"Reforming fleet", how I hate yee.

And this is one of the many reasons I don't use fleets

More trouble than they're worth.

Same feelings here. If I ever need ships in a group, I just use Control+# groups.

                     Hate fleet command also. I only use fleets at the beginning of the start of an attack so that they kinda jump all together in stead of piece meal. As soon as they hit the grav well I disband the fleet and micro them from there.

edited cause of more info.

Ow also forgot to mention just hold shift down and right click every target you want destroyed that way less microing for you. Works great with fighters on siege frigs

                     edited cause of a double post

Heck, I just use the "jump as group" and don't even bother with that much.  As an aside, if you use my method and you're down to the last target but you want everyone to line up facing some other direction when you're done (perhaps to jump into the next system), select everyone, hold down <ctrl>, and then right click wherever you want them to form after that ship gets dusted.

Nice tips, thanks all!

And the fact that the auto-join fleet comes on automatically and sends ships all over the place, paticularly in the beginning when scouts are jumping out and your new light frigates follow, ugh...

far better use ctrl-1, ctrl-2 for grouping unit . I dun understand the benefit of making a fleet unless for style only?really annoying seeing a fleet dun attack a passing hostile units until the fleet leader attacks?

The only use I have found for creating a fleet is that it keeps my carriers together with the fleet.  Otherwise, they sit at the edge of the gravity well unless I make them move.  While some would say that's a fine tactic, I don't like to find out that a flanking maneuver has just wiped out 75% of my strike craft

I find that for Advent, fleets are a necessity for major battles, unless I'm just mopping up, then I disband temporarily.

I dont play TEC or Vasari very much, but when you look at how many of the Advent's synergistic abilities rely on close proximity, not forming a fleet is just madness.

So I decided to try setting my shipyard to rally on my Akkan, but no fleet.  It was like watching a school of fish in an aquarium!!!

I suppose it would make for good defensive stanse if I were to set my ships to not break formation to attack enemies...

I agree, but it can be frustrating because the ships are rarely attacking and instead are reforming the fleet. But for shield regeneration, you must have everyone so close. I also use fleets when there's a starbase in the gravwell. I put everyone on don't move, so that if I look away for a minute or two, my whole fleet doesn't attack the starbase and die, and doing only minimal damage.

Click on fleet leader and go into tactics and you can set formation to large spread.This lessons the reformation I believe.

Like MindsEye just said, you have to manipulate your fleet formation to suit the situation. If youre on offense, you typically want loose formation, so your ships spend more time shooting and less time reforming. If youre on defense, tight is the way to go. Also, you must CAREFULLY manipulate the position of the fleet leader, so that you know more or less the boundary at which your ships will stop shooting/pursuing and start reforming the fleet. In my opinion, a well managed (microed, if you willl) advent fleet is unbeatable unless vastly outnumbered or strategically outplayed.

Whats more annoying is when you select your fleet to move in a suns GW and they go UNDER the sun so far under that all 4 SB's are dead by the time they get back up c..c

heh