"Fully upgraded" simply means that all the upgrade slots are used.

As for what upgrades you should buy, it depends where you are placing the starbase. My favored race is Advent, and i haven't yet found any good reason to not have one level in Meteoroid Control (second level is currently broken AFAIK), if the starbase orbits a terran planet, i usually have the maximum allegiance increase upgrades too. If a starbase is in an uncolonizable gravwell not on frontlines, i fit it with tradeport and culture upgrades, whereas frontline starbases have weapon and armor upgrades, with Mass Disorientation and Meteoroid control abilities. Even though Ascensia can have 20 strikecraft squadrons by itself, i don't usually buy many hangar upgrades.

OK, not meaning to hijack the thread... I though the weapons upgrade on the Vasari SB were the ones used to attack other SB's.  Does that upgrade effect the regular anti-ship weapons also?

Orkulas default weapons are 6 banks of pulse guns. the pulse gun banks are vertically running up the body of the Orky and there are 2 on each of the big tentacles. its symmetrical, so 3 banks will be facing the front and 3 to the rear, cover about 180 degrees on each bank. its a crap ton of pulse guns on each bank, they fire like 20 pulse bullets per burst from each bank. very long range and excellent damage against mostly the smaller frigates. 

the first weapon upgrade adds the Disintegrator weapon banks. these things are fairly short range and do anti-structure type damage. they have mediocre damage against ships but rip apart structures and starbases easily. they also have a very high rate of fire. there are 4 disintegrator banks, one on each of the smaller tentacles. they seem to have nearly 360 degree firing arc. 

the second weapon upgrade adds phase missiles, which are extremely long range and do alot of damage to ships of all kinds, even the heavy stuff. these you should all be familiar with, its like a mass of Assailants basically. 

the third weapon upgrade just gives +20% damage to all of the other weapon systems. pretty sure only the Vasari SB has this upgrade, the other ones can only buy two weapon systems upgrades. 

Codan:

Instead of upgrading hangars to get strike craft for the TEC starbase, wouldn't it be better to spend those points elsewhere and instead surround the starbase with hangar bays, providing a flak curtain as well as the squads?  The 2 or 3 extra upgrades could go to something like ship prod or even docking bays to keep the hangars alive.  Or do you suround it with hangars anyway to get extra squad coverage?

Transitive:

Thanks for the detail on the Orkulas.  Do you know detail on other civs upgrades?  It's very helpful.

ToJKa:

Broken how?  I've heard this a couple times around the forums but I can't get it straight.

Also, is docking bays as good as I think it is?  I haven't had a chance to test it but it seems the buff could get quite ridiculous while backed by Hoshis and repair bays as it targets all ships and structures in a large radius.  Is the second tier worth it?

huhwhozat-----

The main reason for the fighter bays on the starbase:

The speed with which it remakes fighters when they die, and the durability of the starbase means structure ships dont fly up and destroy it 5 seconds later, and yes while the hanger bays do provide extra flak coverage....I would rather have flak ships to provide that service since they are mobile I can move them to where the fighters are attacking (since we all know they are not always attacking in the area you want them to).

You also cannot build extra hanger bays if the starbase is being used as a trade port gap filler in an uncolonizable gravity well, so it gets fighters (mainly to kill off merchant trade ships for extra cash =P)

As for the docking bays...they are nice but 3 or more repair bays will repair more things at once than the starbase can and for approx the same cost (research+upgrade cost)...and they can be upgraded to repair more hull per second.

My way is of course not the only way....but remember find the way that works best for you. Some times the trade port gap filler starbase will get a repair upgrade if my fleet is often flying through that area while fighting on different fronts. All depends upon the minor changes of the map/strategy.

So do you mean to say that the starbase actually rebuilds squads faster?  Keep in mind that the hangars are being repaired by both repair bays and the docking booms ability so they won't go down too fast, even to structure busters.  If the enemy is there with his fleet, he can probably make mincemeat of your flak ships, but it'll take him longer to wear down the hangars.

True, the whole premise of my turtleshell idea is based on building at a colonizable world.

Keep in mind that docking booms repairs ALL friendly targets in a large radius, while also restoring antimatter.  I was assuming use of both the SB and repair bays in conjuction, the repair bays doing the brunt of repair work, while the SB refills their antimatter and also adds a little to the repair effort.

Of course the turtleshell would have a specific situation in which it would be useful, such as a major chokepoint planet.

Ummm, I just realized something.  My whole premise for this strategy assumes that docking booms targets structures as well as ships.  The in game description does not give target information and I can't easily test my theory.  Does someone have a definite answer?

TEC and Edvent don't get advantages to negate to mobility of the Orkulas becuase the Orkulas is the Vasari's anti-SB unit. Vasari need that advantage becuase they lack an assualt cruiser.

No.

I'm just wondering here, does the TEC's starbase's self destruct do more damage in a gas giant gravity well? and if so, how much? i think that would be pretty intense if an already devastating attack like that could do even more damage.

Yeah, I generally avoid the self-destruct upgrade as well.

I will only go for trade upgrades if it's a gap-filler (to include low-logistical, if it's not too forward), rear-line, and plasma-storm grav-wells.

For all-out barrier-worlds where the enemy only gets thru over my cold, dead fleet, I'll take all three hull and SC upgrades, as well as both weapons upgrade. People might call me crazy, but any front-line world of mine will already have a culture structure in orbit to ensure my antimatter regen is up to par and there WILL be repair platforms and hangar bays surrounding that SB. The trifecta of repair around the SB, as many hangars as I can, and then probably as many weapons platforms as I can squeeze in just to finish it off and give the enemy something else to sweat (what else would I use 3 logistical slots for? Though a 4th repair may not be a bad idea, either). This will usually put over 20 SC groups in the air, more than enough to cause pain and give enemy SC and structure bombers something to think about. Any proper choke-point only has one approachable side, and mine will all feature mines as wide and thick as possible on the entire approach vector if I can afford it (randomly scatter it, if not).

Some barrier worlds will get cap-ship factories in place of SC hangars if I'm not close to my supply wall. Twenty LRMs build mighty fast and when backed by all those repair bays and the smaller strike craft #s...they can still defend the system quite efficiently.

If I manage to rope one of the smaller star-systems in a multistar game off to myself, I generally drop the fierce barrier-SBs on every gravwell tied to the star, in addition to the star itself. Speaking of stars...it's never a bad idea to set some SBs in an enemy star's gravwell if they don't have some up already. Fill them full of SC and pummel their economy as all their trade ships keep wandering into the kill zone.

DA BUTTON!

nuff said

ahahahhaa.

ok, so im pretty sure debris vortex works by sucking up the debris left behind when something blows up (you can see it if you zoom in.) I'm not completely sure how much it repairs tho, or whether or not the amount of debris directly affects this. anyone know?

each ship drops a set amount of large and small debris pieces on destruction. don't know how much is restored per piece.