© 2003-2025 Ironclad Games Corporation Vancouver, BC. All rights reserved.
© 2006-2025 Stardock Entertainment
Search
Forum Home | Login
Portalboat
Portalboat
Join Date 12/2008
0

Corvettes....

June 17, 2012 8:16:24 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

What's so special about them? I just got out of a game where the enemies (Vas and TEC) were spamming them (up to like 50 or so)

Why would they spam them like this? Also, in case it happens again, what's the ship that can counter them?

strategy
Locked Post
Search this post
Advanced Search
Subscription Options
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
Ryat
Join Date 06/2006
+429
Reply #1 June 17, 2012 8:22:25 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

They are very good against everything with their "Composite" damage type plus being cheap and quick to produce.

Use flak frigates to fight them.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
+115
Reply #2 June 17, 2012 8:25:35 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Corvettes reach "critical mass" (an expression that means the point at which the first pass or "alpha strike" is lethal to low-level capitals) very easily and use the Composite damageType which is shared with the Heavy Cruiser and has damage bonuses to most armor types.  They are cheap and can be built within seconds.  As such, people can build them very easily en masse and reach critical mass with them.  Mass Corvettes are good for the same reason mass Bombers are: high damage and easy critical mass, though bombers are late-game and corvettes are early-game.

The best counters to them are capital/titan AoE abilities and flak.  Flak will shred them easily.  I've also read that LF will win when outnumbered 2 to 1.  That said, the alpha or beta strike when massed will probably kill your capitals, rendering your fleet much more susceptible to the abilities of their capitals.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+240
Reply #3 June 18, 2012 1:05:26 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Corvettes also have excellent speed...players can amass a swarm of them and have them just jump jump jump from planet to planet, razing structures and extractors....you can't catch them, even with flak, and PJI's aren't going to do you much good...too hard to get that early in the game, and corvettes will just destroy them anyway...

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
M11xStryker
Join Date 11/2011
+3
Reply #4 June 18, 2012 1:56:40 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Corvettes also have excellent speed...players can amass a swarm of them and have them just jump jump jump from planet to planet, razing structures and extractors....you can't catch them, even with flak, and PJI's aren't going to do you much good...too hard to get that early in the game, and corvettes will just destroy them anyway...

 

 

And this is the part where you use your fleet to attack his planets. Either he pulls his corvettes back, or he gets to destroy some petty extractors and research labs.

 

 

 

 

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
+115
Reply #5 June 18, 2012 2:55:01 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting M11xStryker,
reply 5
And this is the part where you use your fleet to attack his planets. Either he pulls his corvettes back, or he gets to destroy some petty extractors and research labs.  

You wipe out one world while he's wiping out all of yours.  That definitely sounds like a fair trade.. 

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+240
Reply #6 June 18, 2012 3:53:02 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting M11xStryker,
reply 5


And this is the part where you use your fleet to attack his planets. Either he pulls his corvettes back, or he gets to destroy some petty extractors and research labs. 

 

Looks good on paper, doesn't work out on practice...whoever strikes first wins because corvettes can wipe out factories very quickly...

Even if that weren't the case, corvette raids are often used when a player is double teamed...one enemy raids with corvettes while the other attacks with a more conventional force...makes suicide spot a lot more difficult to manage even if you are more skilled...

Biggest problem with corvettes is their speed...flak only are useful in large numbers and when you force a pitched battle...but doing so is easier said than done...

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
candido-
Join Date 04/2003
+8
Reply #7 June 18, 2012 3:57:38 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

I think corvettes have reached a good balance point and don't need to be changed much from here. They are indeed "the" unit at the beginning of the game but people who know how to play the game don't get overrun by them. You just have to start every game thinking "I am going to get attacked by a swarm of corvettes." Then you are fine. You have options: build your own corvette fleet, start a flak defense, go for a starbase, or [imagine this] scout your opponent to see what he's up to you and prepare your defense.

 

By mid-game, these units are fairly worthless if your opponent is up to snuff. The only good thing is to keep about 10 of them on-line so that you can zap the enemy's construction frigates quickly when you pop into a system with your fleet.

 

 

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
+115
Reply #8 June 18, 2012 4:03:28 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Flak are too expensive and slow to effectively force direct confrontation with corvettes early to actually stop corvettes from running free.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Portalboat
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+240
Reply #9 June 18, 2012 4:09:28 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting candido-,
reply 8
They are indeed "the" unit at the beginning of the game but people who know how to play the game don't get overrun by them.

I think Mecha-Lenin will beg to differ...some might say he "knows how to play the game"....it is not a question of skill or simply "knowing" how to counter them...they are the early game and if you are even slightly outnumbered there is virtually no hope...

Quoting candido-,
reply 8
You have options: build your own corvette fleet, start a flak defense, go for a starbase, or [imagine this] scout your opponent to see what he's up to you and prepare your defense.

SB defences will not do you any good against corvette raiding...even if the corvettes can't take on your SB, they'll simply move on to another gravity well and raid there...the resources you plop down to maybe protect one planet will cripple your offensive ability and allow you to get completely walked over by more conventional forces later...

Scouting your opponent does little in regards to corvettes...even if you know where and when your enemy is hitting you with these things, you still aren't going to be able to effectively counter them...flak can't catch them, and can't even kill them fast enough unless you have a ton of flak...

That corvettes is marginalized late game is a moot issue...early game they are the dominant unit and they make 2v1s impossible situations for the suicide player....

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
View all recent posts
Mark all posts as read Delete cookies created by the forum Return to Top
Stardock Forums v        Server Load Time:   Page Render Time: