Author Topic: Modular Fortress/Shield Questions  (Read 6055 times)

Offline PicardsFlute

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Modular Fortress/Shield Questions
« on: January 17, 2013, 08:19:31 am »
I have a few questions about modular fortresses, and there doesn't seem to really be any posts or anything in the wiki about them.

The main question is if you put a shield module on the fortress, does it reduce it's damage output by 75% like normal forcefields do?  Also, same question for other ships within it's forcefield range.

I'm playing on a lower difficulty, and my fortress is pretty much annihilating anything near it, so I can't really get good data for myself.

And if it doesn't reduce damage for itself or anything inside it, are there any other forcefields that work this way?



Also, while on the topic of modular fortresses, what layouts do some of you more experienced players use on them?  Should you get a few of each type of gun? Or focus on one type? How many shields vs HBCs should you have?  If you have MkII of one weapon module, should you just change all your modules over to that? (Assuming resources and build time aren't an issue.)  Or is there still some benefit from some variation?

Offline Bognor

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Re: Modular Fortress/Shield Questions
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2013, 09:01:42 am »
Although human free-standing force fields reduce the damage of most ships within them by 75%, I don't believe this is true of any modular force fields, such as those on Riot Control Starships, champions, modular fortresses, or Spire Corvettes.  There are also spirecraft built from asteroids that provide a non-repairable forcefield that doesn't reduce protected ships' damage.

My module selection varies according to my and the AI's strengths.  For example, if they've got a bunch of ships with rare hulls I'll use acid sprayers.  If they've got Spire Gravity Drains then I'm not going to use Slicer Drones.  If hybrids are a problem, Laser Cannons Needlers may be the answer.  If there's a big wave coming and I can defend with a modular fortress, I'll sometimes destroy some or all of the existing modules and replace them with whatever will counter the incoming wave.

Something I've just discovered is that the Insanity Inducer module, which can only be used with Neinzul tech, is delightful.  I've been able to farm a few waves to create an army of a couple of hundred zombie fleetships of various types on my homeworlds quite easily.  But note that many fleet ships are immune to reclamation, including all with "Youngling" or "Spire" in their name.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2013, 09:26:54 am by Bognor »
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Offline Bognor

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Re: Modular Fortress/Shield Questions
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2013, 09:33:55 am »
If you have MkII of one weapon module, should you just change all your modules over to that?
Against any sort of mixed attack (raid engine, CPA, exo-wave, whatever), variety should trump mark level.  For example, the basic Needler, Laser Cannon, and MLRS modules you begin with all have roughly the same base DPS, and a 5x multiplier against certain hulls.  MkIII modules do 3x the DPS of MkI modules.  If there are, say, Bombers in the incoming attack, with their polycrystal hulls, then MkI Laser Cannons will do ~5x the MkI base DPS, whereas MkIII Needlers or MLRS will do only ~3x the MkI base DPS.

Something to remember about modular forts is that their modules can benefit from attack boosts.  A single MkI Flagship can increase the DPS of all the modules on a fort by 40%.
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Offline Aeson

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Re: Modular Fortress/Shield Questions
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2013, 11:28:30 pm »
As for whether or not the shield modules decrease the damage of weapons, I couldn't tell you.  As for module load-out, though, I tend to agree with Bognor - but with the caveat that it depends on what you want to use the modular fort for.

Ran out of forcefields but want to put a shield over the (non-military) command station while still leaving the fort able to contribute to wave defense on the wormhole? Missile turrets, or anything else with a really long range, unless you're comfortable placing the command station close to the wormhole.

Centerpiece of a heavy defense grid designed to stop waves, CPAs, etc, at the wormwhole?  Either a balanced module selection, or a selection that compensates for whatever happens to be lacking in your defensive grid.

Only defense of a planet? Balanced module selection, or whatever happens to have bonuses against most of the AI ships (if only one or two modules cover that, anyways).  Alternatively, all missile modules (or other very long range weapons), assuming you just want to deal with minor threats or cause some slight damage to AI vessels passing through or raiding, or want to keep the fort out of the way of something like an Astro Train (if they still shoot, anyways - I haven't tried a game with them since the Astro Train revision).

Against any sort of mixed attack (raid engine, CPA, exo-wave, whatever), variety should trump mark level.
This depends heavily on what the other defenses on the planet look like and what the AIs are using.  If the planetary defenses were relatively balanced before adding the modular fortress, then a balanced module selection is good first guess for module selection.  If, on the other hand, the defenses are unbalanced, then it can be a good idea to use the modular fort to balance things out (for instance, if I only put sniper and missile turrets on a planet and now for some reason want to fortify it without adding additional turrets, choosing weapons for the module slot that have bonuses against things not covered by missile and sniper turrets may be good - unless the goal is to sit at long range and whittle down the enemy without taking fire, as at a grav drill).  Also, if the AI forces lean heavily towards one hull type, or a hull type countered by the same weapon module, it's probably a good bet to prioritize getting more weapons that have bonuses against that hull type rather than having a balanced selection of weapons on the fort.  In particular, if something like fighters are the only thing that the AI has that a particular weapon is good against, you probably don't want to spend module slots on that type of weapon and should prefer a weapon that performs well against a more dangerous AI vessel (like bombers or raid starships).
« Last Edit: January 17, 2013, 11:31:13 pm by Aeson »

Offline Diazo

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Re: Modular Fortress/Shield Questions
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2013, 12:21:49 am »
On shields:

To the best of my knowledge, only the stand alone force fields reduce attack power by 75%(Force Field Generator, Hardened Force Field Generator, Home Force Field Generator), all FFs mounted on something else (or Sheild Bearers) do not reduce attack power.


On module layout:

This very much depends.  I like gravity turrets for defense so it is not uncommon to see a Missile Module only installation to take advantage of the long range they have. This requires not mounting a warp point defense however and letting AI ships loose in your system which can cause other problems.

D.

 

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