The problem with the Antorak as a disrupting capital ship is that it's best used with a small harass force, not to accompany your main fleet.  Disruption effects don't fit with its other attributes, and on its own phase out hull is probably the least impressive disrupt in the game.

It isn't impressive at all. So I phase you're marza out to stop MB but I can't shoot it anymore. Also I think if it's being repaired the moment you phase it out it keeps repairing while it's phased out... That's just...

You know I'm watching...

Never said the marauder was great. It definitely blows as an anti-channeling cap, but the Vasari don't have anything else outside of hit the cap with nanite bombs and assailants quick enough to tkae it out before the MB gets in he right place to work.

The marauder is basically a scout capital ship, the idea is cool, but when it comes down to who has the biggest guns and strongest abilities it sinks back to its room and cries cause nobody loves it anymore...

I do love it, but it'd be like if I had a ginger kid that I kept in the corner of the room. I don't give it that much love, but I keep it around because I'll need 'em one day, be it for an organ transplant or to fund my retirement account.

Anywho, maruader uses:

1. Anti-Missile Barrage (Or anti-channeling): This to me is the most direct impact the Marauder brings. It's the ONLY hard counter to Missilbe barrage that the Vasari have. Also useful against a mothership abusing shield regen.

2. Anti-PJI: Very rarely useful. I've built a marauder purely for the purpose of bypassing a very heavily fortified planet to attack a lightly guarded planet behind it.

3. Subversion rush: This is so rarely useful that it's not even funny. I've used this on point blank. It DOES come in handy there. That is if your opponent isn't smart enough to realize ur starting cap is overall frail and easy to take out.

4. Phase Gate: I've actually gotten here more than you'd think against humans. It's still rare, but I'll just put ability points in phase out hull unitl I can get the cap to level 6. At that point, I don't need to build phase gates. Get a Kotsura. Get a Marauder. You can jump anywhere in your enemy's systems without every building a phase gate.

I wouldn't do that tho. I don't wana sound all knowing or anything. But it really doesn't take much of the stuff on the average heavy fortified planet (taking there is some fleet there else you wouldn't just skip it) to take out that marauder and leave you stranded halfway across the well.

In this case I haven't even mentioned ships acting gay when they line up for phase jump so that by the time you're fleet lines up the ability has worked out and is still in cooldown.

Grtz,
[_]-Flipkik

If the marauder's phase stabilization ability were made passive, then it would make sense to take as a first cap on larger maps, but i doubt that would happen. It would be great if phase out hull moved the targetted ship to a different grav well instead...

It really blows cause the idea of a hit and run cap is great, but sins is a straight combat game right now and the ship lacks wow factor... but let's not turn this into a fix the marauder thread.

You right if it was a passive ability it would be near evil!

How about this? I mean, right now let's look at the stats for the Antorak's Distort Gravity ability (Sorry, if I am turning this into a "Fix that" thread)

Distort Gravity incrases speed by 33/66/100%, increases acceleration by 50/100/150% and decreases the range for phase jumps by 8/16/25%.

How about change that to say, something slightly less and turn it into a passive? Say:

Distort Gravity incrases speed by 15/25/35%, increases acceleration by 33/66/100% and decreases the range for phase jumps by 5/10/15%.

This makes the ability (and capital ship) much more viable, and allows the ship to shine as the hit and run tactic Capital that it wants to grow up to be.

And as for that, do most people use Flaks rather than LFs? I mainly play with friends due to the fact I dislike rushing because I'm more into seeing huge, massive, intense battles. Not 30 minute shootouts. So I don't have a TON of experience when it comes to MP.

I personaly think not such a huge nerf of the effects of distort gravity would be needed to make it passive. Cause what I said about this ship earlier still counts. It's easy to kill so just kill the marauder and you've got a fleet stranded on a well cuz of PJI's.

Also the big idea after hit and run is to strike (favorably in surprise) and do a maximal amount of damage with a minimal amount of losses to after that just dissapear again. This is really really hard in sins even if you would have a descent marauder. Shooting at enemy fleet to kill stuff turning loading phase jump etc will get you more losses than the enemy unless you have a stronger fleet... In which case hit and run isn't the thing you should be doing. Then how about hitting economic planets or unprotected planets of the enemy. Most frontier planets will have some sort of defense and striking them with enough force do do something will often require you to weaken you're front which would mean the enemy need just strike you're front to force you to strike back.

Okay i can see hit and run working tho if you can spare the ships to do it and the resources to buy the cap with to go strike somewhere that is way past your front with the other player but then again is the damage they can do worth the price you're paying? Do you really need a marauder for that?

Also what about a weakened speed buff and the ability to not get starbase penalties for jumping out of their grav well? k might be bit to powerfull but it does suit the vasari who by storryline would likely just skip things that don't go down fast and move on.

Grtz,
Flipkik

Definitely; flaks are one of the game's best units, offering incredible health and a steady stream of damage at a very reasonable cost.  Light frigates, on the other hand, are countered very easily by long range frigates, and the damage/health you get for your money is sub-par.  Typically a combination of flak and lrf forms the spine of any fighting force.  Light frigates are used sparingly, if at all.

IF you use lfs (note the big "if") it will more than likely be in the late game as advent, just for the anitmatter transfer ability, or in the ealry game to help your first cap colonize.

Oh F#ck it it's a fixit thread.

Carrier based hit-and-run strats with bombers can be effective against lightly defended resource worlds, and bombers will take out structures much faster than a marauder. You could have both, but i have not tried it or seen it done.

So, no, you don't really need a marauder for that.

Marauders cannot take out structures fast enough to cripple an economy and they have very little place in a combat fleet... They are support ships through and through and they even suck at that.

I think a redesign, not a rebalance, is in order.

It should be able to slow down enemy ships, allowing it to get away. You could use two marauders, one to attack a planet and another in another grav well to slow down reinforcements.

It should be able to kill the population of a planet, if not the planet's health.

Suspend trade, something like embargo.

The Phase lane ability is good, but getting a marauder to lv 6 is hard.

Repulse would actually be a good ability for this ship...

Exactly marauder is useless cuz you don't need a marauder to do what a marauder is supposed to do.

Grtz,
Flip