What units can bomb planets?

Currently only caps and siege frigates, can mod for others to do

Dont forget the NOVALITH CANNON OF DOOM

Too bad; forces building of siege frigates.

not really, people rarely use siege frigates, they prefer caps, siege frigates are too weak to use effectively, though the AI uses them constantly

I've only tried 6 or 7 maps so far, all small.  So far no need for a 2nd cap; been living on LRFs mostly.  3 siege frigates plus a cap finishes off enemy planets faster than 2 caps and costs way less.

Just built my first Cielos.  Am I weird or I am right to turn off embolden to save AM for targeting?  Also, targeted ship/ structure shows "40% damage reduction" in red.  Does this mean +40% damage or does it mean that whatever would normally reduce damage (armor?  shield mitigation?) is itself reduced?

it means +40% damage, its very effective against those hard to smash targets with only a small fleet (ie starbases, other caps)

and as for which is better 3 siege frigates or a second cap, yes 3 siege frigates do a better job of wiping out planets in comparison to most caps, but when you consider at that a second cap can bring (especially a siege cap Marza/Revelation/Vulkarso that is almost equal to 5 siege frigates) a lot of times you do better bringing in a second cap. It is not the damage potential to planets that ruins them, it is the fact that they melt like snow in the southern regions of Arizona during the summer (ie hell) and have no other talent to speak of, while a cap is tougher and has greater talents, that and like I said the siege caps aer worth 5 siege frigates when upgraded right.

I use them in most games.  Advent sb can siege planets

I usually have a few waiting in the wings for a variety of purposes. Mostly just because it's a lot of fun to wipe out a planet as fast as possible. Coupla seige frigs mixed in with a drain planet or two. tada instant new planet.

I always build about 4 to 5 Caps for each fleet or more to do the job. So a planet goes boom alot faster for me with Caps then Siege Frigs. But like it was said earlier. Siege Frigs just dont stand up to what Caps do, they kill planets and other ships aswell have abilities that help the fleet accomplish its purpose.

usually too poor to make that many caps

The problem is that early game, you are going to have a hard time making that many caps without hurting yourself in some other way.  Capital Ships, while great for a variety of reasons, don't have a very high DPS without a supporting fleet, and so in general, if your opponent rushes you early and you are rushin Cap Ships, you're going to get crushed.

I am a rushing type of player so I guess it doesn't make sense to me that someone would be able to build that many Cap Ships without getting rushed.  I have found that early game, you need only 2 Capital Ships to take out a meteor or non-homeworld planet, which, in a 1v1 situation, gives you a huge economic and strategic advantage, at least if you can hold on to it for awhile.  After you have taken one of your opponent's planets, and are making sure he doesn't expand anymore, it doesn't really matter how fast you kill his Howeworld, he dies by macro.

You can take out anything with ONE capital ship, early game. (From Neutrals/militia/rebels). I have actually gone a few games where I have only used One cap the entire game (in SP).

big difference in single player and multiplayer

Thus the SP in paranthesis. Since there is no mention of what type of game he is playing (though in other posts he says he is working through the scenarios one by one), I answered with what I know.

Anyway back on topic there is one other way to take a planet. Culture.

Culture takes a planet and reduces its alleigance, once alleigance reaches o the planet is gone.

this can be done to take heavily guarded planets. however to do it you literally need to bombard the planet with culture by placing media hubs on adjent planets for optimum effect. also you should destroy their own media hubs and caps to prevent culture submission. this can actually be easily accomplished by vasari(i want to say how but i wont, jus by saying vsari the smart will figure it out)

By the way i am talking about makin sure their are no caps or media hubs getting in the way when i refer to easier for vasari, as we all advent culture is the strongest.

Siege frigates are like any other unit, you have to use them wisely.

Build a balanced fleet, you don't need too many caps, and wipe out enemy forces. Have a separate fleet of siege frigates waiting in the next gravity well. When the main fleet has wiped out the opposition jump your siege frigate fleet in and take out the planet. Don't send them in with the main fleet, they'll just get wiped.

If you need siege frigates it means your beyond collecting up the nuetral planets. It means your now actively fighting for your enemies territory. I dont see why people rely on only 1 Cap. It doesnt bring out the best of the Cap when its the only one. Kols are nice but without Dunovs they dont have a chance, Akkans are pretty nice to have when collecting planets but when it comes to actually dealing out heavy damage it doesnt hold up without a Dunov. The fact is all the Capitals are built to complement each other. When you only invest in one or two Capitals your not getting your moneys worth as Capitals last longer when they fight along side of other friendly Capitals. Also I dont play online. Rushing might be fun, but I dont play a 4xRTS for a 1 hour game. I play it for the long term strategies.

^^ Unless you're compstomping when you are hungover.

Its more cost effective to have a bigger fleet then have more caps. Its nice to have more then just 1 cap, buta fleet of lrf can kill caps easily and faster.

As someone mentioned, probably SP/MP dependent, plus map size.  On 8 maps so far (all SP), I have not yet felt a need for a 2nd cap.

Now I have to figure out what Altaux meant about Vasari being better at culture conquest than Advent.  Didn't find it cap ship or cruiser abilities.  Can't look at tech chart right now as i am in midgame as Advent.

By that logic you probably shouldn't build siege frigates either. Siege frigates may be a cheaper way to bomb planets, but they are terrible in fleet efficiency. In smaller maps they maybe okay, but if you are in a position to get a decent economy going, I'd think it would be better to get a second cap. Does that happen very often, no, but in theory that is my logic.

  I believe Altaux was refering to the Kostura cannon, Vasari's Superweapon, which cripples or destroys enemy ships and structures in a gravity well, as well as temporarily acting as a stabilizer node to the target world.  But Advent are still the better Culture Masters.  Even more when using their Deliverance Engine in a one two punch (Kill caps and media structures while the cannon is firing, you may just finish before it strikes on a large enough map, then build your own media centers and you have a head start)

Or maybe to the shock and awe technology, although I admit I am not sure exactly what this does.  If all it does is increase cap ships' ability to suppress spread of enemy culture to friendly planets, then 1) that ain't it, and 2) that would not be great for a level 1 tech--it's horrible for level 5. 

Btw do "damage bonus in culture" and "mitigation bonus in culture" mean the combat bonuses I think in any gravity well where the culture is present?  What if two cultures reach a well from different directions and neither goes beyond?

-Do both get the bonus?

-Neither?

-Planet owner?

-Or maybe planet owner if full allegiance, attacker if reduced (indicating some penetration)?