Talk:Oracle

Locked

Can this page be unlocked now? I feel this and the Tiresias Tower pages should mention each other. Probably inability to scan NPCs should be mentioned. Zarchne 19:36, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Miscellaneous comments

Personally, it would be very nice to know exactly what an oracle scan report looked like. As it is, I cannot find any example of it, or information accessible.

- Looks exactly like the relevant lines from the scanned planet's owner's fleets page. Silver Gate Squadron 00:40, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Shouldn't the mention of the Hephaestus Class Attack Platform be a link to its article? I can't make the change myself or I would. --684910659 01:01, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

This to me seems to add an advantage to players that already have an advantage. I have a moon and a big fleet. To the player in his 10,000 rankings your fleet is toast no matter what you do with it... Or am I missing something here?

Only two fleet save methods are listed.. Harvesting from a moon (REQUIRES A MOON) and deploying to a nearby planet for slightly longer than your absence time (REQUIRES A SECOND LOCAL PLANET).

There is another method that is 'do-able' with it being your only planet in the game

i.e its 22:00 and you're going to bed. You deploy on a 9h30m - 10h00m deploy,

wake up at 6:30, at 7:00 hit recall, go to work, and it should get back about 15:30-16:00 game time.

And that recall going back to your planet after you get off work, is un-Oracle-able.

- This discussion of fleetsave strategies is now obsolete due to changes in the Oracle's abilities. Now, all harvest missions are invisible.

Is it accurate that the level 5 and level 6 Oracle are the same price in resources? That's unprecedented in my experience.

It is also completely wrong, but BF has locked the page, to keep their professional image intact.

Question: Can you still scan with your oracle if it is being upgraded? -jimmyjames

• Yes, you can, but it will have the lower level range limit. For example, if you are upgrading from level 5 to level 6, it will have the range of a level 5 during construction. Silver Gate Squadron 08:22, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

oracle

the oracle was fine they way it was, people dont use their brain, there was still safe ways to fleetsave with out owning a moon, save for enough time, recall if necessary, It added some exquisite complexity to the game, now the oracle is useless, after i put such a rush into building it now i have no use for it.

- No, there was not, not for all players. A deploy/recall fleetsave strategy requires the player to either be online or leave their fleet exposed to EVERYONE at the end of the recall time, which they don't have control over (since you can't change fleet speed). So if, say, you fleetsave by doing an 8 hour deploy, then you end up needing to recall and you're not going to be online at that time (probably 6-7 hours after you hit recall) when the recall lands? You're screwed. BFG specifically heard and responded to the complaints of players (including myself) who for real life reasons (such as being unable to log on from work) can only be online at certain times of day.

What does an incoming oracle scan look like? How does it show up on the message pages? If you got oracled, does it say you got probed from a moon? - random noob

• You do not get a message when you have been scanned by an Oracle. Silver Gate Squadron 08:22, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

why are there no units for distance? i assume it is in solar systems?

Whomever has decided to lock the Oracle page, please either unlock the page or take on all editorial responsibilities. The strategy note regarding moons is someone redundant and confusing in light of the oracle rule changes; I suggest that item be reworked for clarity.

Can Oracles see Gaia class going on a colonizing mission with an escorting fleet to a new planet? Is the escorting fleet in danger? --Yes I just saw this today actually. The oracle can see a colonizing mission and the fleet that goes with it.

Q: Is it possible for a player with an oracle to launch an attack to a planet that another player is about to colonize? (thereby destroying the colonizer's escorting fleet?) A: It was never possible to do this, with or without an oracle. Launching an attack on an empty planet slot gives the message "Could not find that planet."

My question is can a RECALLED harvesting mission be seen by the oracle. (Because it is still in a harvest mode in reverse. Thats my story i am sticking to it.) - Noobe getting addicted fast...

• A second set of Oracle changes have changed the answers here... quote from the in-game announcement itself: "Oracles have been changed to no longer see colonization missions, or recalled missions of any type."

Range

From the starfleet wiki... Range = (Oracle Level)^2 - 1 Commander MaxCrack

Just a question... does the range stop at level 7 or does it continue to grow (though not labeled as such on the chart)?

Yep, it can go on indefinitely, but the chart probably stops at level 7 because it's unlikely any will advance further than that.

Jesus Saves 14:40, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

For the foreseeable future, you're correct, but given the steadily increasing fleetsizes and attacks, I'd say it's likely we'll see level 8 oracles within weeks. I'm already at level 6 and could build 7 tomorrow if I wanted to...given my average weekly production between mines and raids, I could have a level 8 in the not far distant future if I didn't have other priorities. And I'm not ranked in the top 100. People will advance past level 7 oracle...it's a matter of time.

Well hey, it's an open wiki so if you know how to do the calculations then you can add in the information for the higher levels. Jesus Saves 22:32, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

What about scanning other galaxies? I am 5O systems from the edge and lvl 8 will let me scan 68 systems. So could i peak over to the next? How many system units are between galaxies?

• Like Interplanetary Missiles, Oracles are limited to their own galaxy only. If you're near the edge of the galaxy, you're just going to lose part of the range on that side, as you can't see past system 1 or 499 at all. Silver Gate Squadron 05:51, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Can the oracle scan a hep in transit? Ie..can you scan the "unavailable" slot and see where the hep going and when jts getting there?

• No. Silver Gate Squadron 00:37, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Cost

[2010-04-12 2030 EST] The cost table appears to be wrong -- it shows Level 5 and Level 6 as having the same cost, and Level 7 (consequently) half the correct cost.

Cost table is wrong...someone fix it!

D-d-d-done! Jesus Saves 20:09, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Sorry Jesus Saves the ore column is so wrong and the only folks that say nothing are the ones about to hit that level. That would be a freebie and in this game you get absolutely nothing for free whatsoever. Not a level not a bot not a added percentage just for good behavior. You do not get warned if you are about to loose bots in abandonment, you just get warned the planet will be gone forever. Some player has to pay the price for every move made or item taken. BF not fixing it makes them look even more unprofessional then the wiki pages already looks.

Activity

Q: Does getting scanned by an oracle cause you to show activity like being probed does? A: No, I do not believe "counter-oracle scans" are possible

Another note, Oracles can NOT scan people in dip mode, unless they have been inactive for 7+ days

And you cannot scan while in (d)

Changes

Oracles have been changed to no longer see colonization missions, or recalled missions of any type.

Suggestion

The Oracle still seems too "all seeing". I launch raids, and by the time my raid lands an Oracle owner has seen my raid, and beats me to it. They see I have launched an attack, and they do not even need to use BC as I have already done it. They launch an identical attack, on the same target, timed to land before mine. I do the probe work, and they reap the rewards. Should Espionage Tech pay some effect on the chance of seeing fleets? After all it's "Espionage Tech" so should an oracle owner with lower much lower Espionagebe able to see my fleet?

Perhaps "espionage tech" needs to be taken into account with the oracle with some form of % chance?

Would the following make sense?

Chance of seeing a fleet with oracle is dependant on difference between espionage levels.

Base line 10% chance of not seeing a fleet if ET levels equal.

Oracle owner has an additional 1% chance of seeing a fleet for every additional level of ET they poses over fleet owner.

Fleet owner 10% additional chance of not being seen for every additional level of ET they poses over fleet owner.

If the oracle owner is 10 levels ET over the Fleet owner they have 100% chance of seeing it.

If the fleet owner is 10 levels ET over the oracle owner they have a 100% chance of not being seen.

Of course multiple scans might pick the fleet up, but if a person is level 20+ Espionage a level 10 espionage oracle owner will never be able to see the fleet, while a level 1 ET player will always have his fleets visible to a level 11+ ET oracle owner.

The Oracle is too powerful as there is no defence against it- it is unbeatable. There needs to be some way to either know one has been oracle scanned, or some way to avoid the scan.

- This sort of thing belongs in a feature request thread in the forums or in a support ticket. The wiki is intended to discuss how and what things ARE, not what they "should be". Silver Gate Squadron 07:27, 19 September 2010 (UTC) Yes, it does, but Perhaps the point of putting it here is so that others might agree, and also request it in the manners suggested?

Question

Can the oracle see missile strikes? They are not "fleet movements" but then they are not harvests or recalled fleets either.

- Yes, missile strikes are visible to Oracles. - Silver Gate Squadron 15:44, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Can the oracle see harvest missions?

- No, It Can't and I quote "Harvest missions are safe from an Oracle." - Gary Mintz 17:00, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Can an oracle be used while it is upgrading to the next level?

- Yes, I confirmed this with my own oracle. Commander MaxCrack

Oracles seeing all the planets

There's a rumor going on that players with high levels in Oracle and/or Espionage Tech would be able to see all your planets by probing one of them. I've yet to see this kind of effects. Anyone know better? - 87.93.135.75 20:14, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

• I can confirm that that is nonsense. The higher the Espionage level the more they see on that planet and the higher the oracle level the farther they see. --204.237.113.155 21:31, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

- Actually, Espionage tech has nothing to do with Oracles. Silver Gate Squadron 00:38, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

- Note however that they will see the coordinates that any fleets are moving to, or from, when the opposite end is the planet they have scanned. Silver Gate Squadron 19:58, 8 March 2011 (UTC)