I'm not a pro-just an enthusiast who plays hard so i choose not to rate myself based on lan games. 

I'm not going to teach you how to mix flak, light frigates and lrm with corvette fleets. Im here to explain caps in this post..the rest you're going to have to experience- though i will try help you all along the way.

This post is for noobs, beginners and people struggling. Its also a place for pros to send me hate mail if they disagree and create amazing arguments. Not flame plz--reason. 

Part 1

Capital ship levels are gained through experience points for every kill your cap or fleet makes.

Low level Capital Ships are fragile to all kinds of things apart from just space ponies.  Low level capital ships are much more vulnerable to massed scouts , flak and those nasty corvettes  so its important to get your cap to the highest possible level naturally through combat.

You must  use only 1 capital ship so as to avoid your kill experience points awards being distributed between between 2 more more capital ships. For example if you kill a unit worth 50 experience points then each cap would get 25 points as opposed to a single cap getting the whole 50. This gets worse with 3 or more capital ships.

Part 2

You capital ship level starts at level 1. When it gains a certain number of experience points it then levels up, With each level your cap gets stronger in fire-power, armor, shield mitigation, shield points and hull points. It is expected that by the time you finish colonizing worlds before your major engagement that your cap should be at level 4 or 5 if you only have 1 and level 3 and 4 if you have 2 capital ships. 

Part 3

How much fire-power you bring with you in your battle in terms of fleet support will determine your victory against an opponent who has 2 capital ships or more and what level they are at. This means for every credit they sacrificed to build a cap then you should have put that money to your fleet to be able to snipe there lowest level cap. (Micro Hint :Always target the low level cap because it easier to kill).

For those who have 2 caps and you know your opponent has a sizable fleet then its wise to purchase a level if your 2nd cap is lingering on level 3 before your major engagement. if the cost is below 1000 credits excluding the ability to research the ability to purchase level 4 on caps then it best be done.

Part 4

Owning only 1 cap allows you to lower the cost and time of getting a titan. This strategic option also allows your titan more health experience points though they are shared with your cap. In my initial tests i found that its very difficult to get a titan to level 6 with 2 caps and most likely it will be in danger of falling to the enemy if its not leveled up.

Most players send there titan to the pirate base to level up its points but in a fast paced game i can assure you that the titan will be needed on the front line. 

Part 5

Ai games lie so when you end up facing an unfair ai with multiple high level capital ships its because of the cheat algorithm. High level battleships like the Kortul will most likely disable or null your titan, cap abilities and kill your capital ship or titan. 

In the past even all pros have rage quite once or twice because of this. 

Part 6

So how do you compensate as fleet support to an opponent who has invested in 5 capital ships? A ton of heavy cruisers work but it depends because in the early game even  a mass of 200 corvettes can storm the gates of heaven and rip capital ships apart. The real problem is how do you achieve to build 200 corvettes or 40 heavy cruisers in a short time.. (1) economy (2) Multiple frigate factories. This i will leave for you to figure out. If you fail to compensate then you will die.. massed carrier caps for example are a pain... there simply is no way of dealing with them without surgically building your fleet. 

Conclusion:

Corvettes have a tendency to be the mother of all counters early game so they will kill low level caps easily. Its best you try to use only one high level cap, get a titan and switch to heavy cruisers and utility cruisers. ( Makes the game boring but that the world we live in). Alternatively you should have dual caps with area of effect damage.