Nomad Beacon *Spoilers*

[RockyBst]

So, I've searched around the forum but can't seem to find any information on this.

How, exactly, does the Nomad beacon work once it's on an AI homeworld? I get no journal message, no kind of countdown. Just an exo-galactic wave spawning in every ten seconds with three golems in it. For reference, these exos are about 24,000 strength every ten seconds @ 110 AIP.



How long am I actually supposed to defend this thing for against that kind of force? I haven't taken down the core shield networks yet, based on the the whole 'No shield network can withstand that' comments. Do I need to, after all?

Replies will likely be *spoilers*, obviously.

[orzelek]

It might be slight spoilers - but journal does actually mention it in text somewhere.
You need to get beacon to exo wormhole thats near AI home command.
If I remember correctly the home command in question doesn't need to be present any more - I tested it only with active one tho and it was an interesting task.
Ability to do it might be highly affected by your entry wormhole location vs AI Home command location - I think theres a thread for that somewhere around here.

[RockyBst]

I believe that's the Exodian blade, not the nomad beacon. Thanks though.

Extracted from the journals:

- Bring the Beacon to an AI Home Command Station.
- Defend the Beacon long enough for the nearest Nomad to get into range.

No shield network or other defensive measure could possibly save the target from that.

If the nomads are moving at their usual map speed, am I supposed to be defending the beacon for 10+ minutes? I don't think I can handle 180+ golems...

[keith.lamothe]

The nomads travel about 4x faster when moving toward the beacon (whether it's on an AI HW or not) so it's not quite that bad.

But it is advisable to leave the beacon on a nomad until that nomad (or another one) is reasonably close to the target, if the target is an AI HW.  As you've seen, it cannot be indefinitely defended there.

[Toranth]

The nomads travel about 4x faster when moving toward the beacon (whether it's on an AI HW or not) so it's not quite that bad.
But it is advisable to leave the beacon on a nomad until that nomad (or another one) is reasonably close to the target, if the target is an AI HW.  As you've seen, it cannot be indefinitely defended there.

Another possibility is to place the Beacon on a non-Homeworld long enough to draw a Nomad closer to your target system, then have it move to the target only for the last little bit.

[Draco18s]

The nomads travel about 4x faster when moving toward the beacon (whether it's on an AI HW or not) so it's not quite that bad.

Not nearly sufficient.  In my one and only attempt I managed to keep the beacon alive for a grand total of about 35 seconds.  And that was WITH a support fleet (all ships had jumped directly from Nomad 1 to the AI Homeworld).

AI: "No"
Me: "O rly?"
AI: "Ya rly"
Me: "Ok"

[RockyBst]

With my current setup, attacking at the very second when a wormhole link is established and the nomad is at the closest point, I get about 1/3rd of the way to the AI homeworld in around 2 minutes. The problem is in those two minutes you generally get two artillery and 3/4 cursed golems spawn, who will quite happily annihilate the beacon for you. And really, there's nothing much you can do against those without pouring millions into armored warheads or bringing an artillery golem of your own. Which isn't going to happen when taking a target-of-opportunity strike when Nomad One happens to float into range on the AI homeworld.

I'll keep trying to think of some cheese that'll keep the beacon alive for a few minutes (ooh - sensor hacking maybe?), but I may have to back off on this attack, which is a shame.

[Draco18s]

Indeed. My attempt was later than that, mostly on account of having fought off a particularly tough wave and had to rebuild. If I'd been able to attack with impunity, there was a brief moment when the two world's were practically on top of each other.  Unfortunately,  that was right in the middle of "use the beacon as a meatshield so I can get a remains rebuilder to fix the command station and bring the force fields online again."

[Histidine]

I'm still annoyed by the time the nomad planet was too close to the target area and blew up my beacon while it was still travelling through the adjoining AI core world.

[Kahuna]

I think theres a thread for that somewhere around here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lozoHJ5QU3I
Searching forums is a huge pain in the ass.

[RockyBst]

Boom! Problem solved.

Blowing up the AI homeworld in this manner also doesn't seem to have triggered the avenger, presumably because it spawns from the same homeworld that no longer exists?

[Draco18s]

Boom! Problem solved.

Blowing up the AI homeworld in this manner also doesn't seem to have triggered the avenger, presumably because it spawns from the same homeworld that no longer exists?

Yup

[Kahuna]

Boom! Problem solved.

Blowing up the AI homeworld in this manner also doesn't seem to have triggered the avenger, presumably because it spawns from the same homeworld that no longer exists?

Well it spawns from the AI Home Command Station when it's destroyed so it should spawn.

[orzelek]

It's not spawning because AI command station is not destroyed per se. It goes out with whole planet

[RockyBst]

p.s. on the objectives screen I now have 'scout for second AI homeworld'. Am I supposed to go looking for dust?