Tactical Builds

It depends on what you're playing. If it's against the AI, a repair bay/turret cluster should hold back any attack. In multiplayer, it really depends on the situation. Usually repair bays are all I will build (maybe some hangars too, but not many), since if my fleet is not at a frontline planet, you can bet there's a starbase there. Turrets are rarely effective in multiplayer unless they are guarding a specific cluster of logistical structures. Even then, Hangars are usually better since you probably haven't researched any turret upgrades.

i only play AI

so you reckon repair+cluster rather than hangars? ok, what's a cluster, how many repair to turret?

oh and, btw, do we agree you have to go for manual placement coz auto is just not good enough?

It depends on the situation of course, but in general, in multiplayer, the two most used tactical builds would be repair, and hanger bays.  Repair is used when you are being attacked at one of your planets and you want your defending fleet sitting there on repair as it is fighting.  Hangers are good defense against lrm and siege frigs.

3 turrent/1 bay against first 2 waves of pirates

1 turret /2 bay for support in case of enemy assault (no build is good standalone against human opponent)

Hmmm... If you're dealing with pirates or small AI fleets, I generally use hangars/repair bays. 

For large fleets, I have 4-6 repair bays(depends on how upgraded ur planet is) and about 15-25 turrets.

For Collossal fleets, a Starbase(dur ) supported by 4 repair bays, about 10 turrets, a shield generator(if ur TEC) and however many hangars possible, all fighters.

Koda0

if its an asteroid it just gets 3 turrets and a repair bay. if its in a really important position i'll build a starbase and 2 repair bays (and 1 turret to fill the last slot i guess). hardly ever waste money upgrading tac slots at a roid. 

if its a planet that i expect to see some combat at my first round of defenses is a frigate factory and 2 repair bays. i'll build defenders there to hold off enemies if it gets attacked. then, once funds become available, i upgrade the tac slots and add 2 or 3 hangar defenses loaded with fighters. thats almost always enough to secure a planet. big attacks need to be repelled by the main fleet or by a fully upgraded starbase, but smaller attacks will tend to bounce off. 

Against AI: Starbase + 3-4 repair bays and lotsa hangars (fighters inside).

Eh, I generally put up 2 or 3 repair bays and spam turrets. I'm an offense player though, so that's just stalling until my fleet gets there. I put a bit more thought, with hangars and positioning of defense, and a starbase, around really important worlds. Sometimes I throw in a PJI for grins and giggles.

of course it all changes for advent. 60% mitigation + shields on beam turrets= sick!

i normally play as Tec and against AI's (Cause im not updated in my sins lol i still only have 1.1)

but my normal tactical slots range from planet to planet i normally build 3 repair bays first of so any of my ships in there can repair while there fighting, thus giving more time for my main fleet to arive and deal with the pesky invaders.

then i build a hyperspace disruptor thingy (Phase jump charge up rate %700) so when my main fleeet dose arive and the enemy retreates then i can get a few more kills thx to the hyperspace interfearence

and ill mostly build hangers until i have no slots for them then the rest will be turrets

For 5 it's usually 1 turret and 2 repair.  Unless I'm playing stupid AI, then I make 1 repair and 3 turrets.  Usually if you get volcanic, which has 10 tactical off the bat, you can put a fewrepairs, like 4.  Always put 4 repairs if I expect to fight at that planet at some point, and I expect the fight to last a while, since 2 repairs will run out of AM, and I would have to micro them to make sure I can heal my cap ship.

Definitely never use autoplace for defensive structures. To me, it looks like they are just placed randomly (which is obviously a bad sign).

Against the AI, I usually just build a repair and 3 turrets near the jump point into my well. There should only be 2 situations where an AI is attacking you, depending on where your fleet is. 1) Your fleet is in their territory (meaning their main fleet will be as well) so the attack is a pitiful bunch of seige frigs, with maybe some minor support. 2) Your fleet is in your territory (so it should be near where the AI will attack) and they invade with their main force.

The 2nd case should be a no-brainer. Your fleet should be able to enter and mop the floor with theirs. If they have a size advantage, build another repair bay or two to give you the edge. In the first case, I've always found that I can build the necessary defense before they do any real damage to my planet (usually just turret around the outside of the world to block off the seige frigs).

If you're playing multiple AI and you need to leave a choke point without a defensive fleet, always build a starbase and get at least one survivability upgrade before you send your fleet out and continue upgrading whenever possible.

I usually don't spend much money on defensive structures. I might build a few turrets at asteroids, maybe a repair platform or hangar as well, but I generally think it is better spent on a small fleet, which can be moved around to different areas of the gravity well or relocated to wherever the threat is. Turrets are pretty much only useful to stall and attack siege frigates while my fleet is dealing with the rest of the enemies. Repair platforms are good because they are relatively cheap and are good support structures for your fleet, although they do have the range limit. Hangar bays are too expensive and take up all the tactical slots, and only host 2 squadrons, 3 if you're Advent (which is my favorite faction). So really, the benefits of defensive structures are limited, although I'm sure that's changed in Entrenchment. I wish I had it...

The real benefit of static defense is that they don't take up fleet supply, which is, in my opinion, your most valuable resource.

wow, guys, thanks so much, very interesting

special cred to Vitamin J!

even with a starbase in the gav well it will always depends on what planet i m in, usually

Planets:

turrets, hanger, shield generators, and repair bay

Asteroids

turret, hanger, shield generator

anything else, would have to be determined when I do build it