Darvin3

Reply to Endgame Strategy in Strategy Sins Forums

[quote]I know the quick solution is build on every planet and slowly annihilate him. But the issue is that that's not quick and probably wouldn't fly in a me vs. human game.[/quote] That will work fine. If you've reached the point at which the AI is constantly running away from you, then in multiplayer a human opponent will likely surrender. We don't like drawing out the inevitable for hours on end like the AI, and the experienced players know whe

Reply to So many near-perfect records on ICO... how? Very intimidating. in Sins Multiplayer Sins Forums

The win/loss rate is unreliable. You can count the number of games played to get a general sense of the experience of a player, but otherwise the community is small enough that we go by personal reputation.

Reply to strike craft/bomers vs. star base in Strategy Sins Forums

If there isn't a large frigate force standing right next to the starbase, you shouldn't have any risk of losing a capital ship. A starbase's single-target damage just isn't high enough to really threaten a capital ship if you have [i]any[/i] form of healing available at all. It will beat you eventually, but if you're quick about it then that's not a big deal. If you're not willing to risk your capital ships, then leave them behind the rest of th

Reply to Is the Destra Crusader worth using? in Strategy Sins Forums

Yeah, this discussion is so horribly old as to be moot. Heavy cruisers have all received buffing since this thread was made, and the illuminator has been substantially weakened, so the relative standing of the destra within the Advent faction is now [i]vastly[/i] elevated. The introduction of faster speed means it's much easier to reach T5 than it once was, so the unit is more realistic earlier. It's basically become the bread-and-butter of Advent fleets. My

Reply to Orgovs are severely Overpowered in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]I guess I just intuitively have a problem with scouts having serious combat roles...I'd rather see, for example, fighters be the go-to counter against LRFs instead of scouts (or flak)...[/quote] The problem is carrier cruisers are not really viable this early in the game. There is a definite need for a briding unit to fill the void of LRF counter until carrier cruisers become practical, and the scout fits into the niche perfectly. [quote]I just am not co

Reply to Orgovs are severely Overpowered in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]It simply is not a good idea to weaken the Advent scout without some change to LRFs...[/quote] Keep in mind I was also arguing for a reversal of the 1.19 damage nerf. So Advent scouts would be less durable than they are now, but deal more damage than they do now. More punch, less staying power. In terms of raw combat metrics, it's a nerf, but for key strategic roles it's actually a buff that would make Advent very competitive in the opening game.

Reply to new ideas and critisisms about the games in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

I'm with Seleuceia on that one. It's an interesting idea, but games already [i]do[/i] come down to ownership of one or two strategic worlds.

Reply to Orgovs are severely Overpowered in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]I know the Advent is Hp heavy--what changes would you suggest just per the scouts? I'm interested if ya wanna respond.[/quote] Okay, my opinion on scouts is somewhat contentious. I believe the scout nerf in 1.19 wasn't for the best, and their damage should have never been lowered. Instead, the Advent scout needed a significant reduction to its durability. Something like 300 hull (from 400), shield to 350 (from 425) and armor reduced to 1 from 2.

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

Basically that's the only step you'll always be taking. Unit selection and proportions, as well as your tech strategy, should be based on scouting. There are just too many variables on a random scenario. Even a "small" scenario may mean anywhere from 2-5 jumps between homeworlds, and the intervening planets will greatly affect your approach.

Reply to Core Game Mechanic Suggestions, Long Standing Complaints, and Realistic Concerns in Sins Diplomacy Sins Forums

Here's one I keep forgetting about: Make trade vessels invalid targets for a "follow" command. I can't tell you how many times I've told my units to move to a gravity well, but a trade ship jumped at that exact moment so I ended up clicking on its icon instead and my units end up following a random trade ship.

Reply to Professional view on personal wishes in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]and in terms of what human players could do with it.[/quote] I mean abusing technical aspects of the implementation. Whenever you have something that is very technically complex, players will use it in strange ways. The concept you've described is [i]extremely[/i] complicated from a technical standpoint, and would require probably dozens of boundary case conditions and behaviors, any one of which could be used creatively in ways that can outright break the game.

Reply to Orgovs are severely Overpowered in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]why not create the equivalent of an open source project and create a running mod that is expressly for play testing balance changes in the vanilla game? [/quote] This is what Project Equilibrium was last year. It's since added new content to the game, so it isn't strictly a balance mod anymore. Overall it was a great experiment and we got to see a lot of changes in action. [quote]And on the subject of Vasari...would not making only Vasari sc

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

[quote]So how good is the defense vessel?[/quote] The defense vessel isn't alone in being great. The TEC Garda and Vasari Sentinel both work exceptionally well. The Garda is the toughest of the three, the Sentinel has a wicked special ability plus phase missiles, and the defense vessel has the best damage output of the three. Overall, though, they're all superb units and back in 1.18 it was the Vasari Sentinel that was squeeking out wins against massed Advent

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

Auqia is definitely a strong Advent player. [quote](does it work against strike craft as-well and up-link with javelins?)[/quote] Doesn't work against strike craft. Javelis don't even need uplink to out-range it, but you can still push them around. This can be useful for splitting up the enemy forces, covering a retreating unit (great for keeping capital ships alive) and pushing enemies into range of units like destras or defense vessels.</

Reply to Question about Vasari in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]The reason I like having a few LFs is because they're much more effective than scouts at taking out the neutral LF at asteroids[/quote] If you have a chain of asteroids, then go with assailants. They're cheaper, they deal more damage (plus bonus damage to light frigates), only require 1 lab, and are far superior combat units when you merge them with your fleet later. You're going to want one lab for repair platforms anyways. [quote]LFs can also b

Reply to Orgovs are severely Overpowered in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]Nice to hear from you again Darvin. Perhaps time to boost the economy threads again with a patch incoming?[/quote] Or Rebellion, for that matter. [quote]Can't agree that a colony frigate nerf would boost Vasari, after the very early game Vasari are the faction that uses them the most![/quote] I guess we'd need to see it in practice. On maps pockmarked with neutrals, Vasari already are going to town sniping out colony frigates with their scout

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

[quote] whom in the development team actually believed the advent was a race that can stand toe to toe with the others during multi-player games?[/quote] As of version 1.18, Advent was [i]dominating[/i] the other factions in military battles, and it took a lot of expertise to beat Advent with either TEC or Vasari. It wasn't impossible, but it was very similar to how playing Advent against TEC or Vasari feels today; an uphill battle with a hint of masochism. <p

Reply to Orgovs are severely Overpowered in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]The concerns about phasic trap seem legitimate however[/quote] Whether or not hangers get a buff, phasic traps need a nerf. This ability, if tweaked a bit, would be something I'd expect from one of the new [i]Titans[/i]. Single-handedly shutting down [i]an arbitrarily large fleet of strike craft[/i] is something more powerful than any capital ships currently offered. If this ability gets a target cap, then we're probably in the clear. [quote]A

Reply to Question about Vasari in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]Also, what's the ideal fleet setup for colonizing early-game? I usually make a Jarrasul Evacuator + 8 light frigates to clean up quick, but I don't play online and haven't really learned any strategies. [/quote] Don't touch the light frigates; total waste of money early-game. They're good against Advent T0 spam, carrier cruiser rushes, and massed flak tactics, and that's it. The AI will never pull any of these, so they're only useful for

Reply to Professional view on personal wishes in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]Ships will not be cloaked when an enemy ship or fleet is present in the gravity well. Ships will only be cloaked to enemies viewing with a Probe, culture or keeping an eye on phase lane movements.[/quote] The remote scouting techs are already pretty limited to begin with (except for the Vasari one, which is an end-game T8 civic tech and really [i]should[/i] be awesome). This would be a massive amount of development effort to create a specialized system that... might not e

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

[quote]What would u guys change or delete from the hostility tree or what is needed in the harmony tree?[/quote] Hostility tree is fine. The harmony tree needs something worthwhile at the 4-7 lab level. A nice buff to resource focus to make it actually usable would be a great start.

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

Kortul and Halcyon are probably my favourite capital ships aesthetic-wise.

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

Besides the brute force approaches of lots of bombers or destras with guardian/progen (the latter of which is just asking to take a boom-base to the face), not too much.

Reply to Free Karma to answer advent question.. in Strategy Sins Forums

Advent has relatively weak and inflexible openers, leaving them vulnerable to a well-played pressure game. Their capital ships are all-important to them, but die relatively easily to Assailants and Javelis, and they lack a solid answer to these unit types in the early-game. Their strong late-game synergies are largely negated by Vasari's phase missiles and TEC's overwhelming economic and military muscle. They're still a very graceful faction, but you need to pl

Reply to Orgovs are severely Overpowered in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]because it's equivalent to 8 scouts in terms of firepower[/quote] Only if you're actively micromanaging them. If left to default behavior, strike craft usually net about half their potential DPS. Beyond the point that scouts can respond to trouble in multiple gravity wells, there is the issue that hangers cannot retreat from battle. If the enemy arrives in force, your hangers become casualties. Scouts, on the other hand, can fleet and surv