So all drama about this game aside, it was gifted to me so I want to get some time out of it. Im trying to play as a warmongering human empire with lasers and torpedoes as my weapons, and ive been trying to have a mix of armor shields and point defense to survive but even then it doesnt matter if i have superior army according to the f3 screen or if its just even. I get my ass handed to me 9 times out of ten. I even tried building those stations with like 500 battle strength or whatever the game calls it to fight in the same area i pulled their fleet to but those seem to do jack shit as well. Im sure the game has problems but as it is, does anyone have any advice?
>>342022248
what ships are you building?
>>342022497
Im trying to make a mix of the first two classes of ships with more point defense being put on the larger ships. I cant think of the ship names but ny last run got messed up by war before i made the 3rd class so i dont know if im just jumping the gun
>>342022864
you should have 3 times as many corvettes as every other ship type like if you think 40 is too many, build more. If you are using torpedoes, go big or go home, dont do mix and match bullshit. Always put the largest weapon types onto the ships that you can, if you use point defense, put it on 1 slot in the corvettes so they can screen for your larger shit.
>>342022864
>>342022497
Also for tranportation ive been relying on wormholes mostly so getting to the battle is pretty quick.
ALSO i was playing like normal when a civilization suddenly advanced to the space age in my territory and joined another civilization. What the fuck is that shit is there a mod that just lets me glass planets?
>>342022248
Defense stations are completely worthless. Just spam more corvettes with torpedoes.
>>342023267
So point defense protects other ships than just the one equipped with it?
Also i thought it was important to grab other weapon types in case the enemy had a lot of point defense or such
>>342023367
just land an army on the planet, you can either enslave them or purge them after you take them over.
>>342023538
I have to declare war on them to do that though right?
>>342023414
So then the whole fleet power count isnt really reliable then?
>>342023528
>Also i thought it was important to grab other weapon types in case the enemy had a lot of point defense or such.
Point defense shoots any missile or torpedo that goes into range of your ships, having a wad of corvettes will screen your larger ships, also because of their high evasion rate they can draw fire from larger weapons so your big ships can do their job. Mixing weapons can work but if you are going to use torpedoes its better to just mass them so you can overwhelm the enemies defenses.
>>342024013
make sense, but what about research. it should still make sense to research an alternate weapon type incase they get crazy point defense or something right? or does it still just win in the end to get a shit ton of torpedoes and say fuck you to all of space
>>342023845
the power count is just for numbers, has nothing to do with how "strong" the AI faction is. Same goes for technology, just means they have more things researched, doesnt mean any of it will be useful in a military battle.
The main issue most likely is having too big of a focus on big ships. Small ships (corvettes) tend to be targeted first (I don't know if it's an actual mechanic or something that emerges from the fact that small weapons have lower range, but I tend to have battleships untouched while only corvettes take damage) and since corvettes have higher avoidance, they actually tend to be ideal for screening your larger ships, especially if you give them the defence upgrades. In addition, in my experience the mid-sized ships (destroyers and carriers) aren't cost-effective no matter how you build them, I've enjoyed the most success with corvettes screening 100% damage-focused battleships with all-large weapons.
The weapon selection is also a factor. For starters, it's counterproductive to research multiple types of weapons because you could have researched a higher-tier weapons instead that perform all-around better even against their supposed weaknesses, and this is especially true for missiles, since enemy point defence provides ~100% defence against them up to a point, but afterwards every one of them goes through. If you want to use missiles/torpedos, mass them up such that they completely overwhelm PD.
However, the weapons actually are quite poorly balanced, since kinetic weapons are outright inferior and the best weapons tend to be energy-based: those feature disruptors (100% damage to shields) and energy torpedos (bypass shields not damaging them, cannot be shot down by point defence, only available for large mounts) and lances (tachyon lance is the highest DPS weapon in the game, and bypasses armour by 100%). Some people probably have done the theorycrafting and proven what yields the highest DPS, but corvettes with PD+medium disruptors screening tachyon lance battleships at 1:10 ratio is what I've used with huge success. Before getting battleships, I just used more corvettes. You could develop a custom counter against specific enemies, but the difference is never big
>>342024219
it helps, im just saying that if you want torpedoes its more efficient to just load everything up with it for the most bang per buck. There are other good weapons out there.
I just use a mix of kinetic and laser weaponry and I absolutely wreck anyone I fight. The lasers tear down armor and the kinetic tears down shields. Dunno if what i'm doing makes any sense but it certainly works.
>>342024627
The AI is pretty braindead so even with the worst weapon (kinetic) you can do perfectly fine.
this all sounds insteresting, but what do battles actually look like in this game?
a spreadsheet?
a shitty shallow rts battle?
or an actually decent ship fleet combat sim?
>>342024493
I''ll keep it in mind then, but as far as other weapons what are some good choices? my first run I just massed lasers and got fucked but I think that was because I had no point defense.
>>342024734
swarm of bees
>>342024219
Point defence is what counters torpedos. However, once you have reached the equilibrium where the enemy cannot shoot down any more torpedos, missiles/torpedos are actually very good and most likely the most effective weapon type if you are simply looking to construct new ships rather than upgrading your old ones. Of course, if 90 of your ships are neutered by PD while just 10 get shots through, switching weapons probably is the way to go.
>>342024627
This is actually the same thing that I do. I had a fleet with a strength of 26k going up against another fleet with a strength of 12k and proportional to their size they tore me a new asshole. I ended up switching around weapons until I came to a mix of kinetic and lasers and then I absolutely curb stomped them.
>>342024927
good to know. I'm probably going to try torpedoes this next run again but I'm going to research lasers on back up. also is there a semi predictable skill tree in this? I've had games where point defense didn't show up for forever
>>342024734
imagine two blobs flying towards eachother, shooting as soon as they're in weapons range.
That's literally it. The only thing you can do once 2 fleets are engaged is press the retreat button.
I never had a problem with combat in this game. I always engage when I'm roughly x2 their strength and if I'm not I bail and go way above my fleet limit.
What ethics are the best? I went militarist & fanatic materialist because I thought it would be easy mode but the happiness bonus from spiritualist & pacifist is the most important thing in the game it seems like
>>342025265
>the happiness bonus from spiritualist & pacifist is the most important thing in the game it seems like
nigga you can completely ignore happiness unless it gets below a certain threshold.
And even if you go below that threshold, the first penalty is only like a -10% research/minerals output.
Happiness is worthless in this game.
>>342025114
There's a hidden tech tree and tech options you get are from the pool of techs you could research, with their likelihood modified by ethos. According to http://www.stellariswiki.com/Technology PD requires Administrative AI (5% research speed) in order to become available, beyond that it's mostly just luck. If you are pressed to get any particular technology, one trick would be to research the cheapest technology options first such that you get a reroll on next batch of available tech choices faster. And +1 research alternatives techs are very valuable.
>>342025565
Well, you get 10% bonus at 80% happiness and 20% bonus at 100% happiness and those are fairly major bonuses and not difficult to reach if you've designed your faction to exploit them.
>>342025795
you get 10% bonus for just taking fanatic materialist. If you stack happiness buildings you can get that 20% happiness bonus on top of that as well.
Seriously the most boring and uneventful game Paradox ever released. It's incredible how badly they fucked this up. I'm sure it will be mediocre when they add in 6 expansions to it.
>>342025573
well administrative AI looks like a good one anyways so that's good to know
Can somebody explain this "not emulating the evil of man" or whatever pretentious nonsense it is to me. Don't they make games about WW2? What I heard cannot be right.
> build a large empire
> max core planets reached
> have to deal with this horrendous sector mechanic where the AI completely fucks up your colonies
This is what made me stop playing. What little fun there was in seeing your worlds develop is just gone at that point.
>>342026407
Download a mod that expands planet limit i guess?
micromanaging your planets gets annoying as shit.
diplomacy is a joke
space is cramped
war is stupidly simple
>>342026776
Hmmm that would alleviate some problems true.
It's becoming a nightmare to keep track of all those planets though. The interface needs some serious upgrades to make it less of a pain in the ass.
>>342024627
Disruptors are even better against shields, though (100% damage), as are energy torpedoes (bypassing shields entirely without being able to be shot down unlike standard missiles - only available on large mounts, though) and they both are energy weapons, just like armour counters are.
With the current balance, kinetic weapons are worthless.
>>342026963
yeah I've found some issues with the game that bother me as well, but it still has some fun to it so I'd rather mod something gamebreakingly stupid if I have no other option
>>342026987
Wait, energy torpedoes can't be shot down with point defences?
holy fuck I didn't know that
>>342027342
Yeah, proton/quantum/tachyon torpedos can't, I'm quite certain. The rocket-style torpedos can be, though, although at least their description would suggest they are more resilient than standard missiles.
>>342027607
Actually, they were called Proton Torpedoes and Neutron Torpedoes. Anyway, they're particles research and energy class weapons, not rocketry like standard torpedoes.
>want to upgrade my torpedoes to lvl 3
>keep getting literally every weapon system except torpedoes and other tech I don't give a shit about
> still shooting level 2 torpedoes a few years later
This research system is fucking retardo.
Im browsinf the workshop right now, but does anyone know of a mod that lets you glass planets? It seems like a basic feature for a space game but maybe im just missing it
A whole month after release and people still don't know how to play.
>>342027946
>my nations borders are getting pushed by neighboors borders
>need expand borders research thing
>30 decades later still no upgrade
>whole enemy nation blocks me from travelling to my outposts and my vasalls
There is literally no point playing this game after you’ve done exploring your section of the map but war, war, and more war.
>>342028620
I mean does the game really provide any resource to learn the combat aside from trial and error and general hints?
>>342028674
Go to war and declare those few planets that block your borders as your objective, then take em.
Unless, of course, you're stuck with tier 2 torpedoes because you keep getting mineral upgrades and shit.
>>342029364
What, do you not want to play the game to learn how to play the game, or something?
You can always check for guides if you really need info dumped into your headcase.
>>342029453
if the nigger has his people living on the planets, that would be over my limit of the planets i can own
>>342029364
what is there to learn? about the only mistake you can make is not using your initial fleet to find habitabal worlds and concentrating on surveying them then fast expanding
>>342029467
I have been playing it and getting destroyed as many of us have discussed in the thread but you are some kind of special autistic if you think discussion with the community of people who play the game is a worse alternative to looking up guides on your own.
>>342029619
Create a sector beforehand then.
Though as people have already pointed out, that has some issues of its own.
>>342029750
>I have been playing it and getting destroyed
Work with logical combinations. Make more than one type of each class of ship. Quit being so stupid and stop looking at the force strength number, and look instead at fleet composition. Then you can set up a fleet that can wipe out anything you send it at.
>>342025565
joyful(90% happiness) gives you like 10/20%+ on ALL resources
>>342029924
last attempt was laser with torpedoes and added point defense. I also added defense stations in areas where I expected to fight thinking they would be some help. this did not work as was already discussed in the thread. due to my work schedule I only have one day a week where I can get into a playthrough so talking with the community and maybe just having a thread about the game every now and then is fun.
>>342029941
Yes, it does, but that 90% can be reached through other methods.
The 10% bonus from fanatic materialist you will never be able to get.
At any rate those bonusses don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I've tried both and didn't notice a significant difference.
>>342028441
found an exterminatus option and most of the mods are a little extreme but I guess that IS what you want out of your exterminations
>>342022248
PLEASE BUY HOY4
PLEASE BUY HOY4
PLEASE BUY HOY4
>>342030263
And you were already told about basic tactics such as corvette screens and shit. Lots of bullshit info added in too.
Make some strike vettes and some slingers, punches out shields rather quickly, while your strikers will whittle through armor. Give your destroyers two jobs, so two builds: one's there for point defense and backing up the vette screen, and then the other's there to chew through the enemy's vette screen - small to medium weapons on vettes and destroyers, that's how to go with it. Cruisers should be equipped to support your destroyer line, as well as carrying strike craft. Your battleships should be differentiated at the design screen for their combat roles: rather than spamming 6-10 of them, set them up as long-range artillery with jamming and debuff skills.
Lastly, attack them first, instead of waiting for them to approach your spearhead, works wonders. Keep fleets within the 12-25k range for smaller battlegroups, and have a central cluster around 40-60, allows for flanking maneuverability. If you still have fleet space left after that, make some smaller strike squadrons to harass, provide flexible support, and perform raiding patterns.
Anyone know some must have mods? I saw one coo one that let you transfer food from one colony to the other but its unsupported now.
>>342029941
id rather have 2 40% happiness planets than 1 90% happiness.
>trying to make warmonger
Stopped reading here. You can't do this because of retard warscore.
Or at least you couldn't last time I checked.
>>342030701
Yes today i was told about that and im going to implement it in my run today, should i just avoid war alltogether before i hit the tens of thousands though?
>>342030843
Whats up with that, does it just stop you in the middle of your path of carnage? Also is there a mod to fix that.
>>342030862
Keep an eye on how you compare with the enemy. If you're abysmally lower than them, you'd be fucked, so just suck a lot of space dick. If you're on just a little lower than, or perfectly, equal terms, make sure the majority of your forces are comprised of vettes with good evade ratio.
Also, don't bother with defense stations except at choke points/essential systems.
>>342030971
It prevents you from seriously waging war on any empire with more than 3 planets unless you vassalize them because the retarded system is capped at 100pts and a single planet costs 30+.
I don't know about mods to fix it.
>>342031820
that's ridiculous, there should be an all out war option.
>>342032476
I think it's an interesting work around to the dumb AI. They throw in their entire fleet and get whelped then they get a grace period to build it all up again before repeating the previous.
>>342032915
fair enough, but I hope they fix the ai then because I want to initiate a grand crusade some time.
>>342031820
>a single planet costs 30+
Not usually, most of the planets i take are like 5-9, so i end up grabbing huge blobs of space at a time. Even the capital planets cost like 14 max, so i think it depends on the relative size of the empires or something.
>>342033175
You can do it against one of the 3 Crises. I had a great deal of fun sending in 20k doomstacks against an endless wave of bugs.
>>342033243
does being militaristic affect this? if not why
So before this 404s, when it comes down to energy weapons, are lasers good or is there a flat out better alternative?
>>342034964
Lances are basically the best weapons in the game, so use them in lieu of large variants of the laser weaponry. Pretty sure it's a good idea to stick plasma on frigates.
>>342035196
*corvettes
Speaking of which, why doesn't this game have a frigate class? I miss Sins.
>>342035196
aren't lances large weapons only or am I wrong on that
>>342035347
Yeah, that's why I said use them instead of large variants of laser weaponry.
>>342035507
gotcha, but for corvettes, if you were to equip one with lasers would the standard variety be viable or what?
>>342035705
Don't put lasers on Corvettes. Put PD or torpedos on them.
>>342035862
gotcha, guess I'll switch my starting weapon tech to missiles then.
so I was looking at the ethics available and while looking at the points limit, I was thinking of what the imperium of man would be and I noticed you would need like 6 ethics points to play as them. but of the 3 ethics I can't tell if fanatic militarist or fanatic xenophobe would be more benificial. those influence gains are intense
>>342036440
Also on the other hand xenophile looks great but i cant inagine wanting to form an empire with the ai as it is
People have said that paradox games get good after they release some untold amount of dlc but since this is my first time jumping into one of their games like this, how long does that take before they actually do anything?
>>342037107
About half a year, though Stellaris is getting updates super fast.
>>342037538
Thats "good" to hear then. Id rather just have a complete game but we all know what year it is.
>>342037107
EUIV took maybe a year's worth of DLC
in the early days games like HoI III took like three years or something..
Im currently hating fighting a war every ten years.
>>342022248
Refund it. Get friends with better tastes.
>>342023629
Nope, not if you have the right government policy. You literally just take your army and land there. Conquers them immediately.
>>342026407
I just manage every planet now. Sectors are stupid.
>>342038778
thanks for the bump senpai, space games are where it's at though. I still load up FTL pretty often.
>>342038863
would that just be militaristic policy then?
>>342038865
there's a huge penalty for going over the limit though isn't there? did you just download a mod for it?
Am I the only one that thinks influence shouldn't be required for power hubs, mineral plants and other buildings? It doesn't make sense why I would need to spend any for most of the buildings that require it.
>>342039008
Ya I raised the cap to 995, I hate inefficiency
>>342038654
Cant you wipe out enemy societies?
>>342039565
what mod did you use, I'm probably going to end up using something like that as I've heard the sector ai is just shit
>>342039008
>militaristic policy
Go to government panel, find the policy section. It should be called something like planetary intervention.
>>342039660
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=682336292
>>342039773
holy shit I never noticed that panel. Thanks anon.
>>342039773
I haven't seen it yet, does it only appear once ive encountered a new species or does xenophobia make it absent
>>342037668
You can play the Clarke beta for free right now, you might as well.
Apparently my captcha broke so this is a bit late.
>>342042123
neat, do you have to restart or is it like adding a new mod
>>342042525
You don't have to restart.
>>342042123
Clarke isnt in beta, its the current patch right now
>>342043282
Whoops, I haven't had time recently.
>>342044348
well thread is going to 404 but thanks for the help anons with this relatively shitpost free thread. my new run is already looking good but we will see what military exploits happen, I have the cultist special event this run as well.
