For munition and armor boosters...

[chemical_art]

I think they should get the same FRD logic has blade spawners. That way I can keep some by turrets or longer range units on defense without them running off always.

[Shrugging Khan]

Disable auto-FRD for military units?

[keith.lamothe]

Using the same logic as bladespawners might cause issues, but I could look into it.

[TechSY730]

The problem is that when using them for defence, you don't want them to auto-move to auto-acquired targets, or alternatively, no auto-FRD (no these are not the same, look at the blade spawner's behaviour)

However, when using them for offence, you will want them to auto-move (given they are in a move/idle state that allows auto-moving to targets). How is the game supposed to know which case you want?

I think that highly voted up feature request "suppress auto-FRD command" would really help out with different needs for defence and offence such as these.

EDIT: Clarification, when using them for defence to boost immobile stuff, like turrets. When using them for defence to boost mobile stuff, like fleet ships, you want them to move.

[chemical_art]

The problem is that when using them for defence, you don't want them to auto-move to auto-acquired targets, or alternatively, no auto-FRD (no these are not the same, look at the blade spawner's behaviour)

However, when using them for offence, you will want them to auto-move (given they are in a move/idle state that allows auto-moving to targets). How is the game supposed to know which case you want?

I think that highly voted up feature request "suppress auto-FRD command" would really help out with different needs for defence and offence such as these.

On first glance I admit I do not understand.

What I want is for them not to move on their own, like blade spawners, when on FRD. They are not meant as offensive units, they need to stay close to allies. If a whole blob is sent onto FRD the blob ususally splits in many directions. Do I want the expensive boosters to run off with them? Not really. I want them to stay still.

[TechSY730]

What I want is for them not to move on their own, like blade spawners, when on FRD. They are not meant as offensive units, they need to stay close to allies. If a whole blob is sent onto FRD the blob ususally splits in many directions. Do I want the expensive boosters to run off with them? Not really. I want them to stay still.

I guess this is where we disagree.

In this case, I do want them to run off with them. Generally, I would only use FRD when the number of directions the blob will "split" into would be low (frequently, one at a time), like on defence of a choke-point world or an attack on a planet with a low number of remaining targets. In these cases, the boosters following the blob along works pretty well, as the blob mostly stays together.

In the cases where there are a large number of targets that would cause the blob to "split up" too much, I would use attack-move or regular move.

However, it would be nice to temporarily suppress auto-FRD and/or auto-move to auto-acquired targets for those cases I want them to boost stationary stuff, like turrets.

[chemical_art]

On another note, I do not find the the greater magnitude of the boosts to justify higher lvl marks.

EDIT: It wouldn't need much more of an increase, but it still is compared to me lobbing points in direct attack.

[Spikey00]

That has usually been the case for the boosting units, which I do agree needs to be changed.  A semi-quasi incentive is that, if you're rolling a large fleet, not all the units will receive the buff, so you would want more of these in that case.  Their survivability used to be really weak, too, but I don't see that as a problem anymore.

[chemical_art]

Bringing this back.


Can it please work for speed boosters?

Or can speed boosters get a health buff? You can sneeze and they die, and they cost more then bombers! There is no reason whatsoever speed boosters should be in combat. They should always hang back when the fleet gets the FRD command.

[PokerChen]

I've resorted to keeping speed boosters in a separate group with my spire Implosions (which I never send on FRD) to keep these from dying.

[Kittens]

The one time we had speed boosters from an ARS, we always hid a blob of them underneath a cloaker starship in a corner of the system we were attacking. Works great!

[Spikey00]

The one time we had speed boosters from an ARS, we always hid a blob of them underneath a cloaker starship in a corner of the system we were attacking. Works great!

Speed boosters are only available from fabricators--they aren't a bonus ship.  As you said though, they're best if you keep them cloaked far-off from combat since they buff the entire planet, unlike vicinity-based buffers.  With that in mind, I don't see a need to buff the speed boosters.

[Shrugging Khan]

Balancing those things must be a nightmare, with that kind of "Bonuses for EVERYONE!" ability.