Sins of a Solar Empire Beta Diaries Six: Enter the Vasari

Stardock's Sins of a Solar Empire PC - Image 1I don’t know about most of you but I’m tired of playing as the trade-oriented Trade Emergency Coalition (TEC). Their focus on more peaceful means of victory disturbs the inner warlord in me. Thankfully, Stardock and Ironclad Games have come out with a new faction in Sins of a Solar Empire Beta 4.

Want to find out more about the Vasari? Check out this issue of the Sins of a Solar Empire Beta Diaries.

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I don’t know about most of you but I’m tired of playing as the trade-oriented Trade Emergency Coalition (TEC). Their focus on more peaceful means of victory disturbs the inner warlord in me. Thankfully, Stardock and Ironclad Games have come out with a new faction in Sins of a Solar Empire Beta 4.

The new group called the Vasari are aliens who have been running from a yet unnamed threat that almost exterminated their entire race. As a result, these creatures have been forced to live like nomads, moving from star system to star system, in a never ending quest to get away from the perceived danger to themselves.

In Sins of a Solar Empire, the remaining Vasari find themselves thrust into a universe with the TEC, a race they find primitive and weak. As much as they would like to make these humans their slaves, they feel the compelling urge to continue their travels. However, they have been lacking in resources as of late.

Therefore, their goals are simple. Eradicate all resistance and collect the necessary material goods to fuel the next segment of the journey.

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It is important to understand that the Vasari are a military oriented faction. Unlike the TEC which focuses on acquiring huge amounts of wealth and using this as a method of pressuring their opponents into folding, this race prefers to send their ships in and raze everything.

The Vasari bring along with them technology far more advanced than anything ever seen by the TEC. As such the ships and abilities of the different structures the new race can build are more efficient and powerful then anything the TEC can build given equal technology levels.

To balance this, almost everything the Vasaris build is more expensive than their counterparts. In addition, the race seems to get resources much slower than the TEC. A definite problem in early into game (and one that players have pointed out should be fixed when the final game comes out).

 

Two of the more prominent abilities of the Vasari is the ability to use Phase Gates to shuttle their forces quickly from one point to another and being able to prevent units from jumping into phase space. These are the tools players will use on a regular basis if they expect to win.

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The phase gates will allow players to send their entire armies to battlefields quickly. Considering that most players do not send their entire force into battle, the phase gates can actually provide a means to send an equal or greater number of troops into battle, no matter where you’ve parked your main army.

While this may not seem like a big deal against other Vasari players, it is a good solution against the swarming TEC. If you can match the number of their ships with a one to one ratio, the battle is yours.

To sum this up, good commanders will realize that they will be at a disadvantage if the campaign turns into a war of attrition. The TEC simply make too much money that the Vasari will not be able to match them in terms of ship production. So build and use Phase Gates as soon as you can. Be sure to fortify them though because they fall rather quickly, even to the primitive weapons of the humans.

Once the Vasari is facing the enemy on an “even” playing field, the attacking forces will start taking casualties. This will eventually lead to a general retreat by the enemy. What does one do then? Well, at this point, players should make sure that no TEC capital ships escape.

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To help player accomplish this, they will need to have Gravity Warheads. These devices prevent ships from jumping into Phase Space, allowing the remaining Vasari ships to tear it apart, and hopefully harvest some of the remaining matter for use in building even more weapons of destruction.

Careful use of this ability will allow players to deal crushing blows to their opponents who are trying to cut their losses. That said, this is only useful when the TEC is on the run. While some might consider it a  “win more” ability, it is necessary if the Vasaris wish to establish space superiority.

That said, playing the Vasari can be fun. That is, if you know what you’re doing. Be sure to try out a few games where you can familiarize yourself with the different tactics you can employ in a game.

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