stealth armor

[javaslinger]

First, how does stealth work exactly? It says on armor gives you a 'chance' at being undetected. How much do you typically need to be hidden? Is stealth armor the only was to be undetected? Scattering armor? How's that work?

Second, in a full tech game (all tech trees are fully researched at the beginning of the game), is stealth more or less useless since the best sensors are all available at the beginning of the game anyway, and other armor is cheaper?

Thanks,

Ken

[Wardad]

I will type quickly before some one beats me to it.

There are three levels of cloaks available and 4 grades of sensors.
Grade 1 default from begining of game
Grade 2 sensor detects level 1 cloaks in system.
Grade 3 sensor detects level 1 and 2.
Grade 4 etc...
Mines are level 5 cloak by default.
Storms have different cloak levels.

Stealth armor is level 1. It also gives a +15 ECM which is its greatest asset. It is also good as armor, but costly.

To operate stealth use the icons on the tool bar. I'm not sure about the latest revision, but the mine sweepers don't work when cloaked. Ships can't be retrofited when cloaked.

Scattering armor prevents internal scans of componants, which is next to useless. It also gives a +15 ECM which is its greatest asset. It is also good as armor, but costly.

Both armors used together give a +30 ECM.

[ September 04, 2002, 18:04: Message edited by: Wardad ]

[LGM]

I think that Cloak Levels add to System or Sector Cloak Levels (Nebula and Storms). Therefore a Cloak 3 plus a Level 2 cloaking storm whould make a ship undetectable.

[Q]

Originally posted by LGM:
I think that Cloak Levels add to System or Sector Cloak Levels (Nebula and Storms). Therefore a Cloak 3 plus a Level 2 cloaking storm whould make a ship undetectable.

No, cloak levels do not add. It's just the highest individual one that is active.

[Taz-in-Space]

A word of caution on using stealth armor on sattelites. While this might at first glance to be a good idea (for the +15 defence) DO NOT use this on satellites guarding Warp Points! This will cloak the whole stack of satellites and let your enemy in. I had a whole system wiped out by the Rage this way!

[Gryphin]

Bad Rage, Bad, Bad, Bad! Shame on you for glassing poor little Taz.

I belive you can use Stealth armor in Sats as long as you don't turn it on.

[dumbluck]

TAZ: this is only true when the ENEMY cannot see anything of yours in the sector. If you had had just one little uncloaked fighter at the warppoint, all those cloaked sats would have joined the battle between the Rage and that one little fighter. Also bare in mind that if the Rage had had any sensors that defeated the CA, there also would have been a battle...

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Taz-in-Space:
A word of caution on using stealth armor on sattelites. While this might at first glance to be a good idea (for the +15 defence) DO NOT use this on satellites guarding Warp Points! This will cloak the whole stack of satellites and let your enemy in. I had a whole system wiped out by the Rage this way!

Yes, this is a long-standing problem. If even ONE satellite in a stack has stealth armor or other cloaking ability then the whole stack gets treated as cloaked when enemy units come through the warp point -- regardless of whether it is actually cloaked or not. So the whole purpose of the satellite stack on your WP is defeated. I've complained many times to MM about it. He can't seem to find what causes it. If you have sats with cloaking ability sitting on a WP you'd better have something ELSE there to trigger combat when the enemy comes through the WP. A base, ships, something...

[ September 04, 2002, 21:51: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[Grandpa Kim]

By default, Stealth armor's cloaking ability is "off". You must actively engage its cloaking ability to cloak your ship/satellite etc. If you find the armor cloak is "on", just turn it "off"!

Kim

[Baron Munchausen]

That doesn't matter with this bug. A sat stack is always treated as cloaked if it contains even a single cloaking component.