Question about Ships and defence

from Stardock Forums
I am a new player to this game and have been having a lot of issues trying to figure out how to properly equip my ships for attack and defence.

Basically I like to have one ship orbiting all my planets, seems to keep the other races from attacking my planets.

But, When I am forced into battle I am getting hosed big time. I can't seem to get my fighters to survive any combat. All are shot dead in all combats.

I have been thinking of making three small ships in a fleet, each one loaded with one of the armours (as much as I can put on) and making a fleet out of them. I would have one ship with all armour, one ship with all PD and one ship with all Shields. This way at least I might have one ship left at the end of a combat.

Also, each ship will be loaded with one type of weaponry.

How does this sound? IF it is no good, can you give me some tips?

And I don't even want to talk about those darn pirates.....

1,456 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hi!
I would have one ship with all armour, one ship with all PD and one ship with all Shields

If you'll play DreadLords that would help, but would be terribly cost-ineficient. Small hulls aren't supposed to carry defenses. The medium hull is the one that has enough space to fit in the proper defense type for the opponent you're attacking AND enough weapons to destroy them before you ships are destroyed. In DL my usual ships' outfit had about 50% more defenses than the most common design of the AI I've been fighting had, and enough weapons to end combat quickly.

But in DA only the late-game defenses are moderately cost-effective, so you'll come out of battles more successful if you mount only weapons, and one engine. Gone are the days, where I could attack with only 4 mediums a fleet of 8 smalls, and win without losing a ship. Now every side loses ships, regardless of (im)proper defenses. The only question is how much and who. Be the attacker, have as much firepower in a single ship as you can get, regardless of costs, and you'll come out with less costs as the AI.

BR, Iztok
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
There are several threads floating around with theories about setting up for defense. Most of these discussions resolve to HOW you defend, not so much how you design individual ships for defense duty. You might search for such threads if you're interested.
Galactic Civilizations IV