Some n00b questions

[jaedite]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to the game and absolutely love it. I've played a few games now (lost all of them though) and had a few general questions.

1. Multiple space docks and loop building
So far I have been using a single space dock, usually on my home planet and just loop building everything. Sometimes it would be nice once expanded to build closer to the front. At this point I end up having to turn loop building off on one of the docks and switch it back and forth to have more control over where ships are being produced. Do most people do it this way, or is manual building preferred in these type cases?

2. Could somebody explain how the reprisal waves work?
I haven't been able to find much on this, it seems like reprisal waves are somewhat based on how many ships you lose in an AI controlled planet (or with AI posts on a neutral planet).

3. Mixed ship mark values
To split my forces up I usually select the entire fleet and use L or something to half the group; this results in a group with mixed mark values. Is there ever any advantage in only attacking with higher level ships and leaving the lower levels out?

4. Unit garrisons
This sort of goes with question 1. In the controls there is an option to maintain a unit garrison. Are these rarely used? Could somebody provide some advice on generally, say at a point where you have 10 planets, how the fleets are mixed? Do people normally split up the fleet between hot spots, or keep them in one place and move when a wave is incoming, or what method?

Thanks for any responses, and thanks Arcen for making a great game.

[TheVampire100]

1.) Manual building is not preferable in AI War since you will end with too many ships to manage all manually. I think most people do it like you, switching between multiple docks based on where they need their fleet. Another method is the use of warp gates. All ships produced from ANY spacedock will end at the warp gate but with a short stun duration. This is more preferable if you don't want to copy your production chain for every space dock again. On the other sideyou have to live with a short amount of stagger before your ships can engage. Sometimes this will cost you a planet that you need to defend.On planets you want to defend with fleets it is more wise to use space docks themself instead of warp gates.

2.) Reprisal waves are a new mechanic that have been introduced with 8.0. To make games more dynamic, destroyed ships will now have a "scrap" value that either you or the AI can use. In your case this means that yout metal harvesters will gather more metal over time. The AI however produces ships with it and the more you loose the stronger the reprisal wave will be. Reprisal Waves do not count to the regular wave timer.

3.) Uhm, most of the time I prefer to attack with all ships of the same kind and not dividing by Mark. However, with the mentioned Reprisal Waves above, not using lower Mark ships means also less loss if you have already an advantage. Mark I ships will die really fast compared to Mark 3 ships, and a bigger loss means a bigger reprisal wave. But it's easier to use all marks.

4.) In some cases Turrets won't defend a planet alone and you have to put a defending fleet on it. This is very situational and it appears on planets that you cannot allow to loose in any way. You have to find for yourself, when this case happens, but keep in mind, each planet that you defend with a fleet leaves you with a smaller attacking fleet. And you need a strike force to force your way into the homeworlds.

[Pumpkin]

Welcome on the forum. Good luck and be brave for your games.

However, with the mentioned Reprisal Waves above, not using lower Mark ships means also less loss if you have already an advantage. Mark I ships will die really fast compared to Mark 3 ships, and a bigger loss means a bigger reprisal wave. But it's easier to use all marks.

Lower Mark ships are also cheaper and contribute less to scrap quantity. I'm not refuting Vampire's advice, I just want to nuance it.

1. Multiple space docks and loop building
So far I have been using a single space dock, usually on my home planet and just loop building everything. Sometimes it would be nice once expanded to build closer to the front. At this point I end up having to turn loop building off on one of the docks and switch it back and forth to have more control over where ships are being produced. Do most people do it this way, or is manual building preferred in these type cases?

1.) Manual building is not preferable in AI War since you will end with too many ships to manage all manually. I think most people do it like you, switching between multiple docks based on where they need their fleet. Another method is the use of warp gates. All ships produced from ANY spacedock will end at the warp gate but with a short stun duration. This is more preferable if you don't want to copy your production chain for every space dock again. On the other sideyou have to live with a short amount of stagger before your ships can engage. Sometimes this will cost you a planet that you need to defend.On planets you want to defend with fleets it is more wise to use space docks themself instead of warp gates.

Fleet mobility is indeed a good question. I want to bring another point of view on the subject. As other factory or warpate usage is vital when your empire is scattered and disjointed, patrolling a compact empire is more easily done (IMO) with logistic command stations or Zenith space time manipulators. Both increase the speed of friendly ships on their planet. With one of these solutions, having one big fleet that quickly move to respond to various waves becomes a totally reliable defense. And L-separating this big fleet is fine when two waves hit to sides of the empire at once.

[Draco18s]

3. Mixed ship mark values
To split my forces up I usually select the entire fleet and use L or something to half the group; this results in a group with mixed mark values. Is there ever any advantage in only attacking with higher level ships and leaving the lower levels out?

Ion Cannons.

[RabidDonkey]

4. You can set some fighters (fast, cheap and plentiful) on planetary patrols in inner worlds to defend against minor leaks/incursions, but I didn't like to deal with potential micro issues if I misclick or mismove something. Nowdays, I don't bother with maintaining any defensive units. If a lone raider starship gets through to my unprotected econ world then so be it. I have multiple control groups of mark III/experimental engineers so I have no problem rebuilding quickly.

You can also use game/minor factions to help you out if you don't mind the cheese. Botnet golem can create massive zombie patrol fleets. Human resistance, dyson sphere and Neinzul Enclave will easily keep your inner econ worlds safe. Does mean turning the devourer off though.

It also depends on the map and map size you play on. I'm a defensive (i.e. many turret unlocks) 80+ planets player and choose my starting location on maps like concentric and spokes. So I'm able to heavily defend my border chokes with turrets, force fields, mark 3 command and maybe even modular fortresses. My fleet is usually parked at the border or near it, but it usually not needed against normal waves.

[TheVampire100]

3. Mixed ship mark values
To split my forces up I usually select the entire fleet and use L or something to half the group; this results in a group with mixed mark values. Is there ever any advantage in only attacking with higher level ships and leaving the lower levels out?

Ion Cannons.

I totally forgot that. To make it clear: Ion Cannons oneshot anything with a specific mark or lower. If somethign like this is on a planet you probably don't want to use Mark 1 ships because they get slaughtered anyway.

[Aklyon]

Ion Cannon shots do have travel time, though. As long as you aren't sitting on top of it, theres a chance that you could zoom in with your blob of mixed-mark, relatively-quick fleetships, explode a thing, and then escape with most of them still intact.

[Draco18s]

Shots-in-flight still hit when you warp out.

The above comment said, it's still valuable to bring the Mk1s along, as bait to keep the not-instant-kill engine damage from crippling the higher marks.

[Kahuna]

At this point I end up having to turn loop building off on one of the docks and switch it back and forth to have more control over where ships are being produced.

Why don't you just turn the Space Dock off (stand down mode). Press the pause button or press K when the desired unit is selected.