All three races can upgrade their starbases to "prevent loss of the planet through bombardment".  I think for the TEC the upgrade (for both research and actual upgrade) is called "auxilary government".

This means the enemy fleet will have to at some point take your starbase in order to take the planet.  A good defense idea I've heard is to group all planetary defenses (hangar bays, point defenses, and most importatly repair platforms) next to the starbase, thus further improving the base's combat abilities.

In this fashion the Okurlus' ability to move about to the gravity-well is a double edge sword.  It can move to intercept the enemy fleet, but it can also move out of the range of a friendly repair platform.  As powerfull as starbases are, I've learned even against the AI every little edge can help.

i personally prefer to defend the GW, not just the planet. for instance, i put my SB at the edge of the GW, but alot of people prefer to defend the planet, so they put all their structures, defenses and SB in a tight knot around the planet. this way, enemy fleets can more in your space, but at least they cant take planets

i prefer to fortify systems with a bunch of mines, repair bays, hangars and gauss, and make it so they pretty much have to jump face first into some sort of defense.

one other small tactic is that i will sometimes place the SB to one side of the phase lane, especially against AI, because usually the pathfinding takes the shortest route.

so, ifif you defend a planet from an attack from a target to the 'north' of you, and he brings in a fleet from a planet 'west' of the planet that is outside your borders, the fleet wont come in dead on the phase lane, it will come in to the left of the phase lane, that way, they jump in and get a face full of starbase

I thouht someone wrote in a thread that TEC could install 4 starbases in one gravity well? I havent been able to do so..

I definitely miss the phase stabilizer though

In normal grav wells you can plac eonly 1 SB. In Star grav wells you cna place up to 4.

Also buildign next to the planet has big advantages. It limits the manouvers your enemy can do to attake your SB and means you got 1 side lest to defend. IF you put your SB in the oppen you need to place turrets hangers and repair bays all aroung. How ever if their is one side protected by a planet those defences can be brought to the others sides and increase you firepower were ever you enemy will chose to assault from.

If pirates come it doesnt matter just send your fighters on the planet bombers. The rest will come for your defences. If you built your trade ports in you defence hub (witch is highly recomended) your trade ships will lurn int eh pirates hunting them.

For enemy fleets well you need your own. The SB arent supposed to stop and defeat all enemy fleets. If you enemy is ready for it you will need ot brign in your own fleet. At that point you enemy is in a pickle eitehr he has the power to fight your fleet and your defences at once. Or he doesnt and has to fleet. If he flees hell suffer 30% damage but TEC can upgrade that to 50%. Let me tell you if you jump your fleet out take 50% damage and he follows you your most likely goign to be in trouble. Your fleet is half-dead already.

  There are mods that have amended how many starbases you can have in a well, some as many as 4, 5 and 6, but to be honest that is overkill, and makes the game too easy.

But when i started i was really really lousy, haha, am still not too hot, but am getting better, but there was this mod that made ships half cost, and it was wonderful!    At least for the first month, after that it was too easy and really not very fun, so i unplugged that mod and got one that was a lot different. I think it was 7DS, and that was a lot of fun and stayed for for quite a bit.

After that i started making my own mods, and it was easier to make them harder, or give slight edges which made the game still very challenging, but also different than the standard game. Also, after awhile, modding was almost like playing, i spent a lot of time at it, and it was like winning when i could figure something out, and like losing, when i couldn't. 

I have been in school heavy over the summer, and my modding has almost stopped, but not for good, just until the semester ends and life gets a little less hectic. 

If you look on Google, you should be able to find a starbase mod that gives extra sb's per planet if that is what you want, and lots of other things as well.  Enjoy,

-Teal

Its called enforced loyalty.

TEC starbases are tough as nails, and the "big red button" can completely destroy an opposing fleet. It has offensive applications, but not to the extent the Vasari bases. To use them offensively, you can upgrade so they can produce ships, even at a faster rate than regular frigate factories. This plays on the TECs strength in production, allowing you to (if you have your economy going) overwhelm an enemy with numbers. With the advanced trade options you can use it to turn any gravity well into a trade route and production center. Also if you can sneak it behind enemy lines like an Orkulus (it's a little harder but still possible) you can use it to build siege and colonizer frigates to take enemy planets, or pop out Ogrovs to take out structures that are out of reach.

Yes, but that's not the point. We are talking about that a moving star base is a huge advantage compared with a not moving one.

Maybe it is only me but when I fight another player I have a lot more respect if it is a Vassari - that star bases could really hurt. There is no chance to fight step by step - fleet and star base are rarely separated from each other.

With that tactic you can't save your population.

In regards to the OP, I personally think the Advent starbase is the nastiest to attack with the right upgrades. Placed at the edge of a GW, near the phase lane, it's almost impossible for a fleet to jump into the GW without running straight into the MD/MS combination, even in a standard GW. Combine that with the fact that the Advent hangars carry the most SC and the beam turrets are quite competent when placed in clusters, an enemy fleet is almost guaranteed heavy casualties even if some do manage to jump in out of range of MD. There's nothing more satisfying than watching a Marza jump in with a supporting fleet and immediately get rendered helpless and pummeled into oblivion by meteors and a fusillade of beams like the web of a demented alien spider.

If yuour at a point ingame were you have SBs lossing a bit of population isnt much of a problem. Unlest you completely negleted your econ.

not this again, reminds me of the beta..... *dreaming of the complaining times*

The TEC starbase is far far far better than the vasari one IMO. it has the red button. that ability alone can totally destroy every single ship in your enemies fleet.

Advent have metior storm and other fleet killing abilities.

Vasari SB has no abilities that make it suited for destroying entire fleets, its only advantage is it can move.

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I forgot Armor points, shield mitigation, hull/shield rapair. Vassari SB can reach 30 armor