Of Imperials and Republicans

[Lavo]

Alright so, the two factions I've been looking at recently (in terms of balancing and whatnot) are the Empire and NR. I'm asking people to post whatever experience people have with these two factions, whether it be playing as them or watching their AI. From what I can tell the former, while theoretically good on paper, has been under-preforming in reality. The latter appears to be fine, after the MC60, BAC, and Nebula were nerfed, though their cruisers appear to be not pricey enough, and preforms well as an AI due to the fact that all their cruisers are top-notch. Edited March 28, 2011 by Lavo

[NovaCameron]

From what I can tell is that the Imp cruisers are overpriced for what you get. They get wiped out quickly (the lower ones) and only the tartan is actually good but that doesn't show up till later. The Dreadnaught and ISDs are overpriced. While good on paper you can't get enough of them till later in the game. They don't seem to last in battle. So basically the imps have good ships but they are not balanced. Frigates are too expensive and weak while the only ships that matter are the ISDs and they are too expensive. Thus the Imps lag behind due to this price/performance gap. A player doesn't have too much of an issue with this as they can mass up ships and only pick the good ones. (tartan, dread, ISD) The rest are just useless.

[Lavo]

Actually, for what you get, the ISDs are not overpriced by any means, whether it be by price or supply, likewise for the Dread. Though I've slightly tweaked the top-tier cruisers (see: SVN Log) which should remedy this a little. The other cruisers, barring the Escort Cruiser, are indeed worthless however. I do get what you say by them not lasting in battle... Why this happens I am at a loss to explain, as it even happens with a human player (from my personal experience). Their frigates are indeed overpriced as well. I've also found that the Imperial AI never makes usage of Lancer frigates... Which is a shame as they are the best anti-fighter frigate in the game, save possibly for the Vong's Uumufalh.

 

Though one thing I'm wondering about, which a friend brought up to me, is the Imp's lack of a frigate/cheap colonizer, which may hamper the AI's colonization efforts early on, and thus effectively cripple the AI for the length of an entire game.

[NovaCameron]

That and I think you should take a look at the shields. I think they practically get wiped out easily on the imps but that's your area.

[Lavo]

That and I think you should take a look at the shields. I think they practically get wiped out easily on the imps but that's your area.

Agreed. The top-tier capitals (Venator, Providence, ISDs, and Nebula) all have the same starting shield restore rate and mitigation. They have 8000, 9000, 10000, and 11000 shielding respectfully. However, the ISD lacks the support of the Venator (as the Reps are all spam), the defense of the Providence (ECM ability), and the tech upgrades of the Nebula (more shielding), though this still does not answer the question.

[Lavo]

After giving the Imps a cheap colonizer, and running two test runs, I've noted that the Imps have done better, comparable to the other factions. Will do more testing on this later on.

[NovaCameron]

Yay! I've wanted a cheap colo for the imps.

[soul0reaper]

If you buff the current one with some more regen and maybe speed, I think it'll do fine. Imps do have a a bit of a slow start.

[Lavo]

The problem isn't the colonizer per se, it's how the AI uses it that's the problem. If I made it cheaper, removed it's fighters, or perhaps if it was on the first frigate page, it would be different. Putting in a new colonizer, from the few simulations I've done, and the one game I played (I ragequit because one of the Imperial AIs was destroying me :V), makes a world of difference.