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Played 2 games now where I really needed to get into ground troops as the AI was kinda strong and I relinquished space around a couple of planets and set up armies instead.

Cost for regular troops was 1080, cost for robotic troops was 1080 - and the robots were like 1/3rdish less effective.

Where's my maintenance cost savings ?

What race and difficulty level are you playing? Is this in 1.9.5.3. or a mod?

1.9.5.3 on hard playing both zenox and ackdarian.

The only mod I am using is the extended mod.

Actually the same thing came up in a thread below regarding troops and someone posted a screenshot of the exact same issue.

Yeah. I just tested this. I never normally build robots.
The price is exactly the same as a normal infantry. Bad enough since they are crap, but really terrible when you play races with a maintenance bonus.

Thanks for noticing. I see a few of the alien races invest in robotic foundries. THat has got to wreck their economy pretty badly.

Yeah agreed, that really sux, I love these guys usually. I still see the star wars bots every time I build them.


I threw a post in bug reports if you want to lend your voice to it.

ORIGINAL: thefinn

Yeah agreed, that really sux, I love these guys usually. I still see the star wars bots every time I build them.


I threw a post in bug reports if you want to lend your voice to it.

ya that is exactly what i think when using them my self LOL

ORIGINAL: Tormodino

Yeah. I just tested this. I never normally build robots.
The price is exactly the same as a normal infantry. Bad enough since they are crap, but really terrible when you play races with a maintenance bonus.

Thanks for noticing. I see a few of the alien races invest in robotic foundries. THat has got to wreck their economy pretty badly.

I don't build bots either. Combat power is far more important to me- I'll pay for it in maintenance. On the other hand, it is nice to have the cheaper maintenance option available as needed (when it is functioning properly that is).

I think the battlebots might be a little weak, overall, but the idea certainly is nice. The weaker races could certainly be seen augmenting their armies with robots. Sometimes the AI builds them, but I could not work out if some of them prioritize it as an overall strategy.
Seems wasteful, since normal troops can gain experience and become very strong.

I try to balance 'economy of force' with 'overwhelming force' in ground battles as much as possible. I build bots when I am so poor I have no choice, understanding I would likely lose a ground battle.

Totally fair. If I am ever poor enough to have to consider robotic troops I usually have so few planets that a mixed force of normal troops with planetary defenders deliver more bang for the buck when I add the numbers. I never tried to experiment with different strats here though, so it is very possible that in certain scenarioes the bots would carry the day as well economically and militarily.

I think the Robotic Troops should be buffed to be equal to racial troops of strength 100. They still have the disadvantage of not getting experience and there's nothing wrong with them potentially being stronger than some races un-experienced troops.

I agree there. I think that would be a good compromise. Possible adjustments to maintenance could be done after the fact if this seriously unbalances combat somehow. It's better if they are generally useful, and then adjust costs accordingly if this becomes necessary.

Well I also think they should still be cheaper than racial troops.

Otherwise they should be even stronger.

Either way you look at it, robotic troops could use some love. There could even be racial differences. There is both a flavour potential, as well as some necessary tweaking to be done (maintenance bug being the prime concern).

ORIGINAL: Tormodino

Either way you look at it, robotic troops could use some love. There could even be racial differences. There is both a flavour potential, as well as some necessary tweaking to be done (maintenance bug being the prime concern).

Yeah I'd love to see racial robotic troops.

Of course gotta get them fixed first