Micro - How to?

from Sins Forums
Hello,

I'm typically a 4X player who liked sins for that aspect and the possibility of online play. despite a few glitches with online, hopefully to be fixed in 1.03, i'm really enjoying the game.

one aspect that i'm wary of is that, reading the forums, micro can swing battles that would've been lost had both side been using the AI. this seems to be particularly true of Advent, again judging by the forum, who i actually play and like the most.

with the above in mind, can anyone give me some tips on what i need to watch out for and what i can do to respond.

thanks

MrL
strategy
3,701 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
When guys get low on hitpoints, retreat them. Usually I try to retreat once I've lost shields (this is pretty conservative, but it helps ensure the unit survives long enough to jump - there's no point retreating if you can't preserve the unit. Naturally, if you're not facing many enemies, you can be more aggressive with retreat timing.)

When you attack, focus fire on priority targets to take them down faster and lower your enemies' damage output. Generally, I focus on repair stations, then LRMs, then light frigates, then heavy cruisers, then whatever else, in that order. Auto-attacking never focus fires and is therefore very inefficient, so make sure you designate targets manually.

If ships have multiple weapons banks on different arcs (Illuminators, Defense Frigates, etc,) position them such that they can make use of all their weapon banks. Usually this involves sending them into melee range.

Take all capship abilities off of auto-cast and use them on your own to the greatest effect. The AI tends to waste them on low-priority targets.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
When guys get low on hitpoints, retreat them. Usually I try to retreat once I've lost shields (this is pretty conservative, but it helps ensure the unit survives long enough to jump - there's no point retreating if you can't preserve the unit. Naturally, if you're not facing many enemies, you can be more aggressive with retreat timing.)When you attack, focus fire on priority targets to take them down faster and lower your enemies' damage output. Generally, I focus on repair stations, then LRMs, then light frigates, then heavy cruisers, then whatever else, in that order. Auto-attacking never focus fires and is therefore very inefficient, so make sure you designate targets manually.If ships have multiple weapons banks on different arcs (Illuminators, Defense Frigates, etc,) position them such that they can make use of all their weapon banks. Usually this involves sending them into melee range.Take all capship abilities off of auto-cast and use them on your own to the greatest effect. The AI tends to waste them on low-priority targets.
End of quote


amen
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Ta guys,

re: fireing arcs, do you know of any where i can find descriptions?
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7xc_snd9Cc-6o2UwvPEWUg&gid=2

All you really need to know is that anti-strikecraft frigates have full 360 degree arcs, so sticking them in the middle of a bunch of LRMs will let them utilize the maximum number of weapons banks. The Advent Illuminator LRM frigate has three banks; a beam on the front and on the port and starboard sides. Again, it's best in the middle of a fight so it can utilize all it's weapons. All capital ships have multiple fire arcs as well, with certain arcs being more powerful than others (the Kol's front arc, for example.)
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
You asked how to respond to micro as well?

I don't play MP, so big grain of salt, but I'd say two things as general counters:

1. Assume the other guy will follow jodonnell's suggestions and plan accordingly. So, try to anticipate which of your units will be targeted and either decoy them, sacrifice them, or use tactics based on their threat (like split your LRMs to draw him out).

2. Try to face the enemy with difficult choices: Attack your support cruisers or your DPS-heavy units directly? Suffer the loss of their capship, or forgo using it's AOE for this fight?