A new (?) way to kill Locust

[Orion_Steel]

I wanted to share this accidental discovery: Leap-mines are AWSOME against the Locust cones.

I was sitting pretty good, mid game, with PD, x-ray lasers, phasers, AI, and just getting antimatter in 2 tuns, but no shields, emitters, absorbers etc. Then I see the locust heading for my worlds (I guess this explains why AI players stopped attacking me some turns ago, letting me focus on AI then Anti-matter).

I scramble to rush nearby defence fleets and build more Cruiser Cnc, Cruiser armour and as many PD destroyers as I can – but I know it will be bad. Too early, and missing too many of the techs that swat locust. When locust arrives I have a full ring of DE satellites, 24 DE, and 8 Cruisers.

Trying auto resolve – I die, fleet and world lost, locust barely noticed, and made another sphere, both heading for my core worlds.

Being desperate, and hoping for some ideas I reload and try manually fighting – I still die, but after most of fleet, sats, and planets gone I am trying to save a few ships running away. That's when I notice the stream of locust following me are slowly dying one by one!

Turns out I had a single Leap-minelaying destroyer among my 8 or so remaining ships, and the leap mines were fast enough to hit a Locus-cone, and damaging enough to blow it up.

Between phasers and x-ray lasers I did 40,000 damage with all my ships and sats, but a single leapmine destroyer did 13,000!

I wonder how many leap-minelayers it will take to kill the locust.

OS

[fredNN]

Leap Mines = the most cheese way to fight everything.
But the most cheap way also.
I stopped using them. it is too easy to beat AI with Leap Mines.

[Orion_Steel]

@FredNN who said

Leap Mines = the most cheese way to fight everything.

I did some experimenting against AI and I think I agree - just had a 1:5 victory against roughly eqivalent tech AI fleet, with almost no losses, using leapmine DEs.
Surpriced me given how much anti-missile AI usually fields, I always assumed the mines would be sweept from the sky just like my missiles are.

Is there some way to set up being on the reciecving end of leap mines to evaluate if it's unbalancing enough I should mod them or not use them at all (perhaps 0% them in the tree)
(I had AI use fusion mines on me once, and it did not seem unbalanced)

OS

[fredNN]

I had AI use fusion mines on me once, and it did not seem unbalanced)

Live player never rush in mine field, but AI rush. To survive this, AI need very good PD. But the only PD that work good against Leap Mine is Phaser PD, but it is available MUCH later than Leap Mine. Interceptor Missile should work, but target algorithm fire too many missile at single mine, so other mine are not destroyed.

That is reason I not use Leap Mine. Soo easy it is not fun. I use only Nuclear Mine and only on defense and it is still enough. It stop be enough when AI get very fast tactical engine, but this is late game and it is OK. If I am not strong enough to stop AI, I deserve to be eXterminate.

[Orion_Steel]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Fred.

I think I will avoid using leap mines until AI has PD phasers (but it was fun trying it once).

I wonder if they are too tough or too fast for regular red laser pd to handle?
If so perhaps I can mod them to be slower and fragile...a kind of regular nuclear mine with longer range but similar drift speed.

[Orion_Steel]

Confirmed 2 cruiser cnc's and 30 or so leap-mine DEs kill locust dead in fusion tech area (no shields etc).
Just double-click run away and let them plow into your mine trail.

A bit cheesy against AI as discussed above, but against Locust pre AM tech, with no shields or dreads I'm not too proud.