Enforcers vs. other two

Heavy Cruiser Hierarchy

from Sins Forums

I've noticed that a lot of people seem to like Kodiaks and Destras more that Enforcers because of the higher bang for buck (sorry for that cliche). But wouldn't the higher amout of ship strength (shields and hull), about 230 more from Kodiak to Enforcer, lead to more firepower in the long term? That makes no sense, so I'll give an oversimplified example. If say two skirmishers (blue) are fighting one enforcer (red), and say that the enforcer has exactly twice the amout of hp and dps that the skirmishers have, (and forgetting shield mitigation since the mitigation for different types of hcs, as I will connect this example with later, have the same shield mitigation as each other), the enforcer would win every time. As soon as the first skirmisher is destroyed, the blue team's total firepower is halved. Without minutae like ship turning time, the enforcer would have about 1/4 of its health left after both skirmishers are destroyed. This all relies on the fact that firepower doesn't decrease as damage taken increases. In battles with HC vs HC, the situations aren't as extreme, but I assume they would have the same effect. On large scales, it could make a difference. But maybe the time added for the enforcers to turn to fight another ship would make up for this difference. I'm not quite sure how to (or I'm to lazy to) do all the math, but what do people who are more experienced that me think about this?

strategy
8,286 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

personally, I find that the Enforcer is quite effective against the other two heavy cruiser types.  esp against the Destra Crusader.  The kodiak just seems... primitive i guess, and the Destra has less hull points

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

I think the Destra and kodiak have a total hull plus shield difference of about 50 (kodiak with more), but the enforcer has 230 more than the kodiak. I haven't been playing long enough to know if my situation is actually true. I'm just starting to get into large games.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

THe enforcer also has an ability that repairs it at 18 hp per sec. its not as good as hoshikoes but it can be annoying to micro the enforcers that are being attacked to repair. it is a good way to survive against a SB for longer.

I think the enforcers are the most independant HC because they can repair themselves and slow other ships down with a teir 7 ability. a fleet of enforcers alone could cream any equal fleet of only other HCs. But that doesnt help much with a balanced fleet, but I still think enforcers are the best.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

 wait, i thought the enforcer's only abiltiy was distortion field.

EDIT: oh, right, reintegration thingy. forgot about that one.

What do people think about my example above?:-"

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

You don't consider each unit alone, but in the context of the rest of their fleet.  One of the big advantages of the Kodiak is that it shares its damage upgrade with fighters and flak frigates.  On the other hand, the Advent and Vasari heavy cruisers share their damage output only with capital ships (and siege ships, but they don't deal appreciable damage to begin with).  There are no questions that the Vasari have the best special abilities on their heavy cruisers, which leaves them in a good position.  The Kodiak also has a great synergy going with the hoshiko.  The only heavy cruiser that really seems to lag is the destra.  Its special ability is nothing special, and it doesn't fit in well with the mid-range units that form the bulk of a standard "battleball" formation for the Advent.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

destra really benefits from its own fleet. +34% fire rate (22% from halcyon, 12% from plasma research). research; +10% shield mitigation. and in a long term battle, ruthlessness will chip away at your forces.

just had to make a showing for advent

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Nah I love my advent but the destra is a very expensive and difficult ship to bring to a fight.  Typically you won't have researched plasma upgrades at all until after you start pumping out destras, and at the point you can get destras, it is only another temple or two before you can start doing armor increase research.  Do that instead and your illums are nearly as good armor wise as base level destras, plus you already likely have laser research high and that helps both your bombers and your illums.  If money was no factor and you could afford the upgrades, the destra becomes a decent ship..HOWEVER.

 

As I discovered against a well informed opponent, the destra only has heavy armor and it shoots a composite that "only" does full damage to light frigates.  Cobalts are cheap, costing nearly half the value of the destra each and they can be pumped out very quickly.  A swarm of cobalts with upgraded armor can outlast and kill a much more costly fleet of destras.  The obvious answer is a mixed fleet.. which means you're back to throwing money all over the tech tree again to get everything upgraded.  Illums only with a push for armor upgrades seems to me a better option.  Another thing.. destras have a horrible turning speed.

 

Ah another point though.. against the marza barrage, destras have a much longer lifespan than illums.  Something to think about.. better to push the damn marza with guardians and use bombers (with laser upgrades) to take out the marzas I suppose.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

destra really benefits from its own fleet. +34% fire rate (22% from halcyon, 12% from plasma research). research; +10% shield mitigation. and in a long term battle, ruthlessness will chip away at your forces.
End of quote

Most of those features also benefit illuminators, which get you better bang for your buck in most cases and have longer range (which is critical for the Advent battleball).  The plasma research, as Dostillevi1 mentions, is not something you have completed in most cases.  Having a couple destras around for ruthlessness isn't a bad thing, but it's not particularly special.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

Personally I dont use destra crusaders much.  There are some rare instances where I might use it, but as I'm learning to use repulsion for the guardian better I find I have less use for Destra crusaders.  I only use Destra crusaders when I find I'm combatting a large amount of heavy cruisers, but again those can be kept at range using repulsion.