GotLag posted:

You can shield primitives in your empire, but you can't crack their planet

Libluini posted:

This is interesting. So what happens when the first pirates show up? Will you be able to rebuild your fleet fast enough to stop them, or will they raze your empire to the ground? Don't leave us hanging!

Libluini posted:

I can't understand this, wouldn't you need to build ships in the first place? Why the refitting to zero, if you can just refit to what you need at the moment anyway? Is it just to min-max some ship-upkeep?


Fascinating! I'm always going for simply collecting as many research-modifiers as I can. (This time around I even started with logic engines as a starting trait, just so my machines could get to science even faster. Now that I can robo-mod, I of course have specialist bots for everything, and my production in everything is slowly gearing up.)

Staltran posted:

Your starting corvettes seem to have a combined mineral upkeep of 3.26 (at the starting starbase with cargo docks), and I didn't check the exact value of the energy upkeep but it should be half that. Pirates can spawn at 2210 at the earliest I believe, so that's ten years of savings, or 120*3.26=391.2 minerals and 195.6 energy. A starting corvette costs 145 minerals, so you come behind mineral-wise by about 44 minerals, and ahead by almost 200 energy. But you get the minerals earlier, so you might very well come ahead in minerals too by expanding faster etc. And the energy savings are considerable, an extra scientist, or two thirds of a private colony ship if you're playing a corporate dominion, or 2 tile blockers in your home world, or just working less power plants and more mines. I don't think the AI will ever attack you that early either, so that really seems like a good strategy. I'll have to try it out later.


You mean they'll release a new version of the beta? I hope they do one soon then, the tradition cost bug is, uh, pretty big.

metasynthetic posted:

AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:

Anyone know how I get this to change to green?


The pictured planet is a Gaia world but I dont see an option anywhere to declare it "Hallowed".

Aethernet posted:

If the +5 starbases perk also gave +10% sublight speed in systems with starbases it would turn from a joke into something amazing. Call it "Hyperspace Bypass Construction."

ConfusedUs posted:

You're crazy (like a shark)

Nitrousoxide posted:

If you say so Stellaris. I don't think I really control that much of the galaxy but whatever.

GotLag posted:

The population on one of my planets rioted against the presence of another species, and killed one of the pops. The other species is my empire's standard robot.

I feel like this event could have used another check or two.

Baronjutter posted:

I'd love to see various interactions and diplomacy we could do with primitives based on their level. Like why not make some sort of protectorate arrangement with an early industrial age civilization? You guys provide us food and minerals in exchange for lofty technological promises, or trick them into worshiping you as a god and paying tribute? Let me get my stargate on and have a vast vassal empire of primitives.

Nuclearmonkee posted:

Use corvettes.

ZypherIM posted:

You'll want small mounts and high acc/tracking weapons. The chance to hit is basically [self.accuracy]-[enemy.evasion - self.tracking], with the second part not being able to go below 0 (so if you have more tracking than enemy's evasion you don't get any bonus).

So look at the enemy corvettes, see what their evasion is, aim to get enough tracking to counter that if possible. You get some from weapon, some from sensors, picket computer. Small weapons have way better tracking (lasers are [50][30][5] for small/med/large).

If you have auxiliary fire control tech you can slap +5 accuracy into your Aux slots.

Small lasers on cruisers can hit 80% accuracy against 90% evasion corvettes, and medium lasers 60% with tier 2 tech.
Autocannons (small slot only) are even better against high evasion targets (75 base tracking, 5 from level 2 sensors, 10 from picket computer = 90, negative all evasion), and with aux fire control you'd be sitting at 95% accuracy.
Disrupters are good as well, with 10% better accuracy and tracking over lasers at small size, and 10% accuracy and 5% tracking at medium size.
Missiles are at 100 acc and 25 tracking, so 60% with my tier 2 tech + fire control, equal to medium lasers.

If you have to use large slots, cloud lightning is the best by far (100 acc, 30 track compared to 90/5 for the next best), though maybe if you math out the later tier techs they'd be better even after the accuracy penalty (not sure where the inflection point is, but needs to make up for 35% less accuracy).

Theoretically strike craft should work well (100 acc, 60-70 tracking, ignore shields, tends to also have small gun mounts on hanger sections), but I haven't messed with them and others have reported them sucking.

I can't find anything for if there is a max accuracy or not.


When you look at slot conversions, you get the same number of weapons no matter if you do corvettes, destroyers, or cruisers. Cruisers get you a second aux slot, which gets you another +5 hit. Going up on sizes gets you more hull per command point, and from corvette->cruiser you get twice as many armor/shield slots at medium size instead of small. So I think cruisers with missile slots (6 small mounts, 3 missile mounts) and double aux fire control would be your best bet.

Captain Oblivious posted:

It gets even better, because I had so many Gaia Worlds (and eventually Habitats) what's been happening all game is that my neighbors who started the game as kind of ambivalent warrior klingons and materialists and so on and so forth, originally they didn't care for me much. However, I buttered them up enough for migration treaties and positive relations. All my gaia worlds brought scores of people to my empire, who were then indoctrinated into my dark cult of peace and multiculturalism. Over time they then trickled back to their native empires and hosed up the ethics demographics back home.

Yeah every single empire in the galaxy except the Glost-Wertheni are now some shade of Spiritualist and/or Xenophile and/or Pacifist. Friendship cannot be stopped. It does not feel fear, or remorse, and it will never...EVER stop until you love thy neighbor.

AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:

I'm not sure what you mean by "cycling" but what I'm saying is if I am researching Planetary Unification and it has 10 months to go, and I will get the next Tradition pick in 13 (the pick that will unlock Faith In Science), I will switch Planetary Unification to something else (that I am going to research later anyway; the RP spent stick with the tech even if it does not come up in my next draw once I complete one of the current draw) for four months, then go back to (and finish) Planetary Unification. It means I wait 4 months (8 unity income had I completed Planetary Unification) to get 30 (I usually have 10 Unity income by the time I finishing my first techs; FiS gives 3 months worth). Its nothing insane but a 22 Unity boost that early is also not insignificant. If you do it with three techs, though, its almost a whole Tradition point by itself.

AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:

Does anyone know if that new beta patch update dropped? I cannot trade with the merchant guilds for food yet.

Ah, fair enough. I had not considered just not researching because I have always felt that the "banking" research is not shown in the UI and is thus a dubious and may-not-actually-be there thing that I dont trust. But I should just give it a try.
Regardless, I'll trade 4 months of ~6-8 Science for the extra unity. But that is just personal preference. Same goes for the Trading Post in the starbase - its just what I like to do so I can take a worker off of my starting secondary energy farm since my Species is Industrious and I have the Mining Guilds civic.

ZypherIM posted:

Heavy slave builds can hit numbers like that as well. Fanatic auth + syncreatic evolution and you've got like +52% minerals on tiles.

ZypherIM posted:

Yea but you can just nerve staple them. You also don't have to chase happiness boosts, so different paths of what you're taking are more viable.

ZypherIM posted:

Proles would be 10(prole)+10(nerve staple)+10(v.strong)+15(industrious) for 45 off species, so you're at 35 even at the very start. Chattel slavery gives another +10, slave processing facility gives another +10, there's also the 'Artificial Moral Codes' for another +5, think you got the rest of the slavery specific ones.

I'm not sure how long it takes you get to that max happiness, slave processing is pretty early tech wise.

The nice thing about slaves is you free up your main race from having to be v.strong+industrious. Lets you focus them on +tech/unity instead.

ZypherIM posted:

Unrest isn't an issue with slavery until you've got majority slavery planets, adding in another couple slaves onto your starting planet won't move you into penalties. My bad on forgetting you can't get v.strong off the bat. Slavery with syncreatic starts at +62% default, and can get up to +30% more depending on if you get governor, leader, and agenda for minerals for a +92%. Later on you can add in another +15% from techs (tier 1 and tier 2) that don't apply to happiness.

Whats your starting happiness bonus to production?

If you're shifting 6 guys onto minerals at the start, that means you're keeping.. 1 food and 1 energy while skipping out on all unity and science? Ok I guess if you stunt all your other growth for extra minerals you can get more minerals. Meanwhile a syncreatic slaver race starts out their main race with +science/+unity, maybe falls slightly behind as you focus 100% on minerals, and the rockets past as soon as they look at a second planet while pumping out a lot more tech+traditions.


edit: If you get synths without going synthetic ascension you can actually enslave them, and get the synth bonus AND the slavery bonus. I don't think you can get enough species mod points to fit robust and nerve staples and v.strong, but I could be wrong. Level 2 refinery gives another +20% that I don't think you have listed, and I'm pretty sure 170% is around where I remember the cap being.

ZypherIM posted:

If I remember correctly off-hand you should be getting 1% production for every 2 happiness over 60, so 5-7% from happiness.

My starting build runs: spiritualist (trade off the 5% resources for temple unity bonuses, unity edicts), mining guilds (stations benefit), main race - intelligent, traditional, quick learner.

If I get no bonus mineral options +19.41, starter mineral tiles on the planet are a +1 and a +2 (unsure if default mine tiles on a gaia are different). With a +2 mineral station as the extra starting station I sit at +21.61. There is always a +2 mineral tile under a blocker which would give another +6.48. So +28.09 is the sort of bottom line. Getting another +1 mineral tile and taking an energy hit until you get stuff like trading hub up and +33.22 is what I'm at.

Around +30 and you should be limited by influence instead of minerals for expansion, which translates into a pretty fast second planet. After building a temple I'm at +7.56 unity as well.


I included refinery because you included stuff like exoskeletons, figured you were looking for everything. Also yes, the benefit of stations from pacifism bonus is probably a large contributor to your large mineral gain you've noticed.


edit: that is +33.22 with 1 extra 1 mineral mine tile built. No leader, governor, agenda bonus.

AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:

I uh, I mean...you might fit in here, if you are okay with people staring at you for having so many Ethics...


edit: lol, less than 10 years ago I conquered planets from those guys' previous overlords....their species are still set to "Undesirable" and I cant change it for 2 more years

edit2: gently caress, that really sucks because I would have loved to have them but they will immediately get purged if I accept them into my empire and their species being set to undesirables cant be changed for two years

edit3: thank goodness I am not on Ironman, I used the "free_policies" console command to rectify the problem.

Arrath posted:

Playing a multiplayer game with some friends, what are a few handy ways to cause Fun(TM) things to happen?

Get synths, treat them like poo poo? Poke a FE?

Ms Adequate posted:

Just some soft Rowdy Robot Boys.

(What year are you on now? A 400-year war against the Contingency is pretty big time )

iospace posted:

What was, shall be.

What shall be, was.