Easiest way to find Stealth Guard Posts?

[Wingflier]

I know this is a stupid question, but I can't find an easy way to do this.  I'm sure some of your pros have some good suggestions.

Basically, when a planet has an Eye, it gets frustrating trying to find those Stealth Guard posts.  For some reason, Tachyon Missiles don't reveal them (is this a bug?), and I'm not sure what else I should use to find them.

How do you guys find Stealth Guard Posts?

[Diazo]

A tachyon missile does not reveal them?

Odd. Based on the descriptions of the Tachyon Missile and the Stealth Guard Post I would think it should. Bug report time? (Can't test it myself at the moment and never tried it in game.)

How I deal with them is to use my Scout Starships as decloakers. Their tachyon range is quite short, but look for the metal or crystal deposits, the guardpost will usually be near one of them.

Failing that, run some ships around until they get fired on. Ships near the post, and the post itself, will still fire on your units and reveal themelves that way.

If tachyon missiles in fact do not work, the only thing I can think of would be an EMP missile. I'm pretty sure I've seen EMPs reveal them in my games. (Not the reason I EMPd the system, so I did not look for it.)

D.

[Nodor]

Decloakers.. at least have a decent tachyon range.   The other thing to watch for is ships "appearing from nowhere" after a reinforce wave.  That no-where is a stealth guard post.

[zoutzakje]

yup, that's pretty much how I do it. Whenever there is an AI eye, i look at the number of guardposts the AI eye says is keeping it alive. then I start counting guard posts. If I'm missing one, i know there's a stealth somewhere. After that I just pay careful attention if I see ships coming out of nowhere or if there is a harvester without a guard post.

[Hearteater]

If I recall you can also just build a Command Station in the system to destroy the AI Eye, and then take your time finding the Stealth Guard Post.  You need to kill the enemy CS first obviously.  So the only Guard Posts you must kill are those that provide a shield to the enemy CS.

[_K_]

Uh, tachyon missiles work fine for me.

[Coppermantis]

Just look for a resource deposit without a guard post on top of it. There's your Stealth Post.

[Wanderer]

Just look for a resource deposit without a guard post on top of it. There's your Stealth Post.

Not always, I've had many stealths that don't appear on resource points.

[Coppermantis]

Really? As far as I've seen the guard posts always spawn on resources unless the planet has none. Maybe Stealths are different, but all the ones I've seen are like that. Just haven't encountered enough then.

[TechSY730]

I think that when seeding the planet, it goes for the resource points first, but if that planet has been designated to have more guard posts then they have resource spots, it will start placing them randomly. Thus, there is a chance that stealth guard posts can be seeded in the middle of nowhere.

[Wanderer]

I think that when seeding the planet, it goes for the resource points first, but if that planet has been designated to have more guard posts then they have resource spots, it will start placing them randomly. Thus, there is a chance that stealth guard posts can be seeded in the middle of nowhere.

That'd be exactly it.  Creates a real hassle trying to find 'em, too.  Got stuck for an hour once trying to keep a decloaker alive long enough to find one of 'em.

[PokerChen]

To the OP: btw, was there also a warhead interceptor on the planet?

I use a rough procedure to identify most of the stealth guardpost before I assault a system...
1) With scouting information mouse over the cloaked ships count (circle on the right-hand tab). It will mention a stealth guardpost if there is one. Also, if you see things like Missile Frigates cloaked - that's also pretty much 99% chance of a stealth guardpost existing (AI has only one, possibly two other options presently of super-cloaking).

2) Check seemingly empty resource spots, followed by Fortresses and other items without an accompanying guardpost.

3) Attack system and wait for ships to come out of the blue. That's the place, factoring in the cloaking range (a few thousand units?). Send some stuff to camp over the spotand it will reveal itself by firing. Their firing range is somewhat small, so one might just miss it with a few raid-starships.

Addendum: If not found yet at the end of the assault (say, if I forgot and there's no ships left around the stealth post to give it away), run several decloakers through the system. The scout starships have better range nowadays and can also suffice... (use mark-IIs or better and formation move like a comb)