cross-planet wandering type waves, even if I have one warp gate somewhere else?

Example:

A--B--C--D--E--F--G

Key
AI Worlds with gates destroyed
AI Worlds with gates left
My Worlds

Will planet B receive wandering unannounced waves, or will every wave hit planet F? I assume everything will go through F, but the other planets will still be subject to special forces raids, border aggression, CPAs, etc.

[Hearteater]

You understand the situation correctly.

[zoutzakje]

exactly. Destroying all but one bordering warp gates means that regular waves will only spawn at wherever you left a warp gate alive. So in your case, all regular waves would spawn at F. If you accidentally destroy all bordering warp gates, then I believe the waves could spawn anywhere, without you knowing where it will hit. So always make sure to keep at least one warp gate alive. Destroying warp gates also has an effect on where enemy raids will spawn when you are trying to escort a shard in the Fallen Spire campaign. Keep in mind though, that there are other AI things that also count as a warp gate. Like the AI eye and the Warp Gate guardian. You will need to destroy those too.
Destroying warp gates has no effect on CPA's, Exo's, border aggression, etc

[keith.lamothe]

Destroying warp gates has no effect on CPA's, Exo's, border aggression, etc

It does affect where exos can spawn, because they can only spawn at something that counts as a warp gate.  So in the OP's example all exos would hit F first (assuming A through F have no other neighbors than those shown).

[zoutzakje]

Destroying warp gates has no effect on CPA's, Exo's, border aggression, etc

It does affect where exos can spawn, because they can only spawn at something that counts as a warp gate.  So in the OP's example all exos would hit F first (assuming A through F have no other neighbors than those shown).

no shit? I didn't know that. I thought they'd just get spawned somewhere and then rush straight to the homeworld, regardless of warp gates. So If I destroy all warp gates in a 4 hop radius around my entire empire, the exo will spawn at a 5th hop away and then come for my homeworld?

[keith.lamothe]

So If I destroy all warp gates in a 4 hop radius around my entire empire, the exo will spawn at a 5th hop away and then come for my homeworld?

Basically, yes.  But not all exos beeline your homeworld.  Most exos spawn more than one battlegroup, for one thing, and each can pick a different target.  On FS they can go after cities.  On Golems/Spirecraft they can pick normal command stations too.

[zoutzakje]

allright, gotta keep that in mind for my current game. Raid Engine AI type is hard enough as it is without all the exo's so far the Spirecraft exo's have only tried to attack my homeworld though. I like the fact that exo's don't get scared off by firepower (unlike CPA's), and attack me anyways. I gotta feed my several thousands of zombies somehow

[Catma]

Thanks guys. Another question: Are both AIs allowed to send waves through any warp gate, or is the owner of the warp gate important?

[Wanderer]

Owner is non-important, just warp gate existence.