Your favorite defence and why?

[superking]

I was playing the other day and realised I have never unlocked laser, missle, beam or lightning MK II, and it got me wondering what you guys preffer/unlock for defences.

Me, I unlock MRLS II & III right off the bat most games at the moment. You get MRLS I for free, so getting to the end of the chain is cheaper, and the MK III MRLS turret is hyper energy efficent for how much` damage it belts out. I try and get a full population of MK III MRLS out as early as possible, since at high difficulties the waves are constant and brutal. at 10,000 energy to run a full population of MK III, its an absolute bargain and they do well even against bombers, as well as against swarmy types.

for mid/lategame wave defence, I try and line the offending wormhole with the full MK I/II/III population of MRLS on a planet with the shield negater from the trader (all enemy ships have no shielding.) the results are pleasing.

[WarpSprite]

Heavy beam canon for me because it stops hives in their tracks, has great range, and is still good at fighting off large waves. Also not a turret but mines are freaking awesome now to.

[Lancefighter]

a few stardocks, some engineers, and zenith autobombs 

only problem is those pesky frigates.

[Spikey00]

The problem is, I don't think anyone here knows exactly what defense is best against what, at least to my knowledge.  I generally use basic/MRLS/tractors, but I usually don't build any defenses at all if I have a fleet pushing nearby (or bombers/seiges/transport; leave rest).

[triggerman602]

I use lots of spider turrets. They will knock out engines in 1 or 2 hits and then move to the next target until nothing is moving and then start picking away at whats stuck. If anything new enters the system then they immediately get targeted and neutralized. Full cap of spider turrets can take on about 1000 ships at a time. I also mix in snipers for damage output to make cleanup easier.

[Fox Soul]

My strategy is similar to triggerman.

But my fortifications are placed as far away from the hostile wormhole as possible.

For clean up I usually use a max cap of my cheapest ship. This mainly being my starting special ship like infiltrators or autocannons


I use just 100 spider turrets mainly. By the time the enemy wave is completely engine dead they are all very nicely scattered, which makes my very cheap fleet able to rip them to shreds without much loses.

[Dragon]

Personally, I like fortresses, and spider turrets.  I use beam cannons for anti-raid-starship use, otherwise, I don't generally use turrets much.  Oh, and grav turrets = win. :-)

[carlosjuero]

I mix everything up for my defense, and it works against most threats.

On planets I really am defense heavy on I have something like this:
- A glob of ~50 Spider Turrets
- A glob of ~50+ Sniper Turrets
- 2+ groups of 5 tractor turrets / enemy wormhole in system
- 1 grav gen/enemy wormhole in system (1 covering multiple wormholes if they are close enough together)
- Varied size groups of Basic, Laser, MLRS, Missile, and HBC placements within proximity to enemy held wormholes - more group placements further in system for systems with more than 2 enemy wormholes.

Later game I backup the defenses with Fortresses and/or small fleets of lower MK vessels.

I have been able to hold out against most of the things the AI throws at me, though that little issue when the AI ship cap was lowered creamed me (I could take a 2,000 ship wave.. but not one containing mainly Core and MK IV ships :/). The only AI thing that completely blows through my defenses are those damned Marauder Dagger Frigates (yes, I am harping on them again )

[Trezamere]

I'd say Beam Cannons are my favorite as they are the most cost effective, a single MKI Beam Cannon can hold off a portal pretty effectively for most of the early game, and it's easy enough to add more as needed.

I also unlock fortresses shortly after thought and use them as a supplement to pick off the stuff that gets out of range of my Beam Cannons and mine up portals as well.

Depending on the state of things I occasionally get Spider Turrets and Grav Turrets as well, but I generally don't touch any other turrets as they aren't worth the knowledge cost IMO, except maybe MLRS and Lasers.  Coincidently I think the other turrets need a buff of some sort either via lower knowledge costs or whatever.

[Sunshine!]

I generally blow all my knowledge on mobile ships, and only unlock laser, missile, and maybe, maybe electric mk1s because they require so little knowledge.  Beam cannons if I'm expecting to see disgustingly gross things piling through a wormhole on a snake map, for instance.

[Diazo]

A short while ago I would have been MRLS all the way.

But as I've been playing with the new CoN stuff, the fortress has taken over top spot pretty much.

Because of their knowledge cost, they are not a guaranteed unlock for me but they do have a decent chance of being unlocked somewhere within my first 20k knowledge.

D.

[Frozen Critical]

You Forgot The Flakies

Personally , i would Spam Flak Cannons in Lines , with a Cluster in the Middle , Thus Creating a Giant Flakwave When Hostilies Arrive , The Lined Cannons Also mean that there is Low Overkill and More Kills

[Ozymandiaz]

I used to like Missiles and Lasers for this range, but latly I have used MLRS a lot more then I used to, simply because they can give the pain

If I got some bigger targets like starships or swarms of light stuff, I go the beam way, but might get MLRS Mk II to complement them.

Regardless, I combine this with Tractors and sometimes grav turrets for better effect. (Thinking Tractor Mk II or maybe even III here)

Lasers is an ok unlock if you need just a bit more defence for very little knowledge tho, and missiles can take quite the punishment if thats whats needed at the time. But MLRS is usually the winner, it can also deal with mirrors effectively . I think lasers might need a slight buff.

[CogDissident]

I tend to stack MLRSes and lazers, then use a series of grav turrets to keep their fleet in range long enough to blast away. And if they hit the grav turrets hard enough, shields over the grav turrets.

[Ozymandiaz]

Have anyone tried lightning turrets vs the Neinzul ships yet? Maybe a grav turret and some lightnings would be a decent defense in that situation...

I have no real experience with the lightning turret in general come to think of it, and not seen any electric shuttles in ages in my games either