Do exo-galactic waves ever reach a cap on intensity?

[ZaneWolfe]

Ok, since this got brought up, I will ask my related, but differing question. What difficulty should I play at to get a full view of all the AI's wonderful toys? I typically play with two homeworlds and at 7/7. Standard play style is FS games with a "Srew the AIP I have Superweapons and a single choke point!" Right now, I run into situations that while the AI can sometimes overwhelm my choke point, I watch what hit me and reload an earlier save do a quick remodel, maybe bring in another of my superweapons. I used to run into H/Ks back on my 6/6 games, but it was always only one.  Now? I cant remember the last time I saw an H/K, even with 500+ AIP.

(Point of note, while I cant remember what mark they were when they showed up, I do remember that my fleetships were always useless against it and I needed to bring the pain with starships and/or my FS fleet to even stand a chance to stop that thing)

[Cinth]

With a 16 HW start and one Exo generating option enabled, I get H/Ks from the get go (7/7). I have even seen worse at 9/9.

[TechSY730]

Well, difficulty 8 is the minimum where the AI will no longer be "gated" from any of its fancy toys or behavior due to difficulty. Now, at 8, it might not "build up" enough points to be able to "afford" it all, but it won't be just outright denied anything. (At 7, almost everything is available to the AI, but there are a very few number things cut off until

Incidentally, you can view almost all the ships in the game by going through the side screen's pages, which is by default bound to F1. The reference page in the stats will give you ALL of the ships (even the modules). With the soon to be implemented UI improvements, you should be able to find stats for anything in there.
Now of course, this will only give you stats, not the fancy ways the AI will use them to abuse you.

BTW, Hunter Killers only show up in exo-waves, "defense fund" spawns (from Fallen spire games, and possibly champion games, but not sure about that second one), or in rare cases, early carrier pops if you pop a carrier early that was filled with tons of high-end stuff.

[xX Eldest Xx]

This game is making a masochist out of me. 

[Wanderer]

I mentioned in my last post that H/K's won't appear till higher difficulties.  This was a bit of a lie.

With Spire enabled on a 5/5 120 world snake map I got H/K's at ~2000 AIP.

[ZaneWolfe]

Ok, well it sounds like I need to buff the difficulty in my games to 8/8 so I can see all the neat toys and tricks. Probably should have done it earlier since I cheat. (Go custom memory hack) Besides, I miss feeling the overwhelming sense of dread and terror from exo waves. (I've been using Golems, FS, Spirecraft and Botnet, all hard)

Btw, are carriers supposed to do something if there are too many units? I'm not entirely sure, but I would have sworn I didn't see them do anything when broken early when there was already a ton of units on the map.



PS- No Cinth. Just no... I already saw your thread about the doctor's pain prescription... My computer wouldn't even load it without either crashing or slowing to a complete stop... (How do I make a phrase into a link?)

[Cinth]

PS- No Cinth. Just no... I already saw your thread about the doctor's pain prescription... My computer wouldn't even load it without either crashing or slowing to a complete stop... (How do I make a phrase into a link?)

Most of what I post is mid to late game craziness. At 3 and a half hours in (about when the first exo starts counting) the game should still run smooth or just a bit laggy. I only suggested it since you asked about conditions and those are pretty much a guarantee to see what the AI can throw at you.

You can also get some nasty stuff with crazy AIP levels.

The game you mentioned was a 10/10 FS game and it runs incredibly slow for me too. You don't need to hit that extreme to see what the AI will throw at you.

One bit of advice if you pursue something crazy, enable the Zenith Trader. You are going to want an Armor Inhibitor. Spire Shields are a pain in the ... to deal with, and in numbers, they can cover a force that will crush even the most solid defenses.

[Pluto]

7/7 game, 5 Fallen Spire, ran into an occasional MkIV H/K's at about 950+ AIP.

They were a bit ridiculous.  I never actually saw lower marks.  One MkV was on a HW.

[ZaneWolfe]

Yes, I know most of that is mid to late game insanity. Problem is at those settings my comp might not make it 4 hours, and I prefer playing to the end of the game every time if I can. Still, good advice with the Armor Inhibitor. I always have the trader running around somewhere (though the little #&!* tends to stay well away from my worlds...) so I get as many of the toys as I can. Personally cant wait to get a pair of Super Forts up on my homeworlds. I imagine that with those, a full set of mod forts, a pair of OMDs each, and normal turrets, anything making it that far into my territory is either doa, or deserves to kill me. Advantage of playing on maze style maps with an FS game, things have to go though not just my major choke point loaded with defenses, but every single spire city between it and my homeworld... Though it remains to be seen if I can survive long enough to get 3 or more up in an 8/8 game. Tried a 10/10 FS game... first shard was my end. Sure it got to my homeworld, trouble was so did the AI... and the hybrids decided that now would be a good time to invade too... Freaking thing cheats too I swear...

Edit- Does the AI not chose to unlock a bonus ship you have/start with? I have never see the AI get Blade Spawners, but then I always have them as one of my bonus ships, since they help my starship fleet deal with fleetships better.

[Cinth]

No worries. Just suggestions to help you find what you are looking for.

And about settings even I have everything turned off except for shots.

[Kronic]

I'm vaguely horrified about how slowly you guys run into H/Ks - I tend to play 2 HW/4 Champs and get MK Is in the Golem/Spire exo waves from the get go.

[ZaneWolfe]

I'm vaguely horrified about how slowly you guys run into H/Ks - I tend to play 2 HW/4 Champs and get MK Is in the Golem/Spire exo waves from the get go.

I'm more disapointed that the AI doesn't seem to think I am a threat. I'm running 2 HW as Normal+Champ with FS, Golems-H, Spirecraft-H, and Botnet on 7/7 without seeing any H/Ks even with over 500 AIP. I am thinking about turning up the level on those exos. Anyone how changing those works? If I go above 4, will I get nastier exos, or just get them faster/more often?

[Burnstreet]

Somewhere after 5.0 here was a time when you could get MK2+ H/Ks on a 2Player x1HW 7/7 FS game for the second exo...
Also we got a Mothership with 20+ MK4+ H/Ks with the mothership in that game.