Starbase pact?

Hahaha, awesome. Now my Vasari Starbase can have 3 hull upgrades, 2 frontal shields, 2 debris vortex, and 3 weapon upgrades. Bots will never stand a chance.

Like lich pointed out, it would be broken as hell.  There's a good reason why starbases aren't allowed to have full weapons, hull, and special abilities.  I mean, an Advent base with maxed weapons, hull, fighters, disorient, and meteors?  

I doubt it would matter much when the TEC player with the supply pact comes through with a boat load of bombers and orgrovs. I think this could have made a nice high level pact, I'm just not sure which race it would fit with.

Thought about this a bit... I don't think there needs to be a pact that increases the max number of possible upgrades.  I do think that each race should have an inherent/zero-slot upgrade that fits with their racial theme.  You'd still have to pay for them, but it wouldn't count against your upgrade total.

My throughts would be: Evangelization nodes for Advent, Docking Booms for TEC, and maybe Phase Stabilizer for Vasari.

This would give starbases a more interesting role in uncolonizable grav wells, since using racially appropriate abilities wouoldn't impinge on their offense/defense count (which is VERY important in uncolonizable space, since you have no tac structure support), while still requiring you to balance upgrades if you want to use something outside your race's profile (trade outpost for Advent/Vasari, etc.).

It makes sense in a fluffy/lorish way that these characteristics would be so important to the different races that they would build it in to the SB design at a more fundamental level than other updgrades.

I'm all for that racial slot thing, TheEvidence.

The Orkulus would get a little screwed though... the Phase Stabilizer node is pretty damned useless.

1) The baby Orkulus is so vulnerable while it's under construction (even with the upgrade to speed) that it's chances of survival without a fleet are pretty much nil. Therefore, you don't need it to serve as a stabilizer in enemy space because your fleet will 99% likely already be there (in which case you probably don't even need the Orkulus anyway, but are building it for giggles).

2) You don't need it in defense because there's no reason not to build a Phase Stabilizer in your grav well - as you can hit it up for instant-reinforcements later with Returning Armada should you find your ass kicked and an enemy fleet barreling down on you.

3) Not much point in it for use in grav wells in which you cannot build, either... as they are almost always within 1 jump of somewhere you can build. Possible exception for usefulness? At Worm-Holes.

4) You can ride in a Kostura round to anywhere from anywhere that already has a PS Node... which should be every piece of territory you have and likely where ever your fleet is due to the Marauder everyone brings along by mid-game.

If anything? I think the Racial slot for Vasari should be the Colony Pods were they to implement that idea.

The Orkulus needs some work in general... it's got way too many point sinks. First off... ditch the Frontal Shields! They're not really useful enough for two points. Secondly... remove the requirement of debris for the rapid reintegration ability - just make it so that you turn it on and it gives you a flat regeneration rate for the duration (the rate might need a slight increase to make up for the loss of the random variable of bursts of debris being collected). Once that's done - give the Orkulus a new ability: some sort of offensive ability that rickrolls module armor (ie: Starbases and Orbital Structures) - this way, the poor thing could finally actually defeat an enemy starbase presuming it survives long enough to join the fight.

Yeah, I don't really play Vasari that much, so I was kinda guessing on what they should get.  Really, all having a no-slot phase node would get you is being able to jump in to non-colonizable grav wells, or saving some planet slots.

Colony pods would be an interesting choice.  Another unique choice for Vasari would be the debris vortex.  I think colony pods would be the best choice though, since like what I've suggested for the other two races, it's effect is at the economic/empire level.

On the other hand, it doesn't really fit with the other Vasari strengths.

Glad you like the basic premise though!

Eh, but doesn't 2 points in Frontal Shields reduce all non-strikecraft damage by 66% about 66% of the time?  It lets the starbase tank anti-structure units with ease.  Also, I thought the Disintegrator arrays were anti-structure damage?  71 is almost equivalent to 3 Ogrov Torpedo Cruisers.  If it isn't anti-structure damage, then it really should be(considering the base is limited to that one gravity well). 

But I do think it would help greatly if Frontal Shields gave the full effect with only 1 point instead of 2, and perhaps had a build rate just as short as the Disintegrator arrays.  As the Vasari's "official" counter to enemy starbases, it leaves a bit to be desired in terms of survivability without multiple upgrades.

Tiberius: They are anti-structure, and they do well at taking out orbital structures. Starbases still take about 20 minutes to kill with an Orkulus though (presuming both are highly upgraded: good repair rates + good armor greatly nullify the SB's disintegrators). Coming in with enough normal anti-SB units (non-Vas), or just using a Vasari fleet tooled for the job takes about 2-5 minutes. Also, the shields do help - but not enough to warrant the points - and only situationally. Debris Vortex is always the better choice (believe me, I'm sad about it - I used to be a shields believer). I vaguely recall one of the dev's a long time ago saying something a long the lines that an Orkulus would make the Death Star look like a panzy... which is why I always assumed the thing would have some sort of big disintegration beam of doom or the like... I had many lovely dreams of an Orkulus latching onto an enemy starbase Unicron style and eating it alive. A shame that it didn't go down that way... but hey, c'est la vie, non?

TheEvidence: It doesn't fit with the strengths, but it helps to counter a weakness. Vasari are sort of bad on the tax-income level. Rank 2 Colony pod used liberally really help quite a bit - you get a population of 125 per starbase. It fits perfectly with the Lore (the Vasari live in low-orbit structures, vast ships (evacuators) parked in orbit, and in star-bases). And I do like the premise, quite a bit.

-Itharus

Edit: I play on "Normal" game time setting (1x), for reference.

Hm... perhaps introduce a mod that gives Vasari starbases a soupped up version of the Desolator's Disintegration Beam? 

It is true though that swarms of bombers are way more effective at assaulting enemy structures though.  I tend to use starbases as support at chokepoints.  Sometimes I'll plop one down at an enemy's homeworld in small maps when I can get away with it.

That's a good point Itharus.  I don't think anyone could make the argument that it's unbalanced... 125 population for that kind of price isn't exactly a steal.

You know, now that I really think about it, this is a problem that has already been solved.  Planets have SEPARATE caps for logistics and tactical structures.  I think it would make sense to do the same for starbases.

So maybe not a no-slot upgrade, but separate upgrade slots for tactical and logistical upgrades?

This way, the problem of the uber-military starbase is still avoided, but we still increase the versatility of starbases, and move them in line with existing game mechanics!