[MoO] MOO2: What is an optimal Guardian fleet

[Tristan_C]

I had been trying something earlier with mounting a plasma web rather than a regular gun, but I do not like meddling in things I do not understand.

So, great. That design definitely works with some firepower to spare. Gauss isn't very efficient against the shield system so just use non-heavy disruptors and you can probably have the cheapest ship as well as the smallest.

For posterity's sake (apparently this thread comes up on google) we should also post some screenies of the emg ship designs...

 

[Rocco.40]

Here is the Hunter. 9 of these should do the trick (8 is possible with some luck).
Also need Tachyon Scanner at the minimum, tho Neutron Scanner is a more safe bet (+900 RP).
Ion Drive is not needed really.

Turn 96 here was from Average tech start, with 8! turns travel time ploughing trough a nebula.

 

[civvver]

Sry I made a mistake, I used a destroyer. Frigate with no advanced techs couldn't hold much.

Anyway the main issue for me isn't usually killing orion, it's finding him in my large and huge galaxies.

Even when you kill him the weapon tech is mostly worthless because it doesn't miniaturize. Unless you want a huge doom star to take out flux shielded planets and death rays, it's not very good at fighting ships. Miniaturized shield piercing phasors are a lot better, or disruptors.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

In terms of research the cheapest build would be to use gyro destabilizer which is only at total of 900 research Points to get.

Gyro Destabilizer never miss and do damage directly to structure with damage being multiplied with ship size which make overall an effective low Tech weapon against the Guardian.

Simply build the cheapest smallest ship you can equip with Gyro Destabilizer, a destroyer with battlepods should be able to equip one.

 

[Rocco.40]

[...]Simply build the cheapest smallest ship you can equip with Gyro Destabilizer, a destroyer with battlepods should be able to equip one.

You'll gonna need a LOT of destroyers to be able to pull this off. I am guessing around 60 of them. Also you gonna need a good combat speed, or half of the fleet will be out of range for most of the time.

 

[civvver]

I'll try it and let you know.

 

[Tristan_C]

Ok here are the optimal Guardian fleets devised by Caltech for your perusal.

The cruiser fleet below is the cheapest. Build 2 Cruisers, using these two designs, and round out the fleet with 4-6 of the Frigates. The general sequence is to fire the EMGs from the rear, then approach by a square or two, fire the MIRVS, approach by another square or two, and from this slightly-advanced position fire the armored/fast missiles that will trigger the enemy defense systems. The exact sequencing that results in the Guardian popping is a bit subject to chance with this fleet. Also, the cruisers will be destroyed.

The battleship fleet below is more expensive by a couple hundred production units (not much, though, relative to the cost of the techs). It is more reliable, and the battleship will survive, so you get the extra resources back. Build 1 Battleship and, again, 4-6 of the Frigates and use the same battle plan as above.

Required tech levels:

• Fast Rax (900 RP) - also Battle Pods and Reinforced Hull from Construction tech
  
• Zortrium (2000 RP) - also Merculite Missiles and some fuel cell or other from Chem tech
  
• EMG System (1500 RP) - no other Computer tech is used
  
• Neutron Scanner (900 RP) - this is claimed to be optional but winning without it usually requires more ships

Drive does not matter as long as it's there. Fusion or Ion nets some turns if Orion is remote from the home system.

 

[neilkaz]

This is for Ice-26. I just set a new ICE-mod PR by killing the Guardian on T186! I play only Huge/Imp/8/Prewarp. The fleet was 7 BB with 5 MIRV Zeons backed up by 2 MIRV EMG Zeons to get the kill once the shield was knocked down. I didn't have Battle Pods having chosen non-creative for a few games. I did have Neutron Scanner and of course Fast/ECCM and Armored missiles. The Guardian killed 2 of my 7 ships. The BB had RH and HA (Heavy Armor) when non-creative you use what you have.