Deploying Strategic Reserve

[Mick]

What does it mean when I see this message? I assume it's something from the reservist. It also said something like "90%".

[Faulty Logic]

The AI strategic reserve is a group of ships (normally off the board) that the AI can deploy to defend various planets of interest (normally only the home, core, and superterminal worlds) or to fill CPAs.

The Reservist AI has a bigger reserve and deploys it for more planets. 90% is how much it has left undeployed.

[Mick]

Ah OK. It seems this reserve is pretty damn big, it's streaming into a planet I'm trying to take.

[Faulty Logic]

it's streaming into a planet I'm trying to take.

In that case, it isn't the reserve. The reserve ships appear instantly on top of the AI command station.

If enemy ships are coming in through wormholes, then what you're seeing are the special forces, the AI's mobile defense force (AI builds up a big blob of ships, sends them via traditional movement whenever you attack something interesting, like a CSG or a golem planet).

[Mick]

They are coming in on the command station, not the worm holes.

[Mick]

Would it be normal for it to stay at 90% when I keep killing the ships that appear?

Does that 90% mean that 90% is held back?

[keith.lamothe]

Would it be normal for it to stay at 90% when I keep killing the ships that appear?

Does that 90% mean that 90% is held back?

Correct, it means that the AI isn't going to commit more than 10% of its max reserve to defend that planet, it just doesn't care enough.  So you can't deeply bleed its reserve on a non-critical planet.  But you can bleed it a little (and can do so more on a core world).

Whether or not even the whole reserve would stop your game-ending fleet is another matter, but usually it at least adds complications (like the ever-stymying "oh, how shall I ever come up with the funds to build an extra dozen or so lightning warheads?")

[nas1m]

Another noob question: Does it (the strategic reserve) fill up again over time?

[Toranth]

Another noob question: Does it (the strategic reserve) fill up again over time?

Yes.  At a rate based on your AIP - higher AIP, faster it fills up.

[keith.lamothe]

Another noob question: Does it (the strategic reserve) fill up again over time?

Yes.  At a rate based on your AIP - higher AIP, faster it fills up.

On lazy AI it does that until AIP is 200, and above that the rate (and stored-cap) doesn't increase.

On non-lazy it just always acts like it's 200, from the beginning of the game.  Blame chemical_art

[Aklyon]

So it doesn't change even if you go over 200?

[keith.lamothe]

So it doesn't change even if you go over 200?

Right.  Combined with the "killing core guard posts increases AIP floor" rule, it's intended to motivate coming up to at least roughly 200 AIP before (possibly immediately before) the HW assaults, as otherwise you're to some degree bringing a knife to a swordfight, as the AI's defenses are (theoretically) going to be balanced against what you could bring in at 200 AIP.

But you don't have to come up to that AIP, if you don't think you need to.