Defense platforms in Stellaris are a bit of a double-edged sword. With the right loadout, defense platforms can keep any foe at bay. With a bad layout, defense platforms may as well be an invitation for an enemy attack.
What are the best defense platform builds in the game? Keep reading to discover the answer!
Point-Defense
The big question when it comes to defense platforms: what are you most worried about? If you’re worried about income missiles, you should build more point-defense platforms.
These platforms are really great at shooting down incoming enemy projectiles, detonating them long before they can reach your fleet or base. They are very effective against shields and hulls.
Unfortunately, these platforms don’t do very well against enemy armor. That’s why we recommend having different kinds of platforms to prepare for different kinds of attacks.
Hangar Platform
Even if you’ve never played Stellaris, you can probably guess what a hangar platform does. It houses a hangar from which you can launch different fighter craft such as bombers.
These platforms can’t really operate on their own because of the limited functionality of the fighter craft. But if you pair other kinds of platforms with a hangar platform, you can launch defense fighters at just the right time.
At the bare minimum, we recommend pairing your hangar platform with a point-defense platform. This can deal with many situations, and you can craft other platforms as the tactical situation evolves.
Heavy Platform
The heavy defense platform gets its name because you can outfit it with a large weapon. Generally speaking, we recommend using a mixture of torpedoes and kinetic weapons on these heavy platforms.
That’s because you want to attack enemy forces from far away whenever possible. Both torpedoes and kinetic weapons offer the change for a long-range attack. That range can only go up if you add Extended Range to the mix.
As with the other platforms, heavy platforms can’t do everything. Our recommended loadout can only do so much once the enemy gets close. By the time they do, heavy platforms will ensure there aren’t very many of them left.
Medium Platform
For the most part, you can scale platform size up to deal with different enemy ships. So, small platforms with their light platforms are great for earlier in the game. Heavy platforms and their large weapons do best with larger forces towards the end of the game.
In the middle, fittingly, is the medium platform. They can help handle most forces until the enemy starts rolling up with battleships. If you use a combination of lasers and kinetic weaponry, you can make your defensive platforms versatile enough for most threats.
What Next?
Now you know how to defend yourself with the best defense platforms. But do you really know how to expand your empire?
Eventually, you’ll need to master hyperlane borders and sector expansion. To help you get started, we created the ultimate guide for new and veteran players alike.
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