Does destroying AI homeworld massively increase wave size?

[Shivv]

I was playing a game recently against two level 5 AIs, happily plodding along and receiving waves of maybe 1k-2k ships at a time, which I was able to handle. Then, fairly suddenly, I started receiving waves of 4k-20k, which is a totally different sort of beast. The only thing I can think that I did in between might have been destroying one of the AI homeworlds, which indeed increased AIP by 100, but I would have thought that just based on AIP it might increase waves from 2k to 3k, not 2k to 20k. Those numbers were for regular waves, not CPAs or exo-galactic strikes or reprisals (although those were also similarly large, incidentally).

Is there a special mechanic that makes AI really angry when you destroy one of their homeworlds, so that forever after they send waves 10x the previous size? I had to deal with those massive waves until I finally won, but I would like to avoid them when I turn up the difficulty next game.

[iCarus]

I just destroyed my first AI homeworld myself, so I might not be able to provide any help (now). But I think instead you should receive far LESS wave attacks/CPAs because you can just kill whatever appears in that exo-galactic wormhole in the AI Homeworld, reducing their size down to 50%.
A possible reason would be the breakthrough of tech threshold, which tremendously increase the nastiness/variations of all waves. In fact I received a wave of 32k T3 laser gatlings once--Even before destroying the AI Homeworld.
Ship types also play a role in the size of a wave. You might receive a 1k Zenith Hydra waves when you would rather receive 3k Bomber waves, or even more enormous waves for laser gatlings/autocannons.
(Also I think destroying an AI Homeworld only cause a steep incline in AIP floor, and the actual AIP increase is just around 30.)

[Shivv]

Thanks iCarus. I wasn't counting the number of waves, so I don't know if they decreased or not. I was only concerned about the size of standard waves.

Tech threshold was a good idea, but I was watching that and I was still below the next threshold after I killed the homeworld. I see the ship type difference, but even accounting for that, the overall size of waves went up by at least 5x suddenly, possibly more. I was pretty sure I got 100 AIP for destroying it, but I can check that next time, and that still wouldn't explain the massive multiplication of wave size.

Still a mystery to me. I'll update if it happens on my next game.

[smidlee]

This is what is written in AI war wiki:

" Everything that was said about the AI during the middlegame still holds true, but the AI will also make special efforts to reinforce its home planet when threatened. If you've kept the AI Progress low and kept the AI home planets off alert until the last possible second, you might actually find the destruction of the first AI home planet somewhat anticlimactic, though certainly not a pushover.

However, this can be quite a false sense of security. Upon killing that first AI, you immediately jump around 100 AI Progress, a bunch of core ships likely go free from that planet and may make a beeline for your home planet (which you may not be watching very carefully at this stage), and if you're playing with AI Plots turned on you might get another nasty surprise of some sort (such as the Avenger appearing and wreaking absolute chaos until you either kill it or hurriedly kill the second AI, whichever seems easier).

One way or another, after you kill that first AI home planet, everything gets a fair bit harder all of a sudden. If you just barely scraped by with the first one, the second one might be even more of a nightmare. That extra AI Progress often pushes the tech level of waves and reinforcements up a notch, which makes your defenses suddenly strained even if they had not been before, and if a higher-level CPA is suddenly declared then you're in real trouble. This is why it's a great idea to be ready to do a one-two punch against both AI homeworlds if at all possible -- though often you just have to roll the dice, since each AI home planet might take 20-60 minutes depending on how well you've set things up for yourself versus how well the AIs set things up for themselves. "

[LikeableHades]

It might have also been released Threat coupled with higher AIP, and the subsequent tech increase that sent such a massive wave at you. Of course, there is every chance I have no idea what I'm talking about. The best source of information right now is definitely the forums[arcengames.com]; there are quite a few really amazing players on there who know the ins-and-outs of the game.

[Shivv]

Thank you sirs, I will check it out.

[iCarus]

So I just won my first game... A shame I used cheats once and got my score nullified because an early exo destroyed my base and I did not have a near save, the autosave saved right before the horde of shadow frigates enter my homeworld...
Anyways, I discovered that the AI horde do get far more unrelenting after I defeated their first homeworld, and my frontline is soon fragmenting. So in a desperate attempt I acivated the Exodian Blade I found like 10 hours ago. For the next 90 minutes I was clinging on the edge of survival as my planets fell one by one. When my exodian blade finally reached my last assault team, most of my frontline planets are already down and I'm pretty short on energy. Good thing my tower defenses delayed the exogalactic strikes by Exodian Blade (This kind of strike seems to focus more on destroying your planet on their way rather than straightforward homeworld assault) and I managed to deliver three nukes around AI Homeworld in like 10 retries. It was hilarious indeed, the feel of heartpounding race for life.
"The best defense is offense." Indeed.
By the way, the game lasted 21 hrs in-game time and 24 hours unelapsed time.