are star bases useless?

[Shogun]

I've lined the entire perimeter of my territory with defensive star bases yet space pirates always manage to completely bypass them and i have the ftl inhibitor magnet icon on them and everything.

[DeciNinja]

Against pirates, yeah they're pretty much useless. But in an actual war they can help you defend important systems and to some degree block the enemy if the enemy's warp range isn't enough to bypass them.

[Elunamar]

I've been told that the FTL mechanic here is NOT like Stellaris where it's based on hyperlanes rather than the warp mechanic seen here on STI. I would like to know HOW exactly does the FTL inhibitors work in this game. They're practically useless if you ask me.

[Jimib4158]

Originally posted by Shogun:

I've lined the entire perimeter of my territory with defensive star bases yet space pirates always manage to completely bypass them and i have the ftl inhibitor magnet icon on them and everything.

they need upgrades

[IndianaJones]

Originally posted by Shogun:

are star bases useless?
I've lined the entire perimeter of my territory with defensive star bases yet space pirates always manage to completely bypass them

No they give control over territory, allow you to expand your empire, increase warp range, can generate resources (energy, deuther, food, a bit of trade?), build fleets. But they aren't really defense fortress or perimeter defenses. There are no hyperlinks from system to system in this game, so they cannot block any fleet's path.

Originally posted by DeciNinja:

Against pirates, yeah they're pretty much useless. But in an actual war they can help you defend important systems and to some degree block the enemy if the enemy's warp range isn't enough to bypass them.

Against Borgs they do not give any defense either, maybe a few seconds to send your fleet to that system.

I find starbases only useful as defense measures against major and minor factions.

Well fortified starbase 5K+ damage (or fleet power?):
- can actually defeat smaller fleets
- discourage enemies from attacking that system, In ST:I there are no hyperlinks from system to system, so fleets can move and attack anywhere within warp range.
- give you a few more seconds before system is taken over by powerful enemy fleet, so that you have a chance to send your fleet and defend that system.

[Raskol]

Warp Inhibitor - I think it means that the fleet can only fly back to the system it came from, and not go to any other system, until you have conquered that starbase.

Alternate possibility - it just slows down warp travel to and from that system.

Not used it, so haven't checked properly.

For Pirates, it's essentially useless to create a ring of Starbases, as they can warp to any system they wish. For Major Powers, you'll want to upgrade your starbases 2-deep, to try and cover all of their warp range. And remember the blimmin' unconquerable warp lanes will also cause your backdoors to get smashed in too... They really didn't think some of these mechanics through...

My strategy is just to beef-up and max-out any starbases within colonised systems.

[Coryak]

Originally posted by Raskol:

And remember the blimmin' unconquerable warp lanes will also cause your backdoors to get smashed in too... They really didn't think some of these mechanics through...

Only if all their start and ending points are within their logistics warp range though. Putting a fleet there usually takes care of the problem. But either way, you should make sure that there are now share warp agreements in place with another faction that's defending the guys you attacked. In my game, I declared against Cardassia and they had a Defensive Pact with the Federation - and I had all sorts of treaties with the federation. So they could roam freely in my territory due to that share warp agreement.

[Vosoros]

With pirates (even if you wipe their 2 space sectors out) you still get them flying into random systems and trying to cause you grief. Which is weird, cos when I destroyed all the pirate space I did get a pop-up saying it was the end of piracy.