Now, after saying all that, I think the Invaders are way way way overpowered and a game killer
I think they are overpowered too based on game reports and I will be toning down their numbers . You can switch them off individually in v5.20. In v5.14 you can only switch them off by turning off precursors.
[spoiler:5qfh4a3r]By far your best your best chance against them is using beam weapons in a jump point defence. Plasma Torps are powerful but relatively slow-firing[/spoiler:5qfh4a3r]
Steve
How are you supposed to use beam weapons against a ship that moves 16000 km/s and has ECM 60? Short of being 30 years into the game when they first show up, I mean. Seriously, the things can get out of range in a single five-second step. I'm starting a new game with a 3 billion starting population now; that way I might have a snowball's chance in Hell. (Or is their tech level based on your starting tech?)
(Oh, and exactly how much damage does it take to pop a plasma torpedo, anyway? Is it a fixed amount?)