Question about Influence and Planets

from GalCiv2 Forums
New to the game, so maybe this is a noob question, but I was playing the other day, experimenting with different aspects of the game. And I was trying to get a planet to convert over to my side using my influence. So I built a few influence starbases around it, and since I was doing sufficient espionage on their faction, I could see that my influence was almost 10x what their planet was producing. Then I saw the skull and crossbones pop up over the planet, then... nothing. Weeks went by and the planet didn't convert. I kept checking to see that I had more than 4x their influence and I did. So basically my question is, how long does it usually take before a planet will switch? Was there something I was doing wrong? Do I need to research any technologies?

TIA!
5,583 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Depending on the planet, it can take a few weeks or several months. Some just never seem to flip, and just hang on and on, and on...
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Almost all of my games have been influence victories, and I have yet to figure out how to predict when a planet will flip. As you noted, Drewbagel423, some planets take forever to flip. Others, it's a turn or two. From what I have read here and on the Wiki site, it's a random chance, and there does not seem to be any built-in time limit.
Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Some races have a loyalty bonus that make them harder to flip over to your side. Apart from that, about all you can say is that it is a random chance with the probability of flipping on a turn increasing as the influence ratio increases.

From what I've seen ratios above 10x cause planets to flip rather quickly (within 10-15 turns).
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
okay, maybe i just didn't give it enough time then

is it possible to flip a faction's final planet? or their home planet (that's what the little crown next to a planet means right?)
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes the final planet can be flipped, you get a message about how your influence won over the entire race.

Yes very random, I like to play the flip stratigy a lot, last night I had a game where I had a total of 9 planets in disorder, for months not a one flipped, then within 2 turns 4 flipped. I have won several games with a military victory without ever invading one planet, well a couple of Nuets since they don't flip.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's a crap shoot, like a random event. Getting the influence ratio above 4.0 puts if up for grabs. Higher ratios increase the "flip" probabability. I've had planets as high as 30 last a couple months. I've had planets as low as 5 flip in a couple turns. It just depends if the planet is lucky or not.

Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I always wondered if a higher ratio increased the odds of a planet turning. Do you know how the ratio increases the chance? Would having 8.0 double the chance? It bugged me not knowing if putting those extra Influence bases around a planet really do help or is it just a waste of my resources.

Maybe it's just me but I find planets flip most readily with scores of around 12-24, the ones I have higher seem to take longer.