Ion Cannons vs Defence Platforms

[Super Cosmic Space Magnet]

Hello reader!

Sorry, I know I've asked quite a few questions lately - but I have so many and don't have any informed friends to ask. Are Ion Cannons better than Defence Platforms? They take so long to construct and eat up so much cap. I can only assume they're decent if you've somehow got Titan tech but terrible weapons tech and so your platforms are awful.

Also, how should I be building my defence platforms? Bit of everything? Are missiles useless or overpowered? (There rarely seems to be a middle ground). Any big blatant pitfalls I should avoid?

[Odonata]

Defense platforms are stationary and tend to get murdered by things outside their range, which is why ion cannons are considered good.* They have enough range to be relevant for at least a moment or just force enemy ships to engage the starbase. Generally I use hangar platforms or put artillery on them for the same reason, i'd advise against using autocannons or small weapons past the very early game. That's not to say that you necessarily should be building any, most players will tell you (rightfully) that platforms suck hard and are a waste of alloys.

*Better than other defense platforms which are nearly useless most of the time.

[Zordiark Darkeater]

my guess is Ion cannons are great against Big ships but horrible against smaller ones.
I personally prefer Defence platforms. they are more of an All rounder.
Also hangars gimme me all the hangars !!

in all seriousnes i use them allot but never really tested them.
Of course i play with NSC2 so they can get to crazy Sizes and power.

[cayenne_spicy]

Hangars engage based on your longest-ranged weapons' range. The ion cannon's weapon has pretty much the longest possible range you can get, so you want one of them on any defensive chokepoint if for no other reason than that it'll ensure your starbase will engage into battle as soon as possible, and therefore will send out its strike craft as soon as possible. I don't personally find that a 2nd ion cannon is more useful or more damaging overall than 16 more strike craft hangars, though, so I only build just the one.