How to Intercept Aliens?

[Patriot]

So I have a space station built and I sent some ships to it, but the aliens arrived and destroyed it. I would have thought a battle phase would have been triggered. Aside from that is there a way to automatically have your ships intercept the aliens? I have created ships called patrol ships so is there a way that they can patrol?

[ulzgoroth]

You wouldn't want them to 'patrol'. Delta-V is expensive.

You should have had a battle at the station if your ships got there before the aliens did.

No, there is not a way to have your ships do anything at all automatically. You want to intercept aliens, tell them to intercept aliens.

[sgt.greywar]

A non-useless reply:

Dock a "patrol" ship/fleet with each orbital station to prevent this issue.

Yes, the issue itself is idiotic and doesn't fit the purported "realistic" design in any way but there it is.

[Patriot]

Originally posted by sgt.greywar:

A non-useless reply:

Dock a "patrol" ship/fleet with each orbital station to prevent this issue.

Yes, the issue itself is idiotic and doesn't fit the purported "realistic" design in any way but there it is.

Sounds like a good workaround. Really with a game of this scale being able to automate things via policies or assigning individuals to manage things would be ideal.

[sgt.greywar]

Originally posted by Patriot:

Originally posted by sgt.greywar:

A non-useless reply:

Dock a "patrol" ship/fleet with each orbital station to prevent this issue.

Yes, the issue itself is idiotic and doesn't fit the purported "realistic" design in any way but there it is.

Sounds like a good workaround. Really with a game of this scale being able to automate things via policies or assigning individuals to manage things would be ideal.

They might get there and it seems like a real "must have" but we will have to see...

Right now there isn't much sanity prevailing in these mechanics.

[Fairin the Drakitty]

you know all those engines you don't use.

there are some that give **Tremendous** thrust but have low ∆v?

you now know what they are for.

a few "patrol ships" with incredible thrust with just enough ∆v to get between stations can intercept the alien ships fast enough.

[ulzgoroth]

I'm confused. Do people actually want ships automatically burning off months of resource extraction in days because they decided its time to switch bases of their own accord?


You don't want to shuffle ships around all the time. You want to put them where they need to be and only move them when you have an actual reason.


(If you think you should guard all your stations with ships, then do that, but your ships certainly shouldn't automatically do that. I don't want to guard all my stations, I want to keep concentrated fleets that can't be easily destroyed.)

[Patriot]

Originally posted by ulzgoroth:

I'm confused. Do people actually want ships automatically burning off months of resource extraction in days because they decided its time to switch bases of their own accord?

Yes, based on the policies you set. So yes they stay docked not expending resources, but when an alien spacecraft is approaching X distance to your Y location then they intercept the ships. There's nothing outrageous about that.

[ulzgoroth]

Originally posted by Patriot:

Originally posted by ulzgoroth:

I'm confused. Do people actually want ships automatically burning off months of resource extraction in days because they decided its time to switch bases of their own accord?

Yes, based on the policies you set. So yes they stay docked not expending resources, but when an alien spacecraft is approaching X distance to your Y location then they intercept the ships. There's nothing outrageous about that.

The game pauses and throws up a notification every time aliens start approaching one of your assets. The automation wouldn't do anything you can't do yourself, and in particular would not solve the problem raised here.

[ArcticISAF]

I agree with what ulzgoroth is saying.

For the OP, you need defence platforms (point defence, layered or battlestations) on that station for it to trigger a battle scene. I recommend a couple layered defences to all your stations if you can help it. Point defence can help shoot down missiles (and maybe that's about it?). Probably good as support if you don't want to spend more on layered defence, have used it before as that.

[ulzgoroth]

Layered defenses often will fail badly at actually defending, but I think there's a perverse side benefit that makes a token defense useful even if it can't fight off an angry poodle. Not sure about this, but it fits my observations.

When the aliens fight station defenses, they then delay a while before blowing up the station. IME that often gives a rescue squadron time to arrive (from a nearby orbit). I think this may be due to the cooldown on fleets being able to take new orders after being engaged in combat.

[ArcticISAF]

I've had good experiences with defending with layered defences, but part of it comes down to ineptitude of the AI I suppose. One mothership attacked my station (what a great attack force) I would let it fire off its shots, intercept them until it started getting close to overwhelmed... and then end the match with the button above. And then the mothership would have to retreat to restock. Problem solved (?)

Other times it would handle smaller attack forces fine. Destroyers/corvettes and such. They'd fly in, and get glassed by the arc lasers or phasers (forget which, I did push for them though). It was before the recent change to a gun being necessary on them, so where you're teching may affect it.

P.S. Good point about that cooldown, it does give a window to get there in time, if your forces aren't too slow. Definitely possible to intercept.

Edit: My valiant defences taking on the mothership lol
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2879241241

[Blockhead]

If your Platform doesn't have Defence modules, the aliens will just blow the Platform up. With Defence modules, you'll at least be taken to a battle phase.

Hilariously, the AI in my game doesn't appear too bright - when a 20k doomstack attacks one of my Platforms I start the battle, then immediately call for an end to combat. Amazingly, the aliens agree to this after a couple of seconds - meaning no damage was ever done. Do this a couple of times and the aliens will leave.