I've noticed one significant trend on this forum, and that's the apparent need for a set-in-stone strategy that is going to lead noob jimmy into pro status. If you want a set strategy, here's one for you. Click game options, and then either A) Quit game, or surrender.

First off (because I see noobs asking about TEC so often), in all honesty, someone asking for a "strategy" shouldn't be playing TEC. You should be playing advent if you want to play competitively. Why? Because playing as advent will give you enough room to learn the basics while not losing the game outright, and will teach you the strengths and weaknesses of advent so that if you do decide to play TEC, you can play against your main opponent (advent) effectively.

All in all, I think new players should move away from the idea of a dynamic strategy. There is no good "strategy", only effective tips and pointers to live by, coupled with game knowledge. What is the point of a "strategy" build order that you follow if your opponent ends up producing only ships that counter your strategy? How effective were you?

Let me refer to some classic historical examples to reinforce my point, mainly Erwin Rommel. His victories were attributed not to superior numerical force, but to adapting to his enemy's strategy and incessently probing for a weakness. Once one was found, he would exploit it 100% until victory. This is the sort of mindset that will make a good player at Sins, not one who has mastered a build order.

The Golden Tips:

1) A saved credit is a wasted credit- This is the king of all tips, and one that even good players need to adhere to more often. Think of each credit stored as an opportunity cost. Those credits, sitting in your "bank", could be dealing damage to the enemy, earning you more credits, or making your empire more powerful through ship upgrades. Leaving them in your account does none of the above, so what's the point in saving them? You shouldn't be saving up for a second cap, as one isn't practical until the point in the game where you have so many resources you should have won already.

2) Scout often, and thoroughly- A lot of players whine about how overpowered RA is, or how illums are unbeatable. Why are both of these things so hard to combat? Because of your own incompetence, not always because of your opponents superiority! Ask any player online whether you should scout often or not, and they will all agree that you should, but even good players are lazy about this. Here's a tip- At the start of the game, build as many scouts as you have lanes moving to other planets, and then depending on map size and race, build more. If it's a large map, or you're vasari and there are neutral extractors, you should obviously have more scouts than the first 2 or 3. Why? Because knowledge is the key ingredient to winning a game.

Think about how easy the game would be if you could see everything your opponent was doing through his ship vision. If he was going RA, you would know because you'd see him making a lot of imperial labs! If he was making a hostility early, you know he's going for illums as there is really nothing else advent has early that are worth building that require hostilities! So when you see these things, you know how to react. "Oh crap, imperial labs like crazy, we need to go hit this guy who's dumping all of his resources into 25 minutes worth of research and civic building to get his RA." "Oh, he's making a hostility, I better make 4-5 scouts and go kill his builders so that he can't make anymore and he's a sitting duck!". Plus, scouts do anti-light armor damage. 3 scouts will kill 1 illum, and have other obvious uses as well (plus are more cost effective. They require no buildings or research).

3) Adapt to your enemy- With proper scouting and a basic understanding of game mechanics, you can build ships according to your enemy's fleet. This is what ultimately leads to victory. If your enemy has a bunch of carriers, why wait to find out the hard way? Scout, and build flak! Etc Etc.


With these tips, you will be far more effective in a competitive game than any Joe Schmoe with a build order.