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The Vorastra Titan is the Vasari Loyalist's Titan added in the Rebellion stand-alone expansion. The Vorastra can function as a mobile capital world, rendering the player "safe" from long-range nuclear weapons. It can also genuinely take on enemy planets all on its own, thanks to its ability to summon Dark Fleet ships and its incredible damage output. This output is almost entirely forward facing, however, so like the Ragnarov, care should be taken to avoid being flanked by nimble foes. It should be noted that in a one-on-one Titan fight, the Vorastra is capable of focusing virtually all its weapons on one foe, making it exceptionally lethal in those circumstances.
Tactics[]
As the flagship of the Vasari Loyalists, it is the embodiment of their swift, brutal domination philosophy. Bristling with weapons, it can outgun almost any other ship in a one on one fight, as well as having very powerful shields and hull. These are far from being its only strengths however, as it also has powerful abilities.
The first of, and arguably the most powerful of the Vorastra's abilities is Micro Phase Jump, which allows it to instantaneously transport itself to another location within the gravity well it is currently in (within a certain range, dependent on upgrades). Even at low levels, this ability is very powerful, and when upgraded will allow it to instantaneously cross all but the largest gravity wells. It is not a good idea to have this ability on autocast, as the AI will usually just use it to move whenever it is available, which is a tremendous waste of antimatter and the potential of this ability. In the hands of a skilled player however, the uses of this ability are limited only by the bounds of the gravity well. It can be used to quickly retreat the Titan from a losing battle, cross a gravity well quickly to allow it to phase jump to besieged systems, close with a retreating enemy, bypass planetary defenses, or allow the Titan to move into optimal firing position instantaneously, which offsets the normal weakness Titans have, being very sluggish. This ability also has a fairly short cooldown (only 30 seconds at max upgrade level), allowing it to be used to quickly react to changing battle conditions. This ability is quite useful against long-range opponents, such as the Ragnarov Titan, negating their advantage.
The Vorastra's second ability is Desperation, a short duration ability that grants splash damage when the Titan is damaged, as well as providing a stacking buff to weapon damage and incoming damage reduction. This is a fairly straightforward ability, which augments the effectiveness of the Vorastra's Micro Phase Jump, allowing it to jump into an enemy fleet and return some of the damage it takes, as well as reducing it and augmenting its already impressive firepower.
The Vorastra's third ability is Deploy Phase Stabilizer, which does exactly what you would expect. This ability, though it has a long cooldown, is quite useful. It can be used to allow reinforcements to jump in from distant planets within the same star system, and, with the proper research, allows Dark Fleet ships to be called in wherever they are needed, even deep in enemy territory. More importantly, it allows you to use the Kostura cannon deep inside the enemies empire and offering you a secure way back. Before Rebellion and for Vasari Rebels, you needed a Level 6 Antorak Marauder. It may also be noted that you can place an infinite amount of phase stabilizers in a single gravity well if you use this ability. You can also place phase stabilizers in gravity wells which are already fully saturated with other tactical structures.
The ultimate ability of the Vorastra is The Maw, available at level 6, this powerful targeted ability allows the Titan to literally consume entire fleets of cruisers and frigates. Upon activation, the titan will emit a vortex from the "Maw" on its front side, drawing all enemy corvettes, cruisers, and strikecraft in. Upon reaching the Vorastra's "Maw", all those ships are destroyed regardless of shields, hull, or otherwise. At the first level of the ability, you also receive 50 % of the resource cost of the "eaten" ships. This does increase to 100 % on the second level.
The primary weakness of this ability is its very short activation range, which prevents it from being too powerful. Used in combination with Micro Phase Jump, this weakness can be offset somewhat, allowing the Vorastra to quickly get within range. However, the Titan will usually still have to do some maneuvering before using the ability, so make sure to get in as close as possible, so that as few ships as possible will escape. Once this ability is active, it cannot be stopped until it is finished, and while it is active the Titan cannot maneuver at all or Phase Jump, so it is not a good idea to use this if your Titan is nearly destroyed unless it is absolutely necessary. Used properly, this ability can turn the tide of a battle by obliterating an entire supporting fleet or large groups of enemy carriers. Normally those tend to run away from an approaching Titan, but with Micro Phase Jump there is no outrunning the Vorastra. This ability is also extremely effective against Pirates, since their fleets are only made up of frigates and cruisers which will simply charge at you.
A secondary weakness was added in a recent patch stipulating a maximum number of targets this ability can "consume". This introduces a new peculiarity which can lead to a large section of the enemies fleet being "stuck" in the maw as the ability will not deactivate once this limit has been reached.
As with all other Titans, the Vorastra also has various upgrades available to its hull, shielding, weapon damage, and antimatter.
Weaknesses[]
The primary weakness of the Vorastra is its reliance on abilities. While its Micro Phase Jump ability greatly reduces the effectiveness of traditional anti-Titan tactics such as bomber swarms, if its antimatter runs out, or is drained by ships that have this capability, such as the TEC's Dunov Battlecruiser, Advent's Radiance Battleship or Vasari's Kortul Devastator, then the Vorastra isn't much more agile than an Orkulus Star Base. Furthermore, watch out for the TEC Loyalists' Ankylon Titan, which can use its Disruption Matrix to prevent the Vorastra from Micro Phase Jumping and can disrupt the channeling of The Maw. Without the ability to jump, the Vorastra has limited anti-bomber abilities, starting with two squadrons and at higher levels, having four, as well as moderate anti-strike craft defenses. A supporting fleet or retreat of the Vorastra is recommended if it enters a gravity well heavily saturated in bombers.