Every game I've played online has been a horribly 1-sided stompfest. We're not talking like oh wow I killed his cap ship, he resigned. We're talking I have 2000 pop, he has 150, or I lose 0 units, he loses 3 caps and 50 frigates. Time for the community to learn how to play this game properly.

Illums suck. There, I said it.

Why do they suck so much? Let's go over the details.

Illums split their dps 3 ways. Their single target dps is crap. This means any attempt at microing the useless turds is wasted, as you get higher dps output charging into melee range and wishing them good luck. This is even more true when you factor in shield mitigation. So, it is clear from this argument that Illums must melee to be at all effective.

What does this imply? Several things. First, why are LRMs (TEC specifically) so good? IT'S BECAUSE THEY HAVE DOUBLE THE RANGE OF Illums. Even if they DIDN'T, they'd still be the superior unit. 4 supply to 6, HALF as much crystal to create, and BETTER single target dps. If THAT'S not enough (and oh god it should be), their armor type DIRECTLY counters the poor Illums. Illum does 75% to the LRM, the LRM counters at a full 100%. So, in a straight up fight, the LRMs CRUSH the Illums. Yes, CRUSH. Even IF the Illums magically manage to close that enormous distance, the LRM player has the OPTION of just warping out after wiping out half the Advent fleet, OR staying and finishing off the forces.

So why are Advent good? Because of ridiculously powerful shield regen (mothership) and the shield mitigator cruisers. The Illuminator, is crap. It's total, unmitigated crap. The heavy cruiser (Crusader), if you bother to actually run the numbers, it far far far superior as a dps source. It's not even close. But, because the game is new, many players are confused about how to play the factions. So here it is, the ONLY way to play the factions, and I DARE anyone to prove me wrong. Note, this is for 1v1 only, and there's a brief 2v2 strat that is COMPLETELY 100% UNBEATABLE. As in, unless you KNOW it's coming and HARDCORE counter it, it will ALWAYS win.

SO PAY ATTENTION.

Tec: 1 cap ship (mazra or Kol 100%), 2 civil for trade early (medium maps only), 2 military for LRM, spam LRMs til they forfeit. If they get fighter/bomber, make flak. LRM/Flak is not counterable early game (Flak not needed unless they have Fighters). Tec should never lose a 1v1 on a small map, ever. 2v2, Tec always goes trade early, feeds his ally if ally is not Tec, pushes/pressures his opponent while his ally (Advent or Vasari) techs to super ships.

Advent: Only one reason to play Advent -> Cap ship + shield abuse. Get your Radiance early to counter any other cap ship hardcore (antimatter burn is ridiculously OP). Then, build whatever you need to secure bases. Build Illums if you have to, but Disciples are quite strong early. Eventually, get the Mothership (NOT OPTIONAL) for its superpowered shield regen. 3rd ship should either be another Mothership or the ship with +10,20,30% damage. Both are powerful. Get yourself some guardians, and then some source of dps (my favorite are crusaders). Then go kick some butt. You're basically unkillable unless they build shield disruption. EVEN THEN, you're still hard to kill, and you pack a big punch. As always, ignore fighters/carriers, flaks counter them COMPLETELY.

Vasari: NOT VIABLE 1v1 on most maps. Why? They suck. End of discussion. Their assailants are weaker versions of LRM, their cap ships suck, their special abilities suck. Viable in 1v1 on larger maps, for the same reason they are the BEST 2v2 race. Why? Fast rush that Dark Fleet. You can Dark Fleet off of TWO colonies, including your home. That's home planet + asteroid ---> Dark Fleet. Figure out the build yourself, but suffice it to say, with enough phase missile turrets, nobody can kill you early game, and late game is just ugly. 2v2, have your Tec ally feed you and watch the fun. It's. Great. Fun.

Now, if you think these builds are somehow wrong, feel free to prove me wrong. But, they aren't wrong, because people don't really look at stats. They just think "WOW this game JUST came out, so it MUST be balanced." WRONG. 99% of all games come out horribly unbalanced, and need to be fixed asap. The other 1% have no multiplayer community to find the unbalance.

For instance, Dark Fleet needs to have a pop cap (as in, you can only have 100 or 200 Dark Fleet ships total in your current fleet), and Vasari need a buff to their midgame force (and early game force, skirmishers suck).

At the very least, now you guys KNOW what builds I run, and HOPEFULLY present some sort of reasonable challenge before folding like little rag dolls. Thanks for your time.