Blokkats defeated

[PeanutButter]

Congrats to the mod team that created the Gigastrucutre mod...this truly was absorbing.

Firstly, played on easy setting and huge map so I dread to think how much tougher this could have been on a harder setting and smaller map as it took 3 days of my life. I must have played at least 30% of that time on pause positioning fleets, reading messages and finding systems to rebuilding lost megastructures.

Secondly, I had to restart the play through and go back 10 years because I simply was not prepared. They arrived in a neutral system (Pasharti Absorbers) where borders were closed so I could't engage them effectively. I could kill a harvester by warping in as they took the system but, once it was destroyed, the system returned to the PA's and my ship was ship returned to base and set as MIA for 3 years!

So I declared war on the PA's just to gain access to their space. The PA's were a pushover but their systems with multiple FTL inhibitors caused some challenges in moving fleets along hyperlanes. It was easy where there was just 1 FTL inhibitor on the station but not where there were more on planets and habitats. Then the War ended when I capped their relic and entered into a 10 year truce. After 10 years we were still in the AP's space so my ships got kicked back to base!

So I went back to the future 20 years, killed the PA's and overdosed on tech (135K), Energy (28 mil + 120K) and Minerals (30 mil +25K), built 6 StellarCraft, 6 Jugs and positioned them 1 jump from the Blokkart's known starting position.

End result was
- lost 230 systems (18%), 1921 planets, 3916 ships, energy down to 12mil (-5K), Mins 11mil (-11K) and tech at 97K

- killed 6093 Blokkarts, 6472 scrap, 62 knowledge, 50 research speed buff (not boosted), 50 Blokkart damage buff (not boosted), 4 Blokkart equipment upgrades including 2 X class insane weapons (Invictor Ray... 3.5 to 9 mil damage!!!) - Harvesters insta-kill

The MS did about 90% of the hoovering and the Harvesters were just a distraction as I took them down each time they moved. I only lost 1 on my ships due to a slow exit (-100% FTL system) and I lost no more than 5 or 6 systems to the harvesters. The incredible amount of tech required to research the Hyperdimentional Destabaliser just couldn't be completed any quicker so the MS was unstoppable.

Please don't continue reading if you don't want the spoiler info...

Kill Setup and tactics:
1/ Don't use anything but StellarCraft (SC) - I built 6 (could have maybe done it with 4) plus 6 Jugs that sat back to provide repairs.

Dyson and QSO are no use in this war as you can't target any systems occupied by the Bloks and they don't need hyperlanes

2/ Use all edicts for every combat, research and megastructure boosts plus the megastructure relice

3/ Configure your SC's as Armour Tanks and fit the very best jump drive you have - Hyper Jump recharge is important

4/ I set up 1 jump from the starting location so I was able to knock out all 4 harvesters at the start. The MS can only rebuild 1 at a time when she moves to the next system so just keep knocking that 1 down so you only ever have to focus on the 1 Harvester, scouts and escorts craft.

5/ Don't bother engaging the MS until her shield is down. Not only is she invulnerable but so too will be any Harvesters and escorts in the same system so, unless you jump out, you will die

6/ Keep your SC's at 2 systems from the MS before she moves and keep an eye on the hyperlanes as she will use them 90% of the time but can also create her own where there are none. The next destination system will briefly show a hyperlane before she moves

7/ Once you know where she is going move your SC's to all reachable systems within 1 jump. TIP: be careful not to get stuck in a dead-end system without a hyper lane unless your FTL is fully charged and ready to warp. This gets more tricky as the systems become voids and there are no hyperlanes connecting them. Also, be careful entering a system with FTL inhibitor penalties in case your SC can't get out before the MS gets there. TIP: move close to an exit after entering the system

8/ wait for the Harvester to be rebuilt and kill it and the escorts when it moves to the next system. While this is happening, reposition your other SC's as it is likely the MS will move to the system where you are about to kill the Harvester. It's like a turn-based game of chess but you will have a few minutes as the MS hoovers up the system she is currently in.

9/ Rinse and repeat and try to predict where the MS is heading. At one point I was sure she was heading for Gatzo as she weaved her way in that direction. Then, inexplicably, she double-backed even though she was just 1 jump away. All my SC's were out of position and FTL's were charging so I lost several systems as she rebuilt 4 harvesters and they sucked up systems I could not reach.

10/ Once the Hyperdimentional Destabaliser has taken down the shield just jump 2 or 3 SC's in on the MS and she will die easily, all other remaining Blokkart ships will blow up and you have won.

Research
1/ Constantly buff the research using scrap - you need insane amounts of tech to get through the trees. The 100% boost every 12 months can easily be missed if you aren't careful and use the 2% buff where your pops get Inquietude too - this will greatly improve the research speeds that were around 160+ months on the final few projects.

2/ Don't stop building megas for energy (Dysons), research (Brains) and minerals (Starlifts) in far away systems because she will destroy your current mega's and you will need this for the final action.

3/ READ the messages - especially around the Hyperdimentional Destabaliser and Gatzo dig as these easily could be missed . Some tech is more important than others. IE: if you are already into researching Blok knowledge you might not be able to start the next Megastructure project until it is finished = waiting another 100+ months before you can begin the next project which takes another 100+ months

4/ You will need at least 40 Blok knowledge to complete the mega. Seems pointless at the start but important later so throw the science ship under the bus = 3 knowledge... I was stuck on 27.5 and needed 30 to get to the next major project with 100+ months to wait... sent the science ship to get hoovered up and got 3 points

5/ Build the Containment Blok Nexus mega's (I built 3) as these provide additional knowledge points. They also allow you to focus additional research speeds so you can push much needed physics along

6/ Keep an eye on the situation log for a couple of additional projects - easily missed

I'm sure others did a better job than me but this worked and now I have all the Blok tech too.

Now my SC's do insane damage but there is no one left to kill - end game crisis indeed

[Skyx700]

2 questions.
What kind of damage type did you set your stellarcraft up with?
How did you bring down the MS shields?

p.s. I've looked and looked, but this discussion page is the only hope, nowhere else can I find info on taking the blok's out.