MOO2 help...

[Carolus Rex]

Hello,

I'm a MOO2 beginner who have played the game from time to time the last couple of years. I like it, it's a great game.

I normally play at hard or below, huge galaxies with 3 races (to give me elbow room to get to know the game). I always play as humans. I have lots of questions, but will only raise one in this post because it kills the fun. How do you deal with other races' spies?

When I have research and trade treaties with other races they still steal techs from me. It drives me nuts, especially since there is no visual action (like in Civ 2, where you have to move your diplo/spy into the cities), just the simple pop-up of info... I hire leaders with good assassin capabilities. Colony leaders have to be sent to star systems for their abilities to work, is it the same with the "spy masters"? Or are they effective even in the officer's pool?

I have also tried to build spies of my own (for defensive purposes only); do they counter other races' attempts? How? Where should I put them? I only have them at the bottom of the races page since I don't want to break my treaties. After a while they disappear (murdered?). I also go for techs that increase my chances of detecting and twarting espionage attempts.

None of this seems to help. What to do?

Edited: I guess I'm asking for the essentials about how spies work in this game.

Carolus

[dworkin]

1.Build spies. Lots of spies. Great galloping gobs of spies. In the bottom is good for being counter spies. Research some of the spy bonus techs or trade for them.

2.Demand that the gibbering monstrosities stop spying. As the charasmatic humies there's a good chance they'll stop esp. if you have a fleet to back your demands up.

3. Nuke the $*&5ing Darlocks till they glow.

[Yolky]

Thats right make shure you have spies in the bottom right portion of your screen.

Also what is your spying %? Maybe they have higher than you, so you might have to steal, trade, research for more spy tech.

You do need lots of spies cause they do die and get killed but mostly it is your spying %. There are two numbers, one for your defenses, and the other one for stealing and sabotage.

Davor

[moomin]

Look, Kalle, playing as the humans you need to pump out a lot of spies. Really a lot. Prioritize the early spy techs. Fix treaties and demand they stop spying whenever they do so. If the Darloks are in the game, exterminate them as your first priority.

[vmxa1]

Yes get the techs that boost spying such as telepathy. Get them all ASAP. I make spies when nothing better to make and once I get a few systems up, I may put one planet on nearly non stop spy generation for awhile to get at least 20. Then I may slow down, but in a game with Darloks and other good spying races, I want to prevent them from getting my tech.
If a repulsive race, you can not demand anything.

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by Carolus Rex
I hire leaders with good assassin capabilities. Colony leaders have to be sent to star systems for their abilities to work, is it the same with the "spy masters"? Or are they effective even in the officer's pool?

I think they need to be assigned to a star system / ship before they begin assassinating.
Can anyone confirm this?

[vmxa1]

That is correct. They are hard to come by, but a must hire if you see one. Draxx is a level 1 and is most common. Razor and Diablo are level 2.

[moomin]

I've had Drax killing things while in the pool. I just think they gain experience quicker when assigned.

[vmxa1]

I never have seen them kill any spies while there, but I guess you could look at the bonus for agents before you hire and after to see if it changes while they are unassigned. They do gain levels while in the pool, so it could be the case. I hate it when I get a leader and forget to assign them to a system.

[Carolus Rex]

Thanks for the replies!

They steal techs even if we have non-aggression pacts, most annoying...

How do I demand them to stop spying? This was the first thing I thought of, but when I request an audience I never find such an option. Where is it?

Is the "spy" percentage showing my own spies' capabilities of stealing techs and so on? Is the "agent" percentage the counterespionage ability?

So it really does help to put spies at the bottom of the page? Ok, I will cram in lots of them (I only had one uptil now )

Carolus

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Carolus Rex
How do I demand them to stop spying? This was the first thing I thought of, but when I request an audience I never find such an option. Where is it?

Is the "spy" percentage showing my own spies' capabilities of stealing techs and so on? Is the "agent" percentage the counterespionage ability?

So it really does help to put spies at the bottom of the page? Ok, I will cram in lots of them (I only had one uptil now )

Carolus

If you do not see and option for "demand" then you may be Repulsive. That trait mean no diplomatic relations, no trade, no demand, etc. You can only surrender and declare war.
Yes that is what they mean and are impacted by tech and racial traits.
Yes the more spies and agents you have the better our chances are of sucess.

[Urban Ranger]

There's also Doctor Matrix, and sometimes Mystic X has assassination.

But you should play another race Carolus. Humans pretty much suck. Yeah, Democracy is nice and give you big boosts, but you also have security problems. Try the Psilons or the Klackons.

[vmxa1]

Matrix is an assassin, but not a spy master. Mystic has randon traits, so who knows what you will get and he is quite rare.
UR advice to skip the Humans is a wise one. Better yet, make a custom race.