Vaulters playstyle: Contradictory bonuses?

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YertyL

Amateur in Disguise

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YertyL

Amateur in Disguise

6 600g2g pts

7 years ago

Jan 28, 2018, 12:43:50 PM

So I'm not sure if there is something I'm not getting concerning the best Vaulter playstyle...

First of you have the Vaulter and Sisters of Mercy pops that both do bonus damage in defensive ground battles, and vastly better bunkers -- enabling you to better hold remote colonies before your fleet arrives.

Then you have portals that allow your fleet to instantly arrive at any system, which seems to kind of obsolete the ground defense bonuses. Together with the Argosy this seems to be geared towards rapid, reckless expansion and a very wide empire.

But then you have "Core worlds" and "black thumb" which gives a pretty large incentive to stay small. I guess you can tech for food and try to hit Autonomous administration as fast as possible, but in my first vaulter game I ran into this weird wall where I got my first systems pretty quickly, and then wasn't sure if the "Core worlds" bonus makes it worth it to stay in your system limit.

What do you guys think is the best way to utilize the new space vikings' bonuses?

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Kray

Titanium Sister

- "With the Hissho comes the Hero we all yearned for: Big Bird!"

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Kray

Titanium Sister

25 500g2g pts

7 years ago

Jan 28, 2018, 1:03:58 PM

YertyL wrote:
First of you have the Vaulter and Sisters of Mercy pops that both do bonus damage in defensive ground battles, and vastly better bunkers -- enabling you to better hold remote colonies before your fleet arrives.
Then you have portals that allow your fleet to instantly arrive at any system, which seems to kind of obsolete the ground defense bonuses...

Sure, portals make the worlds insta-defensible. This doesn't make the defense bonuses obsolete, though. I see them as an addition. Through aggressive colonization, I can't be everywhere. So, it's good to have at least some kind of failsafe. Besides that, the bonus fits the story of the Vaulters perfectly. (check out the latest Comic if you haven't yet)

Updated 7 years ago.

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fgalkin

Aurigan Haunt

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fgalkin

Aurigan Haunt

16 800g2g pts

7 years ago

Jan 28, 2018, 11:38:51 PM

YertyL wrote:
So I'm not sure if there is something I'm not getting concerning the best Vaulter playstyle...

First of you have the Vaulter and Sisters of Mercy pops that both do bonus damage in defensive ground battles, and vastly better bunkers -- enabling you to better hold remote colonies before your fleet arrives.
Then you have portals that allow your fleet to instantly arrive at any system, which seems to kind of obsolete the ground defense bonuses. Together with the Argosy this seems to be geared towards rapid, reckless expansion and a very wide empire.

But then you have "Core worlds" and "black thumb" which gives a pretty large incentive to stay small. I guess you can tech for food and try to hit Autonomous administration as fast as possible, but in my first vaulter game I ran into this weird wall where I got my first systems pretty quickly, and then wasn't sure if the "Core worlds" bonus makes it worth it to stay in your system limit.

What do you guys think is the best way to utilize the new space vikings' bonuses?

It's not in fact rewarding reckless expansion. How can it, when you have to wait something like 8-10 to be able to colonize a planet without going broke, while the Riftborn can spam colony ships every turn and never run out of food. No, the Vaulter bonuses are there to help you create the ultimate tall empire. The portals and defense mechanics are there to make sure that you can choose the best possible system for your colony, not merely the closest or the most defensible one. I once colonized a system that was literally on the other side of the galaxy from the rest of my empire because it had luxuries that I wanted. Only the Vaulters can make it defensible. The ground bonuses are there to make sure that a Vaulter planet doesn't fall to an enemy fleet in the first turn, no matter how strong it is. This is to buy you time to teleport your fleet to it

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thiasss

Newcomer

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thiasss

Newcomer

5 600g2g pts

7 years ago

Jan 29, 2018, 12:48:42 AM

I agree with fgalkin,

but to your autonomous administration post, the vaulters get that Overpop penalty after 11 systems, which means you'll most likely be after turn 110 on normal or easy, way behind on the harder difficulties, because then the economy will really hit you hard and you'll have the problem of not going bancrupt in both influence and dust. Even the expansion tech, before autonomous gives you +4 systems, so you'll have no trouble with overpop.

So I disagree with, you need autonomous ad,

Vaulters are in my opinion like vodyani, they'll just grab the systems they need and defend it, which gives those two races an advantage. the lumeris can easily expand as well, but can never defend those exes. The easy generation of yellow and blue ressources make your ground forces tougher, which is badly necessary, because the vaulters economy is terrible and other empire might spam you with invader ships. For hells sake even pirates pose a ridicolous huge threat, because getting the influence to keep them at bay is nearly impossible on endless difficulty.

Vaulters are highly disadventagous at influence, other empires will flood you with embargos. My biggest problem with them, is that they're played as an bunker race. You get your colonies and bunker up, until you get the orbital class ship. Otherwise, other empires will just destroy you due to superior dust production. This makes them extremely vulnerable to passive conversion.

The vaulters playstyle is extremely passive, nearly like an opposite cravers playstyle. Which I don't really like that much coz you can't toe to toe with other players anymore that easy

Updated 7 years ago.

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fgalkin

Aurigan Haunt

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fgalkin

Aurigan Haunt

16 800g2g pts

7 years ago

Jan 29, 2018, 1:17:28 AM

I disagree on the Vaulters being entirely passive. That's what privateering is for. You build some ships, load them up with boarding pods, turn them into privateers, and then send them into your neighbors' territory to acquire you a new fleet. You can also hinder their expansion by destroying colony ships, outposts, or even fresh 1 pop colonies without incuring the diplomatic penalty. Keeps you entertained while you turtle your way to victory.

Updated 7 years ago.