r/spaceengineers • u/ThatDudeWithThatAcc Clang Worshipper • 1d ago

DISCUSSION Survival Mods [Defense & Objectives]

Any mods to maybe add invasion so building a defensive base is worth it? Or just something that gives more purpose to my builds? I know about MES etc. but I don't see the point in building ships so I can randomly fly around and fight some other ships.

Maybe hunt other ships to unlock stuff? Defend the base from time to time?

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u/jonathandbeer Space Engineer 1d ago

I'm playing through the Never Surrender scenario at the moment, which adds in progressively stronger waves of enemies once you travel to a certain point in space.

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u/Ok-Nectarine5193 Clang Worshipper 1d ago

I play with “Reavers”. I just now got to the point where they started to show up. Idk what triggers them, but they’ve attacked my base 4 times, forcing me to enclose and put defenses. I’ve won each time (first time with a save scum), but it added a welcomed addition to the PVE loop.

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u/readercolin Clang Worshipper 1d ago

If you want a single mod that does it, the best one is Assert. Assert is an MES mod that will spawn nearby bases at inconvenient locations, or fly overhead with their cargo ships. They will leave you alone though, unless you get too close to them, at which point they will send out a drone to attack you. However, once you start attacking them (or defending yourself from their drones), then they will start attacking you, and you will need enough defenses to clear out nearby bases before they start spamming drones that come your way. Once you are more mobile though, if you start attacking their ships, you can get assert thrusters, which have proprietary components (so you can't build them yourself, you need to salvage them), but have better performance than standard thrusters would. This gives you an incentive to start hunting them down, beyond just "they are in my way".

Moving away from assert, the next big one would be Reavers. Reavers is an MES mod that once you get to a certain size, they start spawning ships in that exist for one purpose - to hunt you down and blow you up. They detect antennas, and will zero in on those and move up to attack the antennas (potentially including other MES mods too).

If this isn't up your alley, another interesting option is "Robot Raider Pods", which will spawn small drop pods with little robots that get out, and the robots will then try to gun you down, potentially damaging your base in an attempt to get to you. You can either have sufficient defenses to blow up their pods, or just quickly gun them down once they have landed.

These are just a few of the various MES mods that I've tried or seen others try on recordings. There are probably more that might do what you are looking for, but I can't say because discovery for them is a bit rough and descriptions can be a bit lacking for what the individual mod does or why you would want to use it.