Hi. I have not seen any good up-to-date starbase guide on these forums, so I have decided to create one myself.
Starbases are one of the most versitile units in entrenchment, and can be diffucult to use at times. I will talk about a Starbase's Upgrades, and also give build tips and strategy. I am always open to constructive criticism, so give me your feedback. Let's get started.
TEC: Argonev Starbase
This is my least favorite starbase, as it can be confusing on how to use, and it's abilities are mostly non-combat. However, It's staying time is impressive after HP and Armor research, and Safety Override Protocol is just god.
Upgrades (I am using a 5-star system, 1 being worst and 5 being best)
Survivability(3 Levels): Vanilla, with the standard 3/6/9/14.5k HP progression and 2/3.5/5/7.25k shields. However, The TEC starbase has dedicated HP research and extra universal HP increases, so this is significantly improved. ****
Weapons(2 Levels): Not Much to say here, Except the Beams are on only 1 other unit (Kol), so you might not be upgrading them much. Missiles on the other hand can be upgraded up the wazoo, so get to those for a real bang in DPS. ****
Hangars(3 Levels): Vanilla. Same as Vasari Upgrade, and inferior to the Advent one. Good however to get up to 8 squads of fighters to protect against bombers. ***
Auxillary Gov't(1 Level): Great on Defense or Boom Bases. ****
Trade Ports(2 Levels): Good for the Eco Starbase build, however otherwise only good for Stars or other uncolonizables. ***
Docking Booms(2 Levels): Useful if you have an attendant fleet in the system, otherwise worthless. However, for an Offensive Starbase, this is a must take. ***
Factory(2 Levels): Again, mostly useful on Offense Bases. Only useful with 2 levels (1.75x build time). Allows you to replenish your fleet in a planetary assault quickly. ****
Safety Override Protocol(2 Levels): Great ability. Set up with enemy fleet close, then detonate and clean up the pieces. At level 2 It can destroy Most Cap Ships IF you can get them early before mitigation goes through the roof. Can reach LRM frigates at max range, and will be worth it economically against only 13 HCs. *****
Builds:
Defensive: 2 main options here: 3 HP, 2 Weapons, 2 Hangars, 1 Self Destruct; or 2 HP, 2 Weapons, 2 Hangars, 1 Resupply, And 1 Self Destruct. Use Build 1 if you have no fleet and build 2 with a medium/Large fleet. Gives good balance of Survivability, DPS, and Elimination. Wait for the SB to get down to ~15% HP, then Detonate for a fiery finish. Use 8 fighter squads for defense.
Offensive: This is much harder to do with TEC Then Advent or Vasari. My build is 1 HP, 2 Weapons, 2 Hangars, 2 Construction Yards, and 1 Resupply boom, although I have seen others. Keep fleet back to defend creation of SB, then attack the enemy fleet to buy upgrade time for the SB. Go for HP first, then Con yard, 2 Hangars, Weapons, and then Final Con yard and Docking boom. Bring the battle to the SB After you have the 2 hangars, filled with Bombers. Use Resupply once fleet gets there and replace losses as your economy allows. Once Fleet is gone, use Bombers from SB and Fleet to Clear out fixed defenses.
Eco Starbase: This uses the TEC's Affinity for economy to make a SB in a Core world to increase income. Uses 2 Trade Ports, 2 Factories, 1 Self Destruct for Emergencies, with the rest up to you. I do not like this particularaly, but it saves logistics slots and Increases income well.
Kamikaze Starbase: This uses 2 Levels of Safety Override Protocol To wipe out an enemy fleet. Also needs a Hull Upgrade. Wait for fleet to get close, then Detonate and bring in your own fleet for a counter-Attack. Love this for Planets I need to keep without a large fleet. I also keep a Kol on the other side of the well to clean up the survivors, but that is optional.
Advent: Transcendia Starbase
This comes in second for me after the Orkulus. It has a LOT of Combat related Upgrades and a LOT of Strikecraft. It also Can raise Max alliegence, which is useful in the extreme.
Upgrades
Toughness(3 Levels): Same as TEC. However, shields will be much increased by research, so endgame they will be higher. ****
Weapons(2 Levels): The Plasma has research, but the LR weapon does not, so this is subpar. ***
Hangars(4 Levels): This is one place where the SB really shines. It gets 2/6/10/14/20 squads for either defense or offense, so bombers can go away when you upgrade this. *****
Enduring Devotion(1 Level): This is like Auxillary Gov't, however the Transcendia has more influence in a grav well with Meteor Storm, Mass Disorientation, and Hangars. ****
Culture Centers(3 Levels): This can be marginally useful if you can get 2 or 3 levels to help culture wars. ***
Max Alliegence(2 Levels): If you can find room on a Base for this it is very good around for Terran or a Volcano or Ice w/ 4 Extractors to increase your economy significantly. ****
Mass Disorientation(2 Levels): Part of the classic Advent combo, This makes the enemy move randomly within range and increases their cooldown. Essential on almost every SB. *****
Meteroid Control(2 Levels): Good with the Mass Disorientation combo, this deals 500/750 damage to all ships with in 4000/6000 of a target within 10000/15000. This is awesome as most of these targets won't have mitigation. *****
Builds
Defensive: This is a Tough decision with 2 Toughness, 2 Meteroid Control, 1 Mass Disorientation, and then it gets tough. If you have a Halcyon, you can get 1 hangar and make 4 Bombers and 2 Fighters. Halcyon Pushes away SC and you can build bombers for offense. If you have the Combo with Guardians and Radiances you should take 1 more Mass Disorientation and 2 Hangars for more DPS. Another good build is with 1 Enduring Devotion and 2 Weapons, and use Hangar Defenses for SC defenses. Overall there are lots of options and I don't think I could cover them all.
Offensive: My build is 2 Toughness, 4 Hangars, and 2 Meteroid Control. You can bring in a fleet, Build the SB, and go Toughness, 3 Hangars, 2 Meteroid control, Hangar and then Toughness. Just sit back on your fleet. Your 20 extra squads will demolish the fixed defenses, and Meteroid control will destroy the planet and fleet from afar.
"Back Line": This is for Terran planets full of population with 2 Max Alliegence Upgrades to make economy go through the roof.
Combo Base: This is a GREAT trick if you can manage it. SB has 1 Toughness, 2 Meteroid control, and 2 Mass Disorientation. The attendant fleet needs Progenitors, Guardians, with an optional Halcylon. Use Mass Disorientation and Meteor control to disable and damage the fleet, Malice to increase damage, then use Repulsion to push the fleet away. Rinse and Repeat until fleet is dead.
Vasari: Orkulus Starbase
This is THE best starbase out there. It has More weapons, more health, and more fun than TEC or Advent. Aside from more health and weapons upgrades, this has 2 Great abilities; Deflector Shield, and Phase Stabilizer arrays. Lets get going on the Orky
Toughness(4 Levels): Superior to Advent or TEC, however, many Orkies are used offensively, so this becomes less nessesary. ****
Weapons(3 Levels): Again superior to the other 2 factions, this has Phase missiles as LR weapons, so this is great.*****
Hangars(3 Levels): Same as TEC.***
Colony Pods(2 Levels): Usually inferior to the TEC and advent Eco upgrades, I rarely recommend this.**
Enforced Loyalty(1 Level): Great for keeping planets, except the Orky can MOVE, so this is much less nessesary. ***
Frontal Deflector Shield(2 Levels): This is THE defining upgrade to the Orky. Makes it take ~1/2 or 1/3 damage on all frontal attacks. Great for either Offensive or Defensive Orkies.*****
Phase Stabilizers(1 Level): Essentialy saves 10 logistics slots. Great on some Gimmick Orkies, and an added plus in the AM increase. NOTE Doesn't work on solar bases.****
Debris Vortex(2 Levels): Don't like this much on Defensive bases, as no good player will let his fleet get shredded by an Orky. On Offense bases I like this much more. **(d)/****(o)
Defensive Orky: Many builds out there for this, mine is 3 health, 2 Weapons, 2 Deflector Shields, and Enforced Loyalty, although there are many others.
Offensive Orky: I like this build a whole lot, as the Orky was designed in my opinion for offense. 2 Health, 3 Weapons, 1 Debris Vortex, 1 Deflector, and a Phase stabilizer make this a complete romping. Make your opponent think you are outmatched, engage, then bring in a huge fleet with the arrays to crush them. That is very fun when it works:)
Gimmick Orky: I Found this build once completely by accident. I had a Orky with 2 health, 2 weapons and a Phase stabilizer in a well, and got jumped by a 1500+ supply fleet. Immediately moved in all my fleet from 2 seperate worlds through the Gate and used all subverters to trap the now doomed enemy. GGs followed within about 20 minutes.
Other Orky Tricks:
1. Use it to take out a Boom Base. It can absorb the blast, and will be able to help conquer the planet.
2. Play mind games with an opponent. Make him think you have Phase stabilizers on the base, forcing him to commit a huge fleet to take it out. You then attack him elsewhere.
3. Clear minefields with this. The damage of a mine on a Orkulus with 3 or 4 Toughness is insignificant.
4. Use a Ruiner to lay a minefield behind the Orky so if an enemy tries to outmaneuver the Orky it eats mines.
5. Lay mines around a developing Orky to protect it from unwelcome guests.
I must disagree with your assessment of Auxiliary Government being worthless. This upgrade will force your opponent to deal with the SB if they have any intention of taking the planet rather than avoiding the SB entirely and bombing the planet on the opposite side. On a neutral planet, it will deny the enemy colonization rights.
Safety Override Protocol, no question, will devastate an enemy fleet provided they are willing to enter the explosion range. The AI will gladly move into this range and allow you to blow its fleet to oblivion, but a human player that suspects in the least that an Argonev has SOP will attempt to stay out of range and let bombers take it down.
You're welcome to look at and use anything in this thread I did a while back Starbase 101.
I'll see what you say about Orkulus. I have so many tricks with this thing in my sleeves that I can't lift my arms anymore.
First thing first, you have some serious spelling issues. Run your stuff through a spell-checker if you're trying to make a comprehensive guide.
Auxiliary government is the starbase upgrade, among the most important in the TEC arsenal. It's right up there with security override protocol in terms of importance. A defensive starbase that's covering a planet must have auxiliary government, it's that important.
Against a TEC opponent in the late game, getting auxiliary government online on all your planets is a good idea, since this makes you very resistant to novalith strikes. It'll still hurt your income, but the enemy can't actually cause you to lose control of planets, which is very important.
i was actually unaware that security override protocol also kills your own ships so i lost most of my fleet along with the enemy's when i used it lol
i still don't understand how to prevent or at least make it harder for enemy fleets to go past a starbase and on to the next defenseless planet. i suppose it helps to put it at the rear of the gravity well next to the phase lane, but it wouldn't kill them fast enough to prevent them from moving on and it allows them to just bombard the planet the starbase is at. the vasari starbase doesn't have this problem because it can reposition itself at will and chase/intercept ships to an extent, but the only thing i find thats somewhat useful for advent is mass disorientation, which is expensive
also, is the meteor storm only worth it if i get two levels?
The end result is, you should always have a fleet to defend with. If the guy attacks the starbase gravwell, you should have your structures placed around the SB and auxilary government purchased - that way he has to attack the SB to take the planet (culture is another story). If he wants to skip the starbase, he will be severely weakened, which should aid you in killing him in the next gravwell.
Meteor storm is still worth it with 1 level but obviously somewhat better with level 2. A lot of times I will only get level 1 to start with and upgrade it if its likely that they will enter range of it(eg. I have SB at a roid due to small grav well with mass disorientation to keep them still after jumping in). It is entirely situational. There is no sense in spending the extra resources unless you are pretty sure you are going to get to use it. Just having level 1 is sometimes a large enough threat to make a fleet wary of attacking directly(multiplayer obviously because the AI is a retard and will attack anyways).
[_]-Greyfox
@InfiniteVoid; I agree, you could use Aux. Gov't on a Kamikaze Base, forcing the fleet to deal with your SB, and the way I deal with bombers is to have the SB have 8 or 14 Fighters, Plus a few (2-3) Hangars. The Con Yards can also help with AF frigates.
@Darvin3: on spelling I blame the Brain Fart. About Auxillary Government, I agree on second thought that it is better than I thought. However, I usually play against Advent and Vasari, so I have limited experience on TEC mirror match. Upped to 4 stars. On Eco SBs, I usually go for 1 Docking Boom And 2 Hull Upgrades, And I ALWAYS have a support fleet on hand. I use them to Save Logistics, and also as you said to trade across Uncolonizable Grav Wells. I have had an experience where an Eco Base with about 300 supply support w/ only a level 4 Marza held off a 1100 supply fleet because I just produced a lot of LRMs and Hoshikos and kept them alive with Docking booms. The Trade pays for itself in about 40 mins, which is usually enough for my SBs. Also, this frees up a slot for a Research building or Culture center, which I like better. Agreed you need a level of hull for a Boom Base. I keep a Kol (or Marza) To farm experience, getting Finest Hour or Missile Barrage. Sova is good for an Eco Base w/ Rapid Manufacturing. To deal with Orgovs I send in said Kol or Marza, than retreat and go boom. Fighters and HDs are the way I deal with bombers. With Defense build 2 I use my fleet until the SB is ~15% health or I only have Cap Ships left, then move away and go Boom. I always like to have on hand 2 ways to handle an emergency.
@N3rull: You have no idea what I can do with the Orkulus.
I will Probably get advent up this afternoon, and I hope it will be better than TEC, given I play advent about 2 times as much
Whoops. Double post.
I have been improving my skills with entrenchment, and if the starbase has SOP or aux gov, I just bring in 10 Solanus and destroy it. You can kill a combo transcencia with 1 Solanus and a supportive fleet, provided the player is not trying to specifically target it, in that case you will need more!
Darvin says that the Solanus is useless, but I disagree. Solanus can be out of range of EVERY starbase weapon or ability (I just looked at Last Resort and the Solanus range matches lv.2 LR range). I micro them like crazy when dealing with an Orkulus. (Though it is important to note that they get massacred against a hangar SB. Just like any other antiSB.)
Sure, they are expensive and have a specific role that is useless for anything else, but they have the greatest weapon range of any ship in sins, a great amount of health, and a high DPS. Ogrovs can beat them in DPS, and still have a good range, but they have almost half the health of a solanus and their range makes them target of abilities and long-range weaponry.
I agree with the fact that just about(not a boom base or an offensive base) every SB needs aux gov.
The Orkulus' mobility is a detriment and an advantage. It allows the SB to roam and be adaptable(which really outweighs the bad part), but I have had unfair AI send in ogrovs or solanus and avoid my SB while running around the gravwell and destroying my extractors, labs, and factories. It is relatively easy to send in a small fleet to distract the Orkulus and move it away from the edge, and jump the rest of the fleet in afterwords.
"Starbases are not space Gandalfs shouting "You shall not pass!" and blowing everything that enters the gravwell." Hahaha +1
Starfish are terrible against starbases especially the orkulus. They are made for multiple targets to begin with so their dps vs one target is already crap. They are fragile and expensive. As has been mentioned even a paltry fleet can wipe them out without much damage done to the sb or surrounding structures. You would be much better served building bombers to take out anything that starfish can take out.
As to the OP, I have a hard time recommending hangar upgrades on a SB unless its an offensive orkulus that cannot be supported easily otherwise. Sure its nice to have AM independant SC being built but there are generally better ways to achieve the same effect. As an advent, I would suggest not even bothering with it. You should be building hangar bays anyways for shield bestowal. With defensive vasari, they should be building hangar bays too for phasic trap(won't even need any SC then). I assume under your advent build section that instead of radiances you mean progenitors. Radiances won't do anything useful combined with guardians. I generally have a hard time recommending the allegiance upgrades as well. They are not worth the cost of building a SB and 2 upgrades for econ reasons alone(if you are building econ upgrades then its almost surely a back world). Trade port upgrades are really only worth it to extend a trade chain.
lol I just personally created a mod and shared with my friends a mod that allow everyone to fully upgrade every starbase
Although every upgrade to a starbase is beneficial in some way, I see that the trade upgrade to any starbase is probably one of the top upgrades there is per starbase. if you take the income generated from each starbase, you can possibly use the total income generated from the starbase and the trade port to mitigate the loss of income from the fleet upkeep.
Thanks for all the great feedback and discussion! I will hopefully be putting up Vasari and my Big Bag o' Orky Tricks this afternoon. Please continue in your constructive feedback. I am also going to put up a Combo section in the Guide after Vasari are finished.
All in all, frontal shields are GOOD, but it's not "teh shizzz". I'd give it ****.
And it's 10 tactical, not logistic slots .
Bottom line is, if you expect your orkulus to shrug off a late game 1000-supply fleet by itself... take frontal shields instead, it will let the orky survive a few seconds longer. If you plan on using the orky as a part of a bigger "something", debris vortex really kicks ass.
That was my 2cents.
PS. Where are the orky tricks you promised? You aren't trying to tell me that those two things on the bottom are all the tricks I anticipated?
Yeah. I've tanked fully upgraded Orkuluses with Advent battle balls and lost few ships by using Guardians and two Progenitors for shield restore.
the phase stabilization ability does not seem to work with a solar starbase
@N3rull: Thanks for the feedback. I got lazy and forgot to read the entity files for FDS *knocks head*. I have also added 3 more tricks for an Orky in the main post . On debris vortex I have never found it necessary for either Offense or Defense. On Defense I have Repair bays, and on Offense lots of Overseers. That said the Upgrade is often good on Offense bases while the fleet is using the overseers to heal itself. I use Phase Stabilizers on My SB as a counter to the fact that a large fleet can come and tear down the Orky. If said fleet comes I just jump in several hundred supply of fleet to destroy and counterattack the attacker. I always keep 2 or 3 "Staging Worlds" where I can keep said fleets while waiting to attack or be attacked.
@Darvin3: On Advent Hangars I can on Defense Eliminate all enemy bombers with 3 or 4 hangar upgrades and 2 HDs. Then he has to come up close and meet Meteor Storm/Mass Disorientation. On Offense 20 extra bombers for your fleet allows you to destroy all fixed defenses in the system free from risk. I ment by the Best starbase that the Orky has the most tricks and Brute force, and It is most versatile for Attack or Defense. It is definitely my favorite.
[quote who="ls612" reply="21" id="2745836@Darvin3: On Advent Hangars I can on Defense Eliminate all enemy bombers with 3 or 4 hangar upgrades and 2 HDs. Then he has to come up close and meet Meteor Storm/Mass Disorientation. On Offense 20 extra bombers for your fleet allows you to destroy all fixed defenses in the system free from risk. I ment by the Best starbase that the Orky has the most tricks and Brute force, and It is most versatile for Attack or Defense. It is definitely my favorite.[/quote]
4 hangar upgrades doesn't leave much room for anything else. If you add in 1 level of meteor and mass(not ideal generally) that doesn't exactly leave you much room for hp upgrades or anything else for that matter. That leaves your SB an easy mark for any decent sized fleet. Even if they had to tank a meteor, they could still finish off the SB in short order. Plus all that could have been accomplished by drone hosts, halcyon or hangar bays and be mobile, telekinetic push or give shields(thus adding mitigation to repairs and other structures). I am not saying hangar upgrades are totally useless because there is some utility. They are not however as important as you make them sound and are near the bottom of the list on a military oriented advent SB.
However, this is very close to the first of my tricks that I haven't shared yet. It's the most obvious of them, so some may already have used it and it ain't worth keeping secret. Anyway, what you do is you make one navigator, turn all auto-whatevers off on it except revealing mines (autoattack off, scouting off, capturing off, revealing mines ON) and rightclick on the orky so that the navigator follows it. Then just select the orky and shift-queue it for a trip through the middle of the enemy minefield. The mines will be revealed just as the orky is between them and it will one shot them all instantly. What makes this trick valuable is that it works (98% of the time) on homing mines. Everyone knows how irritating homing mines can be. You send a navigator to kill them, they boom the navigator instead. Well, if you do this trick, the orky will be killing the revealed mines just before they reach the navigator, effectively wiping the minefield.
This is only true for Psi homing mines. And the Psi homing mines will damage structures and starbases. TEC and Vas mines will trigger and damage structures and starbases. Personally, I think this is an oversight by the devs to not have Psi mines trigger on structures and starbases.
Anyway, this is not an oversight. It was intended and it even is in one of the patch changelogs. Homing mines were changed to this behaviour so that planting a bunch of homing mines around a starbase from the other end of the gravwell wasn't the advent's flawless anti-structure weapon.
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