what is the borg counter to spam. mainly excel II spam?

posted on May 18th, 2010, 8:40 pm

assimilators usually attract more attention then a cube do as the assimilator is a tank even without the reg ability. the sphere i have noticed is not as powerful as some would make it out to be even on aggressive. i cant speak for the borg players but my experiences having ship to ship combat has taught me that spheres are useless unless they are in packs of 3 or more.

posted on May 18th, 2010, 11:08 pm

Assimilators get the most attention partly because they are brutal to level-1's because their crew levels are usually the lowest (crew assimilation is normally faster than death). Optimize Assimilators aren't as durable and have 20 less defense.

posted on May 19th, 2010, 12:35 am

I am far more wary of Spheres than I am of Assimilators.

  An Auto-assim Assimilator is pretty fragile (especially an Opti one) and is almost always my first target if it's with larger ships.

  Spheres are rarely without 3 regen mods and are tanking beasts.  They are far more difficult to destroy than any assimilator unless you're fighting something that counters them.  An assimilator counters ADAI units better than a Sphere, for sure, but the Sphere is a powerhouse regenerator and the Assimilator is not.

posted on May 19th, 2010, 7:13 am

hmm, you seem to be getting better results then myself with the sphere not because im doing anything wrong, maybe just in the wrong place at the wrong time. several level 1 ships could easily take out a good deal of health to a reg sphere, i usually chase spheres with excel II, because excel II are arty range .

it seems i still got a bit to understand yet with these ships before i even think of going online.

posted on May 19th, 2010, 11:22 am

the best way to understand the game is to play online. you wont be able to understand how they are balanced by fighting the ai. tactics vs the ai are completely different from online

the sphere is nearly always fielded as both avatars. for opti most people skip assims and go straight to sphere. with 3 regen it is really an amazing ship. get 3 together then build a full queen module diamond and BOtC on the 3 spheres and you are seriously gonna hurt your opponent.

the sphere is an extremely useful ship. the staple ship of the borg. you cant really skip it. maybe as assimilate you could try go from assims to pyramid maybe. but assims dont bunch well in the numbers you will need and pyramids cant tank like a sphere. and cube is late game.

posted on May 19th, 2010, 1:52 pm

Excelsior II only has artillery range upon level up

Pyramids can't tank like a Sphere exactly, but with a Dodecahedron they can (and a holding beam) - they also are basically the older cousin to the Sphere due to their heavy firepower, although it is torpedo based. Two different usages of course. Sphere is good against all really, Pyramid can be an assimilation fiend, or a battleship/station killer.

posted on May 19th, 2010, 6:12 pm

maybe as assimilate you could try go from assims to pyramid maybe. but assims dont bunch well in the numbers you will need and pyramids cant tank like a sphere. and cube is late game.

 

posted on May 19th, 2010, 6:25 pm

Excelsior II only has artillery range upon level up

Pyramids can't tank like a Sphere exactly, but with a Dodecahedron they can (and a holding beam) [...]

Is this going to become quoting wars?  . The Pyramid also has a much higher defense than the Sphere - it can't regenerate for as long as a Sphere due to having 1 less Regen Module obviously, but in a mixed-force it can. . I prefer subbing out Pyramids for Spheres with Assim anyway do to the native defensive boost, as well as the higher basic offense.

posted on May 19th, 2010, 6:31 pm

[move][shadow=red,left][glow=red,2,300]Is this going to become quoting wars?[/glow][/shadow][/move]

YES!!!!!!!ONE1ELEVEN CAPS LOCK SHOUTING

posted on May 24th, 2010, 8:47 pm

Well, against the AI at least, I have luck using a combat oriented assimilator (with beams, torps, and a regen module) flanked by dodecas with one vivi module and one torpedo module. they move much faster than the heavy spheres and pyramids and seem to have vaguey betetr pathing in getting around, so they can usually slice up anything they get in range of.

how this would work against a human player I dunno, since my spotty 256k connection won't let me play online, but a group of 2-3 assmis, one beweaponed sphere and 4 dodecas seems to be a decent, and only moderately expensive grouping for skirmishing, unless your goal is capturing ships.

and never underestimate the value of the high-energy slicer module for wearing down heavier ships quickly before they can get out of range