1v1 strategy - replays included

from Sins Forums
(this is a re-report of an old thread, but this time i put it where i intended it to be and i played a couple more games and so have more replays posted)

I have been playing this little game fulltime since launch now and so far i have been preferring 1v1 and FFA and i do good in team games too. In 1v1 and FFA i have not been defeated yet.

In one v one i go mostly for rush or atleast i secure my power and rush a little later.

In the beginning i:
-buy 200 crystal
-upgrade population on my homeworld
-build capital shipyard next to frigate yard and a crystal extractor
-que a missionary and a scout
-que a metal extractor and a scout
-and the last metal extractor
if there is one next door i go to the next first asteroid with my cap and the migrator at once, the cap kills the siege while the migrator takes fire and it blows up before it gets the chance to undo my colony
-if there is an asteroid nearby i go there next or i go clear an ice/fire planet for cap experience (send in cap first so it takes all fire, and destroy LRM's first)
-if advent/tec i que up light frigates untill i hit the fleet maximum if vasari i tech to assailants and max out my fleet capacity that way.
-if tec/advent i will tech for trade ports before or after spending 3000 credits on more light frigates and from there on what i decide to do just varies too much with every random map i get.

-if vasari i focus on getting a forward planet nearby enemy to build shipyards to quickly reinforce the front with advent/tec i prefer to get 9c/s going from trade ports before spamming more frigates or military research. If the enemy is any good i may try to stale and tech up the tech tree for an edge over his military (tec support cruisers that heal hull with LRMs, advent illuminators with shield support cruisers and subjugators or the vasari assailant ability upgrade that gives extra range)

If you want a more graphic idea of what i usually do download this replay pack
It has 2 replays of me playing 1v1 with each faction (6 recordings total). unzip the recordings
if you have
WinXP to: C:\Documents and Settings\XXXXX\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Record-MultiPlayer (where XXXXX is the username you use to log in)
or Vista to: X:\Users\XXXXX\AppData\Roaming\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\RecordedGame (where X is the harddrive you put windows on and XXXXX your username you use to log in)
and go to your singleplayer menu and hit the watch recordings button and they should all pop up like popcorn.

Any comment apreciated as well as anyone that may be capable of defeating me, i would love that for now because it would be something different and will provide a challenge/excitement/stimulation. (I also want to know how to whisper someone on ICO who is not playing with me.)
----
addition: i played a couple more games and it has some pretty challenging ones.
Download StartPack2 uploaded on 13/02/08

(will make edits to put more replay packs into this thread as i go along and play the game)
have yet to be beat in 1v1.
strategy
8,914 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Ok, so i watched your TEC startup and most of it seemed good; it mirrored alot of what i do (although to be honest, that is quite standard.).

Choosing a Marza Dreadnought as your first ship is not the best choice. You can micro your Radiation Bombs, but if you really want to put the enemy in its place i would reccomend the Akkan for its Ion Bolt and colonize (cant forget Targeting Uplink either), or the Carrier cap ship for its fighter support which alot fo people cant defend against in the early game; plus you get a free missile frigate for a first ability, and thats quite nice for TEC spammage.

I also thought it was interesting how you went directly for the planet that had the most pirates on it, luckily they ffed your Dreadnought and you didnt lose any Cobalts. While they're easy to replace, it hurts your wallet when youre surrounded by 3 ice planets. To be fair as well, your opponent in this game got a MUCH nicer set of planets to work with from the start gate, so you were technically at a disadvantage.

Here is my sole piece of advice on your strat in this game, which in my opinion was mostly good.

Do not spam Cobalt Frigates. You were lucky you were up against a TEC player because a Vasari player would have torn your fleet apart. Your opponent made the fatal mistake, and this is something you should learn from as well; researching LRM frigates. LRMs are powerful SOBs and can rip apart your average ICO light frigate spammer's fleet in a quick manner, i seriously suggest researching them as soon as you can. I would like to see you play on a different map style with a better set of planets so i can see an actual strategy take form; Ice/Volcano planets severely gimp early game. Oh and please let me reiterate, dont choose the Marza Dreadnought first.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
if you have seen only 1 rep you havent seen much at all
i just discovered the damage/armortype charts and will be using those to improve my game.
Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I have gotten pretty good results from early Marzas myself. It's well suited to aggressive early gameplay; even level 2 raze planet lets it destroy 1500-hp colonies in short order.

Some math:
Raze Planet level 2: 320 damage/45s -> 7dps.
Bombing: 56.5 damage/10s -> 5.65 dps

-> about 2 minutes to kill a colony.

And Radiation Bomb is an impressive anti blob ability.

In fact I like those abilities so much I almost never take the incendiary passive...
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
I would disagrre about not going Marza first, As far as TEC capships go the Marza outputs about the same DPS as the Kol, and the Akkan isn't all that special, Ion does come in handy sometimes, but it eats a lot of Antimatter to keep it on a capital ship, Also the Akkan moves slower then the other capital ships reducing your time moving through gravity wells, and if your up against a Kol or a Marza, your Akkan is going to have to turn tail and run sooner because of it's speed.

Like you said LRM's are a life saver as TEC they tear through light frigate spam, and if you take the Marza you can research Missile tech that benefits both your LRM's and your capital ship.

Anyway going through the math is killing my brain at this Hour, but the Marza is very Front heavy DPS, which means in that killing a single target it puts out something like 46.5DPS(only counted front guns as i'm not sure if Left/Right have interlocking fire arcs with the front guns) Incindiery shells give 100% chance of +3 +4.5 and +6 at each respective level in bonus. Radiation bomb gives +7 +14 +21 for 5 seconds(cooldown 12) and initial hit dmg of 125,250,375

Where as the Kol only has a front Load DPS of 23.25. And if i count in Both left and right dmg, Assuming they ahve interlocking arcs of fire on forward targets it only increases to 40 and thats if the firing arcs lock.

Kol gauss Rail is the only offensive ability, and it does 300,550,800 (cooldown 6)

My pick everytime is the Marza, unless i'm going balls to the wall then i Pick Sova with Embargo.

(my math might be wrong, i am pretty tired, think i covered it though)

Does anyone know if Left/Right arcs are able to hit targets directly infront?
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
i used to use the kol as my first before, but ive switched to the marza.. if u like rushing, and especially harassing enemy planets and infrastructure, its nice because of its siege abilities, plus it's FAST..

(it may also be due to the fact that ive switched from normal game speed to fast, but in normal i still noticed the marza was faster and more manoeuvrable)

kols have better armor and maybe better direct fire capabilities than marza, but not by much.

my 2c
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Hi,
Anybody know where these replays are stored on a stardock central download in install.
Thanks!
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
The Marza can be disabled by an Akkan's Ion Cannon, along with the fact that Akkans can colonize. Sova Carriers are always incredibly useful because of their missile batteries that can help turn the tide in early game fights, along with the fact that it will help you clear stubborn native pirates in an easier manner.

The reason i choose the Akkan over the Marza is simply because of its utilitarian nature. Colonize, damage increase, and Ion Cannon (a disable, a damage bonus, and a planet grabber) all make for a pretty nice combination and some quick painless expansion.

While the Marza out-DPSes the Kol, the Kol is a much heavier Battlecruiser with alot of tanking abilities. While i would never choose the Kol first as a Flagship i would still consider it second in line for its ability to soak up massive amounts of damage while the rest of my fleet tears my opponent apart. DPS isnt ALWAYS everything.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
The relatively small disabled period provided by the Akkan and it's abilities Antimatter cost means it can't be kept on the ship and even while it's active The akkan+ supporting fleet can't kill your Marza early on.

And in Multiplayer the Kol's tankign abilities are largely overlooked simply because heavy "tank" units are targetted after the supporting arms of your fleet are dead
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
politicalpunk i'm not sure what you mean
the link to the 2 zips with the replays are in the originel post.

you can find replays on the official server here:
https://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/downloads.aspx
my replays won't be there.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
What I mean is that my replay folder, the place I would stick these replays, is not where you indicate it should be. I am just wondering where the replays are stored when you install the game through stardock.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
search your harddrive for: "Record-MultiPlayer".

In the game under the watching records tab use the button at the bottom left to check all the record types (singleplayer/multiplayer)
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
I am also an Arkkan user, but this discussion has been very fruitful so far. Colony ships aren't that much after all. I was under the impression that the Marza's top gun was planet bombing only. is that the case?

I'll try out this strat next time I play and see where it leads me. I usually go for a couple scouts with sensor upgrade and figure out where I am and what I'm dealing with.