Building Defenses
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There is more information on about Building Defenses and using SpeedSim here.
This is a reprint of the post found here at the oGame Forums
Building Defenses
There is a fair bit of debate over whether you should build defense or fleet and in what combo but if you are going to build a defense then this is what I have done.
Laser/Energy Weapons
Ignore missile launchers, cruisers get rapid fire to early and you need the metal to grow mines.- Use missile launchers in the later defenses. Early on, cruisers can wipe them out easily. But once you hit the bigger fights, they are a cheap source of cannon fodder. 5 Missile Launchers per 1 small laser.
- Small Lasers become your cannon fodder (some ships get RF but they wont appear to early so it gives you a bit of time to get started)
- Build 1 Heavy Laser per 4 Small lasers. (Only bombers and death stars get RF so they become your anti RF midgame).
- Build 1 ion cannon per 12 Small lasers. (ion cannons have high shields which helps everything else survive)
- Build 1 Gauss Cannon per 30 small lasers (first big gun and useful vs cruisers and maybe low numbers of battleships, but will struggle vs destroyers)
- Build 1 Plasma Cannon per 100 small lasers (This is the weapon your going to rely on to fend off those war attacks where someone just wants to bash you rather than steal some cheap resources)
Shields
- Small shield after 20 Light lasers
- Large Shield after 100 small lasers
Overview
So by the time you hit 100 small lasers, you have:
- Small Shield
- Large Shield
- 25 Heavy Lasers
- 8 or 9 Ion Cannons
- 3 or 4 Gauss Cannons
- 1 Plasma Cannon
At this point, the odds of someone hitting the plasma cannon is 1:136 but it will be dishing out fatal damage steadily.
From what I can read no weapon will survive on its own in all situations. You need enough small stuff to make it unlikely that they will hit you big guns. Enough big guns to actually destroy their ships (rather than scratching all of them a little, but destroying none). Enough shields to prevent their damage from destroying you defenses to quickly. The combination will be different for everyone and will be affected by what you are facing.
Missile Silos
Build them as well – when you consider interplanetary missiles a threat.
The whole point of a defense is to make it unprofitable for someone to attack. Low resources at home and enough defense to deter the attack. If you ever have to use it its probably not big enough. Silos 2 will give you 10 anti-ballistic missiles. I would think this is plenty for most of the game (except maybe later in a war. Anti-Ballistic Missiles are cheaper to build than Interplanetary ones.
Misc.
A defense is a money sink. You need to keep adding to it as you produce more, but should never really need to use it. Its the attacks that look at you, say “to big/not worth it” and go elsewhere that you are really trying to catch. If you want to see what ratio you should use for mines vs defenses then read the article.
Another suggestion: If your going to use defenses then keep your resources low. Ship them away or spend them. It doesn’t really matter but dont leave large numbers lying around. It will just draw an attack that you cant defend against, and you will end up losing your defenses and your resources.
This does not take into account using fleets as defense. That is another topic for another day.
UPDATE: Added some advice on using Missile Launchers.
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— Badger Jul 10, 10:01 PM #
— Ring Sep 5, 03:56 PM #
— jamie Sep 9, 03:00 PM #
you cant be logged on 24/7 and sooner or later the attacker will catch you off guard… even if you – fleet save – you might have some emergency or you just forget to log on or somethin and youre fleet returnes home and gets crashed…
jamie@———
i think there isnt more then 10 people in entire universe (at least at one wehere I’m playin) that have that kind of force, and picking you out of other 10 000 players isnt likly to be, except if you are among first 100 players on the score list… even if he has 400 battle ships – then you make shure you have as twice as stronger defence – what isnt very difficult – couse by the time you complete that defence he probobly wont even notice you…
fleet saving has many small errors, but building defence is much better, more useful and can be bulletproof if you do it well… lets say for examlpe you neet 500 000 resources for some buliding and you neet to gather it… you can store it all on one planet with strong defence and noone will touch you… but if that planet hasnt got and defence you end up screwed… you cant ship away that amount of resources – you would neet to spend a lot of them just to build transporters…
i think building defences is much more useful then fleet and resurces saving – and less complicaded…
(excuse my english – im a bit rusty :D )
— Anonymus Sep 17, 09:58 AM #
— MrTatertots Sep 18, 04:30 PM #
— Glorfindel I Sep 19, 01:45 PM #
— Phione Sep 28, 03:02 PM #
I thought this was the case. Can u have a small and large shield on one plane? (Extract from game)
— speedo Sep 29, 07:52 PM #
— Phione Sep 30, 02:55 PM #
Yes, it does
@ Glorifindel I
You can target every piece of defence except the plasma cannon actually.
@ speedo
Yes, you can build a large shield dome and a small shield dome all on the same planet.
— dot dot dot Sep 30, 03:44 PM #
— otterfox Oct 10, 02:42 AM #
— ogame member Oct 16, 08:31 PM #
A friend of mine has a huge defence of small lasers and rockets. About 10000 rockets and 10000 lasers and some other things. The need to come with a minimum of 500 BS to get through the first round. He’s now standing on the 13 place. So a huge defence will sure help.
— Lord Stoney Nov 6, 12:09 PM #
I’ve made it to 28th place in Uni 1 building defence, and I’m still going up. I wouldn’t say it’s completely useless.
— SpitoCrono Nov 12, 10:03 PM #
i got a reasonable size defence, several thousand missle & small lasers with couple of hundred heavy lasers, gauss cannons, ion cannon and just under 50 plasma and no one touch’s me even when i left 10million res on my planet for a week but i am a top 100 player and most around me aren’t
— un Nov 26, 04:01 PM #
offense is the best defense…all is said with these words imho
— Santiago, battle command's Nov 30, 04:15 PM #
I’m playing on the French version of Ogame, so it’s probably older universes I’m dealing with but I rely heavily on defense.
High defense protects you from most players and makes you un-interesting (too many losses, too small gain) for those who could break in. But it takes time and resources, so it’s not for pure raiders.
— Gaz Dec 5, 04:40 PM #
Defense you need it build it before you build a fllet
— Mini Fost Dec 7, 09:28 AM #
I sent a fleet to raid a planet. The only defense was one large shield and 1 anti-ballistic missile. The entire battle lasted only one round, and was concluded as DRAW, without damage on either side.
I wonder what happened there, because my fleet was strong enough to destroy the defense in 4 rounds?
— BD ba Dec 11, 07:32 AM #
for the “super turtles” missile launchers can be a great thing. Cruisers can’t survive in super heavy defences like that. Bombers do have RF against missile launchers but with how cheap 10 ML are it is something that can change a battle.
Destroyers can survive huge defence, and they have RF against SL. Bombers + destroyers = death for SL.
— ahab Dec 14, 09:29 PM #
You used fighters, they can’t destroy large shields, try speedsimming it with 100000 LF v 1 large shield, and it will be a draw.
Defence is great, especially for people who can’t always be online a lot, it doesn’t matter that there are fleets that can take your defence, you only need enough to make it unprofitable for the amount of res/fleet you have there.
— weetabix Dec 15, 05:36 AM #
Or thinking about it you probably just got the no-combat bug, it happens from time to time, they don’t know how to fix it and you won’t be compensated by them for it
— weetabix Dec 15, 05:38 AM #
I followed your defense plan to the letter, then got wasted by this dude in 24th place. killed my only plasma cannon that i just built! im on the mend though…
— Andyt Dec 23, 07:31 AM #
Question about Ion and Gauss Cannons.. Is it purely the Rapidfire effect that’s taken into account for the ratio of them? I looked, and it appears they have the same shield and weapon power.. so am not seriously confused, but am a bit shakey on this point.
— Trager Dec 27, 12:04 AM #
Yikes.. okay.. sorry for the double post, but: Just looked at the Structural Integrity of the two.. and HUGE difference.. ratio makes sense again to me.
— Trager Dec 27, 12:07 AM #
i’ve been following this blueprint for defenses, and is working out pretty nice, have not been attacked, and if I am, there were easily pushed away, or maybe it’s all my battleships I have there as well.
I would recommend building Missile Launchers anyway. Cheap defense w/ those guys.
— alex Dec 28, 04:37 PM #
I have no fleet and have invested completly with defences! I am still to get a high enought plasma tech 2 get plasma cannons. Once i get 1000 Small Laser, 100 Heavy Laser + Ion Cannons, 10 Gause Cannons, 1 Plasma Cannon—- Then i will start to get fleet.
It’s a good tactic (i think)
Remember 2 make a few colonies that only have mines – you can just send all the resources they make 2 ur main planet!!
— Planet Lord - Uni 9 Dec 30, 03:11 AM #
This article doesn’t seem to take RF into account, because with bombers it makes more sense to build higher level defenses to avoid the crippling RF against smaller defenses.
@Santiago
A good offense is only a good defense when you don’t take account of any players you aren’t attacking. There are too many players to attack at once, thus that would leave them free to attack you, assuming you relied entirely on offense
— Snarf Jan 2, 10:48 PM #
Death Stars are also good for defense, although many cant even build one, if you have the chance to build one on one of your bigger, perminate planets then its a good alternate to spending a whole lot on defense.
— SolarPumpkin Jan 15, 01:42 PM #
why use 1 ion cannon per 12 small lasers ?
i mean, heavy lasers are aprox. the same thing as ion cannons but they come 1 every 4 small ones… why?
— Serpent Jan 16, 05:06 AM #
The trick is to be able to build the defence. So keeping resources on planet WHILE building is not good. FleetSave some resources, build defences with the rest and keep doing that will you have that kind of defence that whoever attackes will eventually come out lost in resources from the battle or looser.
— NavaS Jan 26, 07:15 PM #
i find heavy lasers pointless. They are 4 times more expensive than small lasers and are only about 2.5 times better
— Zamamee Jan 27, 01:45 PM #
I have spent all my time getting a nanite factory so im now building my defences
— Aberon Jan 31, 10:18 AM #
@ Zamamee
Heavy lasers are also 4 times harder to kill, so if nothing else, they make the battle go on for longer.
— White Widow Jan 31, 02:07 PM #
but there is some truth in the small guns big guns thing… HL are good because there is no rf from cruisers whereas SL take heavy damage from cruisers…
— Serpent Feb 1, 03:05 AM #
Im not sure if SpeedSim(which can sim the fight in ogame). But
IF that sim program is true.
The cheapest defence vs. like 100 battleship are:
*** Cost: 1080000 SmallShd:1 BigShd:1 Plasm:2 Ion:60 Gauss:15 HLaser:90 LLaser:0 MLun:450 Ret:| Defender wins (10%) || Draw (90%) | after ~ 6 rounds
OR
Cost: 1100000 SmallShd:1 BigShd:1 Plasm:0 Ion:0 Gauss:0 HLaser:0 LLaser:80 MLun:900 Ret:| Defender wins (100%) | after ~ 6 rounds
(Cost = matel + 2*crystal + 3*Deut)
— Tomasen Feb 3, 02:15 AM #
I have a sizeable defense, and it has helped me a lot. I haven’t been attacked at my home planet for almost half a year. My home planet’s defense is currently:
11600 Missile Launchers
2700 Small Lasers
50 Heavy Lasers
110 Gauss Cannons
40 Ion Cannons
77 Plasma Cannons
1 Small Shield Dome
1 Large Shield Dome
25 Anti-Ballistic Missiles
7 Interplanetary Missiles
Tomorrow, my defense will be higher. Although I don’t have much of a fleet, I still gain many points from building defense, and it prevents many attackers from raiding me. All of my planets have over 40 and 50 plasma cannons each, with several thousand missile launchers and small lasers. Attackers will not want to attack a planet if they will not make a profit, or lose a significant amount of ships.
I am the founder of the RIP Alliance in Universe 2.
— zhalox Feb 4, 10:50 PM #
I don’t see why you should build ML instead of SL. The total amount of res used for each is equal, but since less metal is required you can build more SL as long as metal is your limiting factor.
In return SL has better stats than ML: 2000/25/100 vs 2000/20/80, and no RF until bomber level.
Is there really any benefit in using ML vs SL as cannon fodder?
— oresama Feb 6, 06:51 PM #
If you are building thousands of solar satellites in order to research Graviton Technology like I was and can’t spare the extra crystal, then missile launchers are a good source of cannon fodder. But if there is no need to save your crystal, then small lasers are probably much better to build.
— zhalox Feb 17, 09:21 PM #
can u only use interplanitary missiles once, ie when u send them on a mission they blow up and dont return
— anonymus Feb 24, 11:31 AM #
In anycase crystal is usually your limiting factor. If you consider official trading rates, 1 crystal is worth 2 metal, ergo, SL is slightly more expensive.
Imho, HL are not so good, I’d rather have 4 SL, and stock up on more Ions.
Theory: If your defense can destroy the fleet stationed at that planet without too many losses, you should be set. Your enemy would have to have an incredible force to be able to destroy your fleet Profitably. They can do destroy it with just a somewhat bigger fleet, but still at a loss. Only with a REALLY big fleet can they actually do damage without recieve much in return, at which point, there’s better prey out there generally.
— Toranaga Feb 27, 11:43 AM #
i agree that a huge defense will be more useful than a huge fleet. in my universe
most players have huge fleets and those get bigger each day. i keep on building
more defenses each day. i’ve been espied by players much stroger than me and
none of them has attacked me. i think it’s just a matter of how fast one can build
his defenses and if you do it quickly you’ll gain the respect of most players, even
those how are above you.
— Moff Tarkin Mar 15, 12:54 PM #
defense is a lot smarter to invest in because if somebody attacks you while your fleet is out doing something at full strength, you’re dead
— buddha boy Mar 16, 12:14 PM #
I’m telling you, defenses are the best investment to look into. They give you a safe place that no one can touch you. I have 10000 Missile, 9000 SL, 1500 HL, 1250 GC, 550 IC and 90 PC. I can withstand an attack from about 7000 BS or even 45 DS
— Kramer390 Mar 17, 06:44 PM #
i agree with defences, ive followed the above ratios, got about 4k SL so far, worked out that for an attacker to profitably crash my fleet at my home planet it would take 1800 BS, my fleet isnt big enough to be a target really so its pretty safe there.
Theres not much point buildin defence at your colonies though, not if you regularly ship resources away or spend them.
— tony almeida Mar 22, 08:24 AM #
I appreciate the new information regarding missle launchers, but i believe that having 500 missle launchers with 100 SL and all other things remaining the same gives you too much fodder and not enough power. should it be corrected to be for (SL + Missile =100) to have the same ratio fodder to power?
— SpacemanSpif Mar 24, 09:11 PM #
How do you send an intergalactic missile ?
— pimp Mar 25, 12:07 PM #
Hi,
I have 4 Missile, and hope to get my first small laser by tomorrow, and was pretty happy with how I could repel the first raider coming knocking at my door.
... And you guys have 10000 Msl??
This is insane…(no offense meant, we gamers are all a bit nuts, aren’t we?)
Still, do you find the game is still interesting past this stage?
— Cobalt Mar 27, 07:52 AM #
How do i send an interplanetary missle to attack someone ???
— Adrian Mar 28, 08:58 AM #
offense is the best version of defense. Defense is left and is a sitting target to get your points down Fleets you can send away(fleet save). If you want to build defense you need to make sure you have a fleet that can protect it or that will keep up your points. I had 50 Cruisers b4 i build any serius defenses and guess what,I GOT IT ALL SMASHED. Onl ever build missile launchers,Small lasers and heavylasers as they are the best performance for money and also are cheap to rebuild where as gauss cannons and plasma are expensive and ion cannons are jus tthe same as heavy lasers with less defense so there is no point in them either.O and destroyers RULE. Email me with your views on this on gude123@hotmail.co.uk
— gude Mar 28, 10:59 AM #
Well gude, as it’s been said before there are times when you may have an emergency or be offline for longer than you expected- whether you like or not at some point you will be caught off guard and loose your fleet. I speak from experience.
Defense is greatly needed as a back up, never leave enough res (including when you res save) that’s worth the trip for the attacker.
I also would like to see this article upated with rapid fire taken into account.
— UGH Apr 11, 10:08 AM #
The best possible defense is made of three different defense types:
Rocket.
Heavy Laser
Plasma
fx.
2000 raks
100 HL
30 plasma
Gauss, SL and Ion is a waste og good ressources.
I cant use the defense guide to anything because it is wrong.
Cheers
— Dennis Apr 11, 09:54 PM #
i was told 4 gauss cannons destroy a battle ship and 6 gauss cannons beat up a destroyer is this right ?
— Lord Dave uni 4 Apr 13, 03:57 PM #
the main question: how fast can you build your defenses…?
— Moff Tarkin Apr 13, 08:23 PM #
“i was told 4 gauss cannons destroy a battle ship and 6 gauss cannons beat up a destroyer is this right ?”
It depents on how strong the opponent is. If he is attacking with a superior force (that happens pretty often) Then your gauss will have no or only slightly effect on the BS and no effects on the destroyers.
— Dennis Apr 15, 07:31 AM #
The whole point is to make it not worth it for your enemy to attack you. With the defenses I have now, I can hold up to 20 million metal, 10 million crystal and still not be profitable for an enemy attacker because he’d lose too many ships.
— Kramer Apr 15, 07:15 PM #
Follow the discussion here:
There is more information on about Building Defenses and using SpeedSim here.
— Voidhawk Apr 16, 06:34 AM #