Can't kill Dread Lord Dreadnaught! Help!

from GalCiv2 Forums
I'm playing my first game of DA, and enjoying it quite a bit. I'm several days into it, and thought it was cool when the dread lords showed up.

There is one dreadnaught that is flying around my territory blowing up anything and everything it can, which hurts. I figured I'd counter this thread by building a lot of high offensive ships, and throw them at the big dreadnaught.

However, no matter how many times I attack it, I can't actually destroy it. I can get it down to 1/123 HP, but it seems that if it is down to 1hp, my ships stop firing and the dreadnaught just wipes them out. I've even attacked it with a full fleet (51 logistics points worth) at 1 hp, and the dreadnaught then fires first and wipes out my entire fleet.

How can I destroy this dreadnaught?!!

5,012 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Every ship always gets at least one shot off. As it is, the DL ship gets wiped out in one round, and so does your fleet. However, for some reason Stardock decided that a draw was something to be avoided at all costs, so the most powerful ship always survives the battle with 1 HP left over. Obviously, this is always going to be the DL ship.

The only way to combat this is to have at least one ship survive the battle. I suggest using one (or more) normal fleet(s) to knock the DL down to 1 HP, then another fleet with mostly completely defensive ships plus a couple of normal fighters to make sure that the DL is destroyed. With any luck, at least one of your ships will survive and that pesky DL will be destroyed.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hi!
Every ship always gets at least one shot off.

Not always. I reported the same problem to Stardock. In a campaign I tried to kill a DL scout with two all-attack cargo ships in a fleet. My second ship never fired, just died in a return fire. I had to bring to battle medium hulls to actually remove those DL ships.

IMO it is connected to the "attacker survives with 1 HP - not always" problem. it is true my ships were the attacker, bit the DL scout had initially more HP, more attack and more defenses as both my ships together, so after my first ship killed the scout, my second ship didn't fire on it (as it was dead), but the game calculated that DLs' scout is still the best ship, and wrongly applied the "attacker survives" rule.

BR, Iztok

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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The 1hp thing is awkward and needs changing.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Right, it does seems that even though I am the attacker, some odd rule is coming into play that ensures that the DL ship fires first.

This thing has 800+ attack... nothing I can build right now can surive a single volley.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

This thing has 800+ attack... nothing I can build right now can surive a single volley.

That's why you need a fleet: each round only one ship will be destroyed. The battle will last the number or found corresponding of the number of ship in your fleet. Or less if you manage to kill him before all ships in your fleet are killed.

BTW, since one ship will be automatically killed each round, you don't need to bother with HP and defense. You could just use cargo hull for your fleets that must attack the DL ship.

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That's why you need a fleet: each round only one ship will be destroyed. The battle will last the number or found corresponding of the number of ship in your fleet. Or less if you manage to kill him before all ships in your fleet are killed.


Tahts wrong, we are talking about DA. not DL.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

The 1hp thing is awkward and needs changing.



Amen.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
sounds like freespace or x2/x3... if you attack a ship connected to the plot, you can get it down to 1% health and then its invincible!

Pretty dumb that ships in DA not even connected to any plot can do the same!
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Right! It's like the "uncanny valley" thing for art. The rest of the game has been so much fun that something like this that doesn't seem to play by the rules really sticks out and detracts from the overall game experience.

I'm sitting here trying to decide if I want to fire up DA and continue or not. It's really that annoying
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

However, no matter how many times I attack it, I can't actually destroy it. I can get it down to 1/123 HP, but it seems that if it is down to 1hp, my ships stop firing and the dreadnaught just wipes them out. I've even attacked it with a full fleet (51 logistics points worth) at 1 hp, and the dreadnaught then fires first and wipes out my entire fleet.

Looks like a bug. You should send a savegame to [email protected] to allow them to track this problem.

BTW, if you have fleet composed with 1 HP, that means you are using cargo hull which is worth 5 logistic points. So you can have only 10. If the DL ship has more than 10 weapons, your fleet can't survive. But if you are using tiny hull, which is worth 2 logistic point, you can fill 25 ships in your fleet. So if the DL ship have less than 25 weapons, at least one of your ship will survive

Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hmm, I hadn't thought of using even smaller ships. I've got 17 in each fleet now.

However, I went and researched shields all the way, and I've made a fleet with over 1000 shield defense. I figured I'd use my attack fleet to take it down to 1 hp, and then send in my highly shielded ships to finish it off, since they should be able to absorb at least one volley from the DL ship.

However, after following my ships all over the map (You can lure them away from your population center), it just developed an interest in another race and it heading towards the edge of the map.

The DL did send another ship after me, but it was only a frigate, and I managed to take it out with a smaller fleet, though it took some heavy losses.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
BTW, thanks for all of the replies. This is a very friendly and knowledgeable community!