Sova Carrier
From Sins of a Solar Empire
 TEC
Sova Carrier
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Manual Description: Having proven to be an effective countermeasure to pirate incursions, strike craft have been a staple of planetary defense forces for hundreds of years. The arrival of a true invasion force has made a mobile platform for hosting strike craft a necessity, and the Sova Carrier ably fulfills this role. The most advanced ship-borne manufacturing and repair facilities keep its large dorsal and ventral fighter bays in a near constant state of combat readiness.
The Sova is one of the best carriers in the game, with it's 6-7 strike craft squadrons. When it has the abilities of Rapid Deployment and gets heavier armor for the strike craft, it can become a formidable adversary. With Embargo, a player can wipe out the interplanetary commerce and "steal" the tax money from the planet, and with missile batteries left behind you, they can distract an approaching enemy fleet by bombarding them with a flurry of missiles.
[edit] Development
Patch 1.1 changed the Sova's duration for Embargo from 120 seconds at all levels to 60/90/120 seconds per level.
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| Ship Type: | Capital |
| Faction: | TEC |
| Primary Role: | Squadron Support |
| Shield Power: | High |
| Hull Points: | Very High |
| Armor Level: | High |
| Armor Type: | Capital |
| Weapons (Fore): | 2 x Pulse Lasers / Ship-to-Surface Nuclear Missiles |
| Weapons (Side): | 4 x Pulse Laser Batteries (Starboard) / 4 x Pulse Laser Batteries (Port) |
| Weapons (Aft): | 2 x Pulse Lasers |
| Squadrons Supported: | 2 - 7 |
| Compliment: | 2,000 |
 Missile Batteries |  Embargo |  Heavy Strike Craft |  Rapid Manufacturing |  Ability Management |
 Attack |  Stop |  Move |  Tactics Management | Squadron Management |
[edit] Tactics
- Like most strike craft-dependent units, the Sova is best kept out of direct engagement, since its lack of strong direct offensive or defensive abilities makes it unsuited to melees. Conversely, it is capable of rapidly attacking targets anywhere in its gravity well, making it ideal for laying siege to specific structures or, more spectacularly, commerce raiding. Fighters (as opposed to bombers) make short work of trade ships, and the Embargo ability prevents such targets from fleeing the system. As such, a single Sova can temporarily (two minutes of reduced planetary productivity, plus 25 seconds of reduced productivity per trade vessel destroyed) hamper the productivity of an entire empire, particularly as additional trade vessels unwittingly jump into the system, only to be destroyed by fighters.
- Since it is better for the Sova to remain on the fringes of a system, the most efficient escorts are Garda Flak Frigates and Percheron Light Carriers. Being strictly defensive units, Gardas do not have to move into any kind of attack range to fulfill their purpose, meaning that they can remain in the Sova's shadow without being considered wasted units; in addition, Gardas serve to take the pressure off the Sova's fighters, allowing the Sova to effectively spend its strike craft on other targets. Percherons serve to augment a Sova's striking power immensely, making it possible to dispose of more structures or trade vessels quickly.
- Javelis LRM Frigates are generally not ideal accompaniment for a Sova, as they are both vulnerable and priority targets for system defenders; in addition, they need to be much closer to engage targets, and they tend to be slow leaving a system. The same goes for Cielo Command Cruisers and Cobalt Light Frigates. In all, Cobalt, Cielo, and Javelis frigates tend to slow down a carrier group.
- Hoshiko Robotics Cruisers are optional as escorts: though Hoshikos make almost any situation better in sufficient numbers, a carrier group coming under heavy fire is advised to leave the system, regardless. Weighing a carrier group down with sufficient Hoshikos to both repair the fleet and disable a force of determined attackers risks drawing resources away from other fronts in which the Hoshiko would be more valuable. And though the Hoshiko is capable of shutting down anti-fighter units with Demolition Bots, anti-fighter units would very likely be located in defensive positions deeper in the system, forcing the Hoshikos to break formation (and risk taking heavy fire while moving into range) in order to shut them down. Nevertheless, a few Hoshikos could be potentially useful: by crippling individual targets, the Hoshi could give the carrier group's fighters more time to wear opponents down.
- Sova Carriers as commerce raiders rely on a number of variables for success. **The enemy must have access to trade ports or orbital refineries in order for the Embargo ability to be employed most efficiently; this means tier 2 civilian research at the earliest, tier 4+ at the latest.
- The Sova is fairly easily countered by anti-fighter frigates: even concentrated damage from six squadrons of fighters or bombers has difficulty downing even a sole anti-fighter frigate, and it is rare to encounter just one. Hangar defense can send up a fighter screen to make life difficult for the Sova and its escorts, but a few Gardas can minimize this problem.
- The Sova itself starts with two squadrons of fighters, acquiring an additional squadron at level 3 and a fourth at level 5. With three or fewer squadrons, the Sova is hard pressed to do effective damage to an enemy's trade ships. As such, a Sova is probably not the best choice for a first capital ship, unless the map is extremely cramped and melees are expected very quickly -- but then, it's highly unlikely that trade or refinery networks will develop.
- Despite appearances, the Sova's missile launcher ability is a very nasty ability, and allows a canny player to leave all manner of nasty surprises once the Sova has departed. This allows continued viewing of the gravity well without a probe, and also gives the ability to bombard small detachments of enemy vessels--a powerful (and very satisfying) asset when a Vasari player's Dark Fleet starts showing up.
- While the Sova is not fully effective as a commerce raider at levels 1-2 and even at levels 3-4 (particularly if one's opponent lacks any commerce to raid), no combination of frigates or cruisers can bring to bear an effect similar to the Embargo ability. By contrast, a group that includes three Cobalt frigates, 1-3 Hoshikos, 2-3 Perechons, and one Protev Colony Frigate can perform the same function as a low-level Akkan Battlecruiser.
- Another option is to use the Sova as the centerpiece for your larger defensive fleets. Since Missile Launcher ability provides the ability to drop what amounts to additional pairs of Javelis missile frigates right in the middle of combat, the Sova can inject substantial firepower into a close-fought battle, making an apparent initial disadvantage into a powerful bonus. Also, targetting enemy anti-fighter frigates early in the battle will allow the Sova to form the TEC's only effective capital ship if the enemy decides to raid your rear areas in force.
- Consider pairing your Sova with an Akkan or Kol to provide an increased ability to destroy either escaping enemy vessels, or to eliminate enemy fighters. Conversely, pairing a Sova and a Marza dreadnaught provide, if not an extremely durable fleet, one that will definitely leave its mark on any enemy fleet to engage...and, ultimately, you can replace your lost vessels much faster than your enemies.
