Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares/Killing Space Monsters: Difference between revisions

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Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares/Killing Space Monsters (edit)

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Antarans will spawn on about Turn 130 and every dozen turns or so thereafter (randomized) unless they have been disabled via setup options. They charge directly at a system, then attack a single random settled planet before leaving. Warp Interdictors will slow down this approach, giving you more time to react.
Antarans will spawn on about Turn 130 and every dozen turns or so thereafter (randomized) unless they have been disabled via setup options. They charge directly at a system, then attack a single random settled planet before leaving. Warp Interdictors will slow down this approach, giving you more time to react.


Antarans use Damper Fields (75% damage reduction and Neutron Beams & Death Rays do not kill their crew) with Xentronium armor (10x base armor/structure) but no shields. In battle Antaran ships are quite tough with very high Beam attack/defense. Thus beam weapons are not very effective until you can get your targeting above 100% or so. At that point enveloping (base 4x damage) or graviton beams can work (minus reduction for Damper Field). Armor piercing doesn't work against damper field. However, Antaran ships are hard-coded to self-destruct with enough damage or if they are rendered immobile. So EMG-MIRVed Nuke missiles have a very good chance of destroying their engines, thereby causing a self-destruct. If enough Tractor Beams are used to render them immobile, this will also initiate a self-destruct. Achilles Targeting Units and/or Structural Analyzers also work well in the late game against Antarans, since they have no shields. Neutron Scanners or better will be necessary to use any missiles against the Antaran battleship class or higher. Augmented Engines give you that little extra distance to get you in range to take them out quickly.
Antarans use Damper Fields (75% damage reduction; kills 50% of crew trying to beam aboard) with Xentronium armor (10x base armor/structure) but no shields. In battle, Antaran ships are quite tough with very high Beam attack/defense. Thus beam weapons are not very effective until you can get your targeting above 100 or so. Armor piercing doesn't work against Xentronium armor. However, Antaran ships are hard-coded to self-destruct with enough damage or if they are rendered immobile. So EMG-MIRVed Nuke missiles have a very good chance of destroying their engines, thereby causing a self-destruct. If enough Tractor Beams are used to render them immobile, this will also initiate a self-destruct.


Early on, a lone missile base (on each planet in the system) can be sufficient to defend against the first single Antaran frigate, but this will not be enough to ward off later raids. As well, most play strategies forego Missile Base in favor of Automated Factories, which precludes this defense for non-creatives unless you can get lucky trading/stealing for it. If there are multiple planets in a system, the Antarans randomly choose their target from any colonies OR outposts present. Thus it can sometimes be easiest to quickly settle an outpost on a Gas Giant before the Antarans arrive in the system and just hope they attack the Outpost rather than your Colony. Each frigate will generally take out 3 buildings or colonists, so sometimes a colony can survive an attack from a lone frigate with only superficial damage.
Early on, a lone missile base (on each planet in the system) can be sufficient to defend against the first single Antaran frigate, but this will not be enough to ward off later raids. As well, most play strategies forego Missile Base in favor of Automated Factories, which precludes this defense for non-creatives unless you can get lucky trading/stealing for it. If there are multiple planets in a system, the Antarans randomly choose their target from any colonies OR outposts present. Thus it can sometimes be easiest to quickly settle an outpost on a Gas Giant before the Antarans arrive in the system and just hope they attack the Outpost rather than your Colony. Each frigate will generally take out 3 buildings or colonists, so sometimes a colony can survive an attack from a lone frigate with only superficial damage.


By early-mid-game using ships against them is possible with the right tech: EMG-MIRV nukes or Tractor Beams with enough defensive systems/armor packed in to survive for several rounds of combat should be fine (Reinforced Hull + Heavy Armor + Zortrium armor or better). Just move up next to the Antarans and fire your EMG missiles point-blank directly into their ships to blow the engine. Tractor beams allow you a bit more tactical freedom, as you can immobilize the Antaran ships from a distance to trigger their auto-explode.
By the time of the Antarans' second or third incursion, you should have one or two battleships packed stem to stern with assault shuttles. This will make defeating them very easy.
 
Once you've perfected the art of immobilizing the Antarans, if your troop combat rating is high enough, you can try and capture them as well before they go boom. Their Quantum Detonators mean there is always a 50% chance of setting off the auto-self-destruct by mistake even on a successful capture. Generally with Personal Shield + Zortrium armor + Phasor Rifle you have an even chance of capturing an Antaran ship if you swarm it and board with 5 or 6 of your own of the same or larger class. Alternatively, if you are using Assault Shuttles, you might be able to muster enough boarding marines to overwhelm the Antarean crew in one large attack.


== Antaran Homeworld ==
== Antaran Homeworld ==
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