Moon Question

What value exists in having a single moon, other than fleet saves, assuming the moon is in HQ area?

I ask as I'm going to try building a moonshot fleet soon in HQ area. Research on moons show that it can't be mined, has very few fields for other things, and requires a lot of resources to do much of anything.

I have heard that it is best to do graviton research on moons, but that doesn't seem like a good idea (using 12 fields for the research lab, and at least 1 for shipyard).

I see the advantage of having one in HQ and galaxy 1, to move fleets. The one in galaxy 1 can also use the phalanx senor.

What other value exists? It seems to be more of a resource drain than anything else.

phalanx and jump gates are pretty much the Crème de la Crop!

Jump Gates can only be built on Moons. If you have more than one moon and a Jump Gate on each you can transport your entire fleet, but no resources, instantly from one to the other without using deuterium.

There is a sixty minute recharge time in between jumps, i.e. you could only send fleets once every sixty minutes. This cool down / recharge time is only needed for the two jump gates that were used.


Reason to have two or more moons?? Right here!

If you only see a fleet that has already completed its mission, you won't be able to see the composition of the fleet. In this sense, it is possible to avoid sensor phalanxes by stationing your fleet on a moon, and then fleetsaving from the moon (e.g., to a debris field). As stated above, moons cannot be scanned; therefore, if a player has at least two moons, a fleetsave from one moon to another moon is the safest possible fleetsave and cannot be detected in any way.

hope this info helps

Phalanx sensors are extremely valueable because you can see the fleet and time your attack to hit right when their fleet returns. I know there are ways to avoid it when fleet saving but if the player is returning from a lucrative attack then you get the res from the attack as well as debris field. I find them extremely valueable but I have gotten them in other universes by using the ninja* technique. I have never done a moonshot, but with a 70% debris universe you can recover alot of the res if it doesnt work first time

I am aware of the above. But say I moon swap with freelancer in the HQ cluster. I get a moon. But a phalanx is near useless since we will control the surrounding area and others will be slow to arrive. I won't have a moon elsewhere for a jump gate to be of any value. And to be honest, there is little value having a fleet in HQ area, so I won't likely build a fleet (except for moonshots) there. So a hidden fleet save is unneeded.

My question is, what are the OTHER benefits of a SINGLE moon, if there are any?

in those regards, no benefit

I myself plan on not having any moons for quite some time....

A single moon is good for fs's of any kind, attacks, etc., simply because they cannot be phlax, say u have a strong planet with moon anywhere in gal., u can use your moon for anything where u have to fly out of without being phlax, no opponant knows where your fleet is without probing, they have to probe to find your fleet sitting on the moon, a moon makes it easier to hide fleets & rez (BUT DO NOT FORGET PROBES), easier for transport from 1 planet to the other, anyway moons ARE GOOD EVEN 1 MOON.
bUT 2 ARE BETTER.

It's a cute accessory for your planet

But seriously, all the good stuff has pretty much been mentioned. The main benefit is to hide your fleets. You may not see any use for that, but I think the less your opponents know about your schedule and habits the better. Having your fleets hidden prevents it being intercepted on arrival/return - this is good to have for raiding, transport, and fleetsaving (same reason you don't do one-way deployment fleetsaves)

Ideally you would get the moon at a location where it will be best utilized. As you said, it's not that useful for your purposes if located in the HQ, However, the system range is pretty small and there is no barrier to prevent non-alliance people from colonizing there. Also, Phalanx scanning ranges can be increased with level - etc 99 at level 10.