Are mega-events guaranteed?

(Having trouble getting any)

I'm playing the latest version of DA, and am having trouble experiencing any mega events (assuming I'm right in what I perceive to be a mega-event). I've had galactic events that have occorred in my games, such as an increase in all population rates, or a wave of Xenophobia, or a boost to tourism income, but I had all these back with DL anyway. What about the real mega-events people refer to on the forums, that have a massive impact on the game and force you to adapt to them?
I've played through 4 games now (2 completely, 1 until I'd almost won where I stopped since it was getting boring just going through the motions of training transports, waiting for my pop to grow back up, sending them off, and repeating, and my current one where I'm probably about half-way through atm), yet in none of them have I had any event other than the aforementioned ones. Mega-events is checked in all my games, and I've used a variety of strategies - with one game I relied on starbases and slowly advancing sector by sector. Another I launched an immediate attack on the strongest player and advanced my tech via conquests so I could continually build+expand. A third one I've just sat back doing nothing but research with a non-existant military until an AI finally declared war on me (whereupon I produced a super-battleship with tailored defences that wiped out all their nearby fleets). 3 of my games are on masochistic, 1 on suicidal (with the ones that I completed being a masochistic and a suicidal), and I've played with slightly different settings as well (e.g. tiny map with suicidal, small+medium+tiny with maso, normal and slow tech rates, etc.)

Is there any way I can increase my likelihood of getting a mega-event? Is a mega-event guaranteed in a game, or is it more like there's a tiny % chance of it occurring on any 1 turn, meaning that there's therefore a chance you can go countless games without ever experiencing one? Does luck play any role with mega-events and their chance of occuring (since on several of my games I've had +50% luck due to the weapon bonus it gives)?
Thanks in advance for any tips+clarifications :)
14,459 views 15 replies
Reply #1 Top
Get yourself in a position that it'll SUCK to get a mega event...and it'll appear lol.
Reply #2 Top
Get yourself in a position that it'll SUCK to get a mega event...and it'll appear lol.


That pretty much covers it. :p

Some games you never see em, some games you get them all. Just how the dice come up.

Reply #3 Top
Not just dice... the whole point of mega events is that they are not totally random. Each has a trigger. Therefore, it is actually more true than you may have thought that if you get yourself into a position where it will suck to get one, you get one.
Reply #4 Top
Well, as long as you have Mega Events turned on anyway.
Reply #5 Top
How would you classify such a situation (that is, a situation that will increase the chances of such a mega-event)? I mean in my last game that I've just completed I'd have thought I was in such a position, but still no mega event :(.
I was playing the altarians with an all-tech strategy, in a tiny galaxy with 3 other AI (on masochistic). The thalans were killed off fairly early when the Yor and Korath ganged up on them, and when the Korath declared war on me (in turn causing the by then super-powerful Yor to declare war on them) they were quickly wiped out.

At this point the Yor had a massively powerful military compared to me, so I quickly completed the spin control centre, and put a couple of battleships in it to stop them declaring war. Then I researched the tech victory. The tech rate was on slow, and it was a tiny galaxy, yet it didn't take too long, and I was just able to sit back with no military, and all my planets undefended, with nothing happening, until I won due to the tech victory. That now makes it 3 games I've fully completed with no mega-victories, all with different playing styles in the hopes I'll do something wrong (/right) and set off a mega-event, but still no luck :(.
Reply #6 Top
it seems that when there are a lot of wars going on concurrently and a lot of ships floating that the Peacekeepers will appear; it also seems when there is a lot of trade and ships that there's a good chance Pirates will appear; when all the worlds are colonized and no one is really doing anything the Jagged Knife seems to appear.

But, even with the triggers, its still just a roll of the dice in the end
Reply #7 Top
I tend to get more Mega Events on larger maps too.

And yes, turtling almost always seems to bring on the Jagged Knife. I've actually never had the Peacekeepers show up but they sound horrible.
Reply #8 Top
I was king of the universe and had all the other civilizations on the run... till the peacekeepers showed up and detroyed every single ship I had. But they left the others alone opening my empire up to the others. I had barbarians at the gate. I didn't report this one to the metaverse. If peacekeepers attack me then they should attack everyone who is waging war.
Reply #9 Top
The Jagged Knife theory is patently untrue. I have had it come up repeatedly during the initial colony phase on huge maps. That is, the normal planet colony phase, before anyone researches extreme colonies. The last time it happened the map was maybe 30% colonized.
Reply #10 Top
I had a funny map not long ago.

medium map with 3 AI on masochistic. the Drengin declared war on me, and the other two attack them. they got wiped out.

not long after that one of the AI got annoyed that I was building influence bases and both AI declared war on me. They had more volume and tech. I was pretty much screwed.

Then just as they got to my space, Pirates showed up and wiped out all ships/bases on the map. (they were horribly over powered) I had better engines/gal. projects for speed, so I built fast attack ships and had the pirates follow them around til I got a good fleet.

a few turns later, the galactic disease event happened. I cranked up my research and finished research the tech in 2 turns. Neither AI did that. they took so many turns that it was easy for me to make troop transports and wander past all of the planets that the pirates were keeping clean of ships.

note: the pirates are also affected by the disease. their speed dropped to 1 making them effectively a non-issue for human players (the AI don't change strategies to deal)
Reply #11 Top
I have had the pirate and the disease event happen to me but I never really paid attention to what caused it. I need to be more vigilant. When I find out I'll report back to you.
Reply #12 Top
There's also that precursor event that slowly makes a race more powerful. It happened to the humans after I (as the Alterians) had backed them into a corner. They had started a war with me, and it went pretty poorly for them once I stole their best missile tech. They then got the precursor event. I decided to make them my vassals rather than immediately exterminate them and called off the war. My major ally up to that point, the Torians, were starting an ascension victory so I realized I would have to turn on them soon. There were also the dominant species in an immense galaxy, and one of their ascension crystals was on the other side of the map. Getting to that crystal in time was a major concern, especially since I was far weaker than them. I knew I could take them given enough time, but I'd need to chisel away at their planets rather than make a surgical strike on the starbase. My plan was to make the humans my prime trade partner as soon as I declared war on the Torians, thus boosting our relations tremendously. They could then sit in that corner of the map building up precursor artifact power until I needed them to take command of my fleets; it was going to be my ace in the hole. Of course, they immediately surrendered to the torians just to spite me once the torians declared war on them. I still like the idea of enslaving a race that's engulfed by your empire and letting the precursor event ferment. In an immense galaxy, the race could become ungodly powerful if it doesn't get wiped out (or surrender) immediately.
Reply #13 Top
How come that stuff never happens to the non-computer player???

We need to make a list of all mega events. I will start one:
1. Peacekeepers appear and attack everyone at war?
2. Jagged Knife appear and cause trouble in the galaxy.
3. Pirates appear and attack everyone.
4. Galactic disease starts and kills everyone until a tech is researched.
5. A civ finds a precursor artifact and grows in power until they are like gods.

Reply #14 Top
I used to see dread lords appear on the map but they don't appear anymore.
Wonder what triggers them since its always more amusing with an evil overpowered race wandering around destroying everything.
Reply #15 Top
I don't think that's a mega event...