TEC Rebels: What Cap Ship First?

It always depends on your starting position on the map to be honest. Generally the Akkan is the best starting cap, no matter which TEC faction you play. If you are in a borderline position, the Marza, Dunov, Corsev and Sova can all be good choices if you are able to handle them to their full potential.

Akkan is the all around safe choice for its economic boost from colonization, plus the highly useful armistice if it survives to level 6 later. If you're fairly close to an enemy homeworld, Sova and Embargo still work wonders, and as a carrier cap it probably destroys militia faster than the others. The Marza isn't great at first, but if you get it to level 6 fairly early you can have a devastating unlimited target AoE attack before titans come out. And the Corsev has a weaker but if you micromanage well still useful unlimited target AoE, though you'll need to sacrifice a Corvette or boarded ship to use it.

I only disagree with Teun on the Dunov, its pretty fragile for an early game cap and really shines when supporting titans or a capitalship battlegroup. It's certainly a good cap in Rebellion, but maybe not early on.

Yet you are right it is best used as a secondary capship or in a titan support role instead of as opening capship.

I feel if you need a corvette counter the Corsev works much better, since that won't just affect shields and does much more damage. Also the Corsev is possibly the most durable cap in the TEC lineup with a self repair ability.

I've played alot of frontline Tec and I usually go for the marza. The Dps is the highest of all the Caps and the planet bombardment skill is really good so u can clear worlds fast so u can move on.

I also suggest scuttling the Capital ship factory instantly so you can get 2x mil lab 2x factory

I have never considered the marza because I never really encounter enemy planets for quite a while.  But that makes since if I was right up against them.

Akkan is the best but for some reason I always build a Kol first. Colony ships just don't have enough antimatter to colonize planets fast enough against a very aggressive AI (the Akkan does). I generally build my first capital based on which one I want the highest level first. A high level Kol paired with a high level Dunov is a mean pair. The rail gun and flux field do a lot of damage(but not AoE) and the Kol is a fairly tough ship(I think it's max armor and hull are the highest besides the Corsev?). The Marza has a very good "ultimate" ability with it's missile barrage(very good AoE). It depends on your tastes and fighting style.

While the Kol and Dunov are a great pair, having a strategy that relies on 2 high level caps is not usually a viable one competitively. Besides, with the TEC Rebels you have something far better: the Ragnarov and a lvl 6 Dunov. Snipe kills Gauss Rail Gun in every way besides a slightly longer cooldown, and its something you can pull off with a level 1 titan. Plus you can use it from far away, making it safer for your Dunov.

Also while the Kol probably is the toughest one, base stats are not what really determines the "tough" capitalships. The ability of a cap to heal itself is far more useful than its base stats, hence why the Corsev and Kortul are great tanks thanks to Salvage Teams and Power Surge. The Kol technically has one with Finest Hour, but again that's a level 6 and the Marza or Corsev would be far more useful in its role unless you're fighting tons of strikecraft (which you won't early game).