Frequently Asked Questions for Newbies

[raynfala]

Originally posted by Ruatha:
FAQ SE4
2.4.2.03. Point Defense. Example: (Point-Defense Cannons I-V). Automatically fire at seekers, fighters, satellites, and drones when in weapon range.(Stone Mill,Capnq)

PDC's do NOT fire automatically at drones, nor do they automatically fire at satellites. I do know that they can be manually fired on satellite Groups. I don't remember if they can target drones, though. Somebody will have to check.

When firing PDC's manually from a ship that is armed with other weapon types, the order in which you attack your targets does matter. On ships not equipped with Multiplexing components, firing the PDC's at the satellite group prevents you from firing your direct fire/missile weapons at a different target on the same turn. However, if you fire your direct fire/missile weapons at the other target first, you may still fire the PDC's at the satellite group afterwards.

--raynfala

[LazarusLong42]

Is there some reason this thread isn't stickied?? I think it's a prime candidate.

[Elowan]

Here's a tip:

Before colonizing a 'ruin planet' make sure that your research queue is filled. If it is - there's a good chance that you might get some of the queue finished for you from the discovered ruins.

[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by raynfala:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ruatha:
FAQ SE4
2.4.2.03. Point Defense. Example: (Point-Defense Cannons I-V). Automatically fire at seekers, fighters, satellites, and drones when in weapon range.(Stone Mill,Capnq)

PDC's do NOT fire automatically at drones, nor do they automatically fire at satellites. I do know that they can be manually fired on satellite Groups. I don't remember if they can target drones, though. Somebody will have to check.
--raynfala

---

PDC's firing at drones is supposed to have been fixed in Patch 2:

Version 1.75:

8. Fixed - Point-Defense will now fire automatically on moving drones.

As for PDC's firing at satellites, ISTR my PDC's automatically firing at satellites when my ships moved, but not when sitting still. And seekers/fighters/drones are a higher targetting priority for PDCs anyway...

[ September 11, 2002, 18:53: Message edited by: DirectorTsaarx ]

[Slick]

Again, more of my notes. Credit to the great community.

- defensive bonuses from stealth + scattering armor do stack - a powerful combination.

- cloaking devices use supplies; stealth armor does not.

- does long range scanning (from long range scanners) happen automatically or do you have to click on enemy ships? must manually click on the enemy ship and the design does not show up in your enemy designs list until you actually get into combat with it. I reported this to MM as a bug.

- is there a comprehensive buglist posted anywhere? no.

- do asteroids affect sight? no.

- in the default AI .txt files, there is absolutely no difference between a tribute and a gift regarding chances for accepting/refusing nor happiness modifiers. There may be differences for individual races.

- wormhole defense: on the “receiving” end, all units clumped together at start of combat. build defenses on short range/overwhelming attacks.

- you can get ripped off on upgrading ships. Check that you are not upgrading engines of the same type from I to II or III - no benefit, but additional cost. Master computers, almost the same thing, slight decrease in size is the only benefit, usually not worth the cost. Check every component to see if there is enough of a benefit to make it worth the cost.

- if you know or suspect an enemy psychic race, begin transitioning to Master Computers before war breaks out - makes Allegiance Subverters useless.

- for strategic combat, I have found that ships that have multiple weapon types and are very flexible are not handled well by the AI. The AI seems to be better at handling single purpose ships. The opposite seems true for tactical combat because, obviously, a human is in control.

- It almost always makes good sense to use the largest mount you can. Check out the specialty weapons to see if you really need the benefit.

- Monolith facilities are very expensive and will take many turns to break even - use wisely. You can do a calculation of the break even (and even factor in the use of a Resource Converter) to see what makes better sense.

- On ships, Spaceyard III and Repair Bay III both repair 8 per turn; all planet Spaceyard facilities only repair 5 per turn. Moral: better to repair in space.

- Spaceyard ships can repair & retrofit while moving, assuming the ship it is repairing/retrofitting can move. Spaceyard ships cannot build while moving.

- Be sure you really need high levels of Multiplex tracking before you research it - do you really expect your ships to engage 5 enemies every turn?

- Be careful you don’t run out of supplies on your CSM ships - each CSM V uses 20 supplies.

- Since shields must be lowered to use Boarding Parties (and they don’t come back up unless you have shield regenerators), armor is a better choice on BP ships. Also consider use of shield depleting weapons on BP Ships.

- Mine Sweeper level-X, sweeps X mines of ANY size per component; keep this in mind when making Medium & Large mines.

- you can get ripped off when analyzing an enemy ship. Although the analyzer might show “minor” or “moderate”, etc., if the enemy ship has racial techs which you do not possess, you will not get them.

- even though PDC’s don’t require multiplex tracking, if you fire them before normal weapons in tactical combat, you lose 1 multiplex “slot” for that turn. I reported this to MM as a bug.

- mounts that add range will add as follows: example: say your normal mount weapon does 60 50 40 30 20 10. using the massive weapon platform mount (adds 6 range, 5x damage), the weapon now does 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 250 200 150 100 50 (!) i.e. it takes the range 1 damage, multiplies by 5, then adds this in before the rest of the damage string. this makes those range 8 weapons able to reach out and touch someone at range 14! at 5x damage!! People, that is a 55-gallon drum of industrial strength WHOOPASS!

- If you retrofit a damaged ship, you don’t pay as much - it had to be repaired anyway. also if a ship will take several turns to retrofit/repair, mothballing it will allow you to save on the maintenance costs. Don’t forget that mothballing will reset crew experience to 0%.

- computer virus attacks skip armor and shields, destroy MC's (which reduces movement to 1), but do no other damage, and does NOT take over control of the ship.

- In addition to moving the target ship, as far as damage goes, Tractor, Repulsor, & Wormhole beams will damage shields equal to their damage rating, but nothing else will be damaged, even if shields are down. Mounts will increase the damage to shields.

- If they hit, Energy Dampeners disrupt all target's weapons for the number of turns equal to the "damage". Mounts will increase the "damage" so larger mounts will increase number of turns disrupted. Multiple hits from ED's will add together - example: 2 hits from a normal mount ED-III (damage = 3) on the same turn will disrupt all target's weapons for the next 6 combat turns.

- Self destruct devices will automatically destruct a ship if it has been taken over by boarding, and can be used manually if the ship is under your control. It will not self destruct a ship taken over by other means (crew insurrection, subVersion, etc.)

- 1 Resource Converter can service your whole empire, or federation, or collective... you get the picture. Build it in a secure location.

- Emergency Supply Pods, Emergency Propulsion Pods, Self Destruct Devices, Stellar Manipulation components, Repair Bays, and Space Yards cannot be used in combat.

- Anything in the cargo storage of your colonizer will be deposited in the cargo of the planet when it is colonized i.e. Weapon Platforms, etc. Any colonists or cargo beyond the capacity of the planet will be lost, however.

Slick

[raynfala]

Originally posted by DirectorTsaarx:
PDC's firing at drones is supposed to have been fixed in Patch 2:

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS!

*blush*

Patch before you leap, I guess.

I like how fighters have been appropriately nerfed. I was using them almost exclusively in my turn-based single-player campaigns. It was easy to take out an entire system in one turn with a modest squadron of fighters on a single carrier.

I was starting to rely on them too heavily. Now I'll be forced to figure out new methods of dishing it out... not a bad thing.

Trying my first campaign where all players start out with max tech. I haven't met any other empires just yet, but I'm imagining the blood's really gonna spill when I do.

--Raynfala

[Slick]

after your next update, I will submit any future addtions with appropriate numbers to make it easier in the future.

[Slick]

Maybe this is the best place for these questions:

- If I launch fighters and combine them with a fleet in strategic mode before a battle, do the fighters get the fleet experience bonuses?

- If I send an empty colonizer on a suicide mission in hostile territory simply to try to get the ruins, do I get the ruins tech or do I need to sacrifice population also?

- Are there any ground combat offensive/defensive modifiers?

- is there a chance that intel projects can fail/succeed independent of the amount of counter-intel? It seems that the only modifier is counter-intel.

- What are the exact percentages of the “AI bonus”? What is it applied to? only resource generation? What about research and intelligence? What about combat bonuses?

Thanks,
Slick

[Suicide Junkie]

- you can get ripped off on upgrading ships. Check that you are not upgrading engines of the same type from I to II or III - no benefit, but additional cost. Master computers, almost the same thing, slight decrease in size is the only benefit, usually not worth the cost. Check every component to see if there is enough of a benefit to make it worth the cost.

The level II and III engines are cheaper than the level I.
You will save money on maintenance in the long run.

1) fighters get fleet experience bonuses.
2) population is not required to get ruins tech.
3) There are small combat sensors and small ecm, I believe.
4) Only puppet political parties has a chance to fail independent of counter intel, IIRC.
5) something like 2x, 3x, and 5x. Applies to research, intel, resources.

[ArchAngel7]

Can somebody put these Posts in one big file that can be downloaded. It would really help us Newbies out!