In general, you spam what counters your enemy's fleet...if the enemy comes at you with disciples, you spam LRMs...if they come at you with kanraks, you spam corvettes...unfortunately fleets rarely are only of one unit type, which allows for several exceptions within the counter system....
As a TEC frontliner or suicide player, you should always be getting those 2 mil labs as quick as possible so that you can have all 4 early game units (LFs, Corvettes, LRFs, and flak)...TEC has strongest LRF early game, so if you can, always try to have lots of LRMs...
You will likely start by building some cobalts, anywhere from 2 to 8, depending on what you need for expansion and how far you are from the enemy...after that though, the first unit you will probably want to research and start amassing quickly is corvettes, and there are several reasons for this:
- Corvettes are the fastest of the 4 units...they can get to where they need to be quickly, and if you find yourself outnumbered (or outdone fleet composition wise), they are the most likely to succeed in retreating...
- Corvettes are the best at killing krosovs....these are the militia units you must wipe out when trying to colonize a planet...everything else can be dealt with via turrets or eternally circling scouts/corvettes...occasionally, wiping out the militia LRMs isn't bad either since those can outshoot turrets...
- Corvettes are the best at killing constructors...you will usually want to wipe these out first so that the enemy cannot build repair bays or frigate factories...corvettes are better at getting to them and taking them out than the other 3 early units...
- Corvettes counter LRFs and bombers (at this stage from carrier caps)...early game, these will be the 2 things most likely to drive off one of your capital ships (some cap abilities like nano-disassemblers would be an exception)...
- Two-thirds of the factions also get corvettes at tier 1, so any LRFs you build that early in the game are probably going to get creamed...
- The best counter against corvettes at this stage is flak...however, flak is the least useful unit at this stage, as it has awful focus firing capabilties for destroying structures or capital ships...while flak is very good against corvettes, any fleet heavily depending on flak at this stage will have a severe disadvantage in regards to focus firing....don't take this to mean you shouldn't build flak, but if you don't have to, don't...
- Corvettes are more expendable than the other 3 units, and as such are the best choice for suicide scouting missions...sometimes you can't wait for a scout ship (which isn't all that much cheaper, mind you)....
Specifically in regards to Vasari:
- The most viable early unit for them is the kanrak, as it is tier 1 (while their corvette is tier 2)...they also have the weakest LF, so they will be more inclined to not build LFs than the other factions...odds are they will be building either kanraks or corvettes early game, and in either case your corvettes will be the safest choice and give you the most options...kanraks can be particularly dangerous against capital ships so being able to counter those immediately is key...
- Beyond corvettes, you really should build whatever counters their fleet, as all your early units on a per fleet supply basis are better...Vasari's greatest strengths are good capital ships and early SBs, so having LRMs to deal with those should always be a priority...LRMs + gardas is a good default fleet composition, as it gives you lots of focus fire from LRMs, great defense against corvettes and skirmishers, and mediocore defense against kanraks (when microed properly, flak can beat LRMs and kanraks)...
Specifically in regards to Advent:
- This fight will be tougher...the Advent have better LFs, Corvettes, and flak...their only weakness is the illuminator, which comes later and lacks the focus firing potential of the LRM and kanrak...against Advent you really should have 2 goals: try to outnumber them, and force them to build defense vessels...corvette spam will help accomplish both those goals...
- You can expect that the early advent fleet will likely be a combination of corvettes and disciples (at the very least, the ability to switch between the two)...LRMs and flak, while they seem like the best thing to build, are likely only going to get you killed...their disciples/corvettes will kill your gardas/LRMs (respectively) faster than your LRMs/gardas will kill their disciples/corvettes (respectively)...they also needed one less lab and one less technology to field those units....
- Even though your fleet might not be as good as theirs, having lots of corvettes still offers the advantages stated above...if you are able to outnumber the enemy, they will be more inclined to try and amass defense vessels, which is exactly what you want...if you need more time to build up forces, don't hesitate to retreat your corvettes or send them to an enemy world to pick off units one by one as they come off the factory line...
- Once they have started building lots of defense vessels, they are slowly crippling their ability to focus fire...if they go defense+disciple, build cobalts+LRMs...if they go defense+corvette, build cobalts+gardas...either way, you have the advantage in terms of focus fire, so take advantage of that and bomb their planets with you cap(s)...
- I cannot stress how important it is to stay ahead of Advent in terms of numbers...their fleet is most certainly better than yours in the very early game, and forcing them to build their less ideal/useful units (defense and illuminators) will also keep you far ahead in terms of focus firing potential...
Of course, TEC also have the Corsev, which if used properly basically means you can do whatever you want fleet wise...probably best to build corvettes first even in that case, since they can move the fastest and are the most expendable while using demolition team...then move to LRMs to deal with caps, structures, and SBs....
