cotwell

For metal, choose the Volcanic planet you own with the most asteroids, upgrade all the logistics slots to fill with trade ports, set them to resource focus. Then place a starbase, and get the two upgrades that boost the planet's allegiance (can't remember what the ability is called.) If you have more than one Volcanic with three or more asteroids, rinse and repeat. For the front line, don't forget the Mass-Disorientation upgrade to your starbases. (maybe this is obvious)

It's a little hard to imagine having resource problems with Vas - if you research extraction rates.. Vas has a real advantage here. I generally am constrained by income, not resources, playing V. The problem with using strikecraft to break through the defenses you describe is the hanger bay. If the guy researches the upgrade, he can disable all your strikecraft. {Talk about OP'd abbility}

If someone rushes you, he's vulnerable somewhere. You always need to have some fleet from the opening bell, unless you are shielded by allies from all comers. If he's got HCs, you've had time to get enough bombers to counter them. (hangars, carriers, SBs) If illums, use fighters (and you should still have had enough time to amass some.) But But you should also have a few cruisers (even just a dozen or so cobalts) to send in behind the rush and do some damag

I like the Akkan. I often start with it (though sometimes with a Dunov--the abilities of that thing are so darn useful.) But the Akkan is no Mothership. Just even on discounts, the colonizing discount you get with the Mothership saves you more (esp. in the long run, with planet upgrades) than one or two free extractors.

The general is right. Even at a chokepoint, the defenses you build will eventually be useless, unless you're fighting WWI, and the lines never change. In Entrenchment, starbases at least have some useful behind-the-lines abilities....

btw: econ rush works best with TEC. You can get trade ports early and maybe start with the carrier and embargo (I'd still expand toward the enemy so I could pull the carrier out to a friendly planet when things heat up.) Advent--harder to econ rush. I agree that the best way is to get illums out and expand.

For the Vasari thread, the OP's name is Anew.

1v1 is usually a pretty small map. I usually try to expand right into the enemy, because he's coming for me! For TEC, you need a cap with some firepower, I think, (marza?) and cobalts early. If there's time, I still like getting carriers out. For Advent, small maps are tough. The illuminator is still the best early-game ship for them (because the carriers are so expensive.) But you need 3 military labs to get them. I like to start with the mothers

Okay here's one. What's a good general open for Advent on non-accelerated start? Seems that drone hosts are enormously expensive to go straight to those tech 2, plus people can build a lot of flak and neutralize them, and 3 labs for illums at the start takes time, is expensive, etc. mothership--makes the logistics upgrade on those first couple of captured planets cheaper. have enough cash and resources to do that upgrade along with pop. it seems that with adven

you needs gobs of crystal to play advent well, yes. but in entrenchment you also need gobs of metal for starbases and starbase upgrades. so get a couple ice planets and a couple volcanic, and do resource focus on them.

did they nerf the repulsion ability, btw? it doesn't seem to be quite the bitch-slap it used to be...

also consider taking a progenitor as your free capital ship and using it to colonize. you get automatic reductions in the cost of upgrading your tax base, which reduces at each level of upgrade

I do like the synergies with other tactical structures too. Plus Advent gets tactical upgrades through research. So whereas TEC has a logistical advantage, Advent gets a tactical advantage perhaps?

I like the Rev as a time-saver. It saves time scouting, and it does seem to me to take down planets (at level 6) faster than the other siege caps. (Not sure this is right, but it seems that way to me.) Since I don't really usually build caps for firepower, but for support, I like this ship.

manifest dominion can be nice too. i was playing as advent against a hard tec ai who discovered this artifact, and its culture was kicking my butt until i went in and got the planet away from him

I started another game. With the Reverie ability on the lowest level, its range is evidently small enough that LRFs can still shoot at the target. At level 3, though it seems to knock anything that's within shooting range out of action. Does this sound right?

I have aproblem with the Reverie ability I'm not sure how to solve. I think it happens when the ability is at level 3. I can't remember if it's happened at lower levels. When I target an enemy ship with this ability, all my ships go catatonic as well--or they go off and try to do other stuff rather than killing the frickin' ship. I'm still playing 1.05. Is this what's supposed to happen? Am I somehow issuing wrong commands? Is there a bug? &nb