FA Fleet Analysis

This post will highlight and analyze the pros and cons of each faction of Firestorm Armada.  There's currently 6 factions for FA and all of them play very differently.  I'll use some bullet points for each of these factions and talk about their strengths and weaknesses.  For anyone thinking about getting into FA, this article is for you!

Aquan Prime

• Their fighting style is like a pack of piranha.  Everything moves fast and like group up together to take advantage of their high PD.
• Aquans have weapons on all arcs and torpedoes that shoot in all directions.  This means they can charge into the heart of the enemy fleet and explode in all directions.
• Most of Aquan Prime's heavier ships are equipped with powerful mines.  This adds another layer of tactics for them as mines can do solid damage and provide area denial.
• AP ships generally have above average DR.  This allows him to take more small arms fire and allow them to drop mines comfortably.
• The damage output for each ship is really low compared to the other fleets.  AP really need to utilize their mines and stay together to get any real damage done.
• Aquans are also really vulnerable to anything that reduces crew.  Boarding assaults, decompression or ship fires are deadly for them.

Sorylian Collective

• SC ships are really fast.. except for the Battleship which is fine.  Their BBs like to stay behind with their Gunship so it can add AD and pour out ridiculous damage from extreme range.
• The Sorylians have the best cruiser in the game.  The Skyhammer have excellent stats all around and can pack tons of damage for a good price.  Not only is it fast (10" move), but it has great CP and AP stats.  It is the deadliest ship at RB2 and they can take 4 of them in a squadron.
• Since Sorylians have huge squadrons, they can launch really powerful boarding attacks because most of their ships have excellent AP stats.  The larger squadrons also makes Sorylian frigates surprisingly scary.
• The Sorylian Fleet prefers to fight on their broadsides.  Most of their ships pour out their strongest damage from the starboard and port sides of the ship.
• Sorylians typically have below average PD on all their ships.
• Most of the Sorylian ships are pretty fragile compared to those of other fleets.  This gives them a very aggressive playstyle with a slightly weaker defense.

Terran Alliance

• The Terrans focus heavily on their defensive shields:  Even their lightest ships are protected by shields and with good rolls, you can save a lot of damage.
• Terrans are a very balanced race.  They can do a lot of damage when they want from their linking turrets, or roll a ton of great shield saves to reduce crits to normal hull damage.
• The Terran BB is one of the most solid ships in the game.  With 3 Shields, 7 PD and a turret that can be linked for 16 PD in the front or sides of the ship, the BB is a beast.
• The Aegis R&D Cruiser can extend a invisible wall of shields in front of your fleet so enemy shots have to go through that before they can hit your ships.
• Another great thing about the Terran is their torpedo fire at every arc.  Not only can they constantly pour out torps, but the further they are the more damage they do.

Dindrenzi Federation

• No one in the game puts out as much frontal damage as the Dindrenzi ships.  Their railgun technology is unmatched from the front and can hit from extreme ranges.
• The Dindrenzi also has some of the sturdiest ships in the game; high CR on most of their ships means they'll be ticking for 1 damage most of the time.  Combine this with their above average HP and you've got yourself a winner.
• Dindrenzi hit hard but needs a smart admiral that can take advantage of his ships frontal weapons without getting outflanked.  With most of the fleet having pitiful or no aft weapons, the admiral must position his fleet in a way to optimize his frontal dominance and weaker rear side.
• Even though most of the DF ships have fixed frontal weapons, the Gladius Gunship has the strongest broadside in the game for a medium ship (10 AD at RB2).  It also has excellent frontal primaries and torpedoes making it one of the deadliest ships in Firestorm.

The Directorate

• Solid firepower all around from their ships.  The Judgement BB is very beastly with 17 AD fixed fore and powerful broadsides.
• The Directorate takes advantage of cloaking on some of their ships.  This gives their ships flexibility in whether they want to focus on being offense or defensive.
• The Tormentor R&D Cruiser can pull off some tricky on enemy vessels and force a roll on the critical damage chart.  No hull point damage, but a lot of bad things can happen if they get in range.
• Directorate cruisers are very flexible for their point cost.  Solid damage on fore and side arcs as well as torpedoes makes this ship quite capable in its own right.
• The cheaper price on escorts and frigates allows you to take more squadrons of other ships.
• A hard army to play, but has some of the best looking ship designs.
• This fleet is always reinforcements in forms of gunships and destroyers; supposedly being more powerful than its current ships.

The Relthoza

• The Relthoza has access to cloaking shields on almost all their ships.  This allows for some very powerful tactics as you decide whether to focus on offense or defense.
• The Brood Class BB has some of the strongest broadsides in the game.  Not only can it carry its own wings and have mines equipped, but its frontal torpedoes are no joke.
• The Hive Class Carrier is arguably the strongest carrier in the game.  Solid speed, movement and defense on top of its FW8 and 10PD RB2 broadsides, this carrier can put out amazing results for its points.
• If you think cloaking shields are tricky, the Bane R&D Cruiser can shunt (warp speed) on the map and continue fighting.  Normally shunting takes you off the board immediately, but this cruiser uses it to maneuver into advantageous positions to bring down the pain.
• Most of the ships are slightly slower than those of other fleets and there's a obvious lack of aft weaponry, but the Relthoza makes up for it with their defensive shields.