The great Khan

[e11]

So... I have a bunch of marauders a couple of jumps away from my territory. I've known about them for quite a while and I've built up a monster 9K space station, supported by a 3K fleet.

I wasn't expecting TWO 20K fleets to swoop in and wipe the system out in a few seconds.

I just don't have the fleet capacity to built up to something like that, so what am I supposed to do? Build a series of superstrong stations, let them wear themselves out on the before meeting my entire gathered fleet?

[AnAngryYeti]

Yeah the Great Khan is a mid-game crisis so It's usually pretty strong. I think you can become their vassal if you don't have the power to fight them yet. In my game they had multiple 15k fleets in their systems before even having the Khan event start. How far into the game are you? Sounds like it's pretty early if your fleet is only at 3k so you might've just got unlucky.

[e11]

Originally posted by AnAngryYeti:

How far into the game are you? Sounds like it's pretty early if your fleet is only at 3k so you might've just got unlucky.

I'm at year 2337.

And it's just the fleet I had stationed there that is at 3K. My current total fleet comes to maybe 10K.

I've yet to actually try my hand at ship designing, but I notice that the raiders have way more armor than shields. So I should reload and change the lasers out for missiles, right?

And is the gauntlet of hardened stations a viable strategy?

Also also, I'm not in control of the federation fleet, but can I rely on it to come to my aid?

[Meewec]

Originally posted by e11:

And is the gauntlet of hardened stations a viable strategy?

it could work, but remember, you'll have to fight your way through them also.

Originally posted by e11:

Also also, I'm not in control of the federation fleet, but can I rely on it to come to my aid?

maybe but probably not

best course of action if you really can't fight him off is to submit and bide your time. i think this will hit your naval capacity and energy income plus put you in a dangerous situation in the event of the khan's death but if your options are "die now" or "maybe die in 10-55 years" i'd take the 2nd option.

[pete3great]

Great Khan isn't the worst thing in the world. Folks above have given some good advice. It's important to remember it was added because mid-game in Stellaris wasn't great for a long time. The Khan shakes things up. Also, he can be beaten. IF you hustle, build starbases to hem him in, you can sit safe until you're ready to take him on. His fleets have big, scary numbers, but that's because each fleet has one big, scary ship. If you can counter that, you're golden.

[NixBoxDone]

Yeah, that's why you either take the marauders out (you can actually hire mercenaries and then use them to support your fleet in taking them out) if they're near you, try your hardest to build up to about 30k or so in your stopgap system near them or keep your finger on the surrender button if they wake up. >_<

[Slimane]

I've only bought the apocalypse expansion recently but have not had much issue with Khan.

He only activates in the mid game (2300+) and by that time you should have much stronger fleets than him. If you don't the problem is not really the Crisis but you need to improve your gameplay. Also, fleet power is not always reliable in Stellaris.

Marauder fleets are a perfect example of this because at least half of that fleet power comes from their "galleon" class ship. It does bad damage but has the hull points of a starbase. Which means fighting those fleets are a lot easier than it seems. You'll take out the escorts extremely easy and be left against the Galleon class.

Originally posted by e11:

Originally posted by AnAngryYeti:

How far into the game are you? Sounds like it's pretty early if your fleet is only at 3k so you might've just got unlucky.

I'm at year 2337.

And it's just the fleet I had stationed there that is at 3K. My current total fleet comes to maybe 10K.

I've yet to actually try my hand at ship designing, but I notice that the raiders have way more armor than shields. So I should reload and change the lasers out for missiles, right?

And is the gauntlet of hardened stations a viable strategy?

Also also, I'm not in control of the federation fleet, but can I rely on it to come to my aid?

10k by 2337? No offense bu those are rookie numbers. By that time you should be making some pretty strong battleships that should be stopping the Khan in his tracks.

[Dr. Loan Lee]

Originally posted by Slimane:

10k by 2337? No offense bu those are rookie numbers. By that time you should be making some pretty strong battleships that should be stopping the Khan in his tracks.

Yes, not everyone plays to everyone else's levels. Some people are newer and some rather focus on something else. Unsure what's your point by calling him a rookie. Maybe offer tips instead of criticizing.

[Slimane]

Originally posted by Kaycha SoulWrath:

Originally posted by Slimane:

10k by 2337? No offense bu those are rookie numbers. By that time you should be making some pretty strong battleships that should be stopping the Khan in his tracks.

Yes, not everyone plays to everyone else's levels. Some people are newer and some rather focus on something else. Unsure what's your point by calling him a rookie. Maybe offer tips instead of criticizing.

I did not call him a rookie, I said those were "rookie numbers" a meme from The Wolf of Wall Street.

And I don't see what advice I can offer beyond saying that having a fleet of 10k by 2337 is NOT enough. I don't know how he plays. All I can suggest is that he needs to improve is economic game so he can support a larger fleet by then.

Maybe go watch a let's play. they often offer great advice for starting out.

[GentlesirGibbles]

Originally posted by Kaycha SoulWrath:

Originally posted by Slimane:

10k by 2337? No offense bu those are rookie numbers. By that time you should be making some pretty strong battleships that should be stopping the Khan in his tracks.

Yes, not everyone plays to everyone else's levels. Some people are newer and some rather focus on something else. Unsure what's your point by calling him a rookie. Maybe offer tips instead of criticizing.

A respectful opinion, and valuable advice; but I do believe Slimane was being sincere.

A minor misunderstanding, possibly.


10k fleets in 2337; you'll definitely want to look out for other tips/guides/advice on how to raise your alloy production and naval capacity to meet your military's needs. I agree with the sentiment that battleship production in multiplicity should be in the realm of possibilities by that point.

What does your naval cap, alloy production, EC/minerals look like, at this point in the game? What tier(s) of research are you in?

Providing us with those bits of context will help us be better capable in helping out your game.

[Saturax.cz]

Well, it can be still playable, if you find sector where ships lose 50%-100% shield and make ships only for this sector defence ( a lot of armour + hull & armour dmg weapons ) and hold it for few years greath Khan will die from old age and his empire will fall apart on small sectors you can start war with and recapture.

[LAG]

Originally posted by Kaycha SoulWrath:

Yes, not everyone plays to everyone else's levels. Some people are newer and some rather focus on something else. Unsure what's your point by calling him a rookie. Maybe offer tips instead of criticizing.

i'm going to go and jump on the assumption that you also have *clears throat* a "subpar playstyle?"

jokes aside the problem here is that he is vastly underestimating what a big fleet is.

for comparison,

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2014738680

the best advice here i can give is that you should learn the very basic understandings of the game such as getting more of the purple stuff (alloys) by making more forges so you can create more ships.

[Azor]

10k fleet power by 2337 is really bad unless you're focusing hard on technology and therefore not focusing on fleets until later in the game.

you could ignore your naval capacity, but that would mean selling other resources to keep your credits positive, building more founds so you can build more fleet, and halting your development on other regards.

at that pace you'll get smashed by the end-game crisis (I didn't beat the end-game until my 3rd run)

keep trying and learn for yourself if you have time (it's fun), or look up guides/tutorials online (ASpec has good guides/tutorials, but there are good ones from smaller YouTubers as well that you might find in your search)

also, stations are pretty underpowered mid game onwards unless you're tech rushing

for future runs: upgrade your stations and build anchorages on them. You're going to need a lot of naval capacity.

[e11]

I have indeed been focusing on tech over fleet power, a decision made easier by generally peaceful relations and only recently discovering the marauders.

I guess I'll backtrack a bit, redirect my entire fleet to the border, build that star fortress up even more, and trade my lasers out for torpedoes. And cheat a little by hiring one of their fleets. No honor among mercenaries.

[RestlessNative]

As others have said 3K fleet is very low for that stage and won't stop the great Khan at all so the question is really how it's low and wants your potential?
If you've had a fairly peaceful game and just didn't need to build a larger fleet then you could still recover but if your economy and development has you restricted to 3K then surrendering and waiting on an opportunity to break free is actually a reasonable option and can make for a fun game.

How big is your empire?
What tech tier are you at roughly? Shield and anti armour weapons are a good build.
What's your naval capacity and how much of that is from anchorages and buildings?

We'd need to know all that to give you better advice. Screenshots would help. Static defences are less and less effective in later game and a risk. Be sure that's the way they're coming because there's nothing worse than building a giant fortress only to realise a wormhole gives them back door access or something.

One bit of advice I can give now is if you have access to the rare resources and the edicts, enacting boosting shield and energy weapon edicts during the gray Khan can really help.