Help me git gud, question thread

[legionof1]

Edit: upon reviewing save my post was bollocks. Revised help follows.

For higher studies you are most noticeably missing a cyberdisk corpse and an implosion bomb launcher(craft weapon found on bombers) the other missing prerequisites you have available to research, branching off from "craft railgun".

Annihilator is gated by higher studies. Ditto plasma except for "light plasma gun". Further gauss tech is behind "craft railgun".

Stasis pods are most easily acquired from certain orbital missions. Though they can be found from other sources. Coordinators are indeed in bases but large stargod ships will sometimes have them. Public enemy is a rare spawn on the larger smuggler ship.

Sway government missions already generated or in progress will continue after the tech is researched. It sometimes takes a month or two for already in progress missions to conclude.

Fighting stargods has alot to do with managing who gets attacked. Once a gal has been spotted they will be open to pis attacks from all foes present on map for several turns. Select a few gals with high bravery and have them scout so they tank the majority of psi attacks, keep the rest of the gals back and out of sight. Notably keep the scouts out of direct line of sight of the rest of the squad so that if they do get Mind Controlled they won't expose more gals without considerable movement. Bravery boosting armor like brute helps alot for the scouts.

Stargods are very resistant to daze damage, so use stunning weapons based on other damage types. Hardly any daze based weapons are capable of overcoming stargods resistance and armor even with max damage rolls. Voodoo attacks are probably your best bet since they largely ignore armor and can get higher base damage then any daze weapon despite facing marginally higher resistance. Tesla coil also works but can oneshot what your trying to capture if it rolls high.

Aye-phones help alot to pin down where stargods are, though they don't help in the z axis and stagods can fly. Outfits with SENSE also can help spotting them.

[KiriKaneko]

Conqueror is gated behind pocket battleship (dragon), among other things

I'll check if I built the computer core, I think I did

Edit: Yeah I definetly have computer core

[ivandogovich]

I'm pretty sure Higher Studies requires a Computer Core on your base to research it.   This may also be a hangup for Gauss, and Plasma.  A Defense Tower is supposed to provide those base functions, though.

[Scorrpio]

I  see you using 99.F.1, but you really ought to upgrade to F.3

In any case, here is what analyzer shows:

Rule file : f1/Piratez.rul
Lang file : f1/Piratez_lang.rul
Save file : save1.sav
Availability mode [Any]
Parsed 1384 lines
Research translated: 1394
Applied 81 inventory items
Earned 91475 points from research
Marked 1091 as known
STR_ACTIVITIES_ENTERPRISE / Activities: Enterprise (10) : [ AVAILABLE ]
STR_AREAS_ASIA / World Lore: Asia  (10) : [ AVAILABLE ]
STR_BATTLE_RIFLE_CLIP / Battle Rifle Clip (0) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_CYBERDISC_CORPSE / Wrecked Cyberdisc (40) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_DOOM_HELL_BARON_CORPSE / Hell Baron Corpse (10) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_ETHEREAL_COMMANDER / Star God Coordinator (100) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_MARSEC_LASGUN / Marsec Lasgun (25) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_MEGA_CANNON / Marsec Mega-Cannon (20) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_MEGA_FLAMER / Marsec Mega-Flamer (20) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_MEGA_LASER / Marsec Multilaser (25) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_PIR_PLASMA_RIFLE / Plasma Rifle (25) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_RPG_ADV / Homing RPG (15) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_SHADOW_ORB_BLUE / Shadow Orb of Ethyr (20) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_SHADOW_ORB_CRYSTAL / Shadow Orb of Stasis (20) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_SHADOW_ORB_GREEN / Shadow Orb of Alacrity (20) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_SHADOW_ORB_MIND / Shadow Orb of Mind (20) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_SHADOW_ORB_RED / Shadow Orb of Blood (20) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_SOL_DEMO_CHARGE / Solmine Geo Charge (25) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_SR_RIFLE / Space Rangers' Jaeger Carbine (25) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_XTANK_HOVER_GAUSS_TERRORIST / Hovertank/Gauss Cannon (25) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_ZOMBIE_ESSENCE / Blood of Life (10) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_ZOMBIE_GRUBAS_CORPSE / Zombie Fatman Corpse (10) : [ ITEM MISSING ]
STR_ZOMBIE_TROOPER_CORPSE / Zombie Trooper Corpse (10) : [ ITEM MISSING ]

AVAILABLE are researches you can do.   ITEM MISSING are what you meet prerequisites for, but need an actual item.
So lets have further look. Here is your Higher Studies tree.   Shows what you got, what you are missing, and if potentially you can get it from elsewhere:

Higher Studies / STR_SCHOOLING_3 (1000, LIB, CPU2)
 DEPENDS ON :
 {
   Cloaking Device Investigation / STR_CLOAKING_DEVICE_INVESTIGATION (25, CULT)  [ KNOWN ]
   Computer Core / STR_COMPUTER_CORE (80)  [ KNOWN ]
   Slave Emancipation / STR_EMANCIPATION (20, CULT)
    DEPENDS ON :
    {
      Civilization / STR_CIVILIZATION (75, LIB, CULT)
       DEPENDS ON :
       {
         Govt Files Hacking / STR_GOVT_HACKING (10, CPU)  [ KNOWN ]
         Industrial Printer / STR_INDUSTRIAL_PRINTER (25)  [ KNOWN ]
         Seductress Outfit / STR_LINGERIE_SET (10)  [ KNOWN ]
         Luxury Spa / STR_LUXURY_SPA (25)  [ KNOWN ]
         Mining Ship / STR_MINING_SHIP_ADVANCE (25)
          DEPENDS ON :
          {
            Contacts: Ship Junkyard / STR_CONTACT_SHIP_JUNKYARD (20)  [ KNOWN ]
            Gravity Physics / STR_GRAVITY_PHYSICS (60)
             DEPENDS ON :
             {
               Implosion Bomb Launcher / STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER (0)
               Basic Engineering / STR_ENGINEER_PLUS (10)  [ KNOWN ]
               Grav Harness / STR_GRAV_ARMOR (15)  [ KNOWN ]
               Hyperwaves / STR_HYPERWAVES (20)  [ KNOWN ]
               Levitator / STR_LEVITATOR (15)  [ KNOWN ]
               Looted Cyberdisc / STR_LOOTED_CYBERDISC (20)
                DEPENDS ON :
                {
                  Wrecked Cyberdisc / STR_CYBERDISC_CORPSE (40) [ ITEM MISSING ]
                  Gravitic Lifter / STR_LIFTER (15)  [ KNOWN ]
                  Smart Weapons / STR_SMART_WEAPONS (25)  [ KNOWN ]
                }
               /Looted Cyberdisc
               School Graduation / STR_SCHOOLING_2_B (250, LIB)  [ KNOWN ]
             }
            /Gravity Physics
            Mining Laser / STR_MINING_LASER (25)  [ KNOWN ]
            Rail Driver / STR_RAIL_DRIVER (25)  [ KNOWN ]
            SLAVE / STR_SLAVE (5) [owned: 86]  [ KNOWN ]
            SLAVE LASHER / STR_SLAVE_BRUTE (5) [owned: 55]  [ KNOWN ]
            SLAVE TASKMASTER / STR_SLAVE_MANAGER (10) [owned: 3]  [ KNOWN ]
            SLAVE SPECIALIST / STR_SLAVE_SKILLED (10) [owned: 2]  [ KNOWN ]
            Slave AI / STR_UFO_NAVIGATION (15) [owned: 151]  [ KNOWN ]
            Excavator / STR_VESSEL_EXCAVATOR (0)  [ KNOWN ]
            WORKSHOP / STR_WORKSHOP (35)  [ KNOWN ]
          }
         /Mining Ship
         Persuasion / STR_PERSUASION (20, CULT)  [ KNOWN ]
         Piratey Lingerie / STR_PIRATEY_LINGERIE (30)  [ KNOWN ]
         School Graduation / STR_SCHOOLING_2_B (250, LIB)  [ KNOWN ]
         Study Room / STR_STUDY_ROOM (25)  [ KNOWN ]
       }
      /Civilization
    }
   /Slave Emancipation
   Forcefields / STR_FORCEFIELDS (40)  [ KNOWN ]
   Gauss Defenses / STR_GAUSS_DEFENSE (30)
    DEPENDS ON :
    {
      LASER_DEFENSE / STR_LASER_DEFENSE (30)  [ KNOWN ]
      Craft Railgun / STR_RAILGUN (80)
       DEPENDS ON :
       {
         Naval Gun / STR_BIG_GUN (10)  [ KNOWN ]
         Heavy Power Couplings / STR_PARTS_HEAVY_COUPLINGS (15) [owned: 39]  [ KNOWN ]
         Railguns Construction / STR_RAIL_WEAPONS (50)
          DEPENDS ON :
          {
            Space Electronics / STR_ELECTRONIC_PIECES (10) [owned: 106]  [ KNOWN ]
            Gauss Ammo Basics / STR_GAUSS_CANNON_AMMO_PROD (25)  [ KNOWN ]
            Gauss Defenses / STR_GAUSS_DEFENSE (30)  [ LOOPED ]
            Gauss Musket / STR_GAUSS_RIFLE (25)  [ KNOWN ]
            Sniper Gauss / STR_GAUSS_SNIPER (25)  [ KNOWN ]
            MAG Munitions / STR_MAG_MUNITIONS (40)  [ KNOWN ]
            Energy Capacitors / STR_PARTS_GAUSS_CAPACITOR (15) [owned: 170]  [ KNOWN ]
            Gauss Coils / STR_PARTS_GAUSS_COIL (15) [owned: 302]  [ KNOWN ]
            Energy Weapon Parts / STR_PARTS_WEAPON_ADV (10) [owned: 520]  [ KNOWN ]
            Plasma Spitter / STR_PLASMA_SPITTER (0)  [ KNOWN ]
            Rail Driver / STR_RAIL_DRIVER (25)  [ KNOWN ]
            School Graduation / STR_SCHOOLING_2_B (250, LIB)  [ KNOWN ]
            Custom Shooty Gun / STR_SHOOTA_MK2 (15)  [ KNOWN ]
          }
         /Railguns Construction
       }
      /Craft Railgun
    }
   /Gauss Defenses
   Gravity Physics / STR_GRAVITY_PHYSICS (60)  [ ABOVE ]
   HYPER_WAVE_DECODER / STR_HYPER_WAVE_DECODER (90)  [ KNOWN ]
   Nuclear Laser Batteries / STR_LASER_AMMO_NUCLEAR (55)  [ KNOWN ]
   Magnetic Containment Field / STR_MAGNETIC_CONTAINMENT (50)  [ KNOWN ]
   Arcane Interface / STR_MIND_MACHINE_INTERFACE (100)  [ KNOWN ]
   Improved Transporter / STR_NEW_FIGHTER_TRANSPORTER (55)  [ KNOWN ]
   Plastasteel Forging / STR_PLASTASTEEL_MANUFACTURING (70)  [ KNOWN ]
   School Graduation / STR_SCHOOLING_2_B (250, LIB)  [ KNOWN ]
 }
/Higher Studies
 
The REAL clincher here is if you look down Gauss Defenses tree,  you will see this:
Gauss Defenses / STR_GAUSS_DEFENSE (30)  [ LOOPED ]

Looks like a bug in the rule set, can't do gauss defenses without gauss defenses!

In contrast, running vs F.3  ruleset, shows:

Gauss Defenses / STR_GAUSS_DEFENSE (30)
 DEPENDS ON :
 {
   LASER_DEFENSE / STR_LASER_DEFENSE (30)  [ KNOWN ]
   Craft Railgun / STR_RAILGUN (80) [ AVAILABLE ]
 }
/Gauss Defenses

Much better, eh?

[KiriKaneko]

I've got a copy of F3 but for some reason the screen is zoomed all the way in and it makes it hard to play. Might be I need to do the thing where I tick on certain mods or something. I'll fix it tomorrow

Thankyou for the help!

Btw I killed cyberdisks before but they always explode. But I need a wreck for research? What do? XD

[legionof1]

Try a different damage type or type of attack(melee, grenade,ect) i dont recall exactly what triggers the explosion but it is possible, You can also stun cyberdisk with the tesla coil and other weapons that bypass shock immunity.

[Crazy]

I've got a copy of F3 but for some reason the screen is zoomed all the way in and it makes it hard to play. Might be I need to do the thing where I tick on certain mods or something. I'll fix it tomorrow

Thankyou for the help!

Btw I killed cyberdisks before but they always explode. But I need a wreck for research? What do? XD

You need to kill it using fire damage to be able to recover a wreck. Fire damage is also good against Cyberdiscs in general, given that they're a large unit so they take quadruple fire damage. Do you have Ye Olde Magic Shop researched? Because you need that in order to be able buy wands of firebolt, and you probably don't have shoulder launchers so that's your best bet in terms of being able to reliably set them on fire even if they're flying.

[Scorrpio]

Fire vs cyberdisks works very well.   And they always drop a wreck that way.

[LuigiWhatif]

Cutting, incendiary, stun, and explosive all prevent cyberdisc self destruction.  Incendiary and explosive are usually your best choice since they affect all four tiles of the cyberdisc and are available earlier than stun or cutting weapons with enough power or range.

[KiriKaneko]

I've got shoulder cannons so I'll use that. Sadly althoguh I got info on Tesla Coil from a Magical Girl I still don't know how to make them

[KiriKaneko]

I went back to using F3 but the camera is zoomed in extremely far, it makes it unplayable

[Marza]

What are your video settings currently?

[KiriKaneko]

Nevermind, I worked out I can resize it in the main menu XD

[KiriKaneko]

Ok I'm playing F3, I got a cyberdisk but I'm out of research again

I built armory towers rather than gauss defenses because it says it covers gauss and laser. However, I've unlocked light plasma which I think is supposed to be better than gauss, it's lighter than the 37mm rifles with lower TU cost but kills about as fast it seems

I'm preparing for a base assault, got my triton and I'll do the assault on my next play session

However, I should be able to make annihilator armor now yet I still can't. I should also be able to make all gauss and plasma weapons and unlock higher studies but I cant do that either. Could you take another look at my save file please?

[Marza]

Save file looks normal, missing one key gateway tech.

Spoiler:

Implosion bomb launcher. Shoot down and loot bombers/battleships.