Planetary defence

[eddrocks2]

What are the best defence structures to have. TEC for example have the auto cannon and a Gauss cannot (I think). Just wondering if a mix of them is better then all of one.

Also what is the ideal placement of them spread out or concentrated? I know you can change there placement but with with constantly changing hyper lanes it can be tricky to keep up with them.

With star bases aswell is there a good way to force your opponent to actually engage them? They have such a small range surely you can just go round them?

[Ruck]

I have no idea if this is optimal, but i like to have a starbase with lines of turrets beside it forming a gun wall, hangars (if your faction has them) and the repair building tucked behind the turret lines. I tend to use more auto cannons than gauss cannons since the auto cannons cost half the orbital supply. maybe a 2:1 ratio of cheaper guns to expensive railguns. For TEC, they get the PD cannons on hangars, so i space out 2-4 hangars in a way that i feel will cover my turrets/base from missile spam. I don't think the Advent hangars have PD, so their placement is less important, imo.

I do also like to get the 5 "free" gauss cannons from the Pranast Minor faction to supplement and take the first hits. Those go up front a little bit to entice the enemy to attack them since they are more easily replaceable with 1 influence.

Once the defense is starting to feel stout and the starbase has some upgrades packed on, then I drop a phase inhibitor in there to make sure whoever comes poking in my sectors pays for their insolence.

The AI seems to engage with your defenses no matter how you place them, with a few exceptions. Siege ships will beeline for your planet and begin pew pewing your population immediately. This is why I like hangars though. The strike craft can go get those siege ships so that i can put my defensive guns a bit farther away from the planet.

[ExavierMacbeth]

A mixed defense is usually the better option... Using TEC as the example, the Autocannons will usually aim at smaller ships first while the Gauss will prefer to target capital ships if there are multiple options in range.

For myself, I usually place the starbase at the outer edge of the gravity well (So it can be rotated with the phase lanes & have its guns right on the enemy fleet when they jump in). Then I build gun turrets on the edge to either side of the starbase, hangers behind those, then repair bays behind the hangers.... As Ruck mentioned put the minor faction gauss turrets out front.

This lets you drop as much firepower into a concentrated spot as possible & change your defensive tactics as needed... For example late game (when I have planetary shields up) I will sometime rotate the entire defenses to the other side of the gravity well. This forces the enemy doomstack to cross the gravity well to hurt anything, buys time for me to respond, causes them to go around the planet, and often causes their capital ships to spring ahead of the missile cruiser blob making it easier for my defenses to focus on things.

I also tend to prefer the anti-capital ship guns over the anti-frigate/cruiser guns. This is mostly because the starbase generally has more than enough lighter guns & I like to focus fire on their capitals to remove their abilities from the field.

Once you get planetary shields up, keeping the defenses right on the jump line is less important as they can't touch the planet until they bring down the starbase. So they have to come to your defenses anyway at that point.

EDIT: I also put my Civilian Infrastructure around the same defensive group, sometimes even on the edge of the gravity well beside the turrets. The more shots they take, the longer my defenses live :)

[Fendelphi]

First off, a static defense is limited due to the potential onslaught they might end up facing. They can easily be overwhelmed if up against a large fleet. Always try to bring ships to help in a defense, if you dont want to sacrifice all buildings and even the planet(although sacrificing one planet so that you can take out 2-3 of theirs is not a bad trade).
The main goal of a planetary defense is to deter small raiding forces(including pirate raids) and to slow down bigger fleets while your own fleets come to the rescue(or hit the enemy planets hard while their fleet is occupied).
They can also be used as a "hammer and anvil" tactic, where you bait them into attacking a defended system with no fleet support("easy target"), then jump in afterwards to pincer them between your static defenses and your fleet(phase inhibitor to deny them an easy retreat).

About the defenses:
The "2 cost slot" turrets are tougher and more powerful(higher pierce) and usually have better range. They have decent consistent damage(this includes the Minor Faction Turret that you can spawn up to 5 of in each Gravity Well).
"1 cost slot" turrets are ok against frigates and smaller cruisers, but their primary function is to act as a diversion so that you other, more powerful defenses last a bit longer. Put them in front of your valuable targets and maybe on the flanks to draw away part of the enemy fleet.

For defensive hangars in system, I usually place them at various places, rather than cluster it all together. Some close to the forward starbase. Some at the opposite side of the planet.
If my goal is to delay the opponent, fprcing them to move all over the place to take out my defenses can help a bit. Better yet, it can split up, which makes it easier to make a counter-attack with a reinforcing fleet.
If I cluster my defenses too much "on the front", the opponent need to move very little to get to their next target, and they become vulnerable to AoE attacks. But if I cluster too little, I do not have enough focused firepower.

For Starbases specifically, they can all be upgraded to have long range weaponry(typically some form of missile) and/or hangars with strikecraft. The Vasari starbase can even move.
If you have the planetary shield upgrade, they cant bomb your planet until they have taken out your starbase.
There are also various research and planetary items that can upgrade the range of certain weapon types, while others only give it to defensive structures.


Some factions have benefits that makes them "ok" in defense. TEC Enclave is obvious, but both Advent variants and Vasari Alliance can make interesting defenses as well.
For Vasari Exodus and TEC Primacy, while they can make static defenses, I would say "offense is the best defense".

[Ruck]

Originally posted by ExavierMacbeth:

For example late game (when I have planetary shields up) I will sometime rotate the entire defenses to the other side of the gravity well. This forces the enemy doomstack to cross the gravity well to hurt anything, buys time for me to respond, causes them to go around the planet, and often causes their capital ships to spring ahead of the missile cruiser blob making it easier for my defenses to focus on things.

This is great. I'm going to start incorporating this into my base defense strategy for shielded planets.

[Vandom]

Defences are in a bit of a bad spot right now, as they give a bad return on investment. Placing a mixed defence will never be cost effective, so you need to design a defence around achieving a specific goal with those defences. There are a few different ways you can use them, and that determines the optimal setup.

Access Denial

Prevent scouts or raiders from easily moving through the system.
The best layout is a few cheap turrets where the ships will jump in at, getting the most damage in before they can accelerate away.

Planet Protection

Prevents bombardment ships from sniping the planet.
Simply putting a few cheap turrets around the planet so that bombardment ships can't get a safe spot to shoot from. Add in a Starbase if you expect pirate raids.

Cheap Delay

The most cost effective method to buy time for friendly forces to come help. Only requires a single planet level investment for the slots.
Place 2 or three cheap turrets spread out on the far outskirts from where the enemy will attack from. This forces them to run across the gravity well to kill them, then go back half way to attack the planet. This often spreads out their ships deep in the gravity well, making it easier for reinforcements to get a good engagement when they arrive.

Starbase Delay/Trap

The best way to buy time for reinforcements, and wipe the attacker fleet.
Build Starbase as far from where the enemy will attack from, or where your friendly fleet will arrive at. Build a bunch of cheap turrets screening in front of the starbase, and a Phase Inhibitor and Repair Bay behind the starbase.

Time reinforcements to start jumping in when the enemy is engaged with the starbase (they will often flee when they see you jumping). The enemy will waste large parts of their antimatter or phase resonance buff before your own fleet arrives to fight with the Starbase. Turrets are just to tank, but can kill a few light ships.

TEC Offensive Garrison Starbase

Late game TEC strategy for use with Garrisons.
Place two Starbases on the edge of the gravity well closest to the enemy, along with Heavy Factories. The Starbases and factories produce Garrison ships, that don't waste time travelling across the gravity well to move to the next world. This setup trades the ability to buy time, to maximise the power of Garrisons ability to assist neighbouring systems.

Good/bad buildings

Starbases are very expensive, and wont last under concentrated fire. Depending on upgrades they are worth 1-3 capital ships, so can deter small attacks. Against a fleet their missile upgrade gets shot down by PD.

Cheap Turrets are pretty tanky and cheap. They are good against small ships, and in numbers can kill them fairly quickly.

Expensive Turrets target capital ships, and have more dps than cheap turrets. However their health is not much higher, but cost more crystal, and take two slots rather than 1. If the enemy fleet has capital ships, they usually will be able to kill all your defences before these turrets can do much to any capitals. Any that get crippled will just move outside their short range. Vasari Phase Missile turrets will often be unable to do any damage due to fleet PD.

Hangars can target ships across the well, but do not spawn enough to have a meaningful impact. A large enemy force will have enough PD to not care.