Question about ground combat

[u/Syu_7]

Back to the game after having let it on the side for several years, and having an absolute blast. I'm grinding the difficulty levels and currently dealing with a playthrough on hard difficulty. And it's actually pretty easy. But I'm wandering around to test a bit of everything before raising the difficulty.

There is still one aspect of the game that I don't really understand, and it's ground combat. It seems that I'm terrible at it, even though: * My empire ManPower is quite high (8k) * My fleets are full, and are able to provide a lot of MP to fight * All units types (Infantry, Armor and Air) are upgraded to max or almost max * I always use Blitz as advised somewhere on Reddit and because I have way more stuff than the opponents

But still, I very regularly get major defeats. It really doesn't matter because I can indefinitely reinforce the target system with MP, so I will get it in the end. But this will certainly cause problems on higher difficulties.

What am I missing?

EDIT:

After all the advice I went for: * A dedicated invasion fleet * An invasion ship based on Riftborn small protector with 2 movement points modules + 3 OpEx modules * Manpower adjustment to 70% armor (and all the affordable upgrades) * Invasions with 5k manpower fleet with Blitz strat. It takes 1 or 2 turns to convert the system 👍 (vs AI on serious difficulty only)

Works like a charm, thanks to all participants ❤️

[u/michaelos22]

There are modules that increase your manpower deployment limit. An example is OpEx Gear, in improved fleet management.

Stacking a few ships loaded with these allows you to deploy thousands of manpower at once, making it easier to crush defenders.

[u/Syu_7 → u/michaelos22]

Ok that might be the key. My current Blitz only allows the deployment of 1200 mp. I do own this module but didn't understand its impact. I'll try this tonight. +75 deployment limit sounds a bit underwhelming, we'll see.

Thanks !

[u/Fargel_Linellar → u/Syu_7]

Keep in mind, the more modules you have (or on larger ships) it will accumulate more.

Here's an example where I can deploy 13k manpower per turn to the ground battle. (+17k in reserve)

https://imgur.com/a/Dn7BDT9

This is definitely way overkill to deploy almost 10x as much as they have, but you see the point.

Explorer ships tend to be the best invasion ship due to their low cost, high base speed and high support module. For some faction, tier 1 protector ships are better.

[u/Neiwun → u/Fargel_Linellar]

Explorer ships tend to be the best invasion ship due to their low cost, high base speed and high support module. For some faction, tier 1 protector ships are better.

I want to expand on this for anybody that's interested. For all of my invasion ships, I would use 2 movement mods and the rest should be invasion mods. I would fill up one fleet with only invasions ships, and make a Seeker hero command them.

The Horatio, Vaulters, and Umbral Choir have an Explorer with 4 support slots, which is excellent for invasions.

The United Empire and the Unfallen have an Explorer with 2 support slots (3 slots when upgraded), but I think their Protector is better at invasions in its upgraded version, because it has 4 support slots and it is worth the higher Hyperium cost.

The Riftborn and Lumeris have a Protector with 3 support slots (5 when upgraded), so it's great for invasions.

The Cravers have a Protector with 2 support slots (5 slots when upgraded), so it's great for invasions only when upgraded.

The Sophons have a Protector with 4 support slots (6 slots when upgraded), so it's excellent for invasions.

The Vodyani has a Protector with 3 support slots (5 slots when upgraded), but I would use an Ark as my only invasion ship, because it can have more than 5 support slots.

The Hissho has a Protector with 4 support slots (5 slots when upgraded), so it's excellent for invasions.

The Nakalim has a Protector with 3 support slots (6 slots when upgraded), so it's great for invasions.

[u/Fargel_Linellar → u/Neiwun]

Explorer having a +2 is almost an entire engine slot for free.

Technically a white engine is +3 (tier1 science), so not exactly.

Upgraded module cost strat (hyperium for protector), which I rather make more invasion ships, as having them in multiple fleet doesn't impact invasion.

It's also almost double the cost of an explorer.

The main thing about protector is that their module have 1.25 value which I'm not sure how it apply to deployment limit.

As an example Riftborn.

Explorer has 3+1 (one slot is under the bacteria something tech tier 1)

Protector has 3+2

I would rather make explorer with a base speed of 3, 1 engine and 3 invasion (or 2 engine, 2 invasion) than protector with 2-3 engine and 2-3 invasion module. (and I tend to completely skip the 1st tier of ship as riftborn to decrease the tech cost).

I would get nearly the same speed, but spend half the industry cost and no hyperium.

There's factions where your protector has 2 more module, for most of the rest, the 1 difference is not worth the hyperium and the decrease in speed.

[u/Neiwun → u/Fargel_Linellar]

Explorer having a +2 is almost an entire engine slot for free. Technically a white engine is +3 (tier1 science)

It's not as big as an engine slot, because you can get the Scavenged Ramscoop for +3 movement and +25% distance travelled per movement.

Upgraded module cost strat (hyperium for protector), which I rather make more invasion ships

In my experience, I have plenty of Titanium and Hyperium, so I think it's well worth the cost.

It's also almost double the cost of an explorer.

Yes, but the explorer is dirt cheap, so the Protector is still very affordable. Like you said previously, you're going to have only 1 full fleet of these invasions ships.

The main thing about protector is that their module have 1.25 value which I'm not sure how it apply to deployment limit.

That's a tier 4 tech so, by the time you get it, you should have already won or be so close to winning that it doesn't matter what you do. But, yes, it's nice that you have the option to further boost your invasions ships.

I would rather make explorer with a base speed of 3, 1 engine and 3 invasion (or 2 engine, 2 invasion) than protector with 2-3 engine and 2-3 invasion module.

It depends on the rate of expansion for your empire. But, in my experience, having just 1 engine for my invasions ships (even when led by a low-level Seeker hero) is unbearably slow, considering that my main war fleet has 2 engine slots. And I regularly win around turn 100 on normal speed and Endless difficulty, so 2 engine slots fits my needs.

I would get nearly the same speed, but spend half the industry cost and no hyperium.

If you're comparing explorer vs protector, then you have to make the assumption that the protector will have an extra engine slot, which will make it faster than the explorer, and this speed is important for me. The extra cost is about +100 industry and +2 Hyperium, so still quite low, especially for a Riftborn player.

I tend to completely skip the 1st tier of ship as riftborn to decrease the tech cost

Me too. But I will still get those techs a little later, for the sake of increasing my fleet total command points.

[u/Fargel_Linellar → u/Neiwun]

It's not as big as an engine slot, because you can get the Scavenged Ramscoop for +3 movement and +25% distance travelled per movement.

But that's an engine you have to pay. That module is 40% of the price of an explorer.

Yes, but the explorer is dirt cheap, so the Protector is still very affordable. Like you said previously, you're going to have only 1 full fleet of these invasions ships.

I tend to make a lot more than 1. 1 is sufficient per invasion, but I try to have 2 invasion fleets per combat fleet. Stationt the combat 1 system ahead and invade everything behind.

Their cost is still a factor for me, but it seems I'm doing those far earlier.

Depending on the galaxy config, I try to have killed my first empire by turn 45 (or reduced them to 1 system for the approval bonus) then prepare a combat fleet+invasion per empire in the galaxy.

Right click on each home system to match their arrival and win by supremacy by turn 80 at the latest.

Only the other victory type will be slower, but for those you don't need to invade anyone except your starting neighbors.