There is no use for a 16/24 MSB Array apart from:

1. Building up huge scores whilst sacrificing fun and straining patience.

2. Precautions against Pirate/Peacekeeper Mega-Events.

It can be useful, however, to build a giant slingshot mechanism that can propel your ships over 3 sectors farther in one turn. For a 24-MSB slingshot, you only need 72 constructors because each SB only needs 2 +1 Speed modules.

For actual military use, you only need 4 starbases in a sector with only 4 modules installed on each: Stellar Wake, Interdiction Beam, Warp Field Disruptor, Inverse Tractor Beam. This system is best put in enemy sectors as it will paralyze all enemy forces within range, give you a speed boost, and cost only 20 constructors.

Building a full military SB array would only be fun if you could invite the Mega Pirates and Peacekeepers to fight it(since their strength scales in accordance to the strength of their opponents). Unfortunately, they only make appearances when you don't want them around. Otherwise you just keep piling ships into the 2 power-squares until your economy can no longer take it. Fully-loaded tiny hull fleets can exceed 40k attack without bonuses and with only 1 Hyperion Shrinker & Log System. 1/1 tiny hull fleets can hit ~36k attack before bonuses. Fully-loaded dreadnought fleets can range from 10-20k attack depending on how many Shrinkers and Log Systems the player has, and this is also before bonuses. However, I do not see what the use of cargo hulls in MSB Arrays is.

Thanks for all the info guys but I think I'm of the faint hearted. I just don't have the patience to manufacture THAT many constructors and installing the modules. Though I will try. Maybe my next small game. Anyhoo, whats the secret of the curve? A penny for your secret.

Guess you need more than a penny. Maybe a dollar or euro? I didnt figure it out either, but my system cant handle a gigantic/all-abundant map.

Sentient species taste better...

I believe FB ended up getting the answers he was seeking in the ToE forum.

There seem to be some misconceptions to what purposes the array can serve. I'll add to some of that confusion with my own experiences.   

DethAdder's use of the array to boost movement is a prime example of one of the more practical uses of the array. I don't use it to its fullest benefit, but park my transports and attack ships at the edge of the array, closest to my intended target. In many circumstances, it's advantageous to start and end a war in the same turn. I've found that a very effective way of doing that is to completely exterminate the enemy in that one turn. The array can boost your speed quite nicely for that purpose. The ships need to be parked under the array's influence for one turn before they'll get the speed bonus.

Prior to the attacks, I like to trap some enemy fleets within the array's influence. Usually, this is also on the edge of the array, so the maximum benefit isn't used. Most times, it isn't needed. A fleet of constructors or tiny fighters can surround the enemy fleet and they wont move until war is declared. If I have enough ships, I make corridors so the enemy fleets can move closer in or let incomplete fleets join together. That makes them easier to destroy once it's time to do that. This tactic can be useful when it becomes clear that you can't wipe out the enemy in a single turn. The AI appears to consider the loss of its military strength compared to mine in that turn and will sometimes surrender, thus ending the war.

Another use for the array is that early on, it acts as a lure. It actually attracts enemy fleets toward it so they can be trapped. The fleets are usually frigates, but the AI will continuously upgrade them and spend BCs on an eventual lost cause. Fleet maintenance costs help keep the AI's budget slowly draining off so I don't have to do as much to match them. It's real nice when a fleet of battleships comes along for the snare, too.

The diplomacy bonus of a strong military rating is nice, but be aware that the first few ships parked under a beginning array can backfire. Depending on your strength beforehand, the little ships can actually lower your military rating. Like everything else, there's a balance and timing involved.

There are too many nuances to list, but the idea here is to resist painting something with such a broad stroke. That being said, the array can boost scores very high and in the latter part of the game, that becomes its final purpose.

I'll put one of our spies within the ToE on it. So many to choose from....   

Sentient species taste better...

Am I the only one that abuses the UP resolution that removes enemy ships from your space at the beginning of a war? Having most of an enemy's ships forcibly moved into an array's AoE is just evil.

I dont use it that way, but I do find it very useful to simply get enemy ships out of my own territory.

Sentient species taste better...

I don't use a full array, just enough - enemy speed modules to keep them from doing anything useful while I roll over their empire.

Who was it who stacked Ecdo starbases on a 25PQ Reasearch world to get like 25,000 Reasearch/turn from it.

If I remember correctly, Fuels Chief was the first I saw top 20K in research with an econ array. Mumblefratz has also done it. The best I got was a little over 17K/turn. Then later most Metascorers realized you get the least return on your investment scorewise from research, so there hasn't been many doing it lately. It's just more advantagous to put the effort into building Mil. or Econ. further than trying for insane research numbers just for scoring purposes.

I think this neatly illustrates the fact that the Metaverse scoring is simply irreversibly broken, as it gives the highest scores for completely meaningless nonsense. I personally believe that scores should count only two things: Time, and map size. The highest score is won by the fastest victory on the largest map. Period. Everything else means nothing and is purely a masturbatory exercise.

That's a bit too simple. Shouldn't difficulty play a role? Why shouldn't the player be rewarded for having a better economy/military/research? The problem is that time isn't adequately rewarded. As a result, people find that it's better to just keep playing, rather than finishing quickly.

I am curious what the developers think about the metaverse scoring. I can't imagine that MSA's is what they envisioned. If you read the descriptions of what it takes to get the top scores, it boggles the mind. People are being limited by their computer's CPU/memory and their patience.

With the release of ToA, I think it's impossible to create scores that rival DL or DA. So this would be a prime time to create another ladder and another scoring system.

Would be nice, but then you would have people pumping out zero-year Suicidal Gigantic (Immense in TotA) wins at a high rate and lots of complaining that it wasn't competitive.

There is no perfect answer, and whatever scoring method is employed... the best, most active players will find ways to maximise it and the casual player will not be able to compete.

There is also no requirement for huge numbers of ships under a starbase array to get good scores. Military rating is usually the smallest part of my games.

bookmarked