Marza or the [kol analogue] for the vasari. those are the clear forerunners of the two races. the carrier is nice for a specialized form of slog and kite tactics, but the marza and [kol analogue] are the only ships that have the power nescessary for you to move quickly through planets and to bring the power nescessary to head to head combat. the Kol becomes effective at later levels, however it cannot compare whatsoever to the Marza when it matters: early on. as for the Vasari, despite the lower cost of the [kol analogue] its actually one of their most powerful ships. early on it has the life and strength nescessary to move moderately quickly through enemies while surviving a head on confrontation with enemies. at later levels you can use it together with a concentrated attack to completely erradicate a section of clumped frigs, incredibally powerful.

other ships have niche uses, however currently the Marza and [kol analogue] are the most powerful well rounded ships. carriers do *not* bring the power nescessary to combat and are almost explicitely used in the backup of other ships or to rob your enemy of income. the Kol is useful for extended battles where the longer you're alive the better (say, for defense) and the colonizers are good for early expansion, but generally aren't worth their counterparts.

depends on the situation, if my enemy is bunkering down and forgetting to defend certain key planets then I will bypass him entirely. capital ships are more or less for the kicking power nescessary for extended battles.

Vasari Whale Ship for the WIN!

I never use a Carrier as my first choice. In the early game a carrier that runs into a col is a lost ship. I usually don't call the carrier in until about my 3rd ship.

Eh, they make great raiders. And the Marza will murder a Kol

The Kol seems to be more about destroying large numbers of weak frigates, since it has decent numbers of weapons in every arc. The Marza, however, can effectively focus almost all of its considerable firepower (plus damage over time effects) on just one poor soul, making it much more effective at Cap hunting. I find they make a good team. Rush with the Kol, and let the Marza sit back and pummel the tough ones.

Ive found the Sova more useful in defensive situations, to simply pour bombers into a system and harass Capitols or hunt down fleeing frigs.

just my $.02

the marza has far greater dps in total (from what I've seen) and it can keep other frigs from attacking your frigs (therefore costing you investment) so effectively its a much better frig fighter than the kol. in any case its weaker against other caps because its armor is nothing fancy (unlike the Kol and its lovely defensive abilities)

what is with everyone's fascination with the whale??? its not that good!

Wtf do you mean by [kol analogue]?

I was doing some tests on the Vasari Cap ships and while the Kortal's (Kol analogue) average damage adds up to 81, The Vulkoras, (Marza analogue) who's average damage adds up to 63, continually destroyed the same ships faster. I also tested each ship with and without special abilities, and the Vulkoras still won. Neither ship has any special abilities that would cause me to choose one over the other, so for now, I say Vulkoras ftw.

Kinesis, thats actually a known fact -- the "Dreadnought" style vessels have a lot more "forward facing" firepower, so they kill things faster. They pay for it by being a lot more fragile, so frigates can kill them easier. (Swarm dreadnoughts at their sides, or fly around to their rear.... that'll hurt them!)

Its a difference. How that effects the balance of power... We're still working out

But, just to give an example, the Vulkoras (Kol analog) really wants to be int he thick of things -- run it right into the middle of the enemy fleet, and let it rip. One ability increases shield regen and weapons fire, while it also has a passive ability that reduces the weapons fire of enemy ships it hits.

Deadly combo, especially when you can have all your weapons spitting at different enemy frigates

Bah, whatever!

I R TEC PLAYER