VL early game survival strategy

I'm vasari loyalist player and i played many hours in single player and now started to play on ironclad. My strategy is to research STTC as fast as i can, it usually takes about 15 munutes and trying  to colonize many planets by two evacuators. I usually play in medium large,large, huge maps only and acctually defeated many players. But today i played 3 games and in each of them, my opponent send corvette/frigate and one cap ship fleet into my planets in about 5-11 minutes and i can't defend from his attack, because i don't have any weapons lab, so i can't build starbases, my cap ships are away-trying to colonize planets....

So what to do ? If I build weapons labs first and research STTC in late game, then it won't be so amazing playing with VL... I like VL, because of STTC, it brings hole new play style.

11,992 views 13 replies
Reply #1 Top

Your strategy is only going to work if your opponent is bad.  Most players, even cautious ones, will see you have no defenses and will attack you.  Aggressive players will roll right over you. 

Your best bet is to probably tie up a defensive chokepoint with a Starbase so you have some time to strip worlds that are farther away from the frontline.  This is still probably not a great early game tactic because your economy will drop off as soon as you are out of easy to get worlds.  You would generally need some allies to provide a safe haven for your STTC raiding fleet to operate from.  The way STTC was powerful in multiplayer is when your allies can keep enemies busy while you strip available worlds and send part of the money to your allies.  For this to work you have to keep your fleet supply very small so you don't lose STTC income due to fleet upkeep.

 

Reply #2 Top

The other possibility is to play larger multistar maps where you have time to STTC before you have to fight.  Just remember you have to snowball fast and keep finding worlds to eat.  If you sit around too long, someone with a regular economy will become too strong to attack and you will lose any advantage you might have had.

Reply #3 Top

If i correctly remember,  I played with you Cykur today, i'm mei...  yeah, probably allies support is best choice for me, i like to have 6-7 cap ships, 25-30 carriers and 10 overseers afther 20-25 minutes, i just need to stay alive for first 15 minutes...

Reply #4 Top

Multiplayer is all about reacting to what the other player is doing and countering it.  Unless you are sheltered in the "econ" spot between frontline allies, you need to be prepared to fight.   Frigates provide the most bang for the buck early game before capships level up and have a chance to level the playing field with special abilities.  It is pretty common to see fleets of 100 mixed frigates pretty quickly, and if you just have only been building caps, they are going to get chased down.  Multiplayer really teaches you what works or what doesn't, and a big part of the strategy is trying to make the jump from early game frigate spam to a balanced late game fleet.  Best advice is to watch replays and see what other people are doing.

 

Reply #5 Top

I build only cap ships if i'm VL, when i play as advent I alwayes make LF and corvettes in early game as they are very cheap than vasari frigates.  It looks likes, that, i won't be able to use my tactics any more, because i will loose most games against experienced players, STTC is very fun, but barely you will use it effectivly in multiplayer :(

Reply #6 Top

I think, for vasari, starbase is only defence choice for early game, because frigates are expensive... But, do i still need to make some of them ?

Reply #7 Top

Actually it's possible to make some frigates instead  of second cap ships, but i'm not sure if it's better choice

Reply #8 Top

Frigates are always the better choice over the second capital ship usually in the multiplayer setting.

STTC is still very viable in multiplayer especially if it drags on into late game but not for making yourself completely mobile.

Rather it is for a scorched earth policy of not bothering with defending newly captured planets and just stripping them.

Reply #9 Top

Most of it has already been said but I wanted to echo Rovert's comment - STTC is not viable early game against experienced players but it is still a great option for later in the game when you know you won't be able to hold certain planets. Think of it as a late game bonus to your economy. You can capture new planets and move on elsewhere and then strip the planet as enemies waste their time moving towards it to try and recapture it - just be mindful of how long it takes to strip it so you don't lose it beforehand to planetary bombing.

Reply #10 Top

Vasari really relies on their starbases early game because it is very easy to get overwhelmed.  You could possibly make a 2nd capship if you were going to do an early starbase strategy, but for the most part you will need frigates.  Just don't fight and lose them all if you are badly outnumbered, instead go to your defenses and fight from there.  Vasari are the most challenging to play early game because they run the risk of either being overwhelmed, or bottled up behind their starbases in a few systems.  It is very situational to what the other guy is doing.  If you see a good chokepoint, you can secure it with a starbase, but if you build too many starbases too soon, your fleet won't be big enough to fight. 

 

Reply #11 Top

Ok, thnx all, I'll experimenting and change my tactics a little bit, to learn how to survive on very early games.

Reply #12 Top

It all depends on map. If it is rich in neutrals and you are able to hold them you can do pretty much whatever you want if there is none you will have to play defensively against advent players. 

Reply #13 Top


I'm vasari loyalist player and i played many hours in single player and now started to play on ironclad. My strategy is to research STTC as fast as i can, it usually takes about 15 munutes and trying  to colonize many planets by two evacuators. I usually play in medium large,large, huge maps only and actually defeated many players. But today i played 3 games and in each of them, my opponent send corvette/frigate and one cap ship fleet into my planets in about 5-11 minutes and i can't defend from his attack, because i don't have any weapons lab, so i can't build starbases, my cap ships are away-trying to colonize planets....

So what to do ? If I build weapons labs first and research STTC in late game, then it won't be so amazing playing with VL... I like VL, because of STTC, it brings hole new play style.

End of quote

 

It will be a while before you learn how to play and get use to military eco builds. There very systematic but not as complex as starcraft builds. The thing to remember is one of your frigate factories should always be building units ( military ) and your eco should always be growing steadily -never halted- then to exponential growth when u build trade ports. if you can achieve a balance between eco and military growth then you are in a good position to wipe out any opponent.

 

Researching heavy can get you killed..

ecoing heavy can get you killed..

defending heavly with starbases and static defense can get you killed..

military only builds can get you killed...