TEC is overpowered

Getting sick of playing against TEC.  Spamming novalith cannon so I have to build starbases in every system, then coming in with a few cheap ogrov cruisers to destroy a fully upgraded starbase in 30 seconds.  I can't even get a fleet from a neighboring system to make one jump before the starbase is trash.  Seems all the fun and strategy from entrenchment is gone now.  It should be about fleets with complements of different supporting ships battling it out, not superweapons double-shotting my capitol so no amount of upgrades can save it.  Not one cheap type of ship for one faction being able to take out the most powerful starbases in the game by sitting out of range and hurling dozens of missiles.  Either make them fire slower, or decrease their range to give the base a fighting chance.  The only defense is fleets or squadrons, but it takes a ton of squadrons to take them out fast enough.  No other faction has such a great anti starbase weapon.  I'm not usually one for nerfs, but all AI settings being equal, Vasaari and Advent are cake compared to TEC.  The playstyle in rebellion just isn;t as fun, as much as I like titans, the AIs use of the novalith and the overwhelming attack of the ogrov make the playstyle less strategic and fun, and more tedious and frustrating.

33,423 views 36 replies
Reply #1 Top

Well yes, if you are turtling against the AI, the TEC is the hardest faction to play against. Try expanding faster and being more aggressive, if the AI brings out Novaliths on anything less than unfair you probably had plenty of opportunity to get into a game winning position.

Reply #2 Top

I for one find that the AI knowing to use a large fleet of Ogrovs against structures deserves several thumbs ups :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Getting some bombers can help trashing those Ogrovs, as getting armor upgrades and repair bays. You can't expect a just-built starbase to survive an Ogrov fleet for long.

Positioning can also help. If you place the SB next to the phase lane, the Ogrovs will arrive already in range of the SB.

 

Reply #3 Top

Good troll 9/10

Reply #4 Top

Tec is not op. They have low shields and don't use phase missiles.

 

10/10 troll

Reply #5 Top

Well I think OP is mentioning the scenario when comp stomping:

  • the main fleet is at somewhere half an map away;
  • the AI uses 20 - 30 Ogrovs;
  • or / and also at least 40 fighters, which makes all the local defending fighters useless;
  • and the SB has no red button equipped.

That's the scenario I often encountered when dealing with several AI. One of the (easiest) solution is, give command to your AI allies to order them always stay at your border.

Reply #6 Top

Quoting Brazilian_Joe, reply 2
Getting some bombers can help trashing those Ogrovs, as getting armor upgrades and repair bays. You can't expect a just-built starbase to survive an Ogrov fleet for long.
End of Brazilian_Joe's quote

Fighters work far better then bombers.

Orgovs have light armor. Fighters are anti-Light armor. Bombers are anti-Very Heavy armor.

Reply #7 Top

Only thing i dont like about Ai Tec is them tossing out nukes left and right and me not being able to do shit about it.

For example i have a tec loyalist AI on the other side of my solar system tossing out a Warhead every 5 or so min taking out 1 planet with each shot.

And that planet is the furthest back so i have to pass through all of his planets to get to it.

Im Advent and as far as i know (kinda new to the game) i cant do shit to defend against it or return the favor.

So im having to put Colonize ships on all planets to re cap them when they get destroyed =P.

But other then the Novalith Cannon i dont think they are op.

Reply #8 Top

Now if we can just make the Advent factions overpowered we'll have it balanced.  :andrew:

Reply #9 Top

Ummm this is Rebellion section, not Diplo.

Reply #10 Top

It was a joke.  Everyone's been whining about the Vasari.  Now Tech.  I figure Advent will be next.

Reply #11 Top

This time I actually red OP, and I'm not sure why you think it's a joke. I've seen worse rambling on this forum from people who  comp stomp with their aunts, neighbours and pets. Yes, pets can comp stomp too.

Reply #12 Top

Wasn't really trying to troll, just frustrated.  I had a fully equipped advent starbase, full armor/shield upgrade, 5 fighters/5 bombers, 1 meteor control, etc.  Had 2 repair bays by it, 1 hangar for an extra 2 bombers, 1 fighter.  My fleet left the system, was not gone 5 minutes before 10 ogrovs showed up.  Managed to take out 3 of them before the starbase was destroyed.  They had accompanying flak frigates.  My fleet was one jump away and could not make it in time.  This type of situation happens often, the ogrovs just do too much damage too quickly from too far away.  They're cheap enough that they're basically disposable, so even if you get your revenge on them, its not much of a consolation. 

When the TEC is on the other side of a huge 98 planet system and there are other factions in between, I can't take them out quick.  At least if I play vasaari, I can use kostura cannon to open a phase lane and take out the novalith, but they just rebuild them quick.  I have to spend so many resources putting in a starbase in every system with planet control that its hard to raise a big fleet to travel across the system.  The fact that they build 4 and constantly snipe your planets every few minutes just makes the game less fun.  I don't turtle, I'm always a rapid expansionist  who fortifies chokepoints, but chokepoints don't matter against the novalith, and fortifications matter little against the ogrovs.  Doesn't matter if I can beat their fleet in a fight, I hardly ever see any large fleet from them anymore.  Just saying, with novaliths, increase the cooldown time so they're only used for more special occasions, not as a primary strategy.  With ogrovs, either decrease rate of fire or damage, or decrease their range.  That would make the game a bit more fun. 

Reply #13 Top

The idea is that no single gameplay element should overpower everything else (beta imbalances notwhithstanding).

Ogrovs are THE counter for starbases. You should have better defenses in place to compensate its weakness. More hangars and repair bays for instance. MS at level 2.

Reply #14 Top

Quoting Mecha-Lenin, reply 11
his time I actually red OP, and I'm not sure why you think it's a joke. I've seen worse rambling on this forum from people who comp stomp with their aunts, neighbours and pets. Yes, pets can comp stomp too.
End of Mecha-Lenin's quote

My dog has yet to beat an easy Vasari Rebel, so I contest this statement...

Reply #15 Top

Oh look another one of these threads. Will people PLEASE stop calling things that are not overpowered overpowered and asking for nerfs? At this rate people'll be frustrated that they can't conquer an entire AI empire with one frigate by release...

Reply #16 Top

Quoting Seleuceia, reply 14

Quoting Mecha-Lenin, reply 11his time I actually red OP, and I'm not sure why you think it's a joke. I've seen worse rambling on this forum from people who comp stomp with their aunts, neighbours and pets. Yes, pets can comp stomp too.

My dog has yet to beat an easy Vasari Rebel, so I contest this statement...
End of Seleuceia's quote

Your dog is a noob.

Reply #17 Top

Quoting mattebubben, reply 7
Im Advent and as far as i know (kinda new to the game) i cant do shit to defend against it or return the favor.
End of mattebubben's quote

Get the enduring devotion (or equivalent) upgrade on your starbase. It prevents the planet from being lost from bombardment, which basically means everything but culture overthrows and the level 6 Coronata titan ability. When you get the warning that a TEC player is building a super weapon stop what you're doing and build a few starbase constructors for your main worlds, typically terrans, deserts and maybe ice. Asteroids and dwarf planets can be easily recolonized, give most of their income as resources which the novalith doesn't stop, and don't have many other upgrades to lose. Only shield them if you can afford it.

Usually the AI isn't smart enough to realize your most important planets are protected so it will waste many shots trying to get them so you're lower tier planets are probably fine. They also tend to waste a few shots on the pirate base that can give you more time. If you've been doing well up to that point and have at least your share of the map plus a little more colonized I've found I can usually counter novaliths in time. But if you expanded slowly by turtling or for whatever reason, yeah it can be hard to have a large enough economy to absorb the blows. But in that case you'd probably have a hard time winning anyways, and would only do so by the incompetence of the AI in other respects.

And yes, the Advent super weapon kind of sucks. It spreads your culture and gives all your ships in the planet it hits a damage bonus, so its great as a fleet support weapon (especially against Vasari or for the Advent loyalists), but by itself it rarely does much besides lowering enemy allegiance a little bit.

Reply #18 Top

Whichever faction I lose to is over powered.

I usually play as TEC. Therefore, the Vasari and Avent are overpowered. They should all be nerfed. Except when I play as Advent and lose to TEC and Vasari. They need to be nerfed.

Reply #19 Top

Exactly. Frogboy gets it.

Proof that even animals can understand.

Reply #20 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 18
I usually play as TEC. Therefore, the Vasari and Avent are overpowered. They should all be nerfed. Except when I play as Advent and lose to TEC and Vasari. They need to be nerfed.
End of Frogboy's quote

I suggest you get on implementing that 4th race quick then to give yourself a fighting chance!

Reply #21 Top

Okay, maybe I was wrong to say TEC is overpowered, its more that some of their attributes make it really not fun to play against them.  I don't care if I lose, I get bored if I win all the time, but I want to fight fleets, not guns that are 10 jumps through hostile territory away.  I want to fortify strongpoints, not have to put a starbase on every planet just so they can't snipe them all away.  As far as the ogrovs, repair bays can't compensate for the amount and speed of their damage.  I have had ogrovs kill starbases with 5-6 bays around them.  The cooldown on the repair bay ability is nothing compared to the damage output of an ogrov.  Without at least some ships to protect you, 12 cheap cruisers can blow up a $20,000 investment in no time.  I just played a hard mode game on a huge system against 3 hard opponents, Loyalist TEC, Rebel Vasari, and Rebel Advent.  It took my Loyalist Advent force about 2hrs to wipe out the other advent and vasari, then another 10hrs and 36 minutes to finally destroy the last TEC planet.  They were opposite system from me, and by the time I founght my way to their space, my economy was ruined by their novaliths, and I was spending all my money on starbases with devotion upgrades.  Then the pirate rebels started attacking, half my planets were under attack by rebel pirates while trying to fight TEC.  I like a challenge, but that is not much fun.  I used to like playing against TEC, but their zealous use of the novalith has changed the way the game is played in a way I do not like.

Reply #22 Top

I think a better thread title would have been "TEC is BORING"...one of the biggest issues with sins since its exception is the lack of variety...you have the classic LRF/Bomber spam, the carrier cap spam, the kostura/novalith spam...some things are "balanced" in that they can be countered or compare to other factions' equivalents but they aren't exactly interesting...

There's also a whole host of abilities, techs, upgrades, and the like which are just generally useless or not economic...

So in short, I'd say that the issue you bring up is to some degree an issue...the issue is just variety, not balance...

Reply #23 Top

Bit of advice for you:

  • Build the starbase deeper in the system (or have it sat there without "attack all in system" on for Vasari)
  • Place other defences ahead/around the starbase so they may get attacked first
  • Never build one uber fleet of doom, even as Vasari. Have an "alert fleet" in reserve, either in your major choke point or on the edge of a nearby system
  • Scout more, especially before leaving a choke point undefended

Hope that helps. Tec are not OP.

Reply #24 Top

Quoting cseavoy1, reply 21
Okay, maybe I was wrong to say TEC is overpowered, its more that some of their attributes make it really not fun to play against them.  I don't care if I lose, I get bored if I win all the time, but I want to fight fleets, not guns that are 10 jumps through hostile territory away.  I want to fortify strongpoints, not have to put a starbase on every planet just so they can't snipe them all away.  As far as the ogrovs, repair bays can't compensate for the amount and speed of their damage.  I have had ogrovs kill starbases with 5-6 bays around them.  The cooldown on the repair bay ability is nothing compared to the damage output of an ogrov.  Without at least some ships to protect you, 12 cheap cruisers can blow up a $20,000 investment in no time.  I just played a hard mode game on a huge system against 3 hard opponents, Loyalist TEC, Rebel Vasari, and Rebel Advent.  It took my Loyalist Advent force about 2hrs to wipe out the other advent and vasari, then another 10hrs and 36 minutes to finally destroy the last TEC planet.  They were opposite system from me, and by the time I founght my way to their space, my economy was ruined by their novaliths, and I was spending all my money on starbases with devotion upgrades.  Then the pirate rebels started attacking, half my planets were under attack by rebel pirates while trying to fight TEC.  I like a challenge, but that is not much fun.  I used to like playing against TEC, but their zealous use of the novalith has changed the way the game is played in a way I do not like.
End of cseavoy1's quote

 

The problem is his expansion rate and taking control of choke points while scouting things he can't see. I always send 1 scout to flanks with first level lingering presence . Then again thats just me.. I'm always aware what my cousin is doing on the front-lines.

Also use Shield Bowel on the hanger defense to shield your star-base and structures and have 1 frigate factory to build guardians to repulse orgovs because otherwise i think your just trolling mate.

 

P.s- Use paragraphs

Reply #25 Top

Quoting Mecha-Lenin, reply 11
This time I actually red OP, and I'm not sure why you think it's a joke. I've seen worse rambling on this forum from people who  comp stomp with their aunts, neighbours and pets. Yes, pets can comp stomp too.
End of Mecha-Lenin's quote

My comment was a joke--I didn't mean the thread.