Vasari's Antorak Marauder: Stabilize Phase Space. Does it work?

from Sins Forums
The most attractive part of the Vasari to me is their incredible mobility.
You can build an empire, and thanks to the ability to stabilize phase space, you can set up your fleet and your empire to only ever be 1 jump away. I don't even know how you could play without it as other races, but thats not what this topic is about.

What I am wondering is, does the Antorak Marauder's "Stabilize Phase Space" ability actually work the way it is described? I've had a fullscale invasion of one of my home planets happen before, and I tried to use this ability. I took my fleet into the edge of the planet that I was seiging, fired the ability, and attempted, to jump directly back to my planet that was under siege.

It didn't worth though. I ended up warping back 1 planet (that I owned and had a stabilizer at) before then warping directly back to the planet that was under siege. And to be clear, yes my home planet that was under siege did have a phase stabilizer at it, because when my fleet eventually did warp back to defend it, I did so between two phase stabilizers, and accross like... 6 or 7 planets. So those definitely worked, but my marauder ability didn't.

Anyone know exactly how this ability works, or what I'm doing wrong?
34,394 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
It is used for going to a phase gate from a Marauder and vice versa.

Also, the Marauder only can stabilize the space for a certain amount of time depending on your level, so you need to time jumps correctly.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
The ability is essentially a temporary phase gate, but if you use the Antorak as the origin, you still need a phase gate at the destination for a straight line travel.

The more common use of the ability is to quickly jump reinforcements anywhere you're attacking without having to fly through any normal phase lanes ;)

It's also worth noting, that the Antorak can't jump itself with the ability. It essentially becomes the phase gate, so other ships can jump but it can't.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Double post because I can't edit: I re-read yours again so my first didn't quite address it. It's possible that if you had the Antorak included in your selection, its ability was cancelled when you gave it a move order (since it's a channeled ability and your ship has to remain stationary), so your ships needed to fly to the nearest planet with a stabilizer.
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Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
You need to make sure that the fleet you are attempting to bring to the Marauder (or transport away from it) is ready to jump when you trigger the ability. The duration is low enough that if it turns off before your ships reach the end of the gravity well, they'll take the long road. It sounds like this is what happened to you.

Additionally, the Marauder cannot use this ability on itself.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks guys, that makes sense now!
My mistake was that I didn't know it was a channeled ability and that the marauder itself cannot use itself as a gate.

Im actually kind of glad about this, this will definitely speed things up. Have the fleet jump back to an owned planet to take care of an invasion, and when thats done, jump back to the marauder to continue what you were doing. niiiice
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
I think it should be changed so that the Marauder can use the ability. It doesn't make much sense to have the cap ship sitting behind. As it is the ability is not too useful ...

It would be nice if the ability could just put down a temporaty phase gate (like: Marauder nano bots quick build an instable phase stabilizer) that can then be used for like 120s as phase gate and can also be destroyed by the enemy.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
I think it makes sense. The Marauder is, by its nature, an sneaky/offensive weapon--lower damage, fairly fragile, speedy.

You don't leave it behind if you're jumping to it. If you're jumping from it, you're not using it as it's made to be used--hence the penalty.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
I could never get it to work before because I didn't realise the Antorak couldn't use it's own gate. Thanks for the explanation.
That's so useful that you can jump your fleet back to one of your phase gates if it is off attacking.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
I think it makes sense. The Marauder is, by its nature, an sneaky/offensive weapon--lower damage, fairly fragile, speedy.You don't leave it behind if you're jumping to it. If you're jumping from it, you're not using it as it's made to be used--hence the penalty.


True but when the Marauder can't use it himself then it is just so weak compared to e.g. cleansing brilliance or volatile nanites. You lose a lot of damage in not having an offensive lvl6 ability and in addition to that the cap ship can not use the mobility bonus you get. And since the ability only works for a limited time it can't even be used to rally reinforcements for your fleet from that 5 factory desert planet to your enemies base.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
True but when the Marauder can't use it himself then it is just so weak compared to e.g. cleansing brilliance or volatile nanites.


Apple, meet orange. Orange, meet apple. The mobility granted by having a mobile phase gate can't really be compared to a damage ability. They all have their uses.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
I don't think people should look at things in terms of a single ship, though. It's a combination of that specific ship's power AND the empowerment it gives to the other vessels in the fleet.

The Marauder's power is pretty weak compared to some other level 6 powers, but it's absolutely huge when it's given in the context of supplementing an entire fleet's mobility at remote points. Coupling it with a planet with three frigate factories that is well behind the lines can bring sieges in behind you as you progress through enemy territories, summon flaks if you run into hangars, and generally react much quicker than any other race.

And since the ability only works for a limited time it can't even be used to rally reinforcements for your fleet from that 5 factory desert planet to your enemies base.
Not sure this is true. Timing it correctly once you've built a mass of frigates should deliver reinforcements in a cluster.

-- Retro
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
I actually think its one of the most powerful level 6 ability tbqh, and I don't mind the way it works at all.

Can use it both defensively or offensively.

If deep in enemy territory, you can jump your fleet back to defend, do whatever with your marauder to keep it alive(and its got good survivability) while the fleet is eliminating the threat, then have the fleet jump directly back to your marauder's position.

Or you can use it like a target painter/nydus canal/HOT-HOT-HOTDROP! Navigate your marauder to the edges of the galaxy, bait your enemy's main fleet to come defend one side of their empire, then rofl-drop your fleets on their now undefendable planets on the other side of the solar system.

Its an amazing logistical advantage imo.
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
Something else to keep in mind is that you have to have enough ant-matter. This is especially true when building a phase stabilizer. After construction is completed, it won't work until it has built up enough anti-matter.

I found this out the hard way when one of my outposts was being overrun. I figured that I'd just build a stabilizer and pop in my main fleet. It didn't work.

BTW, does anyone know what happens if a phase stabilizer is destroyed while ships are in transit?
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
BTW, does anyone know what happens if a phase stabilizer is destroyed while ships are in transit?


Nothing, they finish the trip ;)

As far as I know, they shouldn't use antimatter either, other than for Returning Armada. Sometimes it takes a little bit for the game to recognize the phase node connection, though, so that could be what you experienced.
Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
Annatar11, thanks for the clarification. I don't mind the delay as it's more challenging.
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top
You'd figure when you give a movement command, the game would check both the source and destination for phase stabilizers.
I dunno whats going on it the backend, or what is intended, but I have noticed a delay before phase stabilizers work.
Hopefully if this is a bug, it does not also effect the marauder ability.
Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top
Don't mean to be teaching you to suck eggs but had the constructor finished constructing the phase gate completely before you told your fleet to move? I've found that if I issue the order immediately after it is constructed it's fine, not found that problem at all.