ARG! Share your troll starts here.

[Chthon]

Ok, extremely frustrated here.  What kind of luck do I need to have every world within 3 hops from me be a level 3 or higher AI world? (barring my two border worlds)  Seriously I counted 8 Mk III worlds and 1 Mk IV world right outside the buffer the game gives you.  To make matters worse there were AI eyes and Raid Engines on a few of these worlds as well making expansion extremely painful and slow.

In 3 hours 30 minutes I was able to take down one of the worlds, the Mk IV, and almost the Mk III next to it.  Mind you these were the only two that wouldn't trigger the raid engine, which I did twice and nearly lost the game each time as a result.

I've been using transports to drop fleets on top of guard posts to take them out and then retreat, however the AI started spawning tons of disassembler guardians to shred my fleets as a counter.

Mind you, this is on Difficulty 8 with 2 easy AIs, Sledgehammer and I don't remember the other.  Reprisal waves are also quite painful, but the scrap helps a little bit, when I'm not completely refleeting due to a sudden 3 spawn of disassembler guardians, which has happened on 6 different occasions while I cleared the Mk IV.  I am very much tempted to reroll the game at this point.

Sorry for blowing off some steam, any advice on what I should do from here?  I've got 500 knowledge left from 9000 gained.  Just took out the Mk IV, and about to kill the MkIII.  Survived the cross-planet attack.  I've unlocked Logistics Command Mk III, Engineer Mk II, Bomber Mk II, Missile Mk II, and Sentinel Mk II (My starting ship type)  I'm currently refleeting my main fleet from the cross-planet attack (211 ships on Ultra low caps) which coincided with a missile frigate wave (64 ships) and a sentinel frigate reprisal wave (123 ships)  I am finding anti-sniper turrets very handy currently.

Anyone else want to tell some stories about bad RNG as well?  I'd love to hear them.

[Kahuna]

Post a save file at 00:00:00 in game time or post the exact settings of the game (stats-->galaxy stats) so i can take a look at it.

Anyway.. I think beachheading would do the trick.

[Chthon]

Post a save file at 00:00:00 in game time or post the exact settings of the game (stats-->galaxy stats) so i can take a look at it.

Anyway.. I think beachheading would do the trick.

Don't have a save file at 00:00:00, so that's out.  I'll see what I can do in a bit.  However the damn AI has been punishing me for every unit I lose in it's area.  I'm kinda afraid to beach head right now.  Especially since on one side it would constantly set off the raid engine.  Formulating a plan to get a hacker out to take it out is my biggest concern.

[Kahuna]

You could try building strong defenses so you can fend off the Raid Engine waves and destroying the Raid Engine with Assault Transports and Raid Starships. You might have to first clear the Tachyon Guardians with Assault Transports and Fighters and maybe Flagships.

[Draco18s]

Ok, extremely frustrated here.  What kind of luck do I need to have every world within 3 hops from me be a level 3 or higher AI world? (barring my two border worlds)  Seriously I counted 8 Mk III worlds and 1 Mk IV world right outside the buffer the game gives you.  To make matters worse there were AI eyes and Raid Engines on a few of these worlds as well making expansion extremely painful and slow.

I call it par for the course. :V
I almost never see Mk2 worlds except when they're adjacent to my homeworld.

[Chthon]

You could try building strong defenses so you can fend off the Raid Engine waves and destroying the Raid Engine with Assault Transports and Raid Starships. You might have to first clear the Tachyon Guardians with Assault Transports and Fighters and maybe Flagships.

That's what I've been trying to work up to honestly and why I spent most of my early knowledge on ships.  Being boxed in like I was I had little options to take an easy system or two to gain more knowledge for other things I'd like, and Mk I defenses could not hold against the Mk III raids the raid engine was producing.

It's in the Sledgehammer's space so it's even worse with larger waves there.  Talking 250 mk III sentinel frigates when all I had were mk I fleet ships.  I only survived because marauders came and helped me clear it out.  That is as scary as it sounds mind you.

I think I can survive the waves now though if my fleet is alive with my Mk II reinforcements, but I still want a little more knowledge to help bolster my defenses.  I only wish I could afford assault transports at this point.  It would make fleet drops much easier.

I've been limited by my energy almost as much as knowledge too.  I had to build 6 matter converters just to support my fleet and protect from brown outs, so yeah.  This put a severe hamper on my metal.  Hopefully it will improve with my new conquests.

If I had to do it again I would have chosen Military commands rather than Logistics.  The railguns would have helped hold these systems better IMO, but I grabbed logistics before I knew what was out there.

Ok, extremely frustrated here.  What kind of luck do I need to have every world within 3 hops from me be a level 3 or higher AI world? (barring my two border worlds)  Seriously I counted 8 Mk III worlds and 1 Mk IV world right outside the buffer the game gives you.  To make matters worse there were AI eyes and Raid Engines on a few of these worlds as well making expansion extremely painful and slow.

I call it par for the course. :V
I almost never see Mk2 worlds except when they're adjacent to my homeworld.

You realize that the worlds adjacent to your homeworld(s) are actually Mk I right.  They are the only Mk I AI worlds in the game.

Just saying.

Usually though MkIII and MkIV worlds spawn in small clusters scattered around the universe, not all jammed up in my grill like this.

Edit:  Adding screenshots now.

Edit 2:  Oh, and the only found beneficial item I see yet is a Mk IV factory in Siezewell.  This is why I've been working down to there first.  With a few Mk IV fleet ships I should be much better off.

[Draco18s]

You realize that the worlds adjacent to your homeworld(s) are actually Mk I right.  They are the only Mk I AI worlds in the game.

Just saying.

My point was:

I almost never see a world that isn't Mark 3 or better.

[Chthon]

You realize that the worlds adjacent to your homeworld(s) are actually Mk I right.  They are the only Mk I AI worlds in the game.

Just saying.

My point was:

I almost never see a world that isn't Mark 3 or better.

What difficulty do you play on?  My point was that Mk III and Mk IV worlds are usually in small scattered clusters in my experience.

[Draco18s]

What difficulty do you play on?  My point was that Mk III and Mk IV worlds are usually in small scattered clusters in my experience.

Usually 7.  My last game was 6 just because it had been a long time.  That was also a long time ago, so my observation is an antecedent at best.

[Coppermantis]

Snake map. Home planet at one end. Mk. IV planet with a Raid Engine two hops out.

[Draco18s]

This is relevant to the discussion.

[Kahuna]

If I had to do it again I would have chosen Military commands rather than Logistics.  The railguns would have helped hold these systems better IMO, but I grabbed logistics before I knew what was out there.

Military Command Stations are always the best option.

Also. I need to know the type of both AIs because that affects seeding. Both are difficulty 8 and the other one is Sledgehammer.. the other one is?

EDIT: I looked at the Raid Engine screenshot and that planet has a Black Hole Machine. In my game everything else is the same except "I" don't have the BHM. Perhaps the AI got it from the Traders..

[Chthon]

If I had to do it again I would have chosen Military commands rather than Logistics.  The railguns would have helped hold these systems better IMO, but I grabbed logistics before I knew what was out there.

Military Command Stations are always the best option.

Also. I need to know the type of both AIs because that affects seeding. Both are difficulty 8 and the other one is Sledgehammer.. the other one is?

EDIT: I looked at the Raid Engine screenshot and that planet has a Black Hole Machine. In my game everything else is the same except "I" don't have the BHM. Perhaps the AI got it from the Traders..

The other turns out was a Mine Enthusiast.

Also, I thought the seed only affected the layout of the Universe, and that everything else was randomized on game start including Mks of the worlds.

[keith.lamothe]

120-planet maps have way more mkIII and mkIV planets than 80-planet maps, btw.

[Kahuna]

Also, I thought the seed only affected the layout of the Universe, and that everything else was randomized on game start including Mks of the worlds.

Yes only the seed affects the layout of the universe. But things like AI types and difficulty levels, Hybrids (on/off.. what difficulty level).. affect on AI buildings that are seeded into the universe. Like the position of Raid Engines, AI Eyes, Advanced Factories. It's because AIs can only have X amount of Y on every planet (or something like that). If I'm playing with 5/5 Hybrids the universe will have much more Hybrid Facilities which will take space.. so they affect the seeding of other buildings.

Anyway.. I'll check the game tomorrow.