Thats assuming the enemy fighters are in range of the static defense

Yes. Another one that is long range, slow firing but packs a real punch. Stops the seige frigate rush abit.

I actually want to see something thats able to counter planetary sieges.

Like planetary defences that are able to hit any ship that comes within sieging distance of the planet from any side.

I would make it weak tho and upgradable in research or upgrading the planet at a costly price. Balacne is key.

How about guns that can fire from the surface of the planet? Just make that something you can buy and upgrade in the planetary improvement menu.

I don't think the developer is interested in balance testing yet. I'm sure there will be more of these kinds of things later on. Planetary defenses are one of my favorites, since it just makes sense.

YES! I think Planetary defenses need reworking. The current Guass platforms are all but useless.

A couple suggestions to prevent overpowering defenses:

1. Planet based defenses?
2. Upgradable Gun Platforms (more powerfun guns, missles, flak, etc.)
3. Fixed emplacements - i.e. orbital gun platforms which cover a specific targeting arc OR only allow platforms to be placed at jump entry points?

I wish there was a way for planets to be upgraded to fire counter missiles at the siege missiles coming in. Not enough to be invulnerable, but enough to stop a measly siege frigate attack.

Consider balance from a multi-player perspective rather than the current AI. You have to think about ways that players can (and will) abuse any type of structure or ship. It's tough. One advantage to specialized defenses (like anti-bomber flaks) is that if you overspecialize, players will adapt in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. The idea is to make none of the defenses the "best", but simply good for a specific situation.

Adding a research tree for static defenses (several levels) would also let someone keep up with tech advanaces for other ships. Static defense should be able to occupy a primary fleet long enough to get some of your own ships to that location, and discourage mass-bomber tactics etc.

Hi,

I support the gist of this thread. The AI is not a challenging adversary, especially when it comes to defense, so any arguments that your defenses are currently effective are dubious.

Just think about how long it takes you to conquer an AI home planet with 16 or so gauss platforms clumped together. Do they even come close to destroying your battleships? They don't for me.

Many people have argued that it should be required to throw ships at a planet to defend it. This is a valid point. Assuming your defensive stations aren't totally useless, it is logical that you can defend a planet with a fleet somewhat weaker than the attacking fleet.

I would warn you guys up front that this developer has historically been resistant to wondrous ideas of new things. Chances are: it isn't going to happen. Not that I don't think it would be truly awesome if we had planets shooting antimatter missiles up from the surface, but the developer probably won't do it.

In order to maximize the chance of offering a suggestion that might matter, try to stick to concepts that are already present in the game.

I like BinaryAlgorithm's suggestion to add specialized defense platforms, like LRM platforms and flak platforms. This seems like a glaring omission to the game balance. Someone can send one Arcova to your system, find out where your defenses are, and send Perchiriens in at your weakest jump point. Then the Perchiriens just sit there and bomb your defenses unretaliated. They could also bring several fighters to kill your bombers, if you have hangar defenses. This is a balance issue.

LRM platforms would help defend against a load of Krosov Siege Frigates (maybe with a Kodiak or two thrown in for extra fodder). It's pretty easy to position, say, 20 Krosovs in a way that they aren't getting destroyed very fast, and by the time your fleets respond, you've lost the planet. Even if they aren't able to colonize it (they COULD with a well-positioned Protev, though), they'd wipe out your planetary improvements. This is an annoying hit and run tactic which exploits the weaknesses of the defense system.

Unless we have more effective static defenses, we'll need to resort to defending planets with ships. Due to the agility of having many, fast, agile frigates running around defending, this will mean the decline of the battleship in the game for anyone who wants to hang on to their planets. If you build battleships, there just aren't enough of them, and they aren't fast enough, to respond to attacks. It would be unfortunate to see the highly-competitive, top-of-the-ladder multiplayer battles being a delicate frigate-defense war (mostly Kodiaks and Perchiriens), with battleships hardly ever used.

A research option to add shields to gauss cannons would be nice.

which is why an upgrade to give the gauss a additional flak turret would be great... it would simply become more effective/faster to destroy them head on with superior capital ships and such. This would at least damage my fleets and force me to consolidate or rotate 2 fleets in and out of action.