Knowledge Raiding defenses

[Wanderer]

I know I had a perfect storm of a setup, but that last raid was just tooo easy.  So, a curiousity.

What drives the defenses spawn volume in a knowledge raid?  I just read that # of Science IIIs will make a difference.  Is it AIP based?  I did a really early raid (Around AIP 150) so that might have been why it was so light.  Also, are the # of defenders driven by # of homeworlds or did the multiplier not apply there?

For a little background, I spawned up a 2x AI9 game while I wait for 5.021 with wave dudes.  8xhomeworlds.  I've got myself a nice little dig in and I'm dragging back my shards as needed.  I decided I'd knowledge raid the world I'm using to feed the whipping boy, so I setup a pair of fortresses (I), 24 blade spawners (I/II), 80 snipers(I-IV), and my fleet chillin' out as a last resort right on top of the 5 hardened forcefields I setup to protect the science station.  Builder in the back under a cloaking starship as a 'whoops'.

The fleet started playing poker.     I'd get a rare set of things that would actually walk up close enough to my fleet to matter.  With my fortresses prioritized to the mirrors and the snipers/blades cleaning up everything else, it was pretty much no challenge.

Is that SUPPOSED to happen?

[Underfot]

Snipers make all the difference in K-raiding.  Basically any non-cloaked zombies just vanish within seconds of spawning if you have a full cap of snipers.  Just one reason they're my personal favourite ship.

[Hearteater]

I'm wonder if they aren't getting the homeworld multiplier, so maybe you are just seeing waves that are 1/8th their intended size.

[BobTheJanitor]

I'm fairly certain the K-raid spawn ranks are controlled by AIP, so you were probably only getting MkI ships at that AIP. Which actually means it's smarter to do as much raiding as you can early in the game. Which doesn't make sense, since that's when you're least likely to need it. Pays to think ahead I guess. Unless I'm wrong about it being AIP based, that is.

[_K_]

One game i remember capturing a system i have previously used for knowledge raiding. (for territorial reasons), and i suddenly found it has like 400 cloaked units in it.

Apparently, the cloaking units that were being spawned during the raid never did anything. This seems like some sort of bug. There have been multiple cloaking units, as I've been fighting the cloak master AI, so it doesnt afect only some specific unit.

[chemical_art]

AI difficulty plays a role too.

With 32 AIP on 10/10 they spawn 1k units with one station managing to get 150 knowledge after 15 seconds of building.

[Wanderer]

AI difficulty plays a role too.

With 32 AIP on 10/10 they spawn 1k units with one station managing to get 150 knowledge after 15 seconds of building.

Wow, that's utterly different then 9/9 8*homeworld AIP150.  They spawned maybe 1k over the entire time I was there... if that.

[Mánagarmr]

Wow, that's a rather big...difference. O_o

[chemical_art]

yep. planet was mk II, so III's spewed out.

[Wanderer]

Hm, I was hitting a III planet, and don't remember getting IV/Vs.  Odd.  I'll be doing more raids here eventually, I'll let you know how it goes.

[chemical_art]

could be that the reinforcements are one tech lvl higher then what would arrive in waves.

[Wanderer]

Hey Chemical, it's definately the difficulty that's making the K-Raid change so drastically.  The difference between 9 and 10 is phenomenal.  I'd been working my way up to K-Raiding in the most recent 10/10 games and finally got around to it.

I needed missile counter, snipe counter, 2x Fortress, 80x sniper, and a full line of Basic IIs, along with my fleet as backup.  I'm not sure if part of the problem was the 3x homeworld, but I see what you're talking about with the 1000 ship spawn.  I'm really curious as to what the K-Raid formula is now.

[keith.lamothe]

I'm really curious as to what the K-Raid formula is now.

Code: [Select]

int numberOfShips = ( this.AIDifficulty  * this.GetHandicapMultiplier( false ) ).IntValue / 2;
if ( numberOfShips < 1 )
    numberOfShips = 1;
int numberOfSaboteurs = p.TeamUnits[Player.AI_TEAM].EnemyHumanSaboteurs.Count;
if ( numberOfSaboteurs > 1 )
    numberOfShips *= numberOfSaboteurs;
(saboteur == mkIII science lab on AI planet)

Then it actually picks that many random ships from the appropriate mark leve.  Note that it makes no attempt to account for the ship cap of the picked types, so if you're fighting an AI that has Zelecs, Sentinels and Spire Stealth Battleships as its bonus types it's going to be a lot more painful than if you're fighting an AI that has laser gatlings, anti-armor, and tachyon microfighters.

Deepstrike-retaliation spawns use a very similar calculation.

Of course, both are contained within the body of a very telling condition:

Code: [Select]

if ( Game.Instance.GameSecond % ( 11 - this.AIDifficulty.IntValue ) == 0 ) //every few seconds only
Brutal.  I hadn't realized how nasty Chris had made those

[Wanderer]

Yeah, the difference between 9 and 10 is "Meh, maybe I'll put up a few more snipers next time" to "Holy mother of Hera's Garters!  What the heck is coming for me?! KILL IT, KILL IT WITH FIRE!  WE'RE NOT READY!!!!"

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, 5 ships per second is a bit fierce   Particularly compared with 4 ships every 2 seconds on 9.8.

I suppose I could be persuaded to make it a little more linear.