Starbase Balance

I found the same thing. I bought the weapons upgrade up to level 2, which talks about "extreme range", but it really didn't seem all that extreme. It wasn't covering at least half the gravity well, which made it easy for ships to simply fly past the Starbase.

yeah, the range seemed a bit foo small to me too. after all the point is to build something that cannot be passed by so easily.

otherwise, strength wise I think they are fairly good. I was surprised to see them start so cheap and comparatively weak. they may even be a bit too cheap, at least compared to caps which have a bit less shield and substantially less damage. but are of course mobile.

Personally i think that the starbases should be able to move with-in the well and just have the vasari be able to jump

Vasari being able to jump is a bad idea.  It turns vasari bases into uber powerful but slow cap ships.

Agreed. After playing a TEC game I felt that the starbase was just a glorified version of the turret from the original game. Enemy ships ships were just able to go around it and avoid any damage. It should either have pretty long range or be able to move around the gravity well slowly.

I like the Vasari death-star Starbase, though. I hope they keep the phasing in for that.

Yep Increase the range of these starbases.

Currently I've only got one (Advent) starbase up. It's in a star's gravity well, and nothing has tried to attack it yet. Some Vasari ships leaving the system passed by out of its range though. So far I think the range could be upped some.  Also, what's with the tick shape of the new ship? I haven't checked out the other races new stuff yet, but it makes me wonder how they are shaped.

I agree Starbases should be able to move within the gravity well and just have the Vasari starbase phase. Or starbases need severe range increase while the vasari starbase needs a reduction.

Also don't know if anyone else noticed this but the TEC starbase when built does not fire Autocannons. And only fires beams when it recieves the upgrade.

Yeah I noticed that too. I find it annoying that once you click the build starbase button it turns into a base right there. I also noticed that when the computer builds SBs they are invulnerable to attack.

I would also like to see a range increase in the Advent Starbase. Although it is pretty cool and I have not seen as many problems as the other Beta testers, I would suggest an Increase in range for the advent sb, larger tactical slots so that you can at least have 1 of every ability available to the sb, the ability to move around the gravity well, And new screenshots from other faction's sb's since I dont go anywhere near the Vasari or TEC I'd just like to see what i'd be up against.

well you could look at my post with the graphics glitch for the TEC SB to see what it looks like. The whole point of the upgrade limit for the SB is to make it more strategic too. Don't forget that.

I don't know if it was just my map or what, but within the first hour of play, all AI had starbases on 3/3 of their planets. I was pretty shocked. The AI seems to have improved a lot.

I think they have also fixed how ships track other ships. It seems like LF's now stay within an optimal range (about 90% of their range). Can anyone else confirm? I find this works really well as they will follow ships around a gravity well and continue to fire, rather than stop go stop go. I might be dreaming though... If so, I'd like to test out the long range delicate ships in the opposite function, they run away if something gets within a certain distance. This would be good for carriers, Long Range Frigates.. anything else?

i'd agree, star bases are very under ranged. I'm not sure why. I'd also like a second ring around a constructor frig that shows the range of the SB after it's been built.

I like the price of starbases, I was worried they would be too expensive and never used. I can't say how they work though as I mindumped before being able to battle them.

I haven't confirmed if AI captures or fights for neutrals. It would be really awesome if they did. 

I have to be the voice of dissent here, starbase mobility needs to be altered somehow, as do build times and upgrade times.  I dominated 3 hard AI's my first run through (I did have two near useless normal AI's) by simply scouting, jumping to the side of the well opposite the defending fleet, and building a starbase right in their well.  The base only takes about a minute to build, and upgrades are almost as fast.  By the time the enemy fleet reaches you the base is built and upgrading already.  Since each upgrade practically doubles shields and hit points, and as long as you have the money (which you can easily recover after scuttling bases not on the front line) you have a level 4 defense base in 5 minutes right in the enemy well.  After that it's just a matter of mopping up.  And that's without even trying to create some sort of diversion elsewhere.  I've even used the bases as a mine sweeper, it can easily take dozens of hits and barely register any damage.  Just my two cents, what does everyone else think?

Oh and here's a pic!

Agreed, starbases need a lot more range (and possibly very, very slow movement). I was able to completly ignore enemy starbases that were in odd positions, too.

Hell, I was even able to capture the planet with an enemy starbase still in the system.

Well I have just destroyed an advent bace (9900) with 18 bomber squads. Who needs the missle Cruiser?

serously the bases need flack -alot to ward off bombers

instead of increasing the range of a starbase imo it would be logical if the starbase moves on a circle around the planet. that would be physically correct and the starbase covers the whole gravity well. only other buildings should not be in their way

I agreed, the range of the starbases should be able to hit targets between ends of the gravity well.  I mean, that is the point of having a starbase, so that if you build it on the edgo of your gravity well and you opponent's fleet is directly at the opposite end, the starbase should able to hit it.  Yep, and also have lots of fighter defenses capability for it too.

I agree with both. I already love the effect that starbases have on the game, a sense of defense, but i think it still isn't quite enough. Starbases are easy to avoid, and a little too easy to take down. The built-in flak turrets sounds like a must to me.

Star base build time must be increased. It feels too fast right now. Agree with the range.

off of starbases on to mines - is there anyway of clearing them. I get that the scout is the only one that can see them, but how do u get rid of them? The Vasri can lay them any where including my own grav well!

If u cant shoot them we need a mine clearing ship. Perhaps change the role of the missle cruiser to mine clearing? as 15 bomber squads do a better job.

Edit: ok I have just look at Vasri and Advent, they dont quite have the same set up as TEC. But questions still remains, how do u clear mines, particularly TEC, and bombers are still better than the avgro? cruiser.

And... back on to starbases.

I agree with most points here, too.

Although I wouldn't increase the starbase range a bit... I'd increase it a LOT! Seriously, like half the gravwell.

As it is, the attacker gets to choose whether or not he wishes to engage the defenses, and if he doesn't, he just flys on by. I was hoping Entrenchment would fix that problem, but so far it doesn't.

I also think something needs to be done about starbase buildtimes.

Right now, with the super-fast build and the super-short range, they're much, much better for offense than defence, which certainly isn't right.

the flaks sound like a good idea, it's definately odd that such a big stucture has no anti-fighter weapons.

also, I see dknipp2's point. build time and upgrade time should be a bit higher, and maybe doubled when in an enemy grav well. in fact, it could be like half or so in your own or allied wells, normal in neutral ones and double in enemy ones.

as to general balance: I'd say they are a bit too offensive in their basic setting. they have about the hp of a capship, but several times over the firepower. maybe shif a little bit fp to hp? I do however love that they start out affordable and can be upgraded and that there is a hard limit as to what kinds of upgrades you can pick. a bit like i GC II (and I liked the system there).

Can the Vasari one Jump to other areas?

it can't, but some people brought up the idea. it can however move inside of a grav well. imagine it like the constructor frigates from the vanilla game when it comes to mobility.