As a long-time fan of the Sins of a Solar Empire series, I want to express appreciation for the technical improvements and potential Sins II brings to the table. However, I’d like to raise a serious concern about the current state of TEC ship design—specifically, how underwhelming and one-dimensional it feels compared to both previous iterations and expectations.
Right now, the TEC fleet feels like it's built entirely around autocannon brawling. From frigates to heavy cruisers like the Harcka, everything is centered on short-range, forward-facing firepower. This drastically limits fleet-building creativity and forces engagements into a narrow, inflexible doctrine—charge in and hope for the best.
The TEC should represent rugged versatility and industrial might. In the original game and in successful mods, TEC had options:
Sins II currently lacks this diversity. There’s no meaningful long-range ship in the TEC lineup. No heavy missile cruiser. No proper artillery vessel. No real incentive to play the fleet tactically. Mods have already shown how much depth can exist within the TEC framework—so it’s frustrating to see the core game so limited in comparison.
I urge you to consider adding:
Sins of a Solar Empire II has massive potential. But TEC deserves more than a wall of autocannons. It deserves fleet variety, tactical identity, and unit roles that reward strategic thinking.
The Aeria-class is underwhelming, and it’s the only attempt at long-range support. TEC needs more than just brawling autocannon boats—it needs real fleet variety and tactical identity.
Is this trolling or serious? You claim the TEC is built around short-range forward-facing firepower, that there's no long range missile ships, no broadside cruisers, and no (utility) support ships.
What of the Javelis missile cruiser? It's a long a range missile cruiser akin to the Vasari Kanrak Assailant, or perhaps the Advent Exoria Illuminator. You also have the Ogrov Torpedo Cruiser, but that's a fairly niche ship. And of course there's the Marza Dreadnought whose Missile Barrage just has insane range! The TEC aren't missing out on the missile front!
Likewise the TEC isn't devoid of utility ships - that's the Hoshiko Robotics Cruiser's very role! The Hoshiko repairs HP and, when upgraded, resupplies antimatter - something the TEC often run short of. Then there's the Dunov Battlecruiser which offers shield recharges (Energy Transfer), EMP Charge (shield and antimatter depletion of foes), slows enemies (Magnetic Singularity) and amplies these powers via Overcharge. There's also the Akkan Battlecruiser which allows you to colonise planets, increase reload speed to surrounding friendly ships, acts as a trade power, and can prevent combat in a radius of 18,000!
While there's no Napoleonic era broadside cruisers, it's not really a viable design. It doesn't work for any chase or escape scenario, it requires ships stand and shoot at one another. It'd also require vessels with either half the firepower of their foes - with the total firepower split between sides, or twice the firepower of foes - charge into the middle of the enemy them shoot both directions. Both would be grossly unbalanced in a cruiser. The Akkan Battlecruiser actually does have this design, though it's a capital ship rather than a cruiser so I'm not sure it counts for your purposes. It has (or had?) the lightest armament of any capital ship in the game, and worse, this firepower was split between port and starboard sides, with the default behaviour having the ship turn to fire the port side at the enemy. The Advent Progenitor Mothership is perhaps roughly comparable, a colonisation and support ship - it offers AoE shield regeneration, boosts Unity - possibly useful early game but dangerous to rely on lest it be destroyed, and resurrection of corvettes, frigates, and cruisers.
The Aeria-class drone host is the Advent carrier cruiser. Not sure Why you're talking about an Advent carrier in a criticism of TEC ships. The TEC has the Percheron Carrier Cruiser. A TEC fighter squadron can do more damage than an Advent squadron, though the Advent bomber squadron is better than its TEC counterparts. On the other hand the TEC uses missiles at range rather than beams at close range so ...?
The reality is the TEC relies on autocannons, gauss cannons, and missiles, with missiles being least commonly found on vessels.
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