Shakturi - WTF? (Spoilers, I guess, if it matters)

[Osito]

So this is my first proper game, playing on easy, and I've finally met the Shakturi. Up till then, everything was going fine, cruising to an easy victory (well, it is on "easy"!), but now I'm being systematically destroyed by the Shakturi. The ships the Guardians gave me are all gone, and I seem to be unable to build anything that can kill one of their ships. I can take down their shields, but so far their armour seems impervious to everything I have. Is there something in particular I need.? If I don't find it soon, I am going to lose.

[Erik Rutins]

The Shakturi often defeat you the first time you run into them. Most important factors:

1. High enough technology - they start with the highest armor, shields and countermeasures. The only way to hurt them is to have high end weapons and targeting. Having both normal and fleet targeting is pretty much mandatory.

2. Follow the original Distant Worlds storyline to the end before the Shakturi show up (assuming you had it turned on). That storyline gives you a lot of special locations, extra tech and advanced ships from the debris fields that can fight the Shakturi and even the odds. Repair and own the planet destroyers.

3. Get every other faction you can on your side in a mutual defense pact through whatever means possible before you form the Freedom Alliance, to increase their chance of joining it. If the galaxy is not unified, the Shakturi are much harder to defeat.

4. Hit and run - use intelligence to find out where they are not and hit them there, try to avoid their main battle fleets until you are ready to take them on.

Good luck! If you've already lost the fleet the Ancients gave you, it will be an uphill battle.

Regards,

- Erik

[Osito]

Hehe, hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it?

Right, well let's assume I haven't done 1-3 and they're already blowing up my planets

I appreciate your taking the time to reply. I have a lot of colonies and a strong economy, but I think my tech is way behind. We'll have to see if it's enough.

[Erik Rutins]

One more piece of advice - do not hesitate to bombard and blow up their worlds. They are the definition of when "nuke them from orbit" is the right solution.

Regards,

- Erik

[ehsumrell1]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

One more piece of advice - do not hesitate to bombard and blow up their worlds. They are the definition of when "nuke them from orbit" is the right solution.

Regards,

- Erik

[Osito]

Jeez, 3 days later, and at last I've beaten the buggers. My God, that was a pain! But it was worth it in the end. I think. I might switch off the Shakturi for my next game: hadn't realised just what I was getting myself into.

[Erik Rutins]

Well done, considering the situation you were in that must have been a very tough fight.

[Osito]

Thanks, Erik. The main problem was managing the war. Their ships were faster and tougher than mine, so they were often able to strike an undefended system, then leave before I could get my ships there. I had a much bigger economy, but it took ages to turn that into an effective group of fleets that could take the battle back to them. In the height of the war, there were so many separate battles that it was hard to keep control, even on 0.25 speed.

I must say, looking back on it, the game created an absolutely epic feeling, that I've rarely seen in any other strategy game I've played.

I first bought this game last year, but never really got anywhere with it, partly because of the steep learning curve, but mostly because the fonts are so small on my 27" monitor. However, I decided to give it another shot after being disappointed by StarDrive, and I'm so glad I did. I hear you're even going to improve the font sizes in Shadows.

Well done to you and your team for creating this great game!

Osito

[Erik Rutins]

Thank you Osito, having just finished a major push to gold for Shadows, that was music to my ears. [8D]

[Data]

More music available at any time, your work is always appreciated.

[Harmonious Hegemony]

In the games that I have played the Shakturi show up as "Refugees", on a single planet near the edge of the map to start. Keep an eye out for them and when they first appear throw everything you have at their one planet. It's a LOT easier to take them out when they are at that stage. They expand like crazy so if you wait to go after them the problem grows exponentially.

[ASHBERY76]

I presume we will get a medal in Shadows for killing these bugs.

[Osito]

ORIGINAL: Harmonious Hegemony

In the games that I have played the Shakturi show up as "Refugees", on a single planet near the edge of the map to start. Keep an eye out for them and when they first appear throw everything you have at their one planet. It's a LOT easier to take them out when they are at that stage. They expand like crazy so if you wait to go after them the problem grows exponentially.

In fact, in my game I did try to do this before they "turned into" the Shakturi, although I didn't know at the time what was going to happen. I did try to kill them at that stage, but they were too powerful for me. Part of my winning strategy involved buying the tech to kill them from the Guardians.

If I had taken the "Refugees" home planet, would that have stopped the subsequent Shakturi "invasion"?

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76
I presume we will get a medal in Shadows for killing these bugs.

Could be... [;)]