The last nail in the coffin...

well culturing them out would be an extremely slow way to do it, you would reach tier 8 by then

as for beating the enemy by tier 3 I've only been able to do that on Point Blank (thats because the HWs are next to each other) after that, its usually best to beat them back, fortify, build up, then smash again, blitzes are a rarity in this game, its not designed that way

Huh? Everybody QQ (cries) because they say people rush too much... Maybe I should learn though to prepare more before an attempted homeworld strike. People usually have defenses and a starbase up.

well, most games run about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours in MP, you can get a lot researched in that amount of time (I usually have at least 4 to 5 tiers done, 8 when I play the DS mod)

rushing in Sins is like moving slow in Starcraft or other RTSs

hence why a lot of people complain about the rushing

the game isn't supposed quite work that way

TEC should bee-line for the third tech level, if only for Hoshikos.  Hoshikos are the #1 reason to play TEC in the first place.  This will definitely make a huge impact on your attempts to knock out the enemy.  If they're entrenched with a starbase, you may need to move to the 4th level for Ogrovs.

Finishing people off can be tricky, particularly if they're starbased with a decent fleet and have ally support.  If they don't have allies, just box them in and keep expanding.  Ask them for their surrender, and make it quite clear you have no intention of walking into their death trap.  Attack their less defended assets and try to keep them pinned down to their own super-well-defended homeworld. 

If they do have allies, it becomes a little tricky.  Culture usually won't work.  If you don't have the forces to break them, often the best solution is to keep a small siege force to keep them pinned down while another force heads around to colonize and expand.  Sometimes you can begin to build a powerful economy in your position.  Making a kill against a heavily starbased location can be quite difficult, but if you play it well you can keep the enemy out of the game without killing them.

Oh no,  blitzes (rushes) are all too common in this game - it's all anyone does online.  I think that guy may have been trying to say that while rushes are common, actually completely eliminating the opponent very quickly (assuming the guy just never gives up) is more rare.

This could be considered true.  If the guy has time to get some defenses, a starbase at homeworld, a little fleet, some feed, and knows what he's doing, he can hold out and defend his homeworld for quite a while.  As with everything else, "it all depends."  What's his experience level?  What's yours?  What's his feed?  What's yours?  Etc.

It doesn't mean he hasn't already lost the game - for all intents and purposes he has.  You just have to slog on through and finish off his homeworld.  It's like with anything else in the game - it's an art, it requires some knowledge, experience, etc.  Tell us the typical defenses are you are running into, and we can try to give some advice.

Eh, I keep hearing about how powerful the hoshikos are, but I'm having a hard time getting em. I get them, but its only because I hear how people always say they are so powerful. So, I guess the problem is they aren't a priority for me. Both of the repair bay upgrades and then the hosi upgrade seem like a lot for a little dude that heals... Usually I'm too busy thinkin I need a few more LRM's to take out defenses on that homeworld. I'll aim for the "pin em and leave em" idea next time. I thought about it. I should have done it now that I look back, but I didn't...

If I do pin a person, and then go for a war on another front I'll surely get the hosi's. Maybe it'll all come together here soon.

Saw your post after I had posted Agent... I know about the not being out thing. Had the dude pinned down. Team lost anways... AGH!

Eh, Usually they have end up getting hangars up, remnants of a fleet, repair bays, and factories, and oh yeah, a starbase.

If you don't like Hoshikos, TEC probably isn't the faction for you.  Aggressive TEC play is all about bringing out the Hoshikos quickly to support your fleet. 

A mobile repair cruiser is extremely useful.  Every unit it keeps alive in battle is a unit you don't have to replace, an extra gun firing, and the capability to keep your capital ships alive is simply invaluable.

Eh, I like em, but I don't love em. Just don't quite love em. I will take your word on it, and go ahead and put that cash into getting the upgrades faster. I worry that I will sac too much time into them, and be behind in fleet size though. Gotta learn though I reckon. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with TEC. Advent seems to be a lot of microing in battle. To be honest I don't wanna spend *that* much time in there pulling it off. I'd rather have the ability to take somebody out, or cripple them early/mid than overpower someone late. Who cares about late game powerhouses if they don't get there?

Also, how do you team chat in multiplayer? Surely there is a way... Surely -.-

If you don't like repair cruisers like hoshis, you might want to try vasari, as the overwhelming number of vasaris you will ever see will never use repair cruisers.

I'm not so sure that hoshis are great for keeping caps alive in the face of focus fire and bombers.  Of course they are better than nothing, but they aren't THAT much better than nothing.  Basically, we just have to accept with this game that there is little we can do to keep caps alive if they are to support the fleet.  My response to this is just to not build caps.

What's not to love about the Hoshikos? I haven't really played the other factions, do they also have repair cruisers?

They have repair cruisers, but you almost never see them used in ICO games - they are at a higher tier level.  But you ALWAYS see TEC hoshis.

Yeah..  If a Vasari gets to the sixth tier, you can expect tons of Assailants (due to PM upgrades) and Overseers which are the best way in the game to keep a capital alive.  Their healing is instant and also buff the armor of the target, so you could see a capital go from critical to full health in a matter of seconds even while under fire.

well vasari got overseers and advent got dominas for repair cruisers problem is hoshiko's repair is an instant repair over time ; after it uses its repair it can help fire the enemy; something that dominas can't do since they must channel its repair ability ; even overseer's repair is somewhat not as simple as hokoes

What is a good number of hoshikos to include based on fleet size?  I.E. 1 per 5 ships/10/15 etc?

The exact number depends on what kind of fleet your running and what your situation is.  Sometimes it does make sense to go a little firepower heavy, sometimes it does not.  I think 1 hoshiko for every 5 of other frigates would be a reasonable number in most situation, but one for every 10 or 15 would definitely be too few.

Actually, popularity of hoshikos, and unpopularity of overeers and dominas, has little to do with the cruisers being able to fire (or not to fire) at the enemy.  The bottom line is, the hoshikos require no micromanagement at all, are omnidirectional, and also come at a low tech level.  The other cruisers are more micro-intensive, unidirectional, and come at a higher tech level.

Yeah...  Dominas are lack-luster.  Overseers when used properly are the end-all-be-all of capital survivability, and Hoshikoes are the best way to keep a large fleet alive as a whole.

Strange that these repair cruisers differ so much between the various races

True, but it does make them unique.

Lots of contrast between each faction's field repair abilities:
With one cast, the Domina comes out on top with 1000 hull repaired, Hoshi next with 300, and the Overseer last with 250.
Hoshi has the shortest cooldown (3 secs), Overseer 4 secs, and the Domina with the worst (60 s)
Overseer replenishes hull pretty much instantly once cast (well, you could consider its repair to be 62.5 hull/sec, which is 250 hull divided by the 4 sec cooldown), the Domina next at 25 hull/sec, and the Hoshi with the slowest repair rate at 20 hull/sec.

Overseer also buffs armor for its duration (non-stackable), and you can heal a single target with as many overseers as you like.  Invaluable for starbases and capital ships.

Well, Dominas are great if you are sitting there doing nothing.  Otherwise they aren't worth much to you.  Hoshis are powerful because they can cast repeatedly and keep swaths of your fleet alive.