Best satellite design?

[CW]

Missile Ships don't need a combat sensor right?

CW

[rdouglass]

In early game, my sats have PPB's exclusively. In later games, I mix PPB's with WMG's and a few dedicated shield sat's. (I don't know why, but if I throw in 1 Large sat with all shields / armor per 10 Weapons sats, my Groups Last a h@!! of a lot longer.) Sometimes I'll throw in a few Null Space but their range is only 5. I seem to have much better success even with PPB's range 6. It doesn't sound like a lot, but that extra 1 space seems to be very important most times.

I use sats almost exclusively at Warp Points. (Against the AI) I don't use mines or missles 'cause the AI still has difficulties with them and AI seems to do a lot better against sat's.

Lemmy, you CAN move sat's... I'll generally move my sat Groups towards the WP's on the outside of my reign. I'll usually keep a few Groups at strategic choke points within the bouderies of my empire. Sure takes care of any ships I miss or any that get hit by the spacial anomoly and end up behind lines.

[rdouglass]

quote:

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Originally posted by CW:
Missile Ships don't need a combat sensor right?

CW

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Nope, but they will need Multiplex Tracking to target more than 1 ship....

[Suicide Junkie]

quote:

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Missile Ships don't need a combat sensor right?

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Missiles have an inherent accuracy of 100% if they survive.

The only reasons why you would put a sensor on a missile ship are:
a) You want more accuracy on your PDCs
b) You have some beam weapons too.
c) You have space and money to burn

quote:

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Lemmy, you CAN move sat's

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You do have to carry them in a ship (with sat bays) though.

[geoschmo]

I disagree that sat's are only good for warp point defense. In fact I think they are more useful for planetary defense then they are for wp def.

Against an enemy that knows what they are doing, you get one shot in warppoint d, then the ships that are not damaged scatter, and you can't persue. Unless you have a LOT of sat's, or the enemy has very few ships coming through, it won't do much good.

But as planetary defense they are very good, even early on. A small sat can hold one CSM and one PDC. That's a good combo to handle ships or fighters. Plus you can put heavier coverage on a tiny planet than you can with weapons platforms. This is good for small, but strategically important planets. And if the enemy wants to get at the planet, they have to come in range of the sat's, unless you are way out matched in weapon's tech levels.

Geo

[rdouglass]

quote:

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Originally posted by geoschmo:
I disagree that sat's are only good for warp point defense. In fact I think they are more useful for planetary defense then they are for wp def.

Against an enemy that knows what they are doing, you get one shot in warppoint d, then the ships that are not damaged scatter, and you can't persue. Unless you have a LOT of sat's, or the enemy has very few ships coming through, it won't do much good.

But as planetary defense they are very good, even early on. A small sat can hold one CSM and one PDC. That's a good combo to handle ships or fighters. Plus you can put heavier coverage on a tiny planet than you can with weapons platforms. This is good for small, but strategically important planets. And if the enemy wants to get at the planet, they have to come in range of the sat's, unless you are way out matched in weapon's tech levels.

Geo

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Personally, I never said they were only good for WP's. I said I only used 'em for WP's. And AFAIK, sat's will still clump together as 1 group and usually end up on the wrong side of the planet to do any good. Against that same enemy (that knows what they're doing), the enemy ships will just move to the other side of your planet, glass the planet, and ignore the sats. (Unless 0f course, they've fixed the sat grouping issue)...

[Sinapus]

I tend to use satellites as early-warning stations in as many border systems I can find. If I have them I put a cloak, anti-cloak sensor and a scanner on board so I can get readings on what's coming at me.


If the AI is doing the usual with mines (nothing) then I send a cloaked ship to drop a few satellites in every system I can reach.