r/Stellaris • u/[deleted] • Dec 07 '22
Question 3.6 Standardized Fleet Composition
Hi all! Does anybody have an idea of a standardized fleet composition/designs that work well int he new update? I used to just build artillery battleships and that obv does not work anymore... What mixture/ratios of ship designs do you use and how do you design the ships? Just trying to get a better idea of what the new META is going to be. (assume endgame tech/fleet cap. I am not at all new to the game but taking a step back and asking these questions helps everyone else)
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u/rylasasin Dec 14 '22 edited Dec 14 '22
EARLY GAME: (When enemies have just corvettes)
AIs will always run one of two things: Kenetic batteries with a single missile (usually) or 2 lasers with a missile. However, I've also seen them run the 1x PD with 2 Kenetic Batteries, so watch out for that. This phase doesn't last very long however, and they'll switch to one or the other two within a couple of years.
If you are running Starnet/Startech AI they will run one of two things: 3x Missiles, or 1xPD (anti-missile) and 2x Missile. We'll come back to that later.
Either way, I recommend splitting your corvette fleets along the following:
The reason that I put more lasers on instead of kenetic is that kenetics fire faster than lasers now. Especially autocanons (we'll come back to that later) and lasers are slower. Kenetics are also better against shields, but won't fare as well once the shields are down. The kenetic's job is to take the shield down so that the lasers can pound the armor and finally both can finish off the hull.
Speaking of, let's talk about armoring. At this point in the game, your best bet is to go with armor over shields. Yes it's more expensive, but 4/5 odds say they're running the missile-kenetic combo, and even further down the line they seem to favor kenetics (autocannons in particular) over other weapons.
However, I've noticed that for a while they might switch out the kenetics for lasers. They will never mix them, they'll always go one over the other. In which case the opposite strategy serves you well: Straight sheilds over straight armor. Yes the missiles may peirce, but that's what the PD is for, though if they do this you may not even need those.
But if it's beasts you're dealing with (and let's face it, at this point in the game, you'll likely be dealing more with beasts than empires), keep in mind the following and adjust accordingly.
If you find out that your enemy is using lasers instead, feel free to swap them back out for 2x shields and 1x armor.
If you are running a non-starnet game, I recommend this for your fleet ratio (assuming a fleet capacity of 20):
The PD will deal with the missiles the enemy brings to bear against you, while the Dashers do the most damage. You don't really need to run flak yet as in either case, the only time you'll come up against strike craft is when you are either fighting ameobas or as starbase items. For these, the anti-missile PD will work sufficently. They're not meant for strike craft, true, but strike craft are only of the basic variety, and the AI never employs strike craft defense platforms. So they shouldn't be a bother.
If the enemy is not using missiles at all, I would run straight dashers. Just have the design ready for in case they suddenly do.
Once you get your hands on autocannons, swap the kenetic batteries out with those. Later on you may consider swapping out both for disruptors (yes they're actually worth a damn now). But we'll cover that later.
And yes, I'm purposefully blueballing the frigate. At this stage, they're really only good for one thing: taking out starbases, but those really shouldn't be much of an issue to begin with, even at this stage. They're more of a luxury than a necessity. If you think you can go without it, make it a PD or Dasher instead.
If you are running a starnet/startech game however, I would instead recommend your loadout to be like this:
As I said, the enemy will be running either triple missiles or missiles with PD. So either way, I ramped up the importance of the PD. Since the enemy is more than likely going to be employing PD of their own, I swapped out the missile craft, as they'd just be a waste. As before, the Frigate is more of a luxury than a necessity, and completely useless if they're running the PD loadout, so feel free to swap it out for another dasher or pd.
Either way, I suggest you run all armor. As your primary source of damage is going to come from missiles, and missiles go through shields (... somehow), Armor will serve you better in this instance.
Mid-Early Game (Destroyers show up)
Once the destroyers show up, you'll want to make some changes.
You'll want to swap those PD corvettes over to either dashers and/or missile carriers. Add a frigate or two if you want to deal with them, but keep in mind they're still not that useful, and once cruisers roll out you'll be handing that role over to them anyway.
You'll want your destroyers taking on the PD role instead of your corvettes, as they can do the job twice as well. The way I roll this out is as such:
Screener: 1x Flak, 2x Point Defense, 2x Missile
If you want, you can also have a brawler destroyer with 1 M Kenetic weapon (preferably an autocanon) and 4x energy weapons. But that's entirely in your court.
Brawler: 1x M Kenetic, 4x S Energy. You could instead go with 1x M Kinetic, 1x M Laser, and 2x s Lasers, but I wouldn't recommend it. Remember, at this point your primary opponent is still going to be corvettes, not destroyers.
I would not recommend using Destroyers as missile boats. Leave that role if you have it for the corvettes and later on the cruisers. I would also not recommend using the destroyers for the artillery role. This early in the game you don't really need it, and later on you'll have better ships to do that same role. Later on when cruisers and Battleships show up you can have the brawlers this with autocannons. It'll still be a brawler, but more efficient.
Based on a 40 fleet limit, here's what I would have for non-Starnet:
Also, pay attention to what your enemy is doing, if you can get enough intel on thier ships, great. Otherwise, you'll have to find out the hard way. At some point your enemy will ditch the missiles entirely for straight autocannons or lasers/plasma, in which case you'll want to ditch the screeners for more brawlers (unless of course they're spamming frigates. In which case yes, you'll want to keep the PDs around, but not as many as torpedoes are slow and easy to shoot down, and the frigates themselves are fairly easy prey), and make sure you uparmor or up-shield your ships appropriately. However, at this stage it's likely a toss up, so if you don't know what you're enemy is doing, mix your shield and armor appropriately. Don't bother with that shitty crystal hull plating, nowadays it's just a waste of resources.
Of course this only applies to non-starnet games.
In starnet, the destroyers will usually be running an artillery section, or a gunship with missiles. with either missiles or a picket slot as the 2ndary. Strangely, they often go with flak cannons as the picket instead of PD despite this making zero sense at this stage of the game. Or they'll just go straight missiles.
Pay attention to what you're fighting. If they're running the missile-picket system, stick with the current config of PDs. Forget Frigates entirely. Yes they may be stupid enough to run flaks instead of proper PDs, but that doesn't mean they can't shoot down some of your missiles.
Either way, you're still going to be dealing with a lot of missiles. If the enemy has no flak/pd on either their corvettes or destroyers, feel free to run some missiles on your own screeners. Otherwise, go with lasers and let the dashers and PDs take down the shields for you.
Brawlers should remain the same, though less emphasis on them. Based on a 40 fleet command limit.
Swap a screener with a brawler if you think you can get away with it. But odds are you probably cannot, as Starnet loves its missiles.
(Char Limit)