New Brutal AI plot...

[chemical_art]

"Siege Mentality"

When a player destroys a (potentially) csg protected core guard post, all the potentially csg protected guard posts on the said world recieve a new shield.

The source of the shield?

...

The core ai command station of the other world.


The result? You can only take down one AI world at a time, preventing the current meta of neutring both worlds then popping both command stations almost simulation.

A potential plot for those masochists...or even a new AI type of its own.

[KDR_11k]

Wouldn't that mean you have to poke the HW you don't want to kill first before engaging the one you do?

[TechSY730]

Wouldn't that mean you have to poke the HW you don't want to kill first before engaging the one you do?

Not if the plot/modifier applied to both AIs. Then, you would have to "bounce" back and forth between the two homeworlds.

[zoutzakje]

Wouldn't that mean you have to poke the HW you don't want to kill first before engaging the one you do?

I didn't even think of that. Yeah doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I don't mind the idea of having to destroy one hw before going to the other (I usually already do that anyways), but I don't want to stir up some chaos on one hw before I'm forced to move to the next. I don't attack core/homeworlds unless I intend to either completely destroy them or completely neuter them.

and lol techsy, now that would be brutal indeed.

[chemical_art]

Wouldn't that mean you have to poke the HW you don't want to kill first before engaging the one you do?

I didn't even think of that. Yeah doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I don't mind the idea of having to destroy one hw before going to the other (I usually already do that anyways), but I don't want to stir up some chaos on one hw before I'm forced to move to the next. I don't attack core/homeworlds unless I intend to either completely destroy them or completely neuter them.

and lol techsy, now that would be brutal indeed.

I had meant that the if AI HW world A was attacked, the very guardposts of B would be invulunerable. I realize my 2AM post was not clear of that at all (and outright wrong in some cases).

There would be no bouncing around, because to bounce around would imply you get hit both guard posts. AI HW B would be immune to that (aside from non csg posts which are never immune to damage for other reasons).


The goal is once you commit to attacking on HW, you completely finish it before moving on to the next.

[Fluffiest]

Oh, I get it. So you kill one of the Fortress Baron's homeworld guardposts, and halfway across the galaxy, every guardpost on the Mad Bomber's homeworld gets invulnerability provided by the Baron's home command station.

I like it. Probably needs a little tooltip, warning "do not combine this with the Avenger plot unless you're completely bonkers".

Also, the Fallen Spire imperial fleet needs to disable the plot when it shows up.

[KDR_11k]

I like it. Probably needs a little tooltip, warning "do not combine this with the Avenger plot unless you're completely bonkers".

Isn't that the entire point of the avenger plot? It's not meant as a Metroid-style final countdown, it's supposed to be the true final boss.

[Hearteater]

Honestly, a general mechanic to prevent/discourage double-killing the HW would be nice.  At present there is nearly no downside to doing it.  In a remotely challenging game I'll always do it, and it won't cost me more than 10-15 minutes.

[chemical_art]

I like it. Probably needs a little tooltip, warning "do not combine this with the Avenger plot unless you're completely bonkers".

Isn't that the entire point of the avenger plot? It's not meant as a Metroid-style final countdown, it's supposed to be the true final boss.

There are two problems with the avenger:

1) You can still take down AI HW B while AI HW A is running around. So it actually encourages the current meta of popping both AI HW at once.
2) The avenger has suffered from power creep greatly.

[zoutzakje]

I wonder what happens when you encounter an Avenger when playing against Speed Racer. Will the Avenger be a lot faster too? Despite the avenger being fairly weak compared to some of the stuff we have to our disposal nowadays, that could cause some serious trouble.

EDIT:

Now that I think of it, having to bounce between homeworlds (only able to kill one core guard post at a time before having to visit the other hw) could be fun to experiment with. I should try that in my current 7/7, see if it's do-able. We do have Warp Jammer CC's after all.

[KDR_11k]

I believe someone already reported that the Avenger is indeed affected by the Speed Racer.

[keith.lamothe]

I believe someone already reported that the Avenger is indeed affected by the Speed Racer.

I think someone tried, but the Avenger caught up before they could hit "post".

[Kahuna]

Some time ago Keith said they wont add more "kill x to be able to damage the AI Command Stations" (CSG) kind of stuff.

[KDR_11k]

Maybe it would work better if the CSG networks protected only one of the homeworlds so they don't become attackable at the same time. Then again as long as the 100 AIP bump for a HW kill exists people will try to go for simultaneous kills.

Maybe instead the 100 AIP bump should be split up over the various steps that are part of dealing with the HW (a bump for disabling a CSG network, a bump for each core guard post killed and of course one for the finishing blow) so that making both home commands vulnerable at the same time also results in boosted AI responses, not a lull until you actually finish one off.

[Martyn van Buren]

I would definitely upvote that idea on Mantis.  I might even start playing with CSG networks if it were implemented.  Does anyone think that they might want a variant form of the CSG plot where the CSG stations cost AIP to kill and also block supply like co-processors?