Advent: Impossible to beat?

Dunovs with EMP blast! No energy, no shield bubbles Micromanaged Cielos are also good, since you can target paint things you really need to kill quickly for extra damage.

Once you zap away their energy and the shield bubbles drop, make sure you have the tech that gives your LRM frigates splash damage researched, and unleash them on those clustered up frigates!

Late game, TEC have little chance of betting Advent - in multiplayer.  Since you are playing against AI, I think you just shouldn't have let the computer get that far advanced. 

My personal opinion is that Vasari (or Advent) is the best race to beat Advent.  For Vasari, getting phase missles upgraded helps a lot since Advent are shield dependant.  I would also get subverters, which will lock down all of the ships you just mentioned, minus the caps. 

As TEC and late game, you need to have a better economy and just Nova Cannon the crap out of him and keep building insane numbers of ships.  Hopefully you will win by attrition.  If you can, getting the Akkan to level 6 might help you because Armistice will make them stop firing at you, which will give you a chance to take out a few of their ships.  The support cap (can't remember the name) also has the EMP charge, which should help out immensly as well.

As people have mentioned, the Dunov is great for neutralizing Advent abilities.  This works better against the computer, because in multiplay a Dunov has a life span measured in seconds when you put it too close to an Advent fleet.

Make sure your frontline worlds have multiple frigate factories and heavy defenses.  Use carriers to raid, and pull back when he attacks.  Don't try to face his main fleet on his terms, make him face you on your terms.  Meanwhile, use couple Marza's with some backup to raid like mad anything that isn't well defended.   When you finally get your Novaliths up, just keep blowing up worlds while forcing him to deal with attrition. 

Build 3 frigate factories on your forward planets and just spam whatever ship you need at the moment.  Your econ should be able to support several factories to replace your huge losses.  Between attrition, raiding, and crippling his econ with multiple Novalith canons, you can beat an AI.  An equally skilled human player is a lot tougher.

Don't worry, TEC are getting some small gains in 1.1, and Illuminators are losing about 10% of their damage output.  Combined with the strikecraft boost, TEC shouldn't have as hard a time with Advent anymore.

Get a Couple Sovas (or better yet, a fleet-load of Percherons) and tempt them to attack you. I've noticed, if you ever attack an AI Meduim or above, they attack you in turn.

Raid one of their planets and do some damage. Retreat. I suggest getting 20-50 Percherons and two or So Sovas. A Marza or two would be great to back  up the Javelis' long range abilities. Two to three Kol could be on standby. once the frigates are pummelled, move them in with frigate escort. If one of the enemy caps is a Carrier, get a dozen or so gardas to defend your caps.

A couple Dunovs with EMP Burst would be good too as stated above to cripple their frigates. Adn remember, keep your carriers and LRF's safe! If you lose just one LRF it could mean defeat. The best defense is a good offense.

And always make sure their attacking you. Home Field Advantage.

Even though they're said to be good only against AI, some Gauss Cannons can take down a dozen or so frigates.

Doing it all as fast as possible is always key. If you abolish most of the enemy fleet but your planet is still being raided, fall back to the nearest planet and recuperate. Build even more defenses, more ships, etc:.

And always be prepared to get attack and overwhelmed. I had to learn that the hard way

Post your fleet composition.

In all likelihood, your choice of ships and numbers may have been the issue.

I've never had an issue with Advent in end game situations, but I quickly learned to build balanced fleets, and what numbers worked and what didnt. A lot of it is practice and trying different things.

So if you post what you had, people can make recommendations to offset any weakness's in tactics.

Also, where did the final battle take place, your planet or the AI's ? If the Ai's, then what structures were present ? Battle tactics need to change depending on where your fighting, and what advantages are in place for the home team. Likewise, if the battle was at your place, what structures did you have in place to give you a tactical advantage ?

Yes, post your fleet composition.

Absolute bollocks.

LRF are some of the expendible ships in TEC fleet since they are cheap and quick to build = pump out replacements quick.

My advice - gets hoshikos and cobalts into your fleet - they disable and steal anti-matter respectively with the tech upgrade (not too many cobalts though). Throw in fighters and bombers off of carriers (which are not affected by guardians) and you can start eating into their fleet without even getting close.

Culture is another useful method - it won't blow up ships, but will 1) give you anti-matter a recharge boost (TEC) and 2) kill a planet over time and 3) slow down the rate of production on affected enemy worlds if you research the tech for it.

Are you British?

The Bollocks Part hinted it

Live in Australia actually!!!

Its just a great term to use - everyone thinks it is rude, but it isn't

I see.

Anyway, the only way to beat the Advent is not just by numbers, but superior tactics and more researched techs.

With TEC , you should hopefully have an economy thats greater then advents.

If your in late game , for single player...I would see +150 - 200 credits per tick as normal.

Because fleets are capped at 2000 , the key for high econ TEC players to win a fleet v fleet battle is reinforcements and make sure they dont just pile up back at your shipyards , make sure they move straight to the battle. . So even if your losing more ships then the Advent player , your replacing them quicker then the advent.

12 kol battleships with upgraded gause cannons and 4 carriers should out number any battle ship fleet. this is because the advent base their numbers on unmanned fighters and bombers so when you look at the numbers they out number you.my trick is to form an alliance with the vasari early in the game because their weapons are closer to advent tech, this is because they are not projectile weapons like the tec. also vasari ships are no longer warship based because their people live on those ships which in future battles tec ships can kick their asses.

I have found that if your going to have 16 capitals in 1 fleet, your better off with 3 of each and 1 extra of 1. Then each ship type supports the others with their unique abilities. Any large fleet without 3 Dunovs is vulnerable.

but stil its not the ships that cause the greatest damage with the advent its their large numbers of air support with all thos aeria drone hosts ive recently been using my 12 Kol battle ships (Upgraded to be heavy weapons themselfs with gause tech and i have been using them as bomber support carriers then the 4 carriers are upgraded to have increased fighter upgrades and to contain 7 figter squads each this is the stron point of the minimal fleet

(1)the fighers clear away enemy fiters/bombers from causing death and destruction

(2)our bombers then destroy key targets such as drone hosts,heavy criusers,any long-range weapons and battle carriers which later on helps divert the fighters assist the bombers in attacks

(3)the main battleships use gause upgrades and enhanced shields an weapons to give them a chance to hit them in their newly created weaknesses

if their sheilds are nocked off line upgraded armour will give atleast 10mins worth off battle time before having to leave to prevent critical damage depending on how many attack at once

(4)always have cobalt frigates and krosovs standing by ready to fight these may look weak but they have hidden talents beyond upgrades

the dunov battleship temporarly desables weapons which is useless because their weapons are energy base so even without power 4 a while the can just make up 4 lost time whereas cobalts in small groups can deplete anti matter sources preventing special weapons giving Tec projectile weapons the advantage(i would rather go 4 cobalts their cheaper,more expendable and it doesnt give the enemy one target

i agree in my opinion of observig enemy movements they depend on one scource for their ships their CAP planet abit like our plans whereas if we need more closer construction areas we build more whereas they dont so thats their weakness their home world get the quikest route their avoid a standoff(create a diversion with a medium force) then obliterate their central world

CUT OFF THE DRAGONS HEAD AND IT WILL DIE FAIL YOU WILL MAKE IT WEAK BUT EVEN DEADLIER---BE WARNED

Tips:the sun masks incoming ship signitures,try worm holes,sun to sun travel,turn dead asteroids into forts with defence platforms and hangers(helps by diverting direct fleet invastions of key areas

I don't use aerial drone host. I use Illum + Guardian and Halcyon for air support.

I don't know about other versions, but in 1.05, the Sova can only field 6 squadrons at level 10...

I see a number of ways those four points can be countered, but this isn't the thread for that.

The Dunov has no abilities that disables weapons (though I suspect you're talking about Magnetize, which disables abilities and makes strike craft collide with that ship given they are close enough). Weapons that are energy based are no different than projectile weapons in terms of ease of disablement: a Hoshiko can disable a Crusader's weapons just as easily as the weapons on a Kodiak (unless that Hoshi is owned by the same player which owns the Kodiak).