godman85 wrote:

Also, 20% of their dust generation is converted to essence by default.

This is definitely untrue.  I have 0 essence generated, regardless of how much dust I had coming in.

And I understand that arks are powerful, but you have to have essence to get arks, and to get essence, you need 3-4 solid combat ships, which is at least one tech and many turns away, especially if you have a crappy starting situation.  The problem is not "how do I handle the game when I have 4-5 arks and fleets of warships and several minor factions under my belt."  The problem is getting there.

Though perhaps I could start just by upgrading my starting ark.  That might help.  Seems counter intuitive to go that route, though, but it might work.  I'll have to check.

I still can't believe they didnt nerf Vodyani.

I would have made it where their arks were much cheaper BUT they only started with 1 bonus module and with each CLASS of ship upgrades, they would unlock another. So their regular attack and defense ships would unlock the second, the mediums, the third, and the huge, the 4th.

This slows down their obnoxiously overpowered FIDSI but also allows them to expand much easier.

Also, 20% of their dust generation is converted to essence by default.

I haven't played Vodyani yet after launch, but you mentioned getting stuck on 1 planet on a bad start? If so, the optimal thing to do is usually to leave Tchinomy as soon as you find a better nearby system. Prioritize planetary colonization tech earlier (depending on what planets you find with probes/scout) and move your Ark to a system with 3-4 workable planets as soon as you can.

Also mentioned already by Nizaris; Ark modules are a big deal. Prioritize upgrading those.