The sooner you learn Returning Armada sucks, the sooner you'll be on your way to be decent

Published on March 3, 2008 By innociv In Strategy

   Oh god I'm so tired of my teamates going "I'm going to rush to RA". As soon as they say that I know it's an unfair game, it's now becoming a 3vs2, 4vs3, 5vs4, or what have you.

   It's OKAY, "pretty good" even, on maps with multiple stars, but that's it. Even in this case it's not the end-all-be-all, it's not a requirement, Vasari isn't "the RA race."

   Also LRM spam sucks(includes illums).
   Going after planets first is stupid, gg stalling your economy.
   Carrier spam sucks.
   Heavy Cruiser spam sucks.
   Advent with high mitigation and gaurdians isn't unstoppable.

   Only reason any of these "OMG UNBEATABLE STRATEGIES" appear to work is because you're playing against newbies.

Tecs super weapon is +8 civ and trade ports.
Vasari's super weapon is ore refineries, culture(not so much as advents), phase lanes, and phase missiles.
Advents super weapon is culture, mitigation, and synergies between abilities(mainly cap ones).

   Ta-ta lovelies, enjoy your game.

Comments (Page 4)

Entaru

on Mar 05, 2008

If inno needs a partner,i'd be more then glad to help him,i've played him twice before(once as ally and once as opponent)

This is Tarin btw Prince

Oh yeah,my schedule isn't exactly stable,but come friday/saturday/sunday i'm fairly positive that i can find time.

innociv

on Mar 05, 2008

The thing is, you were going on and on about how LRM spam sucks. HunterX went LRM spam and you couldn't counter it. In fact, it looks like you tried to counter it with LRM's of your own. Weren't you praising flaks as the holy grail to stop LRM spams?

Theres lots of factors you're missing.

Jinx

on Mar 05, 2008

Well the point is, he LRM spammed you. True, you made some mistakes, but if LRM spam "sucks" and was so easy to counter those mistakes would have been negligible in the big picture. The fact is that LRM spam, in capable hands, is the rush strategy of choice because there's not much that can be done against it.

Face it, the game is simply not balanced in its current state. RA is imba and LRMs are imba.

PeskyFly

on Mar 05, 2008

PeskyFly,I have to diagree with your assesment...

The Kol is a capital ship. Capital ships are NOT 'advanced warships'. They do not need to be researched - they only need crews. And unlike other ships that can only get bonuses and new abilities from research, capital ships get that stuff from simply surviving through enough battles. What I meant by 'advanced warships' are cruisers, LR frigates and flak frigates.

They're weaker than their Advent and Vasari analogs and more so with technology bonuses added in. They use less supply than Vasari ships, but Vasari ships also deal more firepower, have better upgrade abilities, and are much harder to kill with more mobility, equal armor, more durable hulls, better shields and better repair capabilities. They are cheaper than Advent ships and their upgrades are cheaper, but Advent ships are harder for TEC ships to kill than vice versa because Advent Shields > TEC Armor and Advent firepower > TEC firepower. And TEC strike craft are no match for Advent or Vasari strike craft no matter what the tech level is.

CassieDad

on Mar 05, 2008

PeskyFly,I have to diagree with your assesment...The Kol is a capital ship. Capital ships are NOT 'advanced warships'. They do not need to be researched - they only need crews. And unlike other ships that can only get bonuses and new abilities from research, capital ships get that stuff from simply surviving through enough battles. What I meant by 'advanced warships' are cruisers, LR frigates and flak frigates. They're weaker than their Advent and Vasari analogs and more so with technology bonuses added in. They use less supply than Vasari ships, but Vasari ships also deal more firepower, have better upgrade abilities, and are much harder to kill with more mobility, equal armor, more durable hulls, better shields and better repair capabilities. They are cheaper than Advent ships and their upgrades are cheaper, but Advent ships are harder for TEC ships to kill than vice versa because Advent Shields > TEC Armor and Advent firepower > TEC firepower. And TEC strike craft are no match for Advent or Vasari strike craft no matter what the tech level is.

My apologies. Thank you for clarifying. That being said, you are correct about TEC non-cap ships. It is understandable considering that an overwhelming number of TEC vessels were not originally designed for combat and had been retrofitted post Vasari invasion. As far as which race has better upgrade abilities, I think thats more subjective than based on any factual evidence. Furthermore, I don't find Advent or Vasari ships difficult to kill at all. With a targeting uplink mod, my heavily armored flaks chance to hit bombers is 100% and 85% on fighters with a 20% range increase. I just keep my fighters docked until the skies are clear. As such, the performance disparity between the TEC strike craft vs Advent/Vasari is negated. Bottom line is the game is a wonderful balancing act.

Shadow_of_Light

on Mar 05, 2008

what does the 8+ civ upgrade do? Increase tax income?

+ 8 civ

the TEC have a tech that allows any COLONIZED planet to have (after the first research) +4 and (after the 2e research) +8!! civilain slots

now this doesnt sound much... but think about it the TEC way, 2 EXTRA trade ports per planet. dam thats a load of income....

(no not overpowerd........ if you have this eary on your proabably having a warfleet made up of 2 cobalts an 1,5 lrm (couldnt afford... + find the other haf)

PeskyFly

on Mar 05, 2008

@Reply on TEC using Flak to counter disparity with strikecraft,

That's why Fighters and Bombers shouldn't be launched until enemy Flak has been suppressed by an attack from Light Frigates or Long-Range Frigates penetrating the front line. Flak rarely exists in large numbers unless the enemy knows you're deploying a carrier fleet, so good counter-intelligence(i.e, killing enemy scouts ASAP when they try to pass any kind of 'choke point') combined with a healthy complement of Light Frigates or Heavy Cruisers(later in the game) is enough to knock out a flak-based resistance and Iconus Guardian Repulsion(for Advent) or Antorak Marauder Distort Gravity(for Vasari) is sufficient to pull kite tactics with your carriers.

That Targeting Uplink sounds nice though. TEC Bombers affected by the Uplink and with their 12% Range bonus(from the final Missile tech) would get a missile range of 3225. That's outside of normal flak range(3000), but the Vasari's Junsurak Sentinel flak has area-effect shield-negating missiles with a 25% range bonus, so that can't be escaped so easily.

Bottom line is the game is a wonderful balancing act.

That just about sums it up.

CassieDad

on Mar 05, 2008

@Reply on TEC using Flak to counter disparity with strikecraft,That's why Fighters and Bombers shouldn't be launched until enemy Flak has been suppressed by an attack from Light Frigates or Long-Range Frigates penetrating the front line. Flak rarely exists in large numbers unless the enemy knows you're deploying a carrier fleet, so good counter-intelligence(i.e, killing enemy scouts ASAP when they try to pass any kind of 'choke point') combined with a healthy complement of Light Frigates or Heavy Cruisers(later in the game) is enough to knock out a flak-based resistance and Iconus Guardian Repulsion(for Advent) or Antorak Marauder Distort Gravity(for Vasari) is sufficient to pull kite tactics with your carriers.That Targeting Uplink sounds nice though. TEC Bombers affected by the Uplink and with their 12% Range bonus(from the final Missile tech) would get a missile range of 3225. That's outside of normal flak range(3000), but the Vasari's Junsurak Sentinel flak has area-effect shield-negating missiles with a 25% range bonus, so that can't be escaped so easily.
Bottom line is the game is a wonderful balancing act.That just about sums it up.

I agree. BTW, do you know where I can find weapon ranges for the ships of all races?

PeskyFly

on Mar 05, 2008

Yes, here. It's on the battleship page right now, but the links to other ships is at the bottom. Strike craft are not included here, their exact stats have to be dug up from the game files.

innociv

on Mar 05, 2008

what does the 8+ civ upgrade do? Increase tax income?+ 8 civ the TEC have a tech that allows any COLONIZED planet to have (after the first research) +4 and (after the 2e research) +8!! civilain slotsnow this doesnt sound much... but think about it the TEC way, 2 EXTRA trade ports per planet. dam thats a load of income....(no not overpowerd........ if you have this eary on your proabably having a warfleet made up of 2 cobalts an 1,5 lrm (couldnt afford... + find the other haf)

Eh i think it IS overpowered

Should be 1 upgrade level and give +4. That's the one thing I think is overpowered in this game.

Oh and hi Tarin.

Yeah I messaged ya last night but you where in game ;(
Now HuntingX doesn't want to 2vs2 anymore.

BTW, do you know where I can find weapon ranges for the ships of all races?

Hold ALT.

CassieDad

on Mar 05, 2008

Thanks PeskyFly and Innociv.

HuntingX

on Mar 05, 2008

I might be able to play one tonight, but we'll have to see how my studying goes.

RA games take forever.

KINGRUFIO

on Mar 05, 2008

ahh no worries im going out tonight anyways. was my last day of classes. tomorrow im free all day we should play.

drstrangelove14

on Mar 05, 2008

A little off-topic, but what's an LRM, anyway time to get outside and do something useful with my life.

Shock-Key

on Mar 05, 2008

what is a returning Armada?

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