Nope the vassari win.  The reason for that is we can seige your planet and take its loot at the same time

But does that graphic make it look like the ship is vacuming the planet?  Is there a mod that changes the ships to look like something from space balls?

advent

THE UNITY WILL CONQUER ALL!

No, seriously, the advent rock. Their cap ships are more effective, as well as more supportive for their lesser ships. The TEC are too plain and the Vasasi are too, well their just too not feeling right for me.

And if you need to know why else I like them see the picture.

I like all three races however if I had to choose one I would say the Advent.

I really like the idea of all their ships and technology synergizing together making the whole stronger then the parts, even if this isn't always the way it works I love the concept a lot.  Much of their game play is in keeping with my play style and I love the look of Avent Technology (even if their outfits could use a little work).  I only wish Culture did more in the game as that is a major Advent mechanic which I feel is under developed.

TEC, purely for flavor reasons.

Between the Novalith and Safety Override, they have the two biggest explosions in the game.

The old Cobalt voices were amazing (in the amusing way), on par with the over-the-top angry Vasari Kortul voice.  They've since been dumbed down to more passive versions, for you schmucks who only recently started playing the game.

edit: In fact, I still have copies of the old files, and currently have them replacing the newer files in the game assets folder.

Nah, the Advent are more like the logical extreme of Communism, unlike the hardcore theocracy of the Ori. The only real similarity between them is that they have the 'Join or Die!' motto as their main theme, though I suppose the splitting from the same race could apply as well.

I find TEC's end game easiest to get to.

Assassin X

"...they are lost to us!"

Has no one wondered why the Advent were outcast in the first place?  It's obvious to even the most casual observer.  They were the Sex Traders!  They developed the demand for sex as a powerful commodity and withheld it when necessary to escalate their positions of power.  Even their ships embody thematically sexual overtones.  Look at the Progenator!  And how about some of their abilities - Malice!, and the Guardians Repulse!?  If these aren't women-lib I don't know what is.  I mean, listen to their voices.  Ever heard the Crusader tramps?  These bitches are stone cold brothel babes bent on turning out the whole galaxy!  Wait till you hear the Subjugators, it's just plain creepy how much they sound like a madam in a red light district.

This is why Advent are the scariest to me.  You have to watch your back the whole time with those biatches!

And if you wanna talk starbases, that nice little distortion the Advent's have makes an entire fleet useless if they're dumb enough to go after it, in most cases is a must if they're trying to take a planet protected by it lol. just mass some beam platforms with synergy and a hanger with shield restore nearby and you've got a hard to kill, and hard to hit very large stationary object(what's that say for your gunners ). Only real counter to that is strikecraft, unless there's a large enough number of fighters to counter you. and if there's homing mines around it, just move on to the next planet and use superweapons 'cause that planet aint changin sides for nobody lol

Get the optimizeation mod, a 300 squadron fight around the central sun of Systems of war is just plain scary (4 starbases full anima upgrades = 80/16 carrier caps"yes, I went there damnit" and fill in the rest with carriers till your supplies run dry , although I had a few of them on mine deployment, shiny floating things go boom >=3)   anyway yeah lol it's nuts what you can do with enough strike craft, like completeyly shutting down access to a system

Advantages of Factions:

Advent - Most powerful fleet, most powerful defenses...their powerful culture means they are the only faction that can neutralize a planet without a single shot (save maybe a deliverance engine)

Vasari - Highly mobile, can attack/defend anywhere on the map with one phase jump (two at most)...their mobility allows them to bypass any defenses and avoid any fleet...

TEC - Superior Industry, best economy...they can build ships faster than anyone else, and can change their tactics easier than anyone else...

And the moral of the story is...the Best faction is entirely dependent on WHO you are fighting...

If you are fighting against Advent, Vasari are the best...you can avoid their superior fleet and defenses, and cripple their economy...then its a matter of widdling their fleet down...

If you are fighting against Vasari, TEC are the best...their superior industry allows them to throw units at the Vasari, preventing the Vasari from going on the offensive...eventually you will overwhelm them...

If you are fighting against TEC, Advent are the best...their defenses will stop a TEC fleet dead in its tracks...meanwhile, the Advent can either attack with their invincible fleet or sit back and culture bomb the TEC, who won't be able to do anything about it....

I concur