Doomsday weapons are a staple of sci-fi and the devs have hinted we'll get them in Stellaris once they figure out how to balance them. I had a couple ideas in that regard today and wanted to hear some input.
Here is what I'm thinking:
- Doomsday weapons should require a certain strategic resource (or several) to build and maintain. If the player cannot meet this requirement due to losing a planet or mining station during wartime, the device will explode and inflict a lot of damage to any fleets, stations, and planets in the vicinity. Players will therefore want to store these devices somewhere far from their important colonies and stations.
- Doomsday weapons are small and fragile kamikaze ships that are expended after use. If you're using one against a well-defended enemy system, you'll want to send a fleet to run interference while it moves toward its target. They're also a priority target, so if a fleet gets into range they will engage it regardless of escorting ships.
- Doomsday weapons come in three tiers: light (think Titan laser), moderate (renders planets uninhabitable), and heavy (destroys all ships, stations, etc in a star system and leaves all planets uninhabitable). Obviously, the bigger ones are blisteringly expensive to build and maintain.
- Possessing these weapons generates threat toward other empires, using them doubles the threat (unless it's against the endgame crises). Obviously, the bigger the weapon, the higher the threat.
- Doomsday weapons become a fourth factor in relative empire power.
- Doomsday weapon use is a new empire police; choices are "Outlawed", "MAD" (cannot exceed rivals by more than 10%), and "Unrestricted".
What do you think? Any ideas of your own?
Here is what I'm thinking:
- Doomsday weapons should require a certain strategic resource (or several) to build and maintain. If the player cannot meet this requirement due to losing a planet or mining station during wartime, the device will explode and inflict a lot of damage to any fleets, stations, and planets in the vicinity. Players will therefore want to store these devices somewhere far from their important colonies and stations.
- Doomsday weapons are small and fragile kamikaze ships that are expended after use. If you're using one against a well-defended enemy system, you'll want to send a fleet to run interference while it moves toward its target. They're also a priority target, so if a fleet gets into range they will engage it regardless of escorting ships.
- Doomsday weapons come in three tiers: light (think Titan laser), moderate (renders planets uninhabitable), and heavy (destroys all ships, stations, etc in a star system and leaves all planets uninhabitable). Obviously, the bigger ones are blisteringly expensive to build and maintain.
- Possessing these weapons generates threat toward other empires, using them doubles the threat (unless it's against the endgame crises). Obviously, the bigger the weapon, the higher the threat.
- Doomsday weapons become a fourth factor in relative empire power.
- Doomsday weapon use is a new empire police; choices are "Outlawed", "MAD" (cannot exceed rivals by more than 10%), and "Unrestricted".
What do you think? Any ideas of your own?
- 1
.png){kind=avatar}
Build up huge fleet of subs with nukes, hangarships with fighters/bombers, build up huge army of marines, humvees and tanks and then wage continental wars just to watch everything regress with more and more nukes levelling cities until the only thing that is cost effective is fanatics supported by the decade produced Atomic weapon to conquer rubble cities.