How to deactivate base attacks?

[Bannor]

I'm a relative newcomer to the game (from Elite Dangerous and (more recently) Space Engineers. I want to deactivate base attacks - I want to prevent MY base from being attacked.
I'm completely happy with the various wildlife, etc. as they are.

Been attacked 3 times now, (playing in single player survival, easiest settings, PC). The first 2 attacks were a single enemy dropship - it came in, landed, dropped 3 or so enemy NPCs and then left. That's fine, I handled it.
But the 3rd time, no less than 4 dropships came in simultaneously. Not only that, but this time they shot rockets that obliterated my base defenses (4 of the small turrets, and 2 of the larger type) - leaving me completely helpless. They dropped I don't even know how many enemy NPCs.
I had zero chance.

This is not fun for me. I don't care about how other people see such things, but I play for relaxation and enjoyment - perhaps with a mild challenge. SO now I want to switch off the possibility of being attacked again in my existing game. I don't care if there are enemy NPCs on the planet - as long as they leave me alone until and unless I go looking for trouble.

From what I've read it seems to me I could achieve this in at least 2 ways:
1) Mess with the game files / cheats
2) Get at least 'neutral' with the attacking faction.
3) Something about a 'neutral core'??

#1 - there's a cheat 'ai off' - which deactivates **all** AI - even the wildlife. While it seems to prevent attacks, it's not ideal.
#2 - there seems no way to improve my standing with this faction (I'm unfriendly (?) with them). There's a sort of scenario I can do that involves them - but I have to be neutral in order to activate it. I'm currently at about 2200 out of 6000 for them - but I have no idea what this even means, far less how to use this info to my advantage. How does this 'score' even work? I have both higher and lower scores with 2 other factions - but I'm neutral with both of them. So what gives? What 'score' must I get before I 'level up' with them?
#3 - have no idea what this even is, or how it works.

If you're gonna reply to this post just to tell me how I **should** play my game - please, just don't bother. I'm not gonna tell you what you should like, or how you should play YOUR game. If that's all you've got - go tell someone who cares. Really. I paid MY money for this game - I want to play it how **I** want to play it. If you object to this, I cannot even put into words how **little** I care about your opinion.

Otherwise - if you have actual advice to give, I'd really appreciate it.

[captainamaziiing]

Use the 'p' key to access your bases dashboard. Near the upper left corner is a dropdown menu to set your bases faction. Either 'private', or 'public'. If you set it to public, the Zirax do not recognize it as an enemy base, but you cannot remove items once placed, unless you set it to 'private'. You can always switch back and forth.

If you build a space base there are no attacks.

If you attain neutral or better reputation with the Zirax, they will not attack

[N0ma13]

You can hunt spiders and aggressive dinos in zirax territory (red on the map) to get rep up to neutral.
Those 'scores' you're referring are your reputation values.
Set your core to Public as stated above, make sure your HVs/SVs are public as well if you don't want to be attacked in your ships.

*edit: More on reputation.
There are ranks for each faction, Hostile, Neutral, Friendly, Honored.
The xxx/6000 is the progression to the next rank.
If you mouse over each faction on the rep screen, a list of actions will appear on the right panel. This lists out how to change rep with that faction, positive and negative actions and their resulting changes.

[ravien_ff]

On the load save game screen, you can change the difficulty settings and disable base attacks.

[Bannor]

Originally posted by captainamaziiing:

Use the 'p' key to access your bases dashboard. Near the upper left corner is a dropdown menu to set your bases faction. Either 'private', or 'public'. If you set it to public, the Zirax do not recognize it as an enemy base, but you cannot remove items once placed, unless you set it to 'private'. You can always switch back and forth.

If you build a space base there are no attacks.

If you attain neutral or better reputation with the Zirax, they will not attack

This seems to have done the trick - thanks very much!
Just 1 small question: what exactly do you mean by, "...but you cannot remove items once placed"?

[N0ma13]

Originally posted by Bannor:

Originally posted by captainamaziiing:

Use the 'p' key to access your bases dashboard. Near the upper left corner is a dropdown menu to set your bases faction. Either 'private', or 'public'. If you set it to public, the Zirax do not recognize it as an enemy base, but you cannot remove items once placed, unless you set it to 'private'. You can always switch back and forth.

If you build a space base there are no attacks.

If you attain neutral or better reputation with the Zirax, they will not attack

This seems to have done the trick - thanks very much!
Just 1 small question: what exactly do you mean by, "...but you cannot remove items once placed"?

If you use a multitool on reclaim blocks on a base/vehicle that is set to Private or your faction if you MP, you will get the full block back.
If you use the reclaim block mode on a public or no-core structure, you will only get back components as if you were using disassemble.

[Nordic4Life]

a couple of 30 mm cannons and some sentry guns (well placed) will take care of your problems.

Don't look for peace, murder the green eyed alien sumbitches.

[Lerch Addams]

Originally posted by SteelyDanDerdorf:

a couple of 30 mm cannons and some sentry guns (well placed) will take care of your problems.

Don't look for peace, murder the green eyed alien sumbitches.

And by "a couple" you mean whatever the base maximum is and THEN...

build a heavily armed gunship and go take out the drone base for that planet.

That'll teach 'em!

[Whiplash711]

What people are failing to understand about Base Attack is how you build your base matters. What I have found is if you have a 3 block high wall all the way around about 20 blocks out from your main structure, then you add turrets on corners and in dead center you are covered. Thing is though the attack only comes from one maybe 2 directions. So after the first 2 attacks you should know where to concentrate all fire. Then you have resources coming in to you daily.

A lot of us are hoping that the AI is going to get some love. If that happens the game will get harder/better. Learn how to defend now with some tactics and you will enjoy the game more later. This is after all a SURVIVAL game at it's core and by tittle. Surviving against the locals is part of it. Though Eleon has added many settings for those that like the quiet build sims.

[bluemax151]

In my experience the direction you are attacked from can vary. I too thought they generally only attacked from 1 direction. That being the drone base's direction but it hasn't been the case in my most recent play through. Not sure if it's a path finding issue or my base is equidistant in all directions. Also avoid building near the planet's seam. The seam can cause attacking drones to just suddenly teleport right on top of your base :)


Eleon needs to seriously rework the scaling on base attacks. As soon as I build a base I'm being attacked by 3-4 drones which include the rocket type. It doesn't seem to matter what your base size, capability or reputation is currently. It's obviously an improvement for earlier builds were drones would just hunt you everywhere even when you were on foot though.

[Azule]

It depends on how you want to play the game. For many people OOG (out of game) tactics are cheating. If you want to use an "in" game strategy its pretty easy. Build a lvl 5 hover craft and find a Zirax controlled area. Park your HV at the outside of their territory and grab your shotgun and kill every animal you can find in their controlled area. You will probably die a few times if you are not alert, however it is easy to get to neutral standings and you never have to worry about base attacks again.

[ChumSickle]

Lots of good advice. Turning them off in the configure menu is probably the easiest.

But in a short period of time you will learn how to overcome their attacks and they will become a non-issue. 4 cannon turrets usually gets the job done.

[Shadow Delta]

Switching your base from private to public's not a bad idea, though a bit tedious in my mind. An easier solution to me is go to load the game. But before you launch the saved game, on the right side is the menu. Hit "Difficulty", and find where you can customize it. Go over to the base attack area, and click the buttons until it says "Off". Enjoy.

Don't feel bad. I don't care much for the base attacks either, and I have nearly 1,000 hrs of game time in this. I always switch it off for myself. At least until I have a chance to get started and situated. Some love the challenge, I personally hate trying to get started just to build a starter base and then the rocket drones blast it to bits. So, I always start a new game with this off. To each their own though.

[shdwdrvr83]

Note - the original solution of switching to 'Public' I believe is no longer available after a patch in June-ish.
The instruction to turn off attacks in the load screen/ difficulty settings is probably the best solution for a quick fix.
If you want an in-game fix, the above suggestions of better defense (at least 4 large, well placed cannon/Minigun turrets) should be enough to handle drones and some drop ships, but the best defense is getting in a combat SV of your own and taking out the attackers before they reach your base. Drones can't fire upwards, so attacking them from above is a safe strategy.
Also provided that you repair the damage after each attack.

The most direct/permanent solution to base attacks is to destroy the drone base on the planet. Once it's gone, no more attacks. However, this is no small undertaking. Conventional combat will require end-game weapons, Tier4 custom designed CVs or Hover Tanks, as the base is shielded. If you want to do it quickly though, you can mine a tunnel underneath the base so as to not be exposed to the turrets, then destroy the shield and as much of the base as you want from below in your vehicle, or use your vehicle or explosives to take down the shield, and then fight your way through in first persion and destroy it conventionally. There are whole threads here on drone base tactics/advice, if you want to pursue that I suggest reading them.

Regarding reputation and solving the Zirax problem that way: Things that increase or damage your reputation with one faction also have a corresponding affect with other factions. In chapter 3 of the story missions, you'll be directed to a 'secret base' in space controlled by the Pirates faction. You can solve this part of the mission nonviolently if you've maintained a Neutral rating with Pirates, but if you're willing to tank your reputation with Pirates, you can drastically improve your reputation with Zirax. Note that you'll be facing the Zirax again later in chapter 3, all of chapter 4, and part of chapter 6. If those story missions are important to you, remaining hostile with Zirax will probably be unavoidable until they're complete. If you've finished the story or don't care about it, just fly up into space, find the 'hidden base' asteroid, and mine it. Killing the pirates is optional. It's a copper asteroid, and just drilling it will damage your reputation with the Pirates and increase it with everyone else. By the time you've mined most of the asteroid, you should be Honored with everyone else, eliminating any necessary combat/attacks from any other factions in the area.

[El Poto]

Originally posted by Whiplash711:

What people are failing to understand about Base Attack is how you build your base matters. What I have found is if you have a 3 block high wall all the way around about 20 blocks out from your main structure, then you add turrets on corners and in dead center you are covered. Thing is though the attack only comes from one maybe 2 directions. So after the first 2 attacks you should know where to concentrate all fire. Then you have resources coming in to you daily.

A lot of us are hoping that the AI is going to get some love. If that happens the game will get harder/better. Learn how to defend now with some tactics and you will enjoy the game more later. This is after all a SURVIVAL game at it's core and by tittle. Surviving against the locals is part of it. Though Eleon has added many settings for those that like the quiet build sims.

That's weird. I have drones attacking me every time from a different direction. Usually the first attack comes from where there are more trees. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that I actually use multiple bases as defenses and base modules for different purposes. Maybe they're attacking a different base each time, but they definitively come from different directions.

[Notanyriedel]

Originally posted by Whiplash711:

Thing is though the attack only comes from one maybe 2 directions. So after the first 2 attacks you should know where to concentrate all fire. Then you have resources coming in to you daily.

I've had at least 3 directions on my base. Oh, even 4 I remember. 4 directions on my recent base, I can definitely recall each of them.

Originally posted by Whiplash711:

Learn how to defend now with some tactics and you will enjoy the game more later. This is after all a SURVIVAL game at it's core and by tittle. Surviving against the locals is part of it.

True IMO