Note:  Please add this guide to "pinned"

Foreword

The more I play the Multiplayer, the more I notice that many players, including the ICO frequenters, do not fully understand what capital ships are available, what they do, and how to use them effectively. This guide, or, to say better, a review, is mostly oriented for players who understand the game well enough. By the latter I mean players good enough to play in most 5v5 skilled games. However, newer players will also be able to gather some knowledge from this review.

That said, I would like to mention the ranking system I will use in the Guide. In all categories, the worst rating is one star (*) and the best is five stars (*****). Also, this Guide is about 5v5 games, but is applicable (with obvious reservations for map conditions) for any Sins game.

• Hummer's Overall Rating, or HOR, is the general author's rating of a specific capital ship.
• Agro Spot Rating (vs. TEC, Advent or Vasari), is the rating of ship for agressive position (where you have an ally on one side and an enemy on another) vs. Vasari, TEC or Advent, respectively.
• Suicide Spot Rating, is the rating of a ship for a player in suicide position ("double" situation, an enemy on each side and both attack you).

The Agro Rating is divided into three subcategories: rank for early game, mid-game and end-game. The eco spot ranking is not provided because you always go the colonizer cap in eco spot for maximum efficiency.

Overview: the TEC Capital Ships

TEC capital ships are, generally, more straightforward than their alien counterparts. Whilst this, obviously, limits the "synergy" possibilies, especially later in the game, TEC capital ships are still very powerful if applied right. Their "ultimate" level 6 abilties are generally stronger than those of the other races. Moreover, human capital ships are tough. Add the cheap and early armor, best repair platforms and very cost-effective early repair cruisers, and you will get the flying tanks. On the other hand, most TEC capital ships are rather reliant on reaching level 6 to be effective and game-changing. So, let us look into them deeper

Kol Battleship

"No One Will Pass Through"

HOR: *****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. TEC): Early game: **** | Mid-game: ***** | End-game: ****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Advent): Early game: **** | Mid-game: ***** | End-game: ****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Vasari): Early game: *** | Mid-game: **** | End-game: *****

Suicide Spot Rating: ***

General:

A powerful warship who proves to be more than a match to the very popular Marza Dreadnought. Recommended to more skilled playes who are confident in their micro.

Abilities:

Gauss Rail Gun (****)

All battleships ingame, namely the Kol, the Kortul and the Radiance, have some sort of ability that cripple the enemy/increase the ship's firepower. Gauss Rail Gun inflicts less damage and the abilites of other ships mentioned above, but it has a very useful bonus. It decreases the speed of the target by 100% (referring to the game mechanics, by 50%) and it stacks for each shot. So, if you have the antimatter left,  you can slow down the target (usually the enemy capital ship you want to take down) to near-zero speed. If you can add the TEC Loyalist corvettes to it... Huh. Later in the game, when fleet grow, this bonus becomes more significant. Auto-use is OK, but mind that the ship will run out of AM in a few shots.

Flak Burst (****)

A very poweful late-game oriented ability. There is not so much strategy around it: move the Kol close to the strikecraft and activate. I strongly recommend manual use.

Adaptive Forcefield (*****)

In 99% of all cases, you shall prioritize this ability over the Rail Gun and the Flak Burst when your Kol gets another level. It makes an already tough ships even tougher, especially vs. Vasari bombers and, to lesser extent, corvettes, as both use Phase missiles. I recommend manual use in general, as the AI tends to activate the forcefield anytime the Kol is hit, even if the attacker is a fighter.

The Ultimate: The Finest Hour (*****)
One of the best, if not the best, ultimate ability in the game. Grants repair and AM regeneration, roughly quadruples the frontal damage output (for lasers and beams) and grants splash damage for Kol. The splash is very strong, but to use it, your Kol must be near the enemy. However, given the ship's unbelievable survivability, it is neither hard nor risky. Moreover, this ability cannot be interrupted (though the ship can be disabled or it's other abilties can be disabled while the Finest Hour acts). Manual activation is recommended, but is not crucial.

Seleuceia's separate opinion on the Kol:

GRG has a short duration and requires you to face target. Both of these make it rather difficult to effectively slow an enemy ship for a decent amount of time. I don't really think this tactic is particularly viable without a high level Kol -- you have to line up several shots, have the AM to fire lots of times, and you aren't actually resetting the speed of the ship or preventing it from turning/jumping. This ability mainly is just a small contributor to DPS, and can be helpful at sniping an Orky while it's constructing.
Also, Adaptive Force Field is terrible until lvl 3 and lvl 4. Not only are the damage reductions pathetically low (especially with Sins math), but the duration to cooldown ratio is terrible at low levels. Do the number crunching, you will find this ability does not really contribute that much to the survivability of the ship until you have a lvl 6 Kol that can combine the HP/AM regen of Finest Hour with lvl 3 AFF. I would definitely not rate this ability at 5 stars.
If I were to rank this ship, I would put it at around 3/2/5 stars for early/middle/late game (it actually should be higher vs. Vasari because of Orkies) and I would rate GRG/FB/AFF/FH at 2/5/3/5 stars. It has a DPS edge in the very early game when fleets are small and sniping Orkies is crucial, but beyond that you are using this ship solely for flak burst in the late game. It has to be high level (at least 5 or 6) to be a factor in a decent size battle, which further relegates it exclusively to the late game.

Sova Carrier

"The Nightmare of the Early Eco"

HOR: ***

Agro Spot Rating (vs. TEC): Early game: ***** | Mid-game: *** | End-game: **

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Advent): Early game: *****| Mid-game: *** | End-game: **

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Vasari): Early game: **| Mid-game: **| End-game: **

Suicide Spot Rating: ***

General:

A good ship for very early rush, as it can decrease a planet's income and has LR Missile Batteries. Besides that, a very average capship at best. It needs a buff and a big one.

Abilities:

Missile Batteries (***)

This ability is great early, but as the fleets grow, these batteries become just another drop in the ocean. AI uses this ability OK, given its low potential, there is no real need to use it manually.

Embargo (***)

Again, great early but rather useless later game, when the enemy eco grows. Rather good for doubling, as it slows down the enemy construction rates.

Heavy Strikecraft (**)

Oh, if it applied to the entire strikecraft fleet in the gravity well, than it would have been the one of the best abilities in the game. Hence it affects only the Sova's fighters and bombers, it is useless.

The Ultimate: Rapid Manufacturing (**)

Good, but definitely not for the ultimate. The times of Sova Carrier have gone dark in Sins Diplomacy, this ability is just another sign of that.

Seleuceia's separate opinion on the Sova's ultimate ability:

I would however rate the ultimate higher, maybe 3 or 4 stars, because of how it boosts planet build rates. 250% boost to ship production can allow you to amass a massive fleet in a very short period of time; it's not game-changing, but it is definitely worthy of more than 2 stars.

Akkan Battlecruiser

"Deep Space Worker"

HOR: *****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. TEC): Early game: **** | Mid-game: ***** | End-game: *****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Advent): Early game: ****| Mid-game: ***** | End-game: *****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Vasari): Early game: *****| Mid-game: *****| End-game: *****

Suicide Spot Rating: *****

General:

The TEC Colonizer capital ships is probably the best in the game. The colonization ability itself isn't very good for the eco spot, but is excellent for agro, as it gives free extractor(s) and increases the income from them. That is great for contested planets!

Abilities:

Colonize

Ion Bolt (*****)

Disables anything but starbase and titan for a short time. The target becomes non-functional. I don't think I need to explain what bonuses it might give, with skilled use. Dead capital ships, disabled abilties, etc. Strictly (!) manual use.

Targeting Uplink (*****)

Increases weapon range and chance to hit (Read: damage) of all ships in the area of effect. The bigger the fleets grow, the greater the effect becomes, which is, basically, a very rare situation. I recommend prioritizing it over Ion Bolt after you got a level of the latter.

Seleuceia's separate opinion:

I think Targetting Uplink is overrated; it buffs range and accuracy, which actually are only relevant in a select few situations. Range is only going to help if you have ogrovs or LRMs and you are facing a starbase, and even then some of the AoEs can hit you unless you have really high level. The accuracy is only useful for flak or corvettes shooting at SC or if you are suffering from an accuracy debuff (vertigo or asteroid belt). While the flak/corvette thing is nice, the range is kind of a killer since your frigates may easily be outside it while hunting down SC. The ability isn't useless, but definitely not 5 stars, maybe 3 at best.

The Ultimate: Armistice (*****)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the gold colour to highlight this ability. It is the best (I repeat, the best) capital ship ability in the game. It renders the ship and everyone near it invulnerable for a minute (a bit more on level 2), so it cannot be disabled, interrupted or interfered with by anything.

Xenoceptor's separate opinion: It is worth to get Targeting Uplink before Ion Bolt, as it helps early game, particularly vs. Vasari starbase rushes, and you will probably not need Ion Bolt that early.

Dunov Battlecruiser

"Sipporting the Right Cause:

HOR: *****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. TEC): Early game: *** | Mid-game: **** | End-game: *****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Advent): Early game: ****| Mid-game: ***** | End-game: *****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Vasari): Early game: ***| Mid-game: ***| End-game: *****

Suicide Spot Rating: ****

General:

Dunov is a great support ship, useful from the start till the end. It also allows you to be more unpredictable and grows stronger as the fleets become bigger. A very important feature. Moreover, this ship is rarely a priority target!

Abilities:

Shield Restore (****)

This ability becomes really useful later in the game, at lvl. 3-4. Then Dunov can keep your and allied capital ships, starbases and titans for very long, thanks to good range and Dunov's giant AM restore rate. OK on auto-use.

EMP Charge (*****)

The best ability on that great ship, has massive AoE. Kills shields and antimatter, very useful when you fight Advent. Renders Malice inoperable with the right use. Auto-use is usually sufficient.

Magnetize (*****)

Disables abilties, but also make the target ship a "magnet", which causes the nearby strikecraft to collide into it. Can deal extreme damage late game, but requires high micro to be fully efficient. Manual use is strongly recommended.

Seleuceia's separate opinion:

I think Magnetize is overrated, it has a target limit of 8/11/15/18 (at 25 damage per hit), and is prone to simply distorting the motion of SC rather than successfully flinging them into the target. Late game, the damage is negligible even if you are lucky to get the max amount with lvl 4 Magnetize.

The Ultimate: Flux Field (****)

Decreases all abilties' antimatter cost by four (~ five on lvl. 2) times. Very nice for Ragnarov titan, Kol Battleships and basically any unit with powerful, antimatter-costly abilities with low cooldown.

Marza Dreadnought

"Wait... How did my HW die sooo fast?!"

HOR: ****

Agro Spot Rating (vs. TEC): Early game: ***** | Mid-game: *** | End-game: ***

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Advent): Early game: *****| Mid-game: ***** | End-game: ***

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Vasari): Early game: *****| Mid-game: ****| End-game: ****

Suicide Spot Rating: ***

General:

A dreadnought with incredibly high frontal damage output, planet-killing ability and a good ultimate, which can kill the entire fleet in half-minute if the enemy isn't careful. It isn't really tough, which is the main weakness of Marza and the reason why it got four stars on HOR rating.

Abilities:

Radiaton Bomb (***)

Does some damage, and AoE DPS, but costs 85 AM, which is much for an antimatter-starving ship. Still, most players use the Bomb, as Marza doesn't have any "active ability" to use for space combat before level 6.

Raze Planet (*****)

Absolutely levels planets, very fast. Nothing more to say!

Incendiary Shells (***)

Great vs. Vasari starbases or in other long-term 1v1 fights, otherwise it is rather useless. I have never seen this to have a big effect on the battlefield.

The Ultimate: Missile Barrage (****)

The Missile Barrage can do incredible damage, but it is channelling. It can be disabled, you can run away from it. Marza can't move while this works. However, if you don't face a pro player, the Barrage is the best way to finish the game fast.

Corsev Battlecruiser

"The Ship for "Industrial Espionage"

HOR: **

Agro Spot Rating (vs. TEC): Early game: *** | Mid-game: **** | End-game: **

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Advent): Early game: ***| Mid-game: **** | End-game: **

Agro Spot Rating (vs. Vasari): Early game: **| Mid-game: **| End-game: **

Suicide Spot Rating: **

General:

Vulnerable, too reliant on Demolition Team and with weak ultimate ability. However, it can capture the enemy frigates permanently; they will not have any "researched" abilities available for you to use.

Abilities:

Boarding Party (***)

It allows to capture enemy frigates and cruisers, but, unlike Advent Rapture's Domination, it requires a hell of a micro to do it. That said, you better focus on microing your LF in combat.

Demolition Team (****)

With right use, it can kill enemy frigates instantly and massively. Unfortunately, has a target cap.

Salvage Operations (**)

Repairs the Corsev from the debris of your killed frigates. But generally the cap needs such repair when it is attacked, and not when the frigates are attacked. This ability isn't too weak or useless, but it can hardly be micro'ed to full potential.

BigWeirdo's separate opinion: You can scuttle your own ships to heal the Corsev, that makes Salvage Opeartions much more useful than I write.

The Ultimate: Elite Crews (**)

In the navy, when a vessel has Elite Crews, they basically stay there longer than 75 seconds. That said, this ability could have been good if these crews would be given to the target either permanently or for a very long duration. Otherwise, this ability is a sad excuse even for a frigate.

I am open to your comments and welcome feedback!

Sincerely yours, Hummer!

NB: Opinions of skilled players will be added to the guide. Feel free to write one!