Looking for the right faction

I just recently started playing SoaSE Rebellion...I've played previous ones briefly and didn't take the time to get into them and now I have been spending hours and hours on Rebellion...but I can't seem to find the right faction for the way I want to play.  This may be hard to answer but suggestions would be nice.  Lately I've been going with the TEC loyalists or rebels...I always do the best early in the game...but once it's around titan time...I just get crushed...here's the way I play and this might be a way that contradicts the way TEC is supposed to be played.

 

1.  I like to get recources very quick for fast fleet building and more tech

2.  I'd rather be mobile than just being defensive...I can be defensive early in game but later on I want to be destroying.

3. I care more about getting my military built than taking all the planets possible...I usually only take planets a few jumps from my home planet.

4.  I prefer to concentrate on a good military with enough resources to get what I need to destroy the enemy when I go mobile.

 

That's about it and I know its a bad description but I've honestly fallen in love with this game...spending around 10 hours a day on it when I play...and it really is a bummer getting owned by AI...I'm fine with losing but not every single time.  I'd appreciate any help.

16,803 views 20 replies
Reply #1 Top

I'd like to point something out real quick.

3. I care more about getting my military built than taking all the planets possible...I usually only take planets a few jumps from my home planet.

1. I like to get recources very quick for fast fleet building and more tech

This is something of a contradiction in Sins. If you are going to be building a strong military, you need to be using it. And that means taking planets, whether neutral or enemy. I'd say against the AI especially, you need to expand as fast as you are able to early game, for planets are ultimately the limiting factor for your Empires infrastructure, which in turn defines how big your economy will be, how many research labs you can have, and how many factories you can build. The only time you should stop your early game expansion is once your opponent has brought about enough force to stop you.

2. I'd rather be mobile than just being defensive...I can be defensive early in game but later on I want to be destroying.

I'd argue its better to be offensive early and defensive later, again because you need at least an equal size Empire to your opponent to make a defensive attrition strategy work.

 

From the sounds of it, I'd go with either the TEC Rebels or Vasari Loyalists.

TEC Rebels: Truce Amongst Rogues is the ultimate early rush tech. While it will force you to divert military resource into getting those 4 civic labs and developing all the planets you can grab with it, once those planets come online and start making a profit you'll be in a very good position to develop a strong military infrastructure, and you'll likely have a large pretense on the map so your forces have more places to go.

 

Vasari Loyalist: These guys take a while to get going, but once you research everything they sound like the perfect faction for you. With research, their capitalships can act as a source of credits and research labs, their titan can prevent them dying even if they lose all their planets, and their ultimate tech, striped to the core, lets them destroy planets for a large amount of resources. Thanks to Vasari phase Stabalizers (which they can spawn), they can also jump around the map as they please to connected planets, and call in instant reinforcements with the Dark Fleet abilities on these.

Reply #2 Top

Thanks a lot for the reply...and yeah I was thinking the Vasari too...I read that they are a very slow start off but once they get going are very tough...I've seen it...I was rich and had a HUGE force but their military ripped me to pieces...I think I'll try both of what you suggested and see how it goes...I've been playing more of the TEC loyalists and read that Rebels sounded better for me...and haven't tried Vasari at all yet...and yeah I knew i was contradicting the game by what I was doing I thought lol.

Also another thing I think I've been doing wrong is when I take as many planets as I can up until I'm running into opposition...Is sometimes if I make my military into one huge force...I haven't been planning strategically for if they happen to find their way to my planets in a whole other direction of where my fleet is...I'm pretty sure I should be setting up some major defenses on all points that they could enter my planets especially if my fleet is far from there.

With that said I heard one of the basic defensive setups to have to hold off until your force could get there is setting up hangars crunched up all together...not sure how many...and I can't remember the guns name or whatever it is...but also setting those with the hangars to guard the hangers...and putting it close to the planet to fend them off from taking the planet to quick...to at least hold off until my fleet could get there.

I'm sure theres a lot of things that I do wrong that someone could easily point out...but I think I play fairly ok for just starting off and just reading online at a million different opinions on how to play...but picking the right force for how you want to play seems to be a huge factor in the game...and that's been my issue...hopefully thatll be fixed soon.

Thanks a lot for the reply and I hope it works...I'd honestly keep playing the game even if I kept losing just because of how fun it is but it'd be a whole lot funner if I won ever now and then..lol

Reply #3 Top

Also a huge question I have is I'm very slow at capturing planets and knowing exactly what to do once I capture them...can't remember what its called but once I taken a planet the first thing I do is the first option you have available as an upgrade for the planet...and I'm not sure what all else I should do as I move on to other planets...what I've been doing is building a hangar and gun there for defense while I move on to take other planets...what else should I do and should I be doing more with those planets...I seem to forget all about my planets once I take them and set up starting defenses...between moving with my fleet and taking planets...what else should I be doing to the planets I already have.

 

And I'm going to start playing with TEC Rebels first to see how that goes...what are the best ships to go for in my fleet once I have the recources for the tech...so far I'm not to good with selecting the best ships I think,

Reply #4 Top

A lot of what you've said was true of the original Sins, but the status quo is a bit different in Rebellion.

Quoting devinrhall, reply 2
yeah I was thinking the Vasari too...I read that they are a very slow start off but once they get going are very tough

The big disadvantage the Vasari have is per fleet supply, their frigates are less good than the TEC and Advent. They get around this with their better frigate abilities and unique capacities they get through research (phase stabalizers, global phase monitoring, phase missiles, you get the idea).

However, their capitalships are just as good as anyone elses, if not better, so typically Vasari players are going to be relying on ships like the Skinantra Carrier, Jarrasul Evacuator and later the Kortul Devestator until they can get their research up and going. This is even more true as a Vasari Loyalist player, since you get money and labs from controlling them as well.

Quoting devinrhall, reply 2
Also another thing I think I've been doing wrong is when I take as many planets as I can up until I'm running into opposition...Is sometimes if I make my military into one huge force...I haven't been planning strategically for if they happen to find their way to my planets in a whole other direction of where my fleet is...I'm pretty sure I should be setting up some major defenses on all points that they could enter my planets especially if my fleet is far from there.

Not quite. Scouting is important, and what you want to do is run to expand to key choke points ASAP, then go back and fill out any planets you may have skipped. Building defenses on all your planets is a big waste of resources. You should focus them on just the few planets your enemy can directly attack.

Quoting devinrhall, reply 2
With that said I heard one of the basic defensive setups to have to hold off until your force could get there is setting up hangars crunched up all together...

The repair bay, not the hangar, is the bread and butter of planet defenses. You may want one or two for the fighter cover and their unlockable abilities, but a few squads of strike craft are not going to hold off a major attack force. Repair bays covering your important civic structure, factories, and a starbase is the way to go. Plus they can also repair your fleet when they get their to help turn the tide of a battle.

Quoting devinrhall, reply 3
Also a huge question I have is I'm very slow at capturing planets and knowing exactly what to do once I capture them...can't remember what its called but once I taken a planet the first thing I do is the first option you have available as an upgrade for the planet

Yeah, slow expansion is something a lot of new players have issues with. I would recommend you try starting out a game like this (we'll stick with TEC just because the Vasari starting strategy can be quite a bit different than the other two races).

 

Immediately build a Akkan Battlecruiser colony cap, two light frigates, a colony frigate, and a military lab and start researching Corvettes. Send your two light frigates to the nearest moon or asteroid and tell them to destroy the siege frigates first. Keep your colony frigate on the edge of the gravity well waiting to jump in as soon as the siege frigate is about to die. When your colony cap gets build, have it start going to a moderately defended world if you have one next to you, either an ice or volcanic or lightly defended desert or terran, again taking out the siege frigates first. Once they are destroyed, colonize the planet, and if there are still a few militia ships, build a turret at the planet first, and order your cap to the next planet. The turret will take out the militia so your cap doesn't need to waste time.

Once you have corvettes research, use the rest of your fleet supply to build them and have them reinforce your light frigates. When you colonize a planet, immediately order 1 population upgrade for asteroids and moons, and two for everything else, so that your planets will make a profit, and build all the extractors. Keep your colony cap and frigate moving in separate directions, preferably towards good choke points, and reinforce them with new frigates as needed. Don't worry about developing anything else for now, just put down research labs as needed for say volcanic/ice colonization techs or LRF/Flak etc.

 

Reply #5 Top

Ok...that sounds pretty good...I think a part I was really messing up is the way I was setting up defenses on planets that didn't really need it and also taking planets as I go instead of heading to choke points...taking those...and getting the ones I skipped over after...and also using recources on tech that wasn't really needed...hopefully this will work now...I just played a match again AI right before I checked this for about 2 hours and got stomped once again...had the biggest fleet in the game but when it came to everything else I was in dead last...all my planets were taken down by two novalith cannons...by the time I took the second one out they destroyed my last planet.

Hopefully I'll get better with your advice and it's definately a game that takes time to get good at so I'm not really rushing it...but it's definately not one of the RTS's you can just jump on for your first time and win...from what I've seen anyways...thanks for all the help...hopefully I do a little better.

 

Reply #6 Top

Also one more thing I'm wondering about is on several different forums...I saw that most people start off with 2 of either military labs or the other lab that I can't remember the name of right now...is this a good plan or is it just a waste when it comes to playing as TEC

Reply #7 Top

Quoting devinrhall, reply 6
all my planets were taken down by two novalith cannons...by the time I took the second one out they destroyed my last planet.

If you get a super weapon construction alert from any enemy TEC player, stop whatever you are doing immediately and start setting up Axillary government on every one of your major planets (Volcanic and higher). This is a starbase upgrade for the TEC (other races have something similar) and prevents the planet from being lost to bombardment while the starbase is alive, and this includes Novalith cannons. Basically culture is the only way you can lose a planet with this upgrade in place. Once you have your main planets covered with this, Novaliths are only a source of economic drag and are not a mortal threat.

Quoting devinrhall, reply 6
Hopefully I'll get better with your advice and it's definately a game that takes time to get good at so I'm not really rushing it...but it's definately not one of the RTS's you can just jump on for your first time and win...from what I've seen anyways...thanks for all the help...hopefully I do a little better.

If you're still at the point where you think unfamiliarity with the game and all the units/techs/abilities is what is holding you back, you may like to try my "Free tutorial map". Basically this is a map where the AI player cannot leave its homeworld, so you're free to explore, expand and experiment at your leisure. The only thing that can attack you are pirates, and while most players have them off, this might be a good map to have them on to practice defending planets. Also to be a military challenge, many of the worlds have very large militias present, but you have as much time you need to build a force capable of defeating them.

Quoting devinrhall, reply 7
Also one more thing I'm wondering about is on several different forums...I saw that most people start off with 2 of either military labs or the other lab that I can't remember the name of right now...is this a good plan or is it just a waste when it comes to playing as TEC

This depends a lot on exactly what type of game you're playing. Against AI I usually build one of each, so I can get corvettes ASAP, and if I max out my starting fleet and have resources I can't spend, I can invest them in either the terran population tech or the cheaper planet structures tech. The minimum research you really need as TEC is two military labs (most basic frigate types) and two civic labs (colonization and trade), so the 1 of each lets you quickly get which ever one you need first as the game progresses.

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Reply #8 Top

This is where you give Goa karma for all the helpful advice!  k1

Reply #9 Top

Well I think your advice worked...I finally won in a 1v1 that took about two hours...was a slow process but I got planets up until I was running into offense that I couldnt fend off so I just held back at my choke points and defended until I had the fleet to destroy them with.

I pretty much stomped them the entire game...I don't think they won a single battle vs any of my fleets...by the end I finally merged two fleets I had at choke points which was so big (including a titan and 3 cap ships) that the whole left pane was filled with nothing but ships in my fleet and pretty much went to all their remaining planets and demolished them.

I think I'm getting the hang of it thanks to your advice and I'm sure I have a lot more to learn.  You'll definately get the karma...not everyone takes the time to leave detailed replies like you on forums...thanks a lot for the help GoaFan77

Reply #10 Top

Quoting devinrhall, reply 10
Well I think your advice worked...I finally won in a 1v1 that took about two hours

oh dear god no.. no no no no noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Reply #11 Top

Quoting RiddleKing, reply 11

Quoting devinrhall, reply 10Well I think your advice worked...I finally won in a 1v1 that took about two hours

oh dear god no.. no no no no noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

normal speed settings?

 

 

Reply #12 Top

Yeah I always play normal speed...but I mean I just started playing the game like 2 days ago...and I have a kid so I have to save and quit a lot to make him a bottle and stuff like that...between all that and actually playing it took about two hours...it takes me a while to get used to a new RTS...once I get the hang of it I'm pretty sure a 1v1 will only take about 30-45 minutes...but I take the game slow and don't rush going in offensively...I'm not all about rushing in and winning as fast as possible...I like having a slow and steady game.

I'm not playing this game to be competitive what-so-ever...I'm not going to be playing any MP unless it's on a team with someone against AI...I'm more playing this game to pass time and because it's really fun...but I quit competitive RTS play when I was finally tired of Company of Heroes.

So yeah you guys can make fun that it took me two hours...but I'm new at this game and also don't know the best tactics for the game yet...also the fact that I like making games long even if they don't have to be...I've played more RTS's than probably most people who play this game and I'll tell you right now...no other RTS I've played will give you much of an advantage to picking this game up and playing.

I'm always a slow starter with any RTS game because many have a totally different tactic you have to take to win depending on how the AI in the game is...or the setup of the game period...but once I have the beginner tactics down to win matches I start evolving on my own and will probably be playing on the highest difficulty in no time.

It took me one match with someone on Company of Heroes to learn basic tactics and after a few days I was playing AI on the highest difficulty and out of 121 online matches only lost 20...so I'm very good with RTS...just not starting off on a new game.

 

Reply #13 Top

I also keep seeing a lot of bashers in these forums when it comes to new people playing and maybe even people who have played for a long time who don't use the best tactics...these people really need to grow up and for one learn that it's just a game whether you play to pass time or competitively.

Not everyone can get on a new RTS and know exactly how to play and I'd say most people can't just jump on an RTS they've never played and know the perfect tactics for it...because I've noticed that many RTS games have a totally different way of going about things.

So for all the bashers on this game...grow up...help the people nicely that aren't playing the smartest way...being a prick about it only makes you look bad...not the person who plays bad...and learn that everyone posting on here (whether for help or to help) obviously like the game a lot and want to learn or support it.

Everyone who actually bought the game and supported the developers deserve friendly help and a friendly community to grow in the game...not be negatively criticized.

Speaking of supporting this game please vote for it on people's choice...I might've just started playing this game...but in the 13 hours I've played it so far...I'd vote for it over pretty much all of those games on the vote list...most of which I've played...so if there's not a game you like more please help make this game people's choice of the year.

Reply #14 Top

Riddle King likes to troll sometimes, you should ignore him until you understand him enough to pick out his good moments from the bad.

 

Quoting Proletari, reply 12
normal speed settings?

I do not believe this is making fun of you devinrhall. It's just most people play on fastest settings, even those not into multiplayer, so the fact that you were playing on normal makes two hours understandable.

It's of course your choice of how you want to play, just keep in mind virtually all the advice on this forum is geared for quick start + fastest settings. So you should keep in mind that somethings that work for us on those settings may not work well on slow.

 

Reply #15 Top

Yeah I didn't think I was getting made fun of so much as I see a lot of other people being made fun of.

But yeah I'll probably never play it on fastest settings...I like the normal speed for really long games...usually if I play a really fast game and it's over quick I don't want to play another game for a while...so with it on normal I can play one game for a solid two hours.

Reply #16 Top

Oh and even though I play on normal settings your advice still worked pretty well...I think my biggest mistake really was not going for planets fast enough...I think I wasn't too bad in everything else from what I looked up online to start myself off...but not getting planets fast enough at start was really my downfall.

Also the fact that I've built the kol before and it's pretty much useless from what I read...So now I'll be using mostly the two that I've seen are the best for TEC.

Reply #17 Top

Just for the record, I completely agree with devinhall here.  This is an enjoyable game on a number of levels, and trying to force everyone into one limited type of experience and style of play is just silly.  I also prefer to play at "normal" speed, and don't feel like I need to join a 12-step self-help program or go to confession to beg forgiveness for my Sins (pun intended).

Reply #18 Top

Thanks HLT =)

By the way I've been looking around a little and haven't been able to find any...but does anyone know where I can get some Rebellion comp stomp replays...I'd like to watch how other people play just to improve on things as I see them if I think it's a smarter way of doing things.

And if there's anyone who plays Rebellion quite a bit on Steam I also wouldn't refuse the chance to play on teams or something like that to gain some knowledge from an experienced player...so if there is anyone who just likes having fun as doesn't care to show some ropes more than what I already know (which is the basics)...feel free to add me on Steam.

Here's a link to my Steam profile because when I search my Steam ID or username it doesn't come up for some reason.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/lonewolf006

Reply #19 Top

Playing on normal speed settings is fine, just bear in mind that if you play multiplayer, you'll be at a disadvantage if you're used to normal as 99% of online lobbies are on "faster" settings.

 

Quoting devinrhall, reply 19
Does anyone know where I can get some Rebellion comp stomp replays...I'd like to watch how other people play just to improve on things as I see them if I think it's a smarter way of doing things.

 

If I can get my replays working, I can send you a couple. I'm having some problems with it though... I know I can't watch replays, but I might be able to save them.

 

For online replays, head here: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/430829

 

I don't know about a comp-stomp replays thread.

Reply #20 Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 15
Riddle King likes to troll sometimes, you should ignore him until you understand him enough to pick out his good moments from the bad.

 

All i said was "no"