Early game fleet composition vs Revenants & Arachnes, etc.

[Jabberwocky]

Hey there folks!

Have purchased the game bundle a while ago and started playing the story campaign recently. The next story mission is "Chapter 9 - Permissive Action LInk".

For a while, I mopped the floor with enemy corvettes and support ships using mainly Adamant Frigates, but now the Cylons have upgraded to Revenants and Arachnes which have much higher armor and pack quite a punch.

Most of my fleets consist of Artemis Battlestars and Adamant frigates at the moment, but I've got the blueprints for several ship classes unlocked:

-Artemis Battlestar
-Adamant Frigate
-Janus Cruiser
-Minotaur Gunship
-Berzerk Carrier
-Manticore Corvette

I also have armour-piercing munitions and Viper MK II unlocked.

What would be the best fleet composition at this stage in the game? I've noticed that my Adamant Frigates cannot take the amount of punishment that the Revenants and Arachnes dish out. So far, I've relied on Vipers to clear enemy missile volleys and have used Flak sparingly.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Jabberwocky]

Another question about the Celestra: I see many videos on youtube about the Celestra costing no points at all when joining a fleet, as it takes up the support slot. But the game tells me that the point value of a Celestra is 550.

Which one is correct now, and why?

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

Both can be correct. It costs 550 points if added to a fleet that already has a support ship but will cost nothing if the fleet doesn't have one. Similar case with the Defender although I believe that ship will oust a Celestra from the support slot, not really a problem though as the Defender costs 750.