I’ve just started the initial expansion - discovered 4 new systems but I’m still just in Sol - is it time to defend Sols colonies with STOs or is it too early
I’ve barely any research into weapons yet
Consider the consequences of developing and deploying STO and not needing them. Now consider the consequences of needing STO and not having them.
It’s never too early.
3 Likes
Despite my peashooter levels of tech?
Right now you are doomed no matter what your enemies bring.
They may have paper armour, if you are lucky.
And if it is not paper thin… add more STOs
I would say that if you are not sure, then you do not need to build them yet.
I’m 40 years into my current campaign, yet to build a warship, yet to build an STO, yet to meet aliens. I’ve explored over 30 star systems, but that’s because my game settings are for slow and chill gameplay (1% to generate new NPRs, 50% research speed).
But my first game in VB6, I still remember it, even though it was almost a decade ago. Earth was glassed from orbit and I could not do anything. Still remember it today.
Generally, the longer you postpone building anything (ships, units) in the early game, the longer you wait for better technologies, the better you’ll be when you actually build anything. Yet it all comes down to the way your game is setup (are there spoilers enabled, how many and how far NPRs, generation chance, etc).
Also, let’s say you start the game and build STOs from day one. If you won’t update their designs and won’t rebuild them in the future years, by the time they would actually be needed to defend your planets, they may be obsolete against newly spawned aliens.
3 Likes
Raiders want to know the coordinates of your system.
If you are not sure about STO, build missile satellites/fighters, it is easier to keep them relevant against beam weapons.
You should always have your colony defenses (Spoilers) and/or sensor buoys on Jump Points (NPRs) to be able to do something when your enemies find you.
1 Like
STO, ships, etc take a while to build. If you wait to build until you need them, they will be ready too late. Build a small amount of what you can build now.
That said, I recommend building your first STO with 12cm or bigger lasers, railguns, or particle cannons. They have much better range than 10cm, and since STO are stuck on the body they defend, range is important.
Missile pod stations are also a good investment for defending Earth. You can build them with a super low reload time (first tier of launcher speed tech, and even size reduced launchers) because you likely won’t need to fire more than once, and can restock missiles from the planet as your missile tech improves. Missiles also have much better range than any STO, so you can hit them before they can hit your orbital shipyards etc.
2 Likes
Like I’ve said, my current campaign is very chill, so no spoilers at all. Only NPRs. 1 NPR at game start (yet to encounter), and then 1% chance that either I or that NPR generates a new one.
But even so, pain can be a great motivator to learn. The enemy is the best teacher. 
Get glassed once, shame on them. Get glassed twice, shame on you. 
1 Like
My take is that you won’t go wrong building up even rudimentary low-tech STO early. I once defeated an early raid by an NPR entirely with several batteries of 10cm lasers. It is one of those things which you won’t notice them if you don’t need them but you’ll really wish you had them if you do. My general buildup is once I build better STO, I transfer my antiquated STO to secondary colonies and DST stations.
2 Likes
When everyone says ‘a few’ STO - 5?
5kt is my starter STO size. 25kt when it’s time to size up.
But just one - or are you only allowed one per colony
1 Like
There is no limit on the size of an STO unit or the number of units you can deploy. In my current game a defense unit has 6 20,000 ton regiments with a range of different guns. Earth has typical 2-3 divisions for 12-18 units deployed
Ah I was under the impression it was a massive single unit of a defence bunker nature firing lasers against incoming invaders
May I suggest you to install STOs also on Luna?
They make another defense line, to support the Earth batteries, if your guns range is not too large.
And (try to) avoid that a NPR install a base/colony on it.
2 Likes
That’s what the old planetary defense center mechanic was. They were arguably overpowered since they got a free armor + fire control range bonus, had no upkeep, were protected by the atmosphere from energy fire, and were produced by industry instead of shipyards. A lot of the meta revolved around giant hanger PDCs and abusing meson PDCs on planets with atmospheres.
And yeah, on the original topic, any STO is better than no STO. Even consider dropping some on moons around gas giants you’re harvesting Sorium from to protect the harvesters from Raiders once you have enough range.
STO’s, assuming you build at least 8 more ground force construction facilities as part of your initial construction queue and you invest in ground force construction rate, are reasonably easy to produce. I usually have around 20k tons of them on each colony as a start. Combined with ground forces, they make even a small colony a stronghold. Without them, even 100 tons of ground forces can capture the colony, not to mention raiding ships destroying anything in orbit and blasting the surface.
This is especially true if you have raiders enabled, as they literally pop in from nowhere and yes have ground force invasion craft
Yesss fellow slow-ahh player TvT
Also protip, you can only have 1 spinally-mounted weapon per ship. On an STO, they’re spammable