New game after a while of being away from aurora, conventional start, slowly plodding my way through the stars. I mostly researched construction/propulsion for now, been really unlucky with scientists which is a real problem with a conventional start. After researching ion engine, I switched over to sensors/weapons, cause I have NO military to speak of. And I have two nice precursors infested systems nearby...
So my question is, what would your suggestions be for scouting those systems? It's been a while, and while I did destroy precursors before (usually smashing them with my main fleets), I've never really scouted their system before attacking them. This time I'd like to have SOME intel on what I'm facing before rushing in, missile tubes blazing and all (I'm not really big on fighters until later in the game, though I did read they're perhaps the best way to deal with precursors. So I might try that this time...).
Is this feasible at all? I don't know how they behave when nobody's around. Do they actually patrol the system? If they do, I could sneak in an oversized thermal/em sensor equipped scout, and move it around SLOWLY with reduced engine output in order not to trigger the missile shower of doom. If they don't..... uh, a fast suicide scout with big active sensors?
Or perhaps... sensor buoys? I've never used them before in my life. Would precursors search for the ship which launched the bouys, or not?