Hi!
I've been trying out MP with some people beyond my friends list and, quite frankly, I've been getting completely cheesed (especially 1v1) when it comes to defending against early game rush. The most common scenario that kills me off is the "corvette unit (for any race) and the light frigate (for any race) early rush". I've used LRF spam, to some success, but it seems that I've never had the numbers or the strength to overcome the swarm.
Some things I'm good at:
Establishing a strong early economy
Defending (turtling in general tbh)
Establishing a massive empire early on (Truce amongst rogues rush)
Some things that hurt me:
Usually put off fleet building until later into the game
Heavily invested into civic upgrades, not so much military
Cap ship composition
Some questions:
1. Does victory simply depend on the number of units you have in your fleet early game?
2. Are corvette spams really worth it?
3. General tips?
Any advice anyone can give me for countering the infamous Early Game Rush would be greatly appreciated!
Sins is a game in which play can vary a lot depending on starting conditions. The rush tactics favored by human players work best in close quarters situations, but in those situations they are pretty much inescapable.
To enjoy a less frenetic game, you need to insulate yourself from the other human player(s) with some AI players. 1v1 vs. 8AI, where the two humans don't start right next to each other, will let your longer-term strategies come into play. Or, if you don't want to use the Diplomacy research tree, just separate the human players at opposite ends/corners of a huge system with 100+ planets with plenty of room to grow before running into each other.
Under those conditions, the possibilities are endless.
When it comes to MP, the first 30 mins of gameplay usually determines the rest of the game. By that time, the players that are going to die have been identified (as in, there's already a larger fleet barreling down their front door) and fleets are starting to reach tier 2 or 3. Therefore, it is important to have a strong military early game, but this depends on your location. So, here's some general advice...
For Starting Fleet:
For TEC, the starting cap is usually the Marza because of Missile Barrage at lvl 6, which is incredibly useful against mass swarms. In addition, the Marza kicks out the most DPS at lvl 1 than any other TEC cap ship and is great at bombing planets with Raze Planet, which is useful in close combat to quickly rush an enemy roid or dwarf and catch your opponent off-guard. Downside with Marza is strikecraft, in which case you brought a knife to a gun fight. I personally always go Marza whenever I play TEC (which honestly has been quite some time).
Sometimes the Akkan is preferred as starting cap since it is colonizer for rapid expansion. Plus, lvl 6 Armistice is an excellent ability as long as you can micro-manage.
Spamming LRF's early game is pretty usual, as they have amazing range and are quick to research. The one thing that I see here of late is people forgetting the usefulness of Hoshikos. Back when I played TEC, Hoshikos made up about a third or more of my fleet because their mobile repair is different than Vas (Skintra or Overseer) or Advent (Domina). Again, it's early to research and cheap to produce, in addition to significantly increasing your fleet's durability.
For Economy:
The TEC have the best eco in the game. It's incredibly quick to research, so getting a good Trade system up and running is easy to do. However, depending on how close your opponent is, don't start trade because it will hurt your ability to create a strong military.
For your questions:
1. Not necessarily. You need to know how to counter properly. Since there are so many out there, I won't go into details, but if you have specific questions, feel free to ask.
2. Corvette spams are good for titan rush and to destroy constructors, but they are easily counter with flak or more corvettes. I have lately been using vett rush much more since I play AR, but you never want to have only one kind of ship in your fleet. Always have different ships within your fleet so that the enemy cannot build a single ship to counter.
1. Concentrate on fleeting up
2. Colonize the worlds which don't require research tech first (depending on the map)
3. Get 1 trade ports and don't forget 1 culture temple to get allegiance income as your first ever investment. Throughout this time u must build 1 trade port, produce 6 to 7 military units then build another port.. etc.
4. Never go all eco if its not your positional role but balance it with military.
I recently played 1v1 against a hard AI on a tiny map (with 12 planets or so). You don't get a chance to develop an economy or do much research. You'll be continuously attacked by lots and lots of units and you have to keep building simple ships and keep countering waves and waves of ships. You'll have to be very careful about spending credits on research, trade ports and on building a Titan. I think such a game will give you plenty of practice in countering rushes.
I have recently heard that the hard ai is the exact same as the normal, just with an economy boost (like a times 3 multiplier for all resources). Now, if you want to practice against rushes with ai, then be sure to put it on aggressive/offensive setting, not on random (which could place it on defensive, which would not serve you're purposes well).
I dont understand what this "rush" deal is. More often then not it is the standard opener used by experienced players.
Yes, nowadays standard opening is to hit your closest opponent hard and fast. And, yes, the term "rush," as you said, Sin, is essentially a general opening. However, to new players (like the one who created this thread), that "standard" strategy is still tremendously overwhelming when all you're used to is playing with AI. Ask any new player how long it takes them to get a titan up to lvl 3 - if they can successfully build one at all - and you'll quickly realize that they are used to playing a game that is anything but the games on our multiplayer community.
To be fair I learned how to counter "rushes" just by playing cruel ai...
Doci starbase rushed my homeworld in my first game on ICO (5s). After some self-muttering and swearing quietly at noone in particular, i decided to make more ships and make them faster the next game!
Things like Marza abilities and mass produced vettes would appeal to anyone who plays tec.
The only way to counter would be to put a lot of distance between the players-as HLT said- and to develope your science and economy. I have always gone with science-then-civic research and switching to ports so you can afford the many fighter/bomber craft it will take to disable all those vettes and other tec ships that can do much damage early game.
The only way to get them off your back is to side with a storng military player early game and hope you can survive until you can get enough money and fleet.
Who is it this time? Mecha? Radio? Qu4r?
One tidbit of advice....don't try and counter LFs and CVs with LRFs and flak in the very early game...you are better off just spamming LFs...throw in corvettes only if your opponent starts coming at you with LRFs...
Military techs are your friends...as TEC, laser upgrades and hull upgrades are the first to get...their armor upgrades are also low level and perfect to grab once your first fight has already started (remember that armor techs apply instantly while hull techs only increase max HP, not current HP)...
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