Strategy Tips for borg assimilate

posted on February 9th, 2013, 5:34 pm

Hi guys been playing fleet ops for a few months and im totally hooked. Thx to all who made A2 playable as multi-player and then some

As the subject says im looking for some tips on how to play the assimilate avatar. I have tried and basically given up resorting to the optimise avatar instead, which i am learning fast (could do with some help with counters thou) and hence not just hooked on FO but playing the borg

For me the borg are about assimilation and I would rather play the assimilate avatar but i feel there is an early game disadvantage with the extra cost to chassis over optimise and feel that a game can be over before i can even get to the assimilators where the assimilate benefits start.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated on the assimilate avatar and/or counters.

posted on February 9th, 2013, 6:44 pm

maybe you take a look in our bible ... i mean guide
http://guide.fleetops.net/guide/strateg ... assimilate

sadly im not such a good borg player so i cant give you any more help but the last time i played arash and old_time_pro were ( afaik ) two of the top borg players around. maybe they can help you

posted on February 9th, 2013, 7:55 pm

hi lexxy thx for the quick reply. I've read through the FO bible and found it to be a must read for strategies and info for us noobs and i've used it with good success with the optimise avatar.

I suppose what im asking for is strategy tips on how to utilise the assimilate benefits for assimilation rather than destruction alone. But still open to any tips and counters for both avatars.

posted on February 10th, 2013, 6:06 am

Personally, I don't think the assimilate avatar can be extensively used the same way as you can play optim, the higher chassis costs are just not fit for ship numbers, and as the game progresses you will get less supply because of your supply stations and you won't have a recycler to feed from.
So, when I use assim it's always an assim-rush. Assims are great, they aren't terribly expensive and you can vary them quite a bit, from scary pure combat assims with torps of death to assim-assims that suck the life out of fleets with low crew numbers. Assiming yards is always fun too, unless it happens to you. Especially with an ally tanking for you assim-assims can really do damage.

Now, it takes a small while until you will be able to field the first assims, and an early loss is quite a devastating blow to you with this strategy. Luckily a given enemy can't do any real damage to you early on since the borg have such strong miners/builders, even without the optimise bonus. Still, assims are slow and you'll have to know when to retreat as everyone and their brother will be able to catch up with you.
Have you checked the replay section? I'd think there are a few vids with assim-gameplay there if you are unsure about how you'd handle the ships themselves.

As you progress and you notice that the enemy has adapted to your assims or is about to reach a critical mass it is almost to late since you can't "adapt" very well, despite being borg. If you have a surplus of CC's you can build pyramids which have the nanite factory special and can have lots of tractor beams (which work much the same as auto-assim beams, only that they lock the vessel in place too) or even regen modules. Iirc the pyramid has the same speed a sphere does, but it's regen is not as powerful as that of a regen sphere. Personally I have yet to find a great use for the pyramids as they are kind of spheres with more holding beams, but they could technically replace spheres that you would build as optim.
Oh, the nanite factory special is useful. Don't underestimate it, it draws about 10% crew from all enemy vessels in range which not only makes assimilating easier and defending against it for your opponent, but if used multiple times the enemies crew levels will fall into the yellow pretty soon, reducing the damage you take by a lot.
You know about the crew levels? Low crew levels reduce rate of fire and subsystem regen speed. green crew = 100%, yellow 50%, red 10%. Fed gets some boni on subsystem regen on undercrewed ships.
Building other ships as assim is always associated with the higher cost you will have to pay then with optim, so I recommend only building special-use ships for your support. A Scube or Adaptor for your cloak detect can work wonders if used correctly, but keep in mind that they will always be targeted first and need to be carefully microed behind your main fleet of assims. Dodes have the ability to recharge special energy which has obvious uses with assims, but the second special of theirs only works on ships with holding beams installed. Pyramids work nice with that, even if by then dodes are a little bit fragile in that stage of the game.

Of course, you can use the fact that small borg ships will be targeted first to your advantage and build some probes, scubes and whatnot to tank for your assims. Despite their scary and long health bars they are relatively weak and really rely on the fact that the enemy consists of a number of scattered, undercrewed ships, half of which is constantly scurrying back to the yard to recrew or repair.
As optim, the assims themselves are noticably weaker and cost a couple CC's more. Since they are halfway between an adaptor and a sphere, you should settle for one of these instead. Imho, the assim doesn't even need to be a build option for optim. Prove me wrong!

Edit: Here's a replay. It shows pretty well how important it is to keep on the pressure as borg, how you benefit from fighting scattered, isolated ships, assimilating stations and the importance of tanks for the assims which also help putting the DPS on those ships that are not going to get assimilated. Added shipnumbers also help boarding.

posted on February 10th, 2013, 10:57 am

about the pyramid. yes it's the same speed as the sphere, also it is medium range. it can install a max of 2 regen modules, granting basic regen capabilities.

as assimilate i suggest the following build to try out: 2 regen modules, 1 holding beam, then the last is either nanite for extra tanking or torp for extra dps.

earlier in the game make sure you get at least 1 dode with 2 vinculum modules. that will grant the dode the ability to recharge large amounts of special energy to any ship with holding beam (i use it on RRRH spheres as opti as well).

a pyramid as i described can be recharged by such a dode and can be a powerful tank instead of a sphere. the pyramid's hitpoints are good as well, easily beating a sphere (RRRH or RRR Prime) at a cost which isn't significantly higher in dil/tri/sup, the main cost is CCs. this pyramid has similar HP as a (more expensive) diamond.

posted on February 10th, 2013, 12:21 pm

...
Edit: Here's a replay. It shows pretty well how important it is to keep on the pressure as borg, how you benefit from fighting scattered, isolated ships, assimilating stations and the importance of tanks for the assims which also help putting the DPS on those ships that are not going to get assimilated. Added shipnumbers also help boarding.

Correct. (btw. i was the orange Assim, WarpCore was the purple Opti)

The replay shows as well how important it is to scout well (he didn't follow the cons and got suprised), and that always going for a WarpIn hybrig is not a valid option.

For the Assims themself: go for double assim module (maxed as assim avatar), and i recommend beam or torp module.
I prefer the beam module at start for the damage reduction, and due torp miss ratio vs the Monsoon (at start he can still get them out before i can assim them, but you want to put some pressure on them (damage)). Keep your Cons & Scout nearby for better transport capabilities.
You don't have the numbers, you will have the option to assim one vessel / station, and shoot on another one - make use of it (as enemy player obv. be good at transport wars - Nebula did really well)
Last but not least: do not try this against any average or above Dominion player, or against any Borg oponent.
The "nanite factory" module sounds fancy, but is a waste at start.

About Pyramids: In larger team games (3v3+) they're quite nasty. As fast as a sphere, but stronger. Only downside is the higher CC requirement... i wouldn't go for nanite or holding though, i would go for a plain DPS / regen pyramid - at mid / late game state you either want to tank, or to reduce the number of enemy vessels as fast as possible.

just my 2 cents.

posted on February 10th, 2013, 12:40 pm

i wouldn't go for nanite or holding though, i would go for a plain DPS / regen pyramid - at mid / late game state you either want to tank, or to reduce the number of enemy vessels as fast as possible.

just my 2 cents.

sadly you always need at least one of nanite or holding, you can't build a brickbuster pyramid.. regen is capped at 2, torp capped at 1. that leaves the 4th slot, which needs to be either holding or nanite. to me that has to be 1 holding, the nanite grants more hitpoints and a special, but the holding lets you recharge the pyramid with a doublevinca dode.

in a team game, if you want a pure tank, consider ditching torp and going RRHN for extra hitpoints. your allies will need to be doing all the destroying, and one of them should have a special that will give you a way out in a pinch, eg is bomb from dominion, or several polaron fields from klingon, or nanites from another borg, or sovvie engine killer (late game), romulan sensor jammer gives a little help, higher ranked griffins can disable engines, so they are a possibility.

posted on February 10th, 2013, 1:46 pm

You're right Myles, i had a beam module in mind, but i guess my memory was wrong.

Anyways, the double Vinculum Dode kinda drains the ressource you need the most with Pyramids: CCs. And i've never seen it being used well in any game (Pyramids are usually rather rare as well though).
Not sure if it's really a valid option. In team games however it's completely different with energy dependant allies, though i would recommend cheesing around with C11s.

posted on February 10th, 2013, 2:22 pm

I'm beginning to see that with the assim avatar it is probably better to stick with assimilators whether dps and/or auto assims and not the mistake that I do, which is to try and maintain a small fleet of probes, scubes, dodes and adaptors while never actually being able to have the resources to build any assimiltors and therefore generally lose fast.

This strategy is obviously easier with optimise because of the reduced costs but then , I will ususally skip past the assimilators in favour of groups of 3 spheres RRRP and 1 Diamond DDDT or DDDR and I can beat the AI merc Feds and Doms. (Klingons and Roms I have yet to beat on merc) On the other hand if I use the assimiate avatar I'm lucky if i can beat any of them on normal.

I have to say that in the games where I have managed to get pyramids with usually 4 holding beams is very good for me but I will try what is being recommended and use 2 R, 1 T, and 1HB, but I will probably keep to 4 HB pyramids as a small fleet of them will strip the crew of most ships and stations within seconds and thats what the assimilate avatar is about for me.

I have watched many replays but only with guys playing as optimise, was good to see the assimilate being used. I feel a bit more confident that assimilate avatar just needs more practise, alot more, although I still feel it may be more for advanced players.

I load up Fleet Ops and choose the assimilate avatar as I finish here, for now. Thx for the input but im sure i will be back soon when i lose.

posted on February 10th, 2013, 2:42 pm

Anyways, the double Vinculum Dode kinda drains the ressource you need the most with Pyramids: CCs.

it does delay you, definitely doesn't work with fast pyramid. this double vinca dode will actually have to do some spade work as a fleet unit before the pyramid is built. the level 1 vinca special works well with the peripheral scube in play.

that's another thing assimilate players misunderstand, just because optimise scubes are cheaper do to chassis cost, doesn't mean assimilate should never build scubes. the chassis cost difference just means that the longer you stick with scubes, the bigger the disadvantage will be. a handful early on to add variety to your fleet won't bankrupt you.

And i've never seen it being used well in any game (Pyramids are usually rather rare as well though).

yes, people seem to prefer optimise over assim.

the double vinca dode works just as well with optimise, though, just replace pyramid with RRRH sphere. the hitpoints are less, but the regen special is better. i cheesed a guy into rage quitting with that strat once. 1 VV dode and 2 (later 3) RRRH spheres. he was fed, he couldn't destroy any of my spheres as i just rotated them in the dance (and kept the dode behind the lines). when the third sphere joined in he just quit.

another thing you might can do with this (and some extra micro/luck/balls) is to have the first 1 or 2 spheres be RRRH and have later spheres be RRRPrime or even 2 regen 2 prime. then make sure the front of your fleet is the RRRH spheres, then hope your enemy doesn't check the stats/infobox of your prime spheres. he won't easily be able to tell the spheres apart. he'll assume that all your spheres are RRRH like the closest one and will continue shooting it.

posted on February 11th, 2013, 3:25 pm

Dear Myles,
show me a replay, or even Duel me (im as rusty as you are), where the double Vinc Dode gives any advantage. Until then i believe it's just a feature that works in theory, not in a practical matter - and yes, i tested it myself, and yes, against most players it works, but against most players you can pull off pretty much anything anyways.

And that is at least why i / we separate between fun and competitive strategies.

About the directive and scubes:
in a 1v1 situation i would definitely prefer the opti avatar at start. It makes a difference if you got 6 or 5 scubes in early game, for other races the impact of one vessel isn't that rough. In smaller team games i agree though. Facing the basic initial Scube rush, and then even a Pyramid instead of a Sphere is a very tough nut to crack (the missing ressources due chassis cost & CC upgrades hurt though)

posted on February 11th, 2013, 3:47 pm

Dear Myles,
show me a replay, or even Duel me (im as rusty as you are), where the double Vinc Dode gives any advantage. Until then i believe it's just a feature that works in theory, not in a practical matter - and yes, i tested it myself, and yes, against most players it works, but against most players you can pull off pretty much anything anyways.

And that is at least why i / we separate between fun and competitive strategies.

i have no replay to show you. and i'm not available for a duel. so i concede i don't have a way to convince you the strat is viable.

posted on February 11th, 2013, 3:52 pm

Viable against which kind of opponent?
I cube rushed a warpin fed player in a duel, with just two dodes prior to it, doesn't mean it would work against decent opponent.

So my point is: in theory every strategy you can imagine is viable, doesn't mean they're all practical against any good player... just saying.

posted on February 11th, 2013, 4:16 pm

Viable against which kind of opponent?
I cube rushed a warpin fed player in a duel, with just two dodes prior to it, doesn't mean it would work against decent opponent.

So my point is: in theory every strategy you can imagine is viable, doesn't mean they're all practical against any good player... just saying.

i think there might be some crossed wires here. i'm not talking about a rush of any kind (not to spheres/pyramids or cubes).

i'm simply talking about the choice of using a doublevinca dode with a RRRH sphere or RRHx pyramid. when you do this depends on how you started the game and what your opponent is doing.

the doublevinca dode also can give energy to a peripheral scube and scubes that have been given temp peripheral specials (using the level 1 special). the VV dode isn't useless waiting around for the sphere, just not quite as useful as a different dode. you can also built the VV dode after your first RRRH sphere. the RRRH sphere is still capable of surviving if used with a bit of caution. the extra system value from the holding module helps.

obviously no strat is valid for every game. if your enemy is spamming intrepids then a sphere isn't a good idea. this is just a suggestion of a way to go about having a sphere do tanking instead of RRRPrime/RRRT.

the game i mentioned against the fed player was reasonably well balanced, my opponent had a good understanding of fed play, didn't make any big mistakes, and didn't suffer any losses against my starting scubes. i managed to keep all my scubes alive as well as i built regen scubes and a peripheral in order to ghetto repair my scubes after battle. i think i might have killed one of his miners before the sphere was built.

posted on February 12th, 2013, 6:20 pm

the doublevinca dode also can give energy to a peripheral scube and scubes that have been given temp peripheral specials (using the level 1 special).

Is this not micromanagement going a bit mad or am I missing out here . I do find the micromanagement of the borg quite intense at times but enjoyable for the most part. But is micro-ing your scubes with a peripheral then your peripheral with a dode not just leaving these support vessels open to target practise. Or have I underestimated the abilities of the peripheral scube, I dont use it because I dont really notice a difference, but not played with it enough to back up that comment.

I have tried earlier tips on how to utilise the assimilator avatar better but still not getting it, will using the peripheral and dode comby help me better to stay alive until I can get assim-assims out. If so how many, and which scubes would be best....