Sins II: Dev Journal 7 - The Argonev Starbase

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Although recognized as powerful battlestations, the Argonev-class starbases began their lives as civilian structures. Prior to the war, the Argonev served as orbital cities where families lived, major commerce hubs were established, and ships serviced on their treks across Trader space.

By War Year 15 the TEC had determined that these massive bases would need to be repurposed for the war effort. Many of the civilian accommodations were removed to free up space for military hardware and construction facilities; and new defense and weapons systems were added throughout.

Now 20 years after their initial military conversion the TEC factions have made the Argonev more deadly than ever before.

In its base configuration (seen above), the Argonev is an impressive fortress. The base features 8 banks of medium autocannons and 4 banks of light autocannons per side, for a total of 48 emplacements. Additionally, the Argonev hosts 4 banks of point-defense autocannons along each of its top and bottom quadrants, for a total of 16 emplacements.

Here we see a fully upgraded Argonev in all its martial and support glory. With its selection of optional upgrades, the Argonev truly comes into its own.

Optional Upgrades

  • Structural Integrity (I-III): Up to 3 levels of additional armor plating and shielding can be applied to the Argonev. Each upgrade grants a substantial boost to the starbase's hull points, shields, armor and passive regeneration stats.

  • Heavy Beam Cannons: A more refined version of the beam cannon found on the Kol-class battleship, this upgrade mounts 4 heavy beam cannons on the starbase - one in each corner.

  • Missile Launcher Arrays: Deployed on the four corners of the starbase, arrays of 17 missile tubs are added for very-long range firepower.

  • Auxiliary Hangars (I-III): This upgrade converts old storage blocks into hangar bays, giving the Argonev the ability to deploy 4-14 squadrons of strikecraft.

  • Construction Bays: By adding internal manufacturing facilities, the Argonev gains the ability to construct corvette, frigate and cruiser class ships. Excess capacity is also given to the local planet to boost external ship production.

  • Docking Booms: A holdover from happier times, these Docking Booms are now an optional upgrade to the Argonev. Their addition to the starbase grants friendly ships and structures a massive boost to hull point and antimatter restoration speed.

  • Trade Facilities: Even in times of war there’s a need for commerce. By re-opening trade facilities on the Argonev the player’s empire gains valuable trade points.

  • Planetary Shield Array: This large addition to the starbase provides an invulnerable shield to its host planet, making it immune to bombardment.

  • Safety Override Protocol: In the darkest of times, spite can be a final ‘salute’ to the enemy. This ability disables the safety systems on the Argonev’s power reactors and weapons, resulting in a catastrophic explosion. Anything in a wide radius around the starbase is unlikely to survive its destruction.

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37,235 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Sins2 Forums Top

Red button gonna be OP again... :D

Reply #2 from Sins2 Forums Top

Loving the flak cannons that are now standard on this starbase. I mod it in myself in the original.

Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from Sins2 Forums Top

Safety Override Protocol is something i used a lot last night in an 8+ hour match in an effort to try to use the Argonov to actually be useful in a large attack rather than a humongous credit sink.  I found it almost worthless.  It did not make capital ships blink, didnt bother Vasari or Advent Titans, and that it even didnt have much of an impact on the cruisers and frigates.  It just erases strike craft and certainly corvettes...but the radius of the explosion is so narrow than it is mostly just strike craft.  I find it perplexing that anything above corvette can somehow take an Argonov self destruct on the chin and shrug it off in late game scenarios, where late game is only when you actually get to unlock the ability.   

I would recommend lowering the cost and level to unlock this so that the ability can meaningfully be used in early game scenarios or or massively increasing the damage and radius of the explosion if the developers have it scheduled as is for a reason.  Overall, the Argonov is a disappointing starbase that is costly and slow to deploy and its best feature is planetary shield in matches with novalith spam.  I thought the recent articles on the Argonev were an indication that the devs were actually rebalancing it in Sins 2...but jeez i find it unremarkable, expensive, and irritating. 

And not for nothing, i can have a fully reserach tree-researched, fully upgraded Argonev with a carpet of repair platforms around it and a forest of gaus cannons for extra punch...and the survivability is simply bad and the damage output is just bad and very easy for even clueless AI to overcome.  I really think this starbase needs a re-work.