Is it possible to lower the strength of a Tier 3 base without destroying it?

Question

I'm currently attempting to siege a Tier 3 Mining Base that has 6 different blueprints that I want, and I don't want to pay for them.

As I'm on veteran, it's proving to be very hard work at my current level and with the ships I have available.

Two side missions (specifically Poke an Eye Out and Take Out the Take-Out) allow you to lower the tier of one particular base (one for each mission).

After at least 30 side missions, I'm still yet to see either of these options come up in this system, while I've seen them quite a few times in other systems that don't contain Tier 3 bases.

Is it possible for either of these missions to appear if the related faction (the one that will lose a level) is at level 3?

Asked by Mr Smooth

Answer

As you can see from the below two screenshots, it is entirely possible to find either of these two missions in a tier 3 system, no matter if only one of the bases is tier 3, or if both bases are tier 3.

It's just fairly uncommon.

Answered by Mr Smooth

Check more discussion of this question.

Why am I losing power after I fire my weapons?

Question

I've started playing Space Pirates and Zombies, and while I am enjoying it immensely, I've come across an issue that I am sure someone here would be able to shed some light on.

I have found that with one of my ships, once I fire my weapons, I do lose energy for the shot itself, which makes perfect sense, but then I lose even more energy after I've fired my weapons. Here is a video clip demonstrating the issue:

And here is the configuration of the ship in question:

The ship is equipped with a pair of small overload emitters:

I originally thought firing the weapons removes my cloak, so that the additional power draw is for reestablishing it, but after swapping it out for a shield the situation did not change.

So, what's up with this mysterious power draw?

Asked by Aubergine

Answer

I tested this with shields instead of cloak, and I had the same result - my energy continued to drain after the emitters were finished firing. At first I thought that it was perhaps a bug, as switching to other weapon types doesn't yield this behavior.

Then I noticed that the small orange "glow" around the emitters was running in reverse when the second power drain occurred. This leads me to believe that perhaps the emitters take some energy to fire, and then some energy to recharge for the next shot.

Answered by agent86

Check more discussion of this question.

Is there a time limit before the zombie apocalypse triggers?

Question

In S.P.A.Z. is it possible to stay in one chapter and collect lots of data to level up before advancing the game, thus not have to deal with any zombies? Or is the zombie attack guaranteed to happen after X number of jumps?

Answer

No, there is no time limit. The zombie invasion is triggered by advancing the main quest. However, the really good stuff doesn't really start appearing until later chapters, but I suppose it is possible (though very slowly) to data farm in the early chapters to pump your research.

Check more discussion of this question.

Good Missilebuild for SPAZ?

Question

How would you approach a good missile build in this game and what ships would you use for that?

I am currently playing with lasers @ lvl 55, but I have issues surviving. I become a zombie way too often and lose my ship.

Any Hints towards such an approach?

Answer

I've played around a lot with missiles and I've found that they're quite weak when compared to cannons (cannons are definitely most powerful weapon type in the game).

The only success I've had with missiles is to put all my points into launchers and cloaking. Fill up all my available spots with torpedos (maybe 1 gravity missile). Put boosters in all none missile slots with the possible exception of drones, if you wish to pursue that tree. Get as many missile range/damage specialists as you can and then just barrage things from far away while holding the back button. If things get close, stop firing and run away.

If enough small ships or drones get in close enough, you'll have a very difficult time running away which can be problematic.

Against smaller ships, missiles are a better way to go as they rotate and track much better so you can constantly run away while firing, but they lack the power to punch through larger ships and stations, especially if they have point defense and/or zapper drones.

As for ship types, there's the volley for medium hulls, flora for large hulls, and carrier for huge hulls, though the star cruiser is alright as well.

If you are having trouble with zombies, try putting a laser into your turret and turn on turret auto firing. It works much better than PD for killing the zombie critters. Also, it helps if you never stop moving as you should be able to out run most of them. Zapper drones also target the critters.

Check more discussion of this question.

Is there any reason to ever side with the UTA?

Question

It seems that to transition between each sector, I will need to defeat a group of UTA at the gates, wouldn't this always ruin my relationship with the UTA in that sector? So if that's the case, why should I ever bother trying to gain favor with the UTA?

Answer

From the Space Pirates and Zombies wiki:

The main benefit of having good relations with the UTA, aside from being able to wander near their ships and stations without being attacked, is that Friendly bases can be bribed with goons to let the Clockwork pass through one or more warpgates. This is the only other way to open a warpgate besides fighting its UTA blockade.

The story does change these mechanics:

Also, Chapter 4 drastically alters the Faction mechanics, including those of the UTA. The UTA join forces with the Clockwork against the zombies and will always be at Ally status in every system. The player can upgrade the UTA's starbases for a Rez and Goon cost.

Each local UTA faction works to protect their system from invasion. Each system will have a "defender strength" that will fight against the corresponding strength of any zombie invasion. The higher the strength of the UTA starbase, the higher the cap on system defender strength.

Check more discussion of this question.

What is “Fire Group 3” and how can I use it?

Question

In Space Pirates and Zombies, in the options screen I see keybindings for fire groups 1, 2 and 3. By experimentation, group one and two correspond to the normal left-right mouse button weapons, which seem to be shooters and launchers respectively. The group 3 key doesn't seem to do anything.

What is group 3, and is there a way to configure which weapons belong to it?

Answer

According to an answer posted on the SPAZ forums:

In the advanced section you can change around what mouse buttons fire beams, launchers, and shuttles per ship. They are at the very bottom of the advance tactics popup.

This indicates that the third option is shuttles. This is backed up by the Wikipedia article (emphasis mine):

Left mouse fires main weapons, right button fire alternative weapons (Such as rockets) and the middle button launches Shuttles filled with marines.

It looks like you may need modules to access this option (which may be why it does nothing for you). The modules I can find are the Suicide Cannon and the Grunt Shuttle

Check more discussion of this question.