I can't win once the zombies get too strong

[Nevermore]

I had two games so far where once the Zombies get too many captains I cannot win anymore. I don't know if it's my fault for letting the Zombies get too strong or if I am doing something else wrong.

Right now I have a game where the Zombies own about a third of the map. But they leech the Captains from the the adjoining factions so that two factions are almost empty and about to collapse. My own faction is also bordering the Zombie territory.

But we can't make a dent into their ranks. I was playing on Expert and right now all the Zombie captains are at a threat level of about 110. Even stronger than Zombie Alpha.
My own ship has barely a threat level of 100 and I have all the important combat perks like hangars, damage, armor and so on. I use Sniper Cannons and Particle Hoses on my Ship and Sniper Cannons plus Mass Drivers on my Hangar Ships.

Even with a wingman and fighting a 2v2 I can't win a straight up fight unless I sacrifice my wingman. And I don't have enough Rez to save all the captains. And most of their bases are at threat 125 and when 2 captains come in it's impossible.

Is there anything left I can do or is this over?

[Zvitatzki]

it is the stupid alpha zombie that moves base to base and captur every without any problem then and none can beat him because he is just way too overpowerd

i wish too we could disable him and enjoy the zombies as any other faction who fight win and loose as they doing very well on there own without this zombie alpha game breaking every play run ^^

i play always on insane and slime my way up on other to join the fights but sometimes i need put on most easy ust to beat this silly alpha zombie once in a time as he only take over everything it is no fun at all

[Nevermore]

Thank you! That was the missing puzzle piece I needed.

I always thought every fight with a Zombie Captain could lead to a defeated captain being turned. I didn't know only Zombie Alpha could do that.
Always taking out Zombie Alpha stopped the Zombie faction from growing any further.

Also I had forgotten that I can ally other factions. With that I quickly had the overall strength needed to fight Zombie Alpha. Maybe the Campaign gets that across, but I think you are not expected to straight up fight the Zombies for every Base and Captain. All you really need to do is increase your faction strength until you are stronger than the Zombies and then you can fly directly to the Alpha Base, take it out and defeat all the Zombies at once.

But it would be fun if the Zombies stayed alive without Alpha and were overall a bit more balanced to exist on their own.

[Bozobub]

Some more-or-less obvious notes on Zombie containment:

1. Non-Alpha zombie captains CAN turn pilots, IIRC, but they cannot take sectors, already occupied or not.
   
   
2. If you "mow" a strip of unoccupied (or occupied by other factions) zones between you and the Zombies, you'll see almost no problems at all, even with HUGE Zombie factions.
   
   
3. There are a lot of arguments for farming very large Zombie factions (by number of zones, NOT pilots):
   
   • Zombies are the best source of +Rep with all other factions,, even more so than Bandits. EVERYONE loves you for fighting Zombies; it's trivial to maintain 100% relations with all other factions, unless otherwise desired. (Note: This also brings down prices for faction-specific modules, including via Special Orders!)
     
   • Zombies are the best source of Rez.
     
   • Zombies are the best source of Captains. When you "rinse off" a Zombie captain, they will beeline to the nearest non-Zombie starbase and resuscitate. Once they have, they will 100% be willing to join your faction! You can even recruit former enemy faction leaders this way. And there's no -Rep hit with other factions; actually, all other factions love you for decontaminating Captains, period =) .
     
     This also leads to *physically* large Zombie empires, with very few captains, which is actually ideal for farming.
     
   • Large Zombie empires with high-level Zombies drop some amazing module loot.
     
   • *Very* large Zombie empires can generate 7-star subcores, very rarely; I've only ever seen it ONCE, as a Zombie drop.
     
     It was this map, specifically:
     https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=955683441
     
     I'd stopped "mowing" an empty border strip, cuz the Zombies had very few captains, so as long as I watched Alpha, I had few problems.
     
     Here's the actual subcore:
     https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1123623979
     
     And a build with it (it's the round "Civvie" core):
     https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1209567449
     
     I've seen this *exactly once*, mind you, tho the devs say it is not a bug and is fully legit.

If you need specific help fighting multiple high-level Zombies (kinda necessary for farming) let me know.

Edit -> Forgot to mention two helpful bits:

First, put cowardly/less-aggressive pilots on the borders, so they don't pick fights with Zombies (or start wars with other factions at the wrong time =x ). They'll never fight anywhere nearly as well as you, anyway.

Second, *Make sure you give other captains in your faction nice gear, at least once in a while, instead of selling it, as well as REZ!* If you ever look at them, what are they always missing? Nice gear and Rez =/ . If you hook them up, they suddenly stop losing so many battles; they can both fight and, more importantly, RUN AWAY much better.

This is triply true, if you use a wingman (they otherwise NEVER get any loot to use or sell, or Rez, and can't even hie off to resource nodes =x). Try giving them some nice stuff, Rez, and crew, and suddenly, well, they aren't exactly great, really, but they DO stop dying so damn fast ^^' .

[Jangulorr]

I noticed that on NORMAL my Captains (most actually) and I struggle very much so with Zombies around our level (or power) ... even ones lower. I can't tell you how many times i've reloaded due to my wingmate and I both popping. I dropped the wingman and gave up fighting Zombies. :/

Modules rarely drop (suppose that's a weapon issue ...), when using a hanger i've noticed my Scraps decrease each time I battle w/o losing any of my fighters (which sucks) so i've stopped using them as I can't keep paying 2k scraps or so for my 4 fighters each battle.

On top of that I thought i was doing pretty good ... but it's apparent that if the Zombies work at it, they'll wipe out Red (only 8 Captains left) before too long ... i'll eventually succumb to the Zombies or delete the game.

I don't enjoy the combat like I did for SPAZ. But I enjoy the concept and the shiny look / feel of SPAZ 2.

[Bozobub]

Originally posted by Jangulorr:

I don't enjoy the combat like I did for SPAZ. But I enjoy the concept and the shiny look / feel of SPAZ 2."

Some of this is likely the fact they are actually different genres, entirely, although this isn't fully obvious at first. I think it helps to consider SPAZ 2 a *board game*, where you fight out the battles in real time. Once I did that, suddenly the game totally "gelled" for me, but of course YMMV and all that =) .

I noticed that on NORMAL my Captains (most actually) and I struggle very much so with Zombies around our level (or power) ... even ones lower. I can't tell you how many times i've reloaded due to my wingmate and I both popping. I dropped the wingman and gave up fighting Zombies.

Modules rarely drop (suppose that's a weapon issue ...), when using a hanger i've noticed my Scraps decrease each time I battle w/o losing any of my fighters (which sucks) so i've stopped using them as I can't keep paying 2k scraps or so for my 4 fighters each battle.

On top of that I thought i was doing pretty good ... but it's apparent that if the Zombies work at it, they'll wipe out Red (only 8 Captains left) before too long ... i'll eventually succumb to the Zombies or delete the game.

First, stop using wingmen ^^' . Like, EVER. they suck, frankly, and keeping them merely stunts their growth, without a good amount of somewhat annoying micromanagement. Plus, when farming, *they use up a slot an enemy could be in, thus slowing your farming down by roughly a third, overall, assuming a full battle*. Ouch!

Strike Craft overall strategy and tactics, with general combat tips:

• Start hitting up maxed Bandit hives (very worthy for resources and + Rep, and actually SUPER-easy) and those little faction raids/defense opportunities (the little arrows from other factions into your territory; these ONLY have Strike Craft) and farm Strike Craft blueprints like they are going out of style. Bigger designs are ALWAYS better, plus even the same blueprints over and over will level up your current designs.
  
  I strongly prefer 2 Hammerheads and 2 Shatters.
  
  
• I only use Plasma Dispensers, Pulsers, Mass Drivers (only ONE per craft!), and Zapper Drones (as many as possible) on my large strike craft (as well as my own loadout), with a few Flak for anti-Drone and missile defense.
  
  
• When entering combat, DON'T autolaunch your Strike Craft ("SCs")! Instead, *immediately* either make a U-turn OR charge directly through the center, to the other side). Just keep afterburning as much as possible, letting it recharge, and doing it again.
  
  Eventually, you will string out the entire enemy SC "cloud". Once you have, just turn around again, boost in (around the enemy Scs) and MURDER THE HELL out of exactly one enemy mothership (or at least, blow off as many bits as you can), and booost away before the PO'd SCs come and git'cha =) . Lather, rinse, repeat.
  
  Alternatively, you can simply kite away the SC cloud, and just murder all of them and their reinforcements. This is a relatively good way to get some rather advanced SC blueprints, but once you have them, it's also the slowest by far.
  
  You can also get far enough away,, designate a rally point *just ahead of you*, spawn your SCs, turn back to face the oncoming enemy, and wait. Your SCs will act basically as a "turret farm" at the rally point, and can be kept out of danger far more easily.
  
  If you need to relocate and "re-kite" the enemy, remember to keep designating a rally point away from the oncoming enemy cloud! But this tactic often will make doing so unnecessary; it will strongly increase your total firepower, each time you settle into this defensive position =) .
  
  
• BUILD AGILE MOTHERSHIPS. This cannot be overemphasized. It is totally possible to build 21-core monsters that can still out-fly SCs, and even drones, missiles, and most projectiles! With proper (ab)use of Synergy, you can field as much, or more offensive power as "stick" bullds, and somewhat improbable-seeming defensive power and stats in comparison.
  
  
• Armor is more important than HP by a lot. When armor fails, parts of your (or the enemy's) ship fall right off! Shields and overall agility (thrust and turn speed) are the most important stats.
  
  
• It takes only ONE Mass Driver, to surgically dissect any ship with shields down (dropping scads of modules). Corollary: NEVER get caught with your shields down =x ! Mass Drivers are also pretty good at nailing SCs =) .
  
  
• Plasma Dispensers are the strongest weapon in the game by far, although they take some getting-used-to at first. Their range also pairs well with Pulsers and/or Mass Drivers. Note: Your own Plasma bomblets won't hurt you *until they explode against an enemy/object*. Don't blow your own lips off by being too close =x !