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subasean
subasean
Join Date 02/2008
+1

New Player

Drone Frigate Spam and You

January 27, 2009 2:45:24 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

I've had this game since it came out, took a crack at it and wasn't impressed so I let it languish on a shelf until last night when I got excited reading about the new expansion pack and reinstalled. In short, I'm a doofus and have had one of the best games of the past two years just sitting around unloved while incorrectly whining that the only games being made are for 13-yr old ritalin popping twitch monkey smacktards.

In short, I gravitated toward the TEC and while I want to spend some serious time with each race I'm starting TEC. However, it seemed in a game I played last night that unless I hucked my whole economy to the pirates the AI Advent would spam the crap out of me with their drone host ships. Logic told me to use flak frigs to blast the strike craft that were nibbling my battleships' and other frigate's ankles right off, but they still butchered me fleet to fleet even when I had in upwards of 35 flak frigs. This was on the 1.05 update I'm upgrading to 1.1 as I type.

In short, any suggestions for TEC vs. Advent?

(And also, I have no idea why I didn't love this game right away last year, so I'll take the safe route and blame the world financial crisis or the Mayan Calendar. Those seem to be the hip excuses amongst the kids these days.)

strategy
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Kitkun
subasean
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
+527
Reply #1 January 27, 2009 2:56:13 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Well, the 1.1 patch actually makes considerable changes to carrier cruisers so they are quite a bit more expensive and take up more fleet points, but also are beefier and have more squads. Anyway, the spams of old should be more or less gone and you should have a much easier time dealing with them. But if you're still struggling, allow me to point you to the Kol's Flak Burst ability. Get 2-3 Kols in your fleet, and the Advent drone hosts will be crawling home without their babies.

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subasean
Darvin3
Join Date 12/2008
+177
Reply #2 January 27, 2009 2:59:57 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

 

There are two types of strike craft; bombers, and fighters.  Flak will do wonders against fighters, but won't deal with bombers fast enough.  You need backup for your flak in at least one of three ways (preferably all three!).  If your opponent is building lots of bombers, your best reaction is to build your own light carriers with lots of fighters.  Then there are Hoshikos, something no TEC player should be without.  These guys are really inexpensive so you can build lots of them, and will keep all your units fighting for longer.  Another great option is the sabotage reactor ability of cobalts.  Drone hosts need to use anti-matter to replace destroyed strike craft; use this ability to drain their anti-matter and they won't be able to replace destroyed strike craft.  Between Hoshikos to make you survive longer, and sabotage reactor to keep the enemy from replacing dead strike craft, your advantage will slowly grow the longer the battle carries on.

 

If your opponent is really going crazy with strike craft, then building multiple Kol battleships with its special flak ability can take the pressure off of you, but personally I prefer a combination of Marza, Sova, and Dunov (usually in that order, with an extra Marza or two if I can afford it).

 

 

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subasean
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
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Reply #3 January 27, 2009 3:16:54 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Since Marza's missile barrage was fixed, I actually try to avoid them. The AI is not very good at interrupting, and it just does way too much damage than it would to a watchful player. Makes it a bit too easy for me, but 2-3 level 6 Marzas will definitely also solve your issues.

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subasean
subasean
Join Date 02/2008
+1
Reply #4 January 27, 2009 3:22:39 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

I had 4 kols with lvl 2 flak burst, lol. It was just strike craft spam out the bum. I should have known I couldn't just skip cruisers. It's like trying to play a round of Starcraft as the Terrans without the science ship.

Also I need to unlearn some Homeworld tricks like concentrating all fleet firepower. I picking targets for all my ships instead of letting them swing at what they're good at.

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subasean
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
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Reply #5 January 27, 2009 3:29:04 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Well, with extreme carrier spam (the new AI doesn't do it as much as I mentioned) it usually was a good idea to get those carrier cruisers down ASAP.

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subasean
Darvin3
Join Date 12/2008
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Reply #6 January 27, 2009 6:41:33 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

It's like trying to play a round of Starcraft as the Terrans without the science ship.

Actually, as far as Hoshikos are concerned, it's like trying to play terran without medics.

 

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subasean
Cykur
Join Date 03/2003
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Reply #7 January 30, 2009 6:00:50 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

I have a general overview of 1.12 game balance in this thread that is good for new players:

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/336376

 

People may not agree with every point, but it is good food for thought, and may give you some ideas.

 

13-yr old ritalin popping twitch monkey smacktards.

LOL, yeah, I know how you feel.  Sins still requires micro and speed, but nowhere at the level of say, Starcraft.  The game runs just slow enough that strategy is important, so it doesn't completely marginalize those of us who don't pound energy drinks and eat refined sugar three meals a day.

 

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