At last it Works! The combat odds make this ship the best buy for the buck when defending a fledgling planet only the ISS and IC can surpass it's defensive rating. Used in any other role it's pure trash. But then again, for the money it's one tough nut to crack when guarding a planet. However, if P-torps are turned on this ship it can become a Death Trap as it does NOT gain the 4:1 odds vs. Mines, Fighters, Nav-Haz or Q-cannons that can be brought into the sector to aid in it's destruction. I feel that even though it works it's not worth using.
 

In 1.0x the Tholian sentinel got 4:1 odds when defending a planet. This could be circumvented, however, by attacking the ship before trying to land on the planet. This meant that when dealing with a knowledgeable player it was essentially useless. In V2, however, the Tholian ALWAYS gets 4:1 odds when manned by a player who is off-line whether it is defending a planet or not! This makes it a great ship to spend the night in.
 

"Additionally, the ship has to be corporate, manned by a corporate member and orbiting over a 'claimed-corporate' planet. The existence or level of a citadel is not a factor in the 4:1 odds."

(DMD 2/8/96)
 

"The reason I don't use a Tholian Sentinal that much is because they are basically death traps especially late in the game. Whenever I see a player in a Tholian I photon the living heck out of it, drop 250 mines in their sector and about 10K figs. When the unfortunate defender logs on he has to either retreat or get blown to space dust. Also a Tholian without a player will not only retreat when attacked, it won't defend the sector at all. It will only get 1:1 odds plus it also won't guard the planet." REBUTTAL: "Unmanned Tholians DO NOT retreat when attacked. No unmanned ship retreats...ever." (AX.BBS/TW.NET - MMN BBS, 5/22/96)
 

Q: "Why aren't Tholians used to defend planets. Is it because a Tholian without a player in it will retreat from the sector when attacked? A: IT'S FRIGGIN EXPENSIVE! Besides why bother getting a ship that defends when a q-cannon destroys it? It's more valuable once the citadel has q-cannons to invest in buying figs to defend it and using your time to make money and colonize and upgrade your planet." (AX.BBS/TW.NET - SANDMAN@STL, 5/22/96 & Thanatos)
 

REBUTTAL: "A Tholian is good for beginning defense and it's also good if you have 4.5M alignment because the person attacking you will have to go evil to get by you. Too many players here assume there is ONE BEST tactic or strategy for any given ship, planet or other aspect. SO MANY factors affect the game that one has to plan differently for the given situation and change as the games progresses. I LIKE Tholians early in the game. Making your opponent spend FOUR TIMES the credits attacking you can make you the winner later EVEN IF THEY BLOW YOU UP in the process. ...A Tholian holds FOUR THOUSAND shields. Just to take out the shields would cost an ISS over 10,000 figs. That's costly especially early in the game when no one has developed that far. And even MORE...when figs cost twice what shields do. The ISS spends 2.4 M credits to take out 110K credits of shields. Now, add a pile of corbomite to the Tholian and the ISS pilot may spend 2.4M (MORE if there were figs on Tholian) to acquire a new escape pod." (AX.BBS/TW.NET - SANDMAN@STL, 5/22/96 & Thanatos)