Flashy title dontcha think:)

So I have decided to wright a helpfull guide to the game.
At first I will state the obvius, then become more advanced.
Note that my knowlage off the rebels i lacking, so if you have info for me, empire too, send a PM or post here, and you will be givin all credit.
The final versjon of this guide will also be put up on Gamefaqs.

Anything I wright here is incomplete and the beta versjon, so don't spam me with "you missed something" PMs.

Basics
Economy: The second most important thing in the game is your eco, the other is your military skills.

How it works.
Every planet generates a certain amount of base income every GD (Galaktic Day).
This can go from the extreme (1000 credits) to the lowest of the low (4).
This makes some planets much more important than others, since they will give you more cash.
How much per planet: I will only note important or special planets (for now).

Coruscant: You know where it is, the centre of the galaksy, Imperial capital.
Has a base of 160 creds, and can go as high as 2400 per day (with a barracks), making it one of the best planets in the game, but don't do a n00bs mistake, and put the Emperor there, since he needs protection.
Also has a possible lvl 5 space station.

Bespin: Has a base of 1000 creds, the highest in the game, but can not make more. Does not have a ground map, only space, but a lvl 5 station. Very important for Rebels.

Bonadan: Also a rebel money-maker, Bonadan has a high income, (135) and enough build slotts, so make good use of it.

Military

Yeah, the most important part of the game, knowing weaknesses and covering your own is important, so I'll give some basics. Only space though.

Empire: space.
The Empires strength, having the capeability to take on any rebel cap ship in a one on one and win, you will see that winning space is easy with some tarkin-ness. They also come with free fighters and bombers.

Acclamator: The workhorse for the first 2-3 tech lvl, has a good amount of firepower, nice garrison, and just all round good. They are cheap to make, and are an exellent defence for later lvls. Beware of Y-wing and assault frigates mkII.

Victory: A lvl 3 ship, drains sheilds fast, and has some good turbolasers. They are more expensive then the Acclamator, but gives a very good package per price. Counters Assault frigate mkIIs, but still gets torn apart by Y-wings.

Imperial Star Destroyer:The big ship itself, the biggest, baddest ship in Starwars canon (other thatn the SSD and heroes). Pumps out turbolaser shots like no tomorrow, it has a huge price though, so get Palpatines dicount.

Rebels: Rebels are a slight underdog in space, but there frigate-or-less beats the empire version every time. Has to pay for fighters, unlike the empire, don't forget that. They have more pop space to make up for it though.

Nebulan B frigate: A very well balanced ship, puts out decent firepower at a good price, and looks cool. Always have some of these, they do pay of the best overall, espesially in low tech lvls.

Assault frigate mkII: A pretty odd ship, but is good against large targets. Don't get bombers close, cause it can't hit them. (please send info on these, don't have much myself)

Mon calamari cruisers: The biggest ship in the rebel arsenal, still not a match for the ISD, but puts up a very good fight. Looks like a big organic...... thing..... Takes down shields very fast.

OK, thats ase much as I'll post, for now.If you have info that might be usefull, send a PM or e-mail me at darth_alec@hotmail.com. Hope it helps.....

It's a good idea to put together a starter's guide.

Just a few things...


Bonadan: Also a rebel money-maker, Bonadan has a high income, (135) and enough build slotts, so make good use of it.
Is "Bonadan" a planet? I haven't seen it.

Empire: space.
The Empires strength, having the capeability to take on any rebel cap ship in a one on one and win [...]
Not the case for several classes. The Assault Frigate MkII is a fair match for a Victory heavy frigate, and the Mon Cal is generally > the ISD. Plus, Home One can go head-to-head with Captain Piett's ISD and win.

Victory: A lvl 3 ship, drains sheilds fast, and has some good turbolasers. They are more expensive then the Acclamator, but gives a very good package per price. Counters Assault frigate mkIIs, but still gets torn apart by Y-wings.
The Victory is a tech 2 ship, which is a big advantage for the Empire...it gets this ship before the Rebellion gets it's match - the Assault Frigate MkII at tech 3.

Imperial Star Destroyer:The big ship itself, the biggest, baddest ship in Starwars canon (other thatn the SSD and heroes). Pumps out turbolaser shots like no tomorrow, it has a huge price though, so get Palpatines dicount.
Again, the Mon Cal cruiser > the ISD. Barely, but I've faced off one-on-one from both sides on normal difficulty, and the Mon Cal has a bit more lasting power. Also, since the SSD is available only via mods, you may want to point that out. The biggest and strongest ships in the normal (unmodded) game are Home One for the Rebels and Piett's ISD for the Empire. And as said previously, Home One > Piett's ISD.

Rebels: Rebels are a slight underdog in space, but there frigate-or-less beats the empire version every time. Has to pay for fighters, unlike the empire, don't forget that. They have more pop space to make up for it though.
Actually the advantage swings either way with each tech level, based on which ships become available. For instance, the Empire is better at tech 2, but the Rebellion catches up at tech 3. Then at tech 4, the Rebellion maintains an advantage over the empire. (The Empire gets the DS at tech 5, but Red Squadron counters it, and it's just a matter of bringing your fleet + Red Squadron into the same space as the DS and winning the battle with Red Squadron surviving.)

Mon calamari cruisers: The biggest ship in the rebel arsenal, still not a match for the ISD, but puts up a very good fight.
Actually.....meh, I won't repeat it. :)


Thanks for all the work you put into this. It'll be great to have once it's complete.

I think 1v1, Piett will win, just proton beam the engines and pick it apart with bombers while the ship stays safe far away.

If you really want my opinion... Well, to be blunt, if you're interested in producing any sort of basic strategy guide and publishing it on the web, write it in Word first and use the spellchecker.

I think 1v1, Piett will win, just proton beam the engines and pick it apart with bombers while the ship stays safe far away.
I've beaten Piett with Home One repeatedly one-on-one, while out of several tries I've only beaten Home One once with Piett, and barely.

Home One is a stronger ship, but only by a little. Piett's ISD is better armed, but Home One seems to be tougher - able to withstand his attacks (including the proton beam) long enough to defeat him each time. After beating Piett in each battle Home One was limping pretty badly, believe me.

I dont see how its possible considering you can easily wipe out the shields with the proton beam and pick apart the hardpoints with bombers and laser fire. Ill have to test it myself. But in 1v1, does that mean no fighters from Piett's hanger?

The Empire wins because of the free fighter/bomber supplament, not because the ships are generally better, which they ain't, should have pointed that out though.

Those ties and bombers really add up in a battle of attrition. But its there, and theres no point in ignoring its value.

What I said, use fighters and bombers with no consern, they do there job and don't cost scratch.

Wouldnt hurt to micro the bombers tho. They are great vs capital ships.

I dont see how its possible considering you can easily wipe out the shields with the proton beam and pick apart the hardpoints with bombers and laser fire.
If I recall correctly, the proton beam goes through shields - just like proton torpedoes - rather than taking them down like ion cannons. It's a race between Piett taking out all of Home One's ion cannons with his proton beam, and Home One using its ion cannons to take down the ISDs shields. If Home One can keep at least one of its ion cannons long enough to drop Piett's shields, then it can target and eliminate his worst weapons. But if Piett can get all the ion cannon hardpoints destroyed with the proton beam before his shields drop, then he ends up ahead in the race with the best chance of winning.

Most of the time, you hit a point where Piett's shields are down and he's lost a couple of hardpoints, while Home One still has about 1/3 of its shields but has lost about half of its hardpoints. However, once Piett's shields are down then even one or two turbolasers can systematically destroy his remaining hardpoints, while Piett has to now get through Home One's remaining shields before he can destroy any more of its systems.

So it's a race to achieve the other side of that "see-saw" that gives Home One an advantage in a battle. And practice makes perfect. :)

The Empire wins because of the free fighter/bomber supplament, not because the ships are generally better, which they ain't, should have pointed that out though.
They're an advantage, certainly, but I wouldn't say the Empire "wins" because of them.

I've experimented as the Rebellion by completely ignoring Tie fighters and bombers - micromanaging all my ships to target only enemy capital ships and corvettes - and the highest price I've ever paid for it was the loss of one frigate. In a battle with over 150 points in reinforcements on each side, that's not bad at all.

The biggest impact Ties have on the game for the Rebellion is by making them use some of their reinforcement slots to bring Corellian Corvettes to each battle rather than just loading up on Mon Cals and Assault Frigates. (Same goes the other way, though, with the Empire against X-Wings/Y-Wings/etc.) :)

Piets proton beam does not go through sheilds, thats part of what makes it so good.
Taking out the sheild and a hardpoint is very good.

And those free bombers are very valuable, try winning late-game without bombers....

Piets proton beam does not go through sheilds, thats part of what makes it so good.
Taking out the sheild and a hardpoint is very good.
Maybe if he had two proton beams he could defeat Home One consistently. :) Perhaps it's different on easy, but on medium and hard, Home One still has the edge in lasting-power - with the right strategy.

And those free bombers are very valuable, try winning late-game without bombers....
Bombers are certainly mandatory for ground assaults on medium and hard difficulties.

But I win late-game and final-game on hard difficulty repeatedly without the use of bombers in space combat. If I'm playing the Empire, I can't help my Tie bombers from hitting a few targets in space battles before they get waxed, but my strategy never includes them.

If I'm playing the Rebellion, I never use Y-Wings in space combat. Or any fighter, for that matter. It's not to say the use of fighters and bombers isn't a good tactic, but it's a matter of play style. I prefer to use only corvette-and-larger ships. And that play style works.

That's something else I like about this game...it doesn't generally "require" you to use a particular unit to win the game - with the exception of a few, like Red Squadron and the Death Star. Except for those, pick a unit and play the game entirely without it. It can be done in almost all cases.

Missile cruisers decimate fighters. Plus, bombers are good for taking out launch bays. And also, what if instead of targetting the shields, have piett proton one of the turbolasers. Then FF on another one while its shields are down. While your bombers pick out another one. The home one only has 4 turbolaser batteries as far as i can remember. And Ion cannon doesnt damage the actual ship. So with only 1 turbolaser, piett has a huge advantage. To neutralize piett's fighting ability, you will have to take out 5 hardpoints + proton beam and bombers.

This is true. But to turn the tide of the battle, you don't have to remove his entire fighting ability. Since his proton beam is an ability and not a hardpoint, you'll have to drop his shields ASAP with Home One's ion cannons (before he kills them with his proton beam and turbolasers), then target his shield generator, ion cannons and turbolasers - in that order.

In my experience, by the time he's destroyed all of Home One's four ion cannons, he's lost his shield generator and at least a couple of other weapon hardpoints. And unless he's targeted Home One's shield generator, it's still working on bringing back Home One's shields, giving it another advantage beyond the number of remaining weapons.

The key is that Piett's proton beam has a long recycle time, so he'll get one good shot at you with it before you'll be able to seriously cripple his ship. Plus he has to be at quite a short range to use it. So before he gets there Home One's ion cannons should have already beaten down his shields and its turbolasers should be working on his ion cannon hardpoints.

This way if Home One DOES have it's shield generator after the initial exchange, but not enough of an advantage to make you comfortable, a maneuver to use is to back off Piett's position and re-generate enough shields to better assure victory when you return. DON'T do this by turning and trying to make distance - he'll tear you up from behind, where your weapons are out of arc. Run straight at him...head-to-head. You'll both be firing at each other up until you pass - and he'll have already fired his proton beam and taken out one of your hardpoints with it - but when you do pass him you'll both move into each other's blind spot, and you'll be moving away from him quickly as it's also the opposite direction he was heading (and he can't turn around quickly enough to catch you in a full run). Once you've made enough distance on him, recharge some shields (about 1/3 will be plenty), then come back into range to finish him. His shield generator is gone, so he'll have gained nothing from the pause in the battle, whereas you'll have been bringing up your shields. Also, with practice you can finish him off before he ever gets to use his proton beam a second time against you - either because he'll fail to get close enough again, or it'll still be recharging when his hull collapses.

It's just a matter of getting ahead of him in destroying hardpoints, which comes with practice and good target prioritization. :)

The way I've tested these two one-on-one is by seperating whichever one I'm playing from the battle, and having my remaining ships destroy all other enemy ships except the opposing hero - and it's an act of diligence to keep them from targeting him, and to stay alive with 4-points less of population in the fray. Once all his friends are gone, let him kill whatever's left of your remaining ships - park them next to him and keep pressing "S" to make them stop firing; they only stop for a second, so that's why you have to keep pressing it until they're gone.

I've done this enough times to generally be able to isolate them both with minimal damage to either, and usually Piett has a squadron or two of fighters yet to launch. Then I have them duke it out as described above. I've done this playing both sides, but more often playing the Rebellion than the Empire.


(Edited initial approach strategy.)

But thats against the AI, humans have alot better target efficensy, so a human would take out the sheild generator with the turbolasers before you get to fly away from him.
And the bombers would harass you while your flying away, what good is it to have full sheilds without any guns?

But I might include this in a "versus AI" part of the strat.

But thats against the AI, humans have alot better target efficensy, so a human would take out the sheild generator with the turbolasers before you get to fly away from him.
And the bombers would harass you while your flying away, what good is it to have full sheilds without any guns?

But I might include this in a "versus AI" part of the strat.
Most of my scenarios have indeed been against the AI - albeit on "hard" it's very tough, especially with the modified damage and hit point values against me. I've done this from both sides, though - and against the AI and humans alike - and Home One is consistently harder to kill then Piett's ISD.

But rather than calling Home One "the most powerful ship in the game", I'd give that title to both ships equally, as most people aren't going to go to the trouble of using my strategy to duel them, and will likely fear/respect both ships equally.


(And BTW - thanks again Darth Alec for putting the effort you have into this guide. I think it can grow into a really comprehensive game guide, which'll be of great help especially to new players.)

Thanks, all I want to do is help anyway. But it's coming along good, so people shouldn't wait to long know. All I need is more people like you :p, and my guide can go gold.

Why isn't this stickied yet? Nice job Darth Alec good info and guide. Maybe this will get sticked. :) YOU ROCK!

It isn't sticky'd because this ain't the finished version. But maybe the finished version will. Thanks for the support :D.

Also, I've got some specific galactic map strategies I'd like to post, mainly for conquest games - when I have time to write them - which you can add to your guide if you see fit.

I'll try to get them posted here in the next few days.

Ok, looking forward to it, but only if there good.

They should be. I play mostly on hard difficulty, and these are methods I use to consistently gain (and rarely lose any) ground quickly at the strategic level - on the galactic map.

On the lines of the relative power of Piett and Ackbar: seems the general consensus is that Home One beats the Accuser since Ackbar can batter down Piett's shields just as fast as Piett can use his proton beam to take out Ackbar's. I'm curious...has anyone tried taking Piett for a head-on pass at Home One, driving for the spot just behind Ackbar's engines, and on the way, proton-beam-ing Home One's drives away? With Ackbar's main engines down, the Accuser should be able to sit in the blind spot of the Calamari Cruiser and blast away hardpoints at will.