Guide: Defence Guide
From Astro Empires Wiki
Defense is one of the most important aspects of the game. It is the thing that keeps you alive, and a lack of defenses leaves you wide open to occupation by other players. If you have even basic defenses like turrets, players are less likely to hit your base - any fleet they lose taking down your defenses is pure loss. Defenses do not leave debris, so those losses are not returned in any way. This article explains some of the best defenses against fleets, and some of the worst defenses. It will also review some of the basic defenses that are necessary in the game, and what is a good combination.
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Defense Structures
Some people don't like putting up turrets or even a simple Photon Turret for a defense. Stubborn people like this are prime targets for attack. A lack of turrets on a base means that any fleet on the base takes the full force of an enemy attack. This results in a large debris amount without much loss on the part of the attacker. Because debris can not be made from turrets, turrets will help reduce the profitability of an attack. Always build turrets to stop opportunistic players from attacking. Each type of turret is improved by a certain type of technology. All turret's defensive qualities are strengthened by armor tech, while ion turrets and above have and additional shielding componenent improved by the shielding technology. Thus, it is a good idea to continue to level up your technology to increase the power of your defenses. An underleveled defense can be just as bad as a lack of defense. The various defenses will be described below.
Barracks
Barracks are the weakest defenses. Do not build barracks. You should basically just skip this defense totally because by the time you reach level ten, you will be tearing them down to build better ones anyway.
Laser Turrets
Laser Turrets are also very bad defenses, you should basically just skip these too UNLESS you are researching a lot of tech and losing protection level within the day.
Generally for lvl 5-10
Missile Turrets
With Missile Turrets you're finally getting to some ok defenses, though these are still generally bad for you to get if you beyond level 25. These are good against small and medium units, which can stop most corvette and destroyer attacks that you would experience during this level which makes these a helpful but not that effective turret.
Generally for lvl 10-15
Plasma Turrets
Plasma Turrets are better defenses for the newly founded player. Once you reach these you should tear down any other defense structure and build up some of these. These are generally good defenses against ships like destroyers and corvettes, so a couple of these can support their well being for a little while. Paired up with the Missile Turrets you can calm down and start teching up for ships.
Generally for lvl 15-20
Ion Turrets
Ion Turrets are the first shielded turrets available to the player. Once you reach Ion Turrets, just tear every other defense down like you did with plasma. These might be a little costly for you at first, but they are well worth for the defense at your level. Put on a couple of these at your base and if you are attacked you will see the results that I am talking about. It is advisable to keep Ion turrets even when you P-Rings as they will help distribute Fighter drop damages.
Generally for lvl 15-25
Photon Turrets
Photon Turrets are the best turrets for the new player, pair these up with some ion turrets and you should be safe for a bit. Make sure to stay on-top of making some ships paired with your turrets by now, because you should be in a phase were you can start building fleet by now. These defenses will generally hold up, and is the first turret to defend you from a single Battleship.
Generally for lvl 20-30
Disruptor Turret
Getting the tech and such for this you will have a nice defense for future battles. Disruptor Turret are nice for the generally average player because of the fact that it can fend off against Fighter drops and the fact that it can defeat a dreadnought in a single bound. Disruptor turrets are often kept until the player has built up sufficient levels of p-rings.
Generally for lvl 25-30
Deflection Shields
Deflection Shields are ok defenses if you pair them up with disruptor turrets. However, you will want to consider dropping these after you have p-shields. They can stop smaller ships in their tracks if they're the only defense you have on your base. They can also stop big ships like battleships, though they can't stop a nicely teched dread and on their own they definitely cannot stop a titan.
Generally for lvl 25-30
Planetary Shield
Planetary Shield are one of the best defenses, by themselves they can stop fighter drops, they can also stop a single dread, perhaps 2 or 3 if you have good tech. (That would also include Fighters in hangers) If your p-shield is nicely teched it should also be able to stop a titan if you have fleet and CC's on your astro(s). P-shields are almost always used in tandem with p-rings. A general ratio is to have 1 level of p-shields for every 2 levels of p-rings. Generally for all lvl's past 30
Planetary Ring
Planetary Ring are the best defense for your astro. Once you get the necessary tech for these you should build them immediately. Players should try to aim to have at least 1 level of p-rings on their bases by level 30. This is because players lose protection at this level, and non p-ringed bases stand out as prime targets for higher level players looking for easy occupations. These can stop titans dead in their tracks, and if you have dual rings built on your astro, you can stop a levi with relative ease. Once you get 3 or more more, you should be able to stop most fleets coming to your astro.
For all lvl's, definitely build these as soon as you can.
Defense Combination
Photon + Ion Combo *lvl 15-20*
This stops most of the small ships that are at your level that most people build. Once you get to level 25 you should be able to tech up some different Turrets for your astro.
Disruptor + Deflection Combo *lvl 25-30*
A nice combination in order to stop a titan if tuned the right way. In order to do this properly, you should build two of each on your astro. This is also a combo to stop fighter drops because of the brute force behind the disruptor turrets.
Pshield + Pring Combo *lvl 30+*
Stops almost everything in its tracks if you double up on both structures. A fleet on your astro combined with these will scare most agressors as most people don't want to break rings...yet.
Note: Just because you have these defenses doesn't mean you're invincible to all attacks. There will always be someone who will be able to break your defenses, no matter the level. Even if you're at the top of the game, someone will always have you in one rank or another and that just might be enough to take you down. If you don't make anyone mad, you shouldn't get hit if you have good defenses. (Unless you're in a war)
Other Defenses
These are some of the best defenses, but that doesn't mean you're all set yet. You still need a basic fleet on your astro in order to stop attacks. Even if you have 5 Prings on your astro, if you don't have any fleet you are at a major disadvantage. Your trade routes are now available for people to pirate unless you have at least 1 fighter or ship at your base.
For fleet, there is truly only one defense ship: Fighters
Fighters are the most efficient ship in the AE world. Though, it goes exactly vice versa. If you have 10k fighters but no turrets/shields, then your base can get dread/titan smashed. So all in all, you have to have a nice balance of fleet and turrets/shields to be efficient.
On my own bases, I have constructed my own fleet/defense/CC run.
| 10,000+ | Fighters |
| 150+ | Cruisers |
| 5+ | Battle Ships (Or substitute with a dread) |
| 10/10 | Disruptor |
| 5/5 | Pshield |
| 5/5 | Pring |
| 10+ | Command Centers |
Note (An + means you can have more of that specific ship.)
This is what I've come up with for a basic defense, though most players would tell you to go with the dual pring/pshield combination. 10 Command Centers increases fleet power by 50%. Though if you're not going to build them to at least lvl 5, save the space for something else. You either go all out with Command Centers or you don't have them at all. -By Twin Blade
CC 15 is a better goal because your fighters will have enough power to pierce the shields of a heavy cruiser. Also, Cruisers do not make for a good defense because they are vulnerable to fighter drops.
The following defense is superior and is what you should aim for:
| 3 dreads | |
| 5/5 (or more) | Pshield |
| 15/15 (or more) | Pring |
| 10+ | Command Centers |
Alternatives
And alternative defense for defending non-jumpgate bases (which doesn't have to carry any fleet) looks like this:
| N | PRings | (as many as possible) |
| 1 | PShield | |
| 1 | DShield | |
| 1 | Disruptor | (or 2, if N > 2) |
| N | Dreadnoughts | (~1/PRing) |
This works best with N => 3. Since you do NOT need any Command Centers with that defense, you can use that space for other stuff.
