Is using starbases for trade protection a bad idea?

[AlanC9]

Looking at my empire in the fairly late game, I'm noticing that I'm now using about 15% of my total starbase modules on hangars to knock out piracy. It's working, yeah, but it's also burning a ton of my potential fleet cap. I get the feeling that this isn't really a great idea, and I should be doing everything with patrols instead.

How are the rest of you finding it?

 

[Aquilegia]

For me it's worth it.. Without hangars you have a really low baseline of suppression, so pirates easily pop up if the trade route is long and you have only one fleet patrolling it (smaller fleets can work better). You can easily get some bad luck in timing the patrols and having pirates pop which are bigger than your patrols. And in that case you are in serious trouble if it's on an important route, since all the trade will be cut off, and you need to transfer a big fleet from somewhere, while losing energy/consumer goods fast.

Maybe you can try without, but for me it's too much micro.

 

[Kaios26]

Well, Putting a Hanger Starbase at one end of a Gateway, then opening Gateways over your Empire is really efficient. It protects out 5 Systems from each Gateway by itself.

Right now, that maybe calling some really gnarly input lag, but on paper at least its a good system.

 

[Armor9D]

Well, Putting a Hanger Starbase at one end of a Gateway, then opening Gateways over your Empire is really efficient. It protects out 5 Systems from each Gateway by itself.

I just realized that that's basically what Babylon 5 did in several episodes.

 

[Gratak]

Well, Putting a Hanger Starbase at one end of a Gateway, then opening Gateways over your Empire is really efficient. It protects out 5 Systems from each Gateway by itself.

Right now, that maybe calling some really gnarly input lag, but on paper at least its a good system.

It also currently kills performance utterly...

@OP:
A useful way for the last systems before your capital (where trade value goes to insane values) is to actually build a starbase in every single system. Don't bother with hangars here. You can go naval cap or shipyard instead. Just them being there removes all piracy from that system.

 

[-Temple-]

I mean, I am playing tall as a Megacorp and currently have 14 starbase slots with 7 being used as bastions/trade collectors, I can definitely use some to protect trade while I am at war

 

[Leylos]

If the trade route is short you should definitely use starbases otherwise you need patrols.

 

[Gratak]

If the trade route is short you should definitely use starbases otherwise you need patrols.

A combination of both is usually needed there. Otherwise piracy rises too high while your patrol is at the other end.

 

[Sayakus]

I have 1400 trade going trough one of my systems... 3 starbases have to cover it

 

[The Boz]

This is a reliable solution throughout the early game and most of mid game. Late game trade, however, generates so much value/piracy, that hangar suppression is at best minor speed bump.
Do note that a pirate will *never* spawn inside a system that has a starbase with any -piracy module (possible any developed starbase, but not sure yet).

 

[Siri]

What I do is I use starbases for protection early, later on I line the entire trade route with starbases so the trade route never goes through a system without a starbase in it. That way I can use all modules for trade hubs or anchorages but still have no piracy going on anywhere because systems with starbases never generate any piracy. It's possible it's more efficient to have a few corvettes patrolling each route but having things go back and forth in my empire constantly is kind of annoying .

Well, Putting a Hanger Starbase at one end of a Gateway, then opening Gateways over your Empire is really efficient. It protects out 5 Systems from each Gateway by itself.

Right now, that maybe calling some really gnarly input lag, but on paper at least its a good system.

If you're going down this route of doing things, you just put 6 trade hubs in your capital starbase and have it collect directly from all places in your empire by using gateways that way there's no trade routes to even protect because it doesn't have to be shipped anywhere.

 

[Longprao]

I used full hangar bays for my wide play too, I had about 30 planets and I put starbases with 2-3 hangars at all important points. On a few big routes there were 3 overlapping starbases to protect it. All went fine without ever a patrol fleet, and later on when I had gateways I just built few of them to split the routes, so I never needed to have overlapping bases anymore, switched most of them to anchorages.

 

[CyberianK]

It always takes me long to pickup hangars somehow so much of the early game I just have a combination of Gun Turrets and empty Corvettes.

 

[Promethian]

Naked Corvettes work too well. I use them all the time.

 

[Mikhail_Mengsk]

Naked Corvettes work too well. I use them all the time.

Cluttering the fleet overview and naval cap.

I long for a "convoy/escort" system like we have in HoI.

 

[Verx90]

i noticed that if you make some "big trade value " planets not so close to the capital, you end up with needing more than 4 starbases to actualy keep the piracy at bay , in lategame you may prefer to build starbases ( by planning it in early-midgame) in evry sistem going from the (projected ) hight value ringowrld-habitats-planets to the capital ; piracy down't spawn on starbases , and you can use them as anchorage . ( i needed that only once, when i found the broken ringworld just 7 jump distance , so no way for the starbase of the homeworld and i din't realy want waste a whole starbase to put 6 trade hub )