Any point in static defense in mp?

Works wonders against the ai but is it every actually useful in an mp game?  Or just a waste of resources?
5,664 views 15 replies
Reply #1 Top
Building lots of repair bays can be good - help your fleet hold out vs the attacking fleet, even if it is larger
Reply #2 Top
Yes its good in certain situations. Trick is learning when you need it! Repair is of course the most important, but few turrets can be helpful in certain situations as well.
Reply #4 Top
I think it's highly situational, and often not a winning strategy. The old axiom that a good offense is better than a good defense also applies to Sins.

If you turn auto-placement off, clump your structures together, and have an opponent coming to attack you, a few well placed turets can help hold them off for a while, so that you can get your fleet together and come and defend your planet.

I think going defense early on is a mistake. Resources spent on a good number of gauss cannons or whatever means less resources spent on building a fleet.
If I see someone building a lot of defenses, I think they are generally new to the game and will be easy to vanquish.

I think hangar bays are significantly overpriced for their cost/damage ratio.

I don't even use repair bays very often either.

In MP it's about a few things:
1. Some sort of early rush, to hit your opponent before he's ready
2. Ramp up economy, if the game is not aggressive early on, so that your econ is > then his econ so you can build a bigger, better fleet.
3. Co-ordinating with your allies.

Defenses just don't come into play in those scenarios....

Reply #5 Top
At no point can static D stand alone against a determined strike, however they can be very useful it deterring "non-determined" strikes.

Turret defenses are useful in the early game to deter early harassment and rushes before other defenses become available. If you notice the enemy building 10 or 15 light frigates and coming your way, build four or 5 turrets covering your critical targets and that will make him think twice.


Once you're economy is on its feet, probably mid-game, hangar bays will be the bread and butter of your defense force. Stock them with fighters initially, as they will be useful against seige frigate harassment and LRMs (which come stock with a midgame fleet). Fighters will also slow down bombers which can be devestating in the late-game.

Other defense devices will come in handy as well. Repair bays are indispensible and PJIs are nice too.

Again, the main point of static defenses is to provide a disincentive for enemies to attack. You're going to need a fleet stationed there if he goes hard and heavy. But mild-medium static defenses can deter light harassment, and if you've got heavy static defenses, you will need less of a fleet stationed there to defend, freeing up some ships to go do other things.

Defense is a critical element... but you need lots of it to make a difference. Timing is everything. Remember it takes time to set up a decent amount of defenses, so you need to decide fairly early how much your going to invest in fortifying a planet.


Reply #6 Top
I like to put static cannons next to my hanger defenses and repair stations and phase stabilizers/antimatter/shields because those are usually what ppl want to take out first when it comes to buildings so any damage they want to inflict on those building has to go through my cannons first.... they are still not a good defense though... they need about 100% more health to be an active deterant.
Reply #7 Top
Building lots of repair bays can be good - help your fleet hold out vs the attacking fleet, even if it is larger
End of quote

they don't always seem to autocast even when on autocast. I've watched plenty of ships die right next to fully ready repair bays. Maybe they fixed it since I stopped playing, maybe not. (Just checking for news on 1.1)
Reply #8 Top
One tactic I have started using sometime if I have some spare resouces is putting one or two hanger bays on my planets BEHIND my frontlines.
Initially sounds silly but the idea is that sooner or later an enemies scouts are going to be wiped out, denying intel and/or forcing them to buy more scouts - I don't want him knowing about the second major fleet I am massing to attack his flank while he is playing with my main fleet at my chokepoint planet he is trying to get through!!!! :)
Reply #9 Top
As TEC, early-mid game, a single Kol with two Hanger bays can hold it's own against a mucg larger force. I just played a 2V2 with comps, was attacking one and the other attacked one of my core worlds, since I had a Kol close I sent it in, it held off A Dunov, another Kol, 20-30 Percheons, and 15 LRM's with only the help of three repair bays (6 Tac slots to hold off an entire fleet), my main fleet comes back and wipes the floor with them as they're retreating thanks to my PJI. Just look at it this way, turrets are deterrents and meat shields at best, Hangers stop Siege Frigates and help in defence if the opponent doesn't have flak, but repair bays turn the tide of any battle, even if they're just the ones you retreat to because your Flagship is at less than 1000 hull.
Reply #10 Top
they don't always seem to autocast even when on autocast. I've watched plenty of ships die right next to fully ready repair bays. Maybe they fixed it since I stopped playing, maybe not. (Just checking for news on 1.1)
End of quote


Ummmm, maybe your repair bays ran out of antimatter dude or got disabled.
Reply #11 Top
they don't always seem to autocast even when on autocast. I've watched plenty of ships die right next to fully ready repair bays. Maybe they fixed it since I stopped playing, maybe not. (Just checking for news on 1.1)Ummmm, maybe your repair bays ran out of antimatter dude or got disabled.
End of quote


Actually ive seen this happen myself.

Ive retreated my capship to some repair bays and the button is "coloured" , anti-matter is full , the little auto-cast thing is there and it still doesnt autocast. I usually have to micro cast. It doesnt really bother me that much however.

This however seems to happen more with Vasari
Reply #12 Top
If pirates are active or one of your mp opponents drop then there is AI in most mp games. I don't think I have seen more than a tiny number of mp games that were completely without AI. Even if pirates are inactive, inevitably someone drops.

Also as mentioned before, the time it takes for an opponent to raze structures is substantial, esp. early in the game. It buys time so you can either defend or counter attack elsewhere. It also helps take advantage of any noobishness in the attacker's strategy because it forces them to make more informed choices about what the order of attack should be. It helps reveal any weakness in their knowledge of the game.
Reply #13 Top
It also helps take advantage of any noobishness in the attacker's strategy because it forces them to make more informed choices about what the order of attack should be. It helps reveal any weakness in their knowledge of the game.
End of quote


This is a great point.



Reply #14 Top
As TEC, early-mid game, a single Kol with two Hanger bays can hold it's own against a mucg larger force. I just played a 2V2 with comps, was attacking one and the other attacked one of my core worlds, since I had a Kol close I sent it in, it held off A Dunov, another Kol, 20-30 Percheons, and 15 LRM's with only the help of three repair bays (6 Tac slots to hold off an entire fleet)
End of quote


If you're up against anyone with half a brain, they A. Focus fire their entire fleet on each repair bay, and those won't stand up for long against 15 LRMS and carriers.... B. Skip this planet and go to your next one and start shredding whatever you have there...


Reply #15 Top
If the Kol has high flak, 3 repair bays can hold out for a while against that force. The trick is that the enemy Dunov has to lead the attack by smacking the Kol with EMP to drop the Kol's AM. Then focus on the bays as the above commenter stated.