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IIRC there are only two stealth tech research boxes on tech tree - first one opens up stealth cloak with 500 rating, the second one gives improvement to stealth rating 800.

Galactopedia says stealth formula is simple - (basically stealth rating / tonnage) * 50% is reduction to range your stealth equipped unit can be detected. Shorter way is if stealth rating = tonnage, then detection range is 50%.

So a 500 stealth rating cloak would provide a 500 size ship a 50% stealth reduction to detection range. Fine. But why are so many bases you discover when you are at the stage where lots of discoveries have better tech than you, come equipped with stealth cloaks?

Even the best stealth cloak I see is 800 rating, so a size 800 base would have 50% reduction, but bases get pretty darn big. A size 2400 base would barely have ~17% reduction to visibility range.

Is this formula in the galactopedia still current or maybe was game updated?

And how do some of you use stealth as part of your strategic or tactical play? For now I just slap a unit when I can start affording it on my mid game+ explorers so they aren't bothered as much, but that is about it. Haven't found a strong tactical (e.g. invasion) or strategic level to use stealth with.

I never use stealth tech, to be honest. I suppose with bases, if you're building monitoring stations, you could theoretically park them a little closer without them being picked up on opposing long range scanners.

Yea, thats all i could think of too. For small base stations, like monitoring stations or maybe even a research station. But I find research stations are better off being as well shielded and weaponized as you can to kill light attacks and hold out for the calvary long enough v strong attacks.

Early game is when I'd like to stick a stealth cloak on a small research station, but at that stage you dont have the stealth tech, and by time get stealth tech you are big enough in size/tech to just weaponize and shield the research station to hold out vs almost any attack till fleet gets there.

I thought it might make my explorers better and i do stick one on just for heck of it, but cant say it helps or not. I seem to get same number of explorer attacked or running msg prompts.

If multiplayer ever came around, i suppose stealth would make a lot of sense for raiding fleets. Any small advantage helps in m-play, but the AI is so generally non-responsibe to incoming fleets - it seems to wait until the fleet has actually arrived in system and attacking stuff before it moves responding military units.

Whereas a human player would smell threachery coming a mile away soon as a moving fleet in scanner range was detected and start moving a response force immediately. Thats where I'd see decent use of stealth, for player v player raiding and such.