Chivalric attitude towards Ion Cannons etc.

[Shrugging Khan]

So we all know that Chivalric AIs won't attack Fabricators and Factories, but what else do they leave alone?

Ion Cannons, OMDs and the like?
What about Armour Boosters/Inhibitors or Radar devices?
Zenith Power Generators?
Gravity Drills?

Experiences or hard knowledge, anyone?

[TechSY730]

Someone just reported that grav drills are not on the list, though he argued that they should be. I would be inclined to agree.

[Tridus]

IIRC they do ignore ZPGs. They also ignore Spire Civilian Leaders. I didn't get a chance to test, but it probably ignores Spire Archives (and if not, it should).

Some of the others on that list are straight up millitary devices instead of production facilities or civilian buildings, though. It certainly shouldn't ignore anything that's shooting at it (Ion Cannons, OMDs). You could make a case both ways on the others, really.

[Histidine]

I think there's a case for it not ignoring anything that's Trader-buyable, except ZPG (because it gives AIP on death).

[keith.lamothe]

Generally anything which is a combatant (like Ion Cannons) is fair game for a Chivalric to shoot at.  Some other stuff like Grav Drills are too because they're quite "offensive" in their impact on enemy units even if they don't shoot anything.

But the production facilities are all, iirc, protected.

[LaughingThesaurus]

I think the idea kind of is that the Chivalrous AI won't shoot your expensive facilities if they can't shoot back. Grav Drills are always 'shooting back' with their slow effect, and ion cannons shoot back whether you want them to or not. The only way advanced factories can shoot is if you set them up to produce neinzul ships on FRD.

[Draco18s]

IIRC they do ignore ZPGs. They also ignore Spire Civilian Leaders. I didn't get a chance to test, but it probably ignores Spire Archives (and if not, it should).

Notably, if you're capturing a planet with Civilian Leaders on it, you're doing it wrong.
(On a neutral planet the building itself is considered owned by the AI, so the AI won't ever shoot it, but it still provides a massive benefit for the player)

[Tridus]

IIRC they do ignore ZPGs. They also ignore Spire Civilian Leaders. I didn't get a chance to test, but it probably ignores Spire Archives (and if not, it should).

Notably, if you're capturing a planet with Civilian Leaders on it, you're doing it wrong.
(On a neutral planet the building itself is considered owned by the AI, so the AI won't ever shoot it, but it still provides a massive benefit for the player)

Does that still work? People have told me that before, but I tried it in 7.0 and just wiping out the planet and leaving the SCL alone provided me absolutely no benefit whatsoever. The second I take the planet the -3 AIP/hour kicks in.

[Eternaly_Lost]

IIRC they do ignore ZPGs. They also ignore Spire Civilian Leaders. I didn't get a chance to test, but it probably ignores Spire Archives (and if not, it should).

Notably, if you're capturing a planet with Civilian Leaders on it, you're doing it wrong.
(On a neutral planet the building itself is considered owned by the AI, so the AI won't ever shoot it, but it still provides a massive benefit for the player)

Does that still work? People have told me that before, but I tried it in 7.0 and just wiping out the planet and leaving the SCL alone provided me absolutely no benefit whatsoever. The second I take the planet the -3 AIP/hour kicks in.

Give it to the next cycle time. I just did it in my game. When it normally would give you +1 AIP, it gives you -3 AIP.

[MaxAstro]

That seems like more of a bug than a feature.

[Toranth]

That seems like more of a bug than a feature.

Not really.
Every hour, the game checks the status of the Civilian Leaders.  If the CL is on an AI controlled planet, AIP +1.  If the CL is not on an AI controlled planet, but is not owned by the player, -3 AIP. 
The moment a CL is captured by the player, immediate -3 AIP and reset the 1 hour timer.

You should always try to free CLs right before the hour, then capture CLs immediately after the hour ticks over.

[LaughingThesaurus]

That seems like more of a bug than a feature.

The idea from a lore standpoint, I believe, is that without the people being under a direct AI rule (command station dead and all) they don't feel the inclination to help the AI, and will simply help out the humans since they won't be nuked into oblivion for it.

[MaxAstro]

It completely avoids the risk of losing the leader and the worry of having to protect it, however, basically turning it into free AIP reduction for the rest of the game...

[TIE Viper]

I typically use the Spire Civilian Leaders in place of an AIP increase per X minutes.  It has much the same effect...that is until I blow up all the AI command stations on those particular planets.   

[LaughingThesaurus]

It completely avoids the risk of losing the leader and the worry of having to protect it, however, basically turning it into free AIP reduction for the rest of the game...

The really big defensive concerns, as far as I can tell, really only come on the far upper end of difficulties or if you're doing anything that requires you to defend against exo waves or something. Then again, I'm a dedicated difficulty 7 player, so...
Also, don't forget, never taking the planet does mean you forego all capturables and resources available on that planet, including energy. Not sure if that includes knowledge. I don't think it actually does, as long as you have supply.