FLEET SPECIALIZATION

Current Specialisation Guidelines
REMEMBER THERE IS NO MAXIMUM FLEET YOU SHOULD HAVE. THE ONLY REASON YOUR FLEET SHOULD EVER DECREASE IS PEWPEW. IT SHOULD NEVER EVER REMAIN CONSTANT.



Rules:

The point of specialization is so you only focus on a few types of ships. You do not need to build anything that isn't on the list ever. (ONLY Exception: Dreads for base defense)

All fleets must have at least 3k recyclers per 1mil fleet of anything else, including carriers/fleet carriers. (ex: you have 5m fleet not including recyclers,you'd need at least 15k recyclers in addition to the 5m fleet)

Also recommended are 50 scout ships in your fleet for your own use and some corvettes if guild strategy calls for it.

Token HBs are welcome as well. No more then 5% of your total fleet though (Unless you are asked to specialize in HBs, of course).

Note: Remember that Cybernetics, Tachy, Energy, AI are always mandatory to continue raising (in that order of importance).


Main Paths:

FT Specialization:
Build 400 Fighters for every FC
or Build 60 Fighters for every Carrier

Optional: Some HC/CR/BS/FR (pick only 1 to build if you choose to do so; only build upto 10% of total fleet of those things)
Purpose: Serve as cruiser stack clearers, and unshielded droppers. Build the optional if you need to hit PShields and do not have a large stack or feel you need protection from rival HC stacks. Otherwise don't bother. For more details see Fighter Stack Guide in folder 4.
Weapon Techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser

FT/HB Specialization:
Build 800 fighters and 200 heavy bombers for every three FCs
Or build 400 fighters and 100 heavy bombers for every 10 carriers.
Optional: Some HC/CR/BS/FR (pick only 1 to build if you choose to do so; only build upto 10% of total fleet of those things)
Purpose: Serve as the go-to-guy in individual jump gate crashes as well as feeding sizeable fighters for guild-wise crashes. Build options for base hitting if you need to, otherwise don't bother.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser, Plasma

FT/FR specialization:
Build 100 fighters and 10 frigates for every carrier
or Build 600 fighters, 50 frigates for every FC [Prefer carriers]
Purpose: Serve as highly mobile fighter squads that are very capable at finishing fleets as well.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser, Missile

CR specialization:
Build 100 fighters and 10 cruisers for every carrier
or build 600 fighters and 50 cruisers for every FC
Optional: Corvettes, Destroyers, Bombers (pick at most 2 to build (preferably only one); no more than 10% of total fleet of those three things combined)
Purpose: These do a bit of everything. Optionals spread damage to improve ratios slightly.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser, Plasma, Shielding

HC specialization:
Build 100 fighters and 5 HC for every carrier
or build 600 fighters and 25 HC for every fleet carrier.
Optional: Corvettes, Destroyers, Bombers (pick any to build; no more than 10% of total fleet of those three things combined)
Purpose: Anti-fighter stack and capital stack, but can also do a bit of finishing if required as well. Optionals spread damage to improve ratios by a bit.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Plasma, Laser,

BS specialization:
Build 440 fighters and 5 BS for every four carriers
or build 600 fighters and 5 BS for every fleet carrier
Optional: Corvettes, Destroyers, Bombers (pick any to build; no more than 10% of total fleet of those three things combined)
Purpose: Anti-fortress stack and a more specialized and more efficient capital killer stack. Also owns the shit out of enemy corvette spams. Probably more for the nosebleeders. Optionals spread damage to improve ratios by alot.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser, Ion

Capitals:
20k fighters for 5 levis. Nothing else except recyclers.
Optional 1: Some dreads or titans for meatshielding
Optional 2: Some CA/CV/DE/CR (no more than 15% of total fleet of those four things combined)
Purpose: Reduce guild-wide fleet loss in a guild-wide op, generate free debris from enemy cruiser stacks. Optionals if you are debilitated by the immobileness of capitals. For more details see Levi stack guide in folder 4. Nosebleed player required. Optionals 2 allow you to do something besides sitting on your ass with speed 1 ships.
Weapon techs: Shielding, Photon, Disruptor

Ion Frigates:
Build 100 fighters and 10 ion frigates for every carrier
or Build 600 fighters, 50 ion frigates for every FC [Prefer carriers]
Optional: Corvettes, Destroyers, Bombers (pick any to build; no more than 10% of total fleet of those three things combined)
Purpose: Basically a HC spec that owns capitals more effeciently and actually gets similar ratios. Only drawback? This fleet gets completely trashed by any fighter drops. And no, this fleet is not a joke, it actually works (in theory). Nosebleed player is a absolute must.
Weapon techs: Armor, Laser, Ion
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Alternate but Frequently Suggested Paths:
DO NOT TAKE UNLESS ALL OTHER SPECS COMPLETELY INFURIATE YOU OR YOU HAVE SOME ODD BUMLOVE FOR ONE OF THESE SPECS.
CR/DE
Build 80 fighters, 5 CR, and 15 destroyers for every carrier
Build 540 fighters, 35 CR, and 150 destroyers for every 1 fleet carrier
Purpose: A middleground between CR and FT/CR hybrid, giving you more fighters and more destroyers compared to the usual spec. Can drop more figs, do some FT/DE finishers for really good ratios, but relies on a big fleet to retain the finishing power of cruisers though because destroyers are weak against basically everything except cruisers-hc (although they do get good ratios). Do not use unless you have 1.5x guild fleet averages otherwise you'll never see the potential of this compo and you'll basically dilute the fleet into a basic balanced crapfleet.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Plasma, Laser, Shielding

FT/CR Hybrid:
Build 76 fighters and 4 CRs for every carrier
or build 480 fighters and 20 CRs for every 1 FC
Optional: Corvettes, Destroyers, Bombers (pick upto 2 to build (preferably only one); no more than 10% of total fleet of those three things combined)
Purpose: The faggot who suggested this wanted to drop a bit more fighters and fig swarm some little stuff. If that's the way you want to roll and suffer a marginal loss in damage your finishing power then go for it.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser, Plasma, Shielding

FT/HC Hybrid:
Build 76 fighters and 2 HCs for every 5 carriers
or build 480 fighters and 10 HCs for every 1 FC
Optional: Corvettes, Destroyers, Bombers (pick any to build; no more than 10% of total fleet of those three things combined)
Purpose: The faggot who suggested this wanted to drop a bit more fighters and fig swarm some little stuff. If that's the way you want to roll and suffer a marginal loss in your anti-fig/caps capability then go for it.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser, Plasma

FT/X/Capitals Hybrid:
X = Cruiser or HC.
For every levi, build 1500 Cruisers (or 750 HC), and 300 carriers (or 70 FC).
Optional: Corvettes, Destroyers, Bombers (pick any to build; no more than 10% of total fleet of those three things combined)
Purpose: The archetypical high level player fleet. Only a high leveled player can do this and still carry around enough firing power to not make the fleet a shitty balanced fleet. Does basically everything you do with a figswarm/cruiser stack/levi stack just not nearly as well compared to a guy specced in all three. Hence a much higher fleet size is required for this spec. You are not allowed to ask for this spec if you are below rank 250 or if you do meet 1.5x guild average fleet.
Weapon techs (in order of importance): Armor, Laser, Plasma, Shielding, Photon

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Reasons to specialize:


Specializing in AE is important because it allows a fleet of comparatively smaller fleet size to complete a task that would originally otherwise only be able to be done by a much larger and balanced fleet. The goal for us is that by restructuring the big fleets and convincing them to specialize, we can attain a level where our fleet as a guild is balanced, but individual fleets are not. This is good for two reasons. First, these individual, specialized fleets are more efficient at what they do. Second, by having many individually specialized fleets, the guild as a whole can be more efficient, both offensively and defensively as a direct consequence of the individual fleet becoming more efficient.


Note: The point of specialization is to build fewer types of fleets in greater quantity, so say if you are assigned a FT/CR fleet, do not fucking build HCs and vise versa.

The best practical example that demonstrates the need to specialize lies in the balanced fleets containing both cruisers / heavy cruisers that everyone seems to have. People usually justify the presence of HCs in their CR stack (and vise versa) by acknowledging either the fact that HCs protect from levis and CRs can kill basically everything. However, since one never uses CR and HC in the same attack because its ratio damaging, (if you do, message me and I'll boot you from the guild) by mixing HCs in your CR stack, you are directly limiting the amount of cruisers you can fit in your fleet since you are building some HCs instead of CRs 'for protection' (and vise versa). With specializing, since you only build one of CR/HC and leave a guildmate to build the other, both fleets end up being more effective at what they do since they don't have to splash on the things they didn't build, relying on their guildmates to cover their weaknesses. You could thus say that by having the entire guild specialize, the guild on the whole will be far stronger because they can afford larger numbers of a single unit to produce optimal ratios that wouldn't be possible without specialized fleets.

In number terms: instead of two fleets, one with 10k CR and 2k HC and the other with 5k HC and 4k CR, by specializing one of those fleets could have 15k CR and the other fleet could have 7500 HC. Which combo is stronger? I think its obvious.