Another pressing issue with the AI.

[fullhouse]

I have just conquered your civilisation, ended your culture.

Not bearing any kind of grudge and simply acknowledging the inevitable rise of my civilisation all your remaining combat ships join my Empire.

Hang on, where were all these ships when I was glassing your homeworld?

The AI might waste $ on troops for its planets but it also wastes a ton on high power escort/patrol ships that individually can achieve nothing as they will never defend a station against even a small fleet but combined could have definitely made said glassing of their homeworld a harder thing to achieve.

Also, if I am glassing/invading their homeworld, would not these ships receive orders to stop defending a mining station mining abraxian fur etc or a holiday resort etc etc etc.

A civ I just conquered had a ton of high powered carriers all flying around on their own, that combined, might not have stopped my victory, but would have at least made it more challenging, and again, at the point of the end of their way of life you would have thought they would have made some kind of stand, instead of being off in the black and then simply joining my ranks which is the most immersion breaking choice they can make.

Why not have remaining ships form a rebel fleet, that builds a base somewhere and raids etc etc, there are a ton of interesting things that could be done with still militarily significant amounts of fleet power remaining after a civ is subjugated having them just fly your flag is the least interesting and the least believable, especially if you were dropping nukes on their homeworld.

[Jorgen_CAB]

One of the issues is also that patroling really don't achieve anything in the game, so the AI should never do this. A few patrol squadrons (defensive fleets) here and there is all that is needed. When the empire is attacked they act as defensive fleets within their area of operation and can even be reassigned.

The AI spend so much resources on things that does not matter that unless you give the AI huge benefits and a head start it might as well not even be there.

[maggiecow]

Why not have remaining ships form a rebel fleet, that builds a base somewhere and raids etc etc, there are a ton of interesting things that could be done with still militarily significant amounts of fleet power remaining after a civ is subjugated having them just fly your flag is the least interesting and the least believable, especially if you were dropping nukes on their homeworld.

Kinda like Total War Attila. Or BSG. Have the rebel fleet find itself an independent colony to invade and start over. It's a nice idea but unlikely to happen. DW2 is a combat focused game, not a story generator like Dwarf Fortress.

Imagine an AI enemy that actually was logical, or sneaky or intent on exploiting you financially, like the Vulcans, the Romulans or the Ferengi. You'll get none of that with DW2. It's virtually a clicker game.