[.83] [Feedback] Pirate protected anomalies are a might overpowered right now

from GalCiv3 Forums

I saw someone else complain about pirates in Beta 5 opt-in patch 3, and I have to agree that I think they've been beefed up more than a bit too much in the latest patch.

First, some background.  As I understand it, one of the reasons a faction's initial survey ship was given both offense and defense was so that it could be able to scan the occasional pirate infested anomaly and survive.  From playing around in patch 2. I found that my initial survey ship could take on one, maybe two, infested anomalies before having to rest up and repair.  Which was fine by me.  

In Patch 3, however... Well, just see for yourself:

Yeah.

Now it is true that I am using a custom faction that is (more than) a little weak militarily (they're Fragile, Inaccurate AND Brittle [Don't Ask :p]).  Still.  Still with the exact same setup I was able to hold my own in at least one or two battle(s) in B5 patch 2.  Here though while I am actually able to kill one of the pirates in that combat picture above, I eventually get blown out of the water.  So to speak. ;)

For comparison, the pirates that are being generated at pirate bases aren't nearly as strong at the beginning of the game with attacks and defenses in the low single digits.

For further comparison, I managed to figure out what the anomaly protected pirate strength was in patch 2 by loading up an old save where I was testing a custom built cargo ship against pirates to see if it would survive (it didn't, but that's why it was a test).

The pirates, being pre-generated, weren't affected by the patch.  So that lets me do a direct apple-to-apple comparison: 

As one can see there is a teeny, tiny, difference between Patch 2 Anomaly Pirates and Patch 3 Anomaly Pirates.  Just a bit. ;)

So while I appreciate making them tougher, I think it went a bit overboard. :) 

 

5,585 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I was really hoping we see the ability to scan for pirates and they come with a variety of weapons layouts for us to adapt to, rather than just cannons.

The design choice of stronger cannons, wasn't the one I would have gone with.

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Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting node10, reply 2

Seen this twice now.  Yeah, a tad overboard.
End of node10's quote

I admit to being perhaps slightly sarcastic in the thread title. :p

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I like it. This means it leaves 'anomalies' for exploring later when you've built a fleet. Haven't tested it out yet, but seems like a good idea.

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top


I saw someone else complain about pirates in Beta 5 opt-in patch 3, and I have to agree that I think they've been beefed up more than a bit too much in the latest patch.
End of quote

I second that I like the way it is set up now.  With the addition of pirates and pirate bases, I'm arming a lot of ships I didn't arm before.  I noticed that even a little defense on a ship can help it consistently win against pirates even if the total attack is less.  Not sure why, but it's working for me.

What I don't understand is why sometimes it tells me there are pirates and asks if I want to engage, and other times it just does it.

 

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Hamilmac, reply 5

What I don't understand is why sometimes it tells me there are pirates and asks if I want to engage, and other times it just does it.
End of Hamilmac's quote

 

I've encountered the same thing.

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Guys, don't worry too much about the current over-powered pirates. This is from the unreleased beta 6 patch notes:


"Rebalanced anomaly pirates (they are intended to be beatable by an undamaged Survey ship)"

https://forums.galciv3.com/463670/page/1/#3539003

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Hamilmac, reply 5
I second that I like the way it is set up now.  With the addition of pirates and pirate bases, I'm arming a lot of ships I didn't arm before.  I noticed that even a little defense on a ship can help it consistently win against pirates even if the total attack is less.  Not sure why, but it's working for me.


What I don't understand is why sometimes it tells me there are pirates and asks if I want to engage, and other times it just does it.

End of Hamilmac's quote

I mean sure, you could beef up the pirates, but six times the power? That's a little ridiculous, and it's not just an "oh wait till late game" thing, because just how many defenses would you need to survive more than one of those? The cost to upgrade your survey ship would be staggering, too.

Since the point of Starship Graveyards is to make your survey ship more effective at exploring and/or finding weak ships that fill out your military, it doesn't make sense to jack the enemies guarding them up to "final boss" difficulty right from turn 0. These aren't Dread Lord ships, they're just pirates. How could Pirates have Black Hole Guns on their light fighters when everyone else is still trying to figure weapons out?

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Vidszhite, reply 8

How could Pirates have Black Hole Guns on their light fighters when everyone else is still trying to figure weapons out?
End of Vidszhite's quote

lol.  Good point.  I can usually beat the 72-attack pirates with a ship that has 32 attack and at least 8 defense in the appropriate category.  Again, don't know the battle mechanic well enough to understand why a survey ship with lower stats does so well, but it does.