I'm new to playing rebellion and I'm working on mastering loyalist t.e.c.
One of the key components playing loyalist t.e.c. seems to be balancing the size of your defensive fleet (which is, inherently, weaker than a lot of other races if you're focusing on economy and static defense) with the need to reinforce positions when you're attacked.
Essentially my question is this: By the time someone else's first titan is produced, what should be the composition of your static defenses (starbases as well as gauss cannons/hangers/repair etc) and your fleet, and how much effort should you put into developing each to maintain a good balance?
By the time someone else's first titan is produced, what should be the composition of your static defenses (starbases as well as gauss cannons/hangers/repair etc) and your fleet, and how much effort should you put into developing each to maintain a good balance?
The time it takes for titans to come out can vary greatly. But I'd say you shouldn't even have starbases at that point. The only exception might be if you have one choke point that covers all attack points one enemy might use against you in order to use most of your fleet to attack another player. Obviously its your choice on how to play, but many new players over invest in static defense because they do not feel confident in offensive action until late game when they are fully teched up. If this is the case, I'd encourage you to try and build starbases only when strictly necessary.
The most important defense structure is the repair bay, especially as TEC. 40 hull/sec restoration is huge, and can stack with the repair cruiser 20/sec. If you have a choke point under serious attack, you should have enough of both to keep your starbases and capitalships under that 60 hull repair at all times. A phase jump inhibitor is also a good idea to make sure you inflict a crippling blow once your opponent does attack. You may want one hanger for fighters and the flak guns to help thin out bombers or to chance down rogue siege firgates. You shouldn't build many Gauss turrets except early game to help clear out militia or if you don't have room for anything else.
Flak frigates, repair cruisers, and the Akkan battle cruiser (backed by LRF) are by far the best ships to have backing up your defenses. The first two have already been explained. The Akkan is amazing at extending the range of your Starbase so that only strikecraft can out range it. Any LRFs you have nearby will also have their range boosted so they can comfortable attack from behind defenses.
If your opponent decided to counter this with strikecraft, this can be one of the few cases where its really worth while to get a Kol with flak burst.
I've fought only one player who used the TEC loyalists for anything but early Novaliths. Basically, he rushed double starbases to take advantage of the TEC trade upgrade he put on them, which gives the TEC Loyalists theoretically the highest economic potential of any faction. He then planned to hit me from Novaliths from afar to ensure he'd win the war of attrition. However, this only worked because it was a random small map 1v1, with easy choke points and very long distances between players. I don't think he would have won because he avoided getting a titan, and Advent Rebels are extremely powerful fully teched up, so long games worked to my favor as well, but I'll let you be the judge.
"I've fought only one player who used the TEC loyalists for anything but early Novaliths."
So early nova rush (making sure to defend it, of course) is what you should do as tec loyalist? Be honest here: is tec loyalist even worth playing in multiplayer or should I find another race?
In my experience novas are pretty weak compared to the things available to other races... to get them you need to dump 20k+ credits at a time when other people are trying to gain a fleet advantage, and to defend them you need starbases or a comparable fleet.
At this point it seems like a tough sell : /
"I've fought only one player who used the TEC loyalists for anything but early Novaliths." So early nova rush (making sure to defend it, of course) is what you should do as tec loyalist? Be honest here: is tec loyalist even worth playing in multiplayer or should I find another race? In my experience novas are pretty weak compared to the things available to other races... to get them you need to dump 20k+ credits at a time when other people are trying to gain a fleet advantage, and to defend them you need starbases or a comparable fleet. At this point it seems like a tough sell : /
I could be wrong, but unless you're playing 1v1, no. The biggest handicap they have is really their titan. Disruption matrix just doesn't have the killing power of other titan AoEs, so this means you have to rely on a level 6 Marza if you want to have strong fleet killing power.
That said I think you're underestimating Novaliths. Yeah they're expensive, but Novalith deregulation helps with that a lot. If you're playing the large team games of competitive multiplayer, TEC loyalists in an economic position can be a great strategy. I've seen plenty of games end after a team gives up after a super weapon construction warning. Also, if you're not on the front line, that Novalith will easily pay for itself as the entire enemy teams will have to construct starbases with axillary government on key worlds, let alone what the Novalith debuff actually does. Of course you need to have the fleet power to protect them, or be far enough away from the front lines, but if you can they quickly pay for themselves.
The Loyalists other main thing, double starbases, gives them a great defense in putting red button starbases on phase lane entry points, as well as gives them the largest potential economy once you put trade ports on those starbases. But this comes so late and requires so many resources to pull of you probably could have won with a fleet much sooner, so that's why its only useful on large 1v1 maps.
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