How do I utilize influence starbase?

Do I place the coverage area over opponent's planet or my own planets?

Either one. Depends if you're trying to flip them, or prevent your own planets from getting flipped.

On a related question, how exactly does the econ starbases work? Does it only benefit my own trade routes? Are the bonus cumulative if I place multiple SB along the same route? How about if I place them over other's routes?

They increase income on a trade route by the given % when the mini-freigher is inside their area of effect. It should work on alien established routes to your planets as well as ones you establish. It does not give anyone else an income boost than you, unless you've passed the 'starbases help allies' UP issue. You can stack the effects of as many starbases as you can fit in the same area.

Influence starbases raise your influence value in the area of effect, so if you have a planet of yours that's about to flip to an enemy, build it right next to it. If there's an enemy planet that you want to flip to your side, build it as close to that enemy planet as possible, while still defending it.

Econ starbases only help your routes. If you look along each of your routes, there is a little freighter running back and forth. The econ starbase does it's work when the little freighter on a trade route is inside the area of effect. They are cumulative at different places on the same route as well as stacked at the same place on a route.

-Dewar

So, does this mean short trade routes are better when using starbases?

Thanks for the clarification, guys. Now I see why those freighters are shown other than to clutter up the map.

As for the influence SB, that's how I thought they work. However, when I put one next to my planet, the influence point from the planet screen does not increase to confirm any effect.

The starbases by themselves only give you a tiny amount of extra influence. If you keep building onto them with extra constructors they can be quite formidable. My current game has 5 influence starbases at around +380% for their areas. They're literally holding the borders of my empire out for me, especially the 2 that are inside what used to be Arcean territory. The other 3 were put there to keep arcean, torian, and iconian influence from rolling over the respective nearby colonies.

The one I built next to my newly conquered minor race homeworld did not actually move the border all the way to that new world until I had pushed it up to about +50.

tetleytea:
In some ways yes, unless you're trading with allies that let you build econ starbases in their space. What I like to is take my econ capital and build all my freighters there and send them to different places in the galaxy. Since all the routes are starting in the same place, it's easier to get econ starbase coverage, at least at the start of the route.

-Dewar

How does one go about adding modules to the starbases? I have tried everything that I could think of to add modules. I double-click on the starbase, and it opens, basically telling me that it lacks modules. If I just click it, the mini window only gives me the option of destorying it. It is a little frustrating.

You need to send another constructor ship to the starbase. You will then be presented with a choice of modules to build.

How does one go about adding modules to the starbases? I have tried everything that I could think of to add modules. I double-click on the starbase, and it opens, basically telling me that it lacks modules. If I just click it, the mini window only gives me the option of destorying it. It is a little frustrating.

You must send another constructor to your starbase. Adding a module consumes the cunstructor in the process (just like building the starbase did) and you can add on more modules by building and sending more constructors.

Thank you. The text was not clear on this, and I have been going crazy trying to igure it out.