Bring me your Unloved, Underappreciated, Underestimated, and Underused Techs!

Disintegration. Nothing like raiding an unprotected enemy planet, watching an enemy task force try to stop you, and as soon as they start to think they've killed your Vulkoras, use it and get restored to full health. Then retreat while your siege platforms finish off the planet.

Also I could be wrong here, but doesn't transfer antimatter suffer from the same sort of mass target issues like the Domina used to have?

I'll have to check and refresh my memory. I should know the answer since I'm recommending it but haven't been concerned by poor results before. Do you mean the way the Domina used to have to turn and face its target but now it can heal omnidirectionally? If so, and if Disciples do suffer a timelag in having to turn in order to dispense the AM, it's less of a concern than the domina used to be since the disciples will at least be stealing the AM right away and contributing much more to overall dps.

No. I mean how every single Domina used to target the same exact ships, so having large numbers of them really didn't help them cover an entire fleet.

No, the Disciples are usually pretty good at spreading around their antimatter from what I've seen, though they tend to prefer frigates over cap ships without proper micro.  The biggest issue is that Drain AM only works on frigates; it won't drain a titan or cap ship, which is too bad.

Oh I see - I obviously don't know the ability as well as I thought. It is a targetable ability so you can turn off autocast and target whatever you want but I didn't realize it wasn't able to affect Capitals or Titans. Now that I remember, I think Detonate Anti-Matter on the Radiance is the only ability in the game that can deplete Titan AM.

Nope. Each race has 1 capitalship ability that can do it, and the Advent were actually the last to get it with that Detonate Antimatter Rework. The TEC have EMP on the Dunov, and the Vasari have Disruptive strikes on the Kortul to do that. How the heck were you fighting titans without knowing that.

Unfortunately, Disciple's Steal Antimatter ability cannot be used on capital ships - and I'm pretty sure Titans as well. Only on opposing frigates.

Edit: oh wait that's been said already. Nevermind me then.

Steal anti-matter makes the disciples even more effective against enemy light carriers than the other light frigates.  With a little micro you can get SC superiority easily as the enemy can't replenish theirs as much.

With the power of the placebo effect?

No, but seriously, I usually play Advent and pretty much never get the Radiance anyway so I'm fighting Titans with my own or with bombers for the most part. Unfortunately, in terms of lack of variety, very few capital ships are viable in MP and generally getting away with using as few as possible, and only a select few, is optimal.

Yeah I get that, though it seems once that should the game stay competitive long enough that mid-high level titans start to get out, investing in a capitalship that can drain them doesn't seem like a big deal at that stage of the game. Though I suppose all those bomber swarms might make only the Kortul have a chance of surviving long enough to make a difference.

If the game goes long enough, and I get Mass Transcendence, then I'll add in Capital Ships for specific tasks like that - otherwise, a level 1 cap is pointless at that stage of the game. Anyway, this thread is good - I'm learning things.

My favourite techs as tec....

1) Remote sensor probes for the Arcova Scout. Puts a probe in the system the scout is in and lets you have vision there for the next 12 minutes (i think) if you research both levels. I try to have a few scouts running around doing this. Really good for early game

2) Terran planet population upgrades: Probably a lot more common, but a good boost to income early game.

3) Merchant docks: gives much more trade income than tradeports and no logistics slots required. Gives something like 6 income/sec if you get both levels on a sb, increases if trade-lines are set up.

4) Red button: This and novaliths is why I play tec . Gives ur starbases a special surprise for invading forces who aren't aware. Can let you counter attack hard if you manage to destroy all their frigates/cruisers. Also destroys strikecraft.

5) Favoured client discount - buy metal + crystal cheaper from the market. Tec is credit income heavy and this will save money over the long term if you buy a lot of materials from the black market.

6) Backroom deals: Lets you offer missions to pirates. Can really screw with peoples backlines as they are often undefended. Expensive though.

I don't care what people say I love Confluence of the Unity, yeah I wish it did more, yeah I wish culture was buffed etc, but even now with only one temple of communion the culture will fly down the phase lanes, I have been in multiple mp games where the player who was a noob obviously would panic at the sight of a culture wave, and this is viable almost immediately in game, I use confluence as path if you will for my fleet as I try to travel in culture as I get all my buffs that way, later on acclimation of will decimates the enemy allegiance and global unity serves spice things up a bit, as even if I loose planets its going to be hard as hell to colonize because culture just don't die

My personal favorite is the Advent Rebels' Protection of the Unity tech which drastically boosts shield regeneration rates when in your own culture.

Some things I love doing in the right situations...

1)  Spam LFs and Corvettes late game...sometimes you'll see VL players spam carriers and overseers without a whole lot of other ships...these two ships are great counters, move fast, don't require labs (in case you lose them to VL), and don't have the limitations that carriers do (long build times + squadron build times, AM being lost after each jump, slow, firepower vulnerable to JW)...its definitely a niche strategy, but especially if you are supporting an ally who has titan and bombers, this can be a great fleet to deal with late game VL...nice perk too is that by being fast, this fleet combo has better chance of catching VL or running away...

2)  Get 2nd akkan after Titan...if you manage to get both to lvl 6, you have 2 instances of armistice, which is awesome...happen to get one or both of them to lvl 8, and you have armistic almost indefinitely...because armistice has a range limitation, if you stay away from the enemy fleet then they don't get the invulnerability...this allows you to keep your ships immune to bomber spam, but still use your bombers and/or fighters with impunity...having the 2nd instance of armistice really is crucial to pulling this off though if you are facing massive bomber spam...

3)  Resupply/Docking Booms...it's not perfect, but it can be a godsend in protecting your carriers and HCs from AoEs like those of the Rebel titans...again, only useful if you know an attack is imminent from a Rebel player who is relying on their Titan AoEs instead of bombers for damage...

This is actually extremely handy against skilled VL players who still try the subverter + minelayer strategy...not universally useful, but it most certainly has it's place...

I'm suddenly thinking of all the possibilities when there's an Advent ally with Repulsion...

In terms of unloved techs, I have a liking for Eyes of the Converted - gives easy scouting of nearby neutrals, and enhances the Deliverance's attack-support capabilities by giving a quick scout before you make your move.  Also lets you keep vision after losing a planet.

Trololol has reached critical mass.

Now say something about Kol.

4)  3-5 Kols with GRG and AFF...the speed debuff actually stacks, and if you have enough kols, you can stop any titan dead in its tracks for a short bit...if they can't reach your fleet, and they can't really run, then they just become target practice for your bombers...

All Beam weapon upgrades for TEC

Beam weapon upgrade for TEC Rebels

Reason: Beam weapon add so little in overall DPS, that is not not worth spending the money.

TEC Rebels have little use for another damage level of beam weapons, while TEC Loyalist starbase and Ankylon could quite use it and dont get it.

the rebel Kol fleet will be using beam weapons. 

(well, the Loyalist starbase has them too, but a Rebel player would likely be building fewer as they go on the offensive.)

You realize that the Kol Beam weapons are more show than weapon, considering how little damage they do?

Yes, the Rebel starbase does profit from that upgrade, further reducing the gap in defensive capabilities between TEC Loyalists and TEC Rebels. Which imho is bad, because it basically removes the entire point of playing TEC Loyalist.

The Domina cruiser and its healing tech.awesome.

just trying to make a joke about a fleet of kols, but that is a shame.