So, I have been thinking about this a lot as of late.

I have played Endless Space 2 now for about 200 hours. I've played all factions at least once, all on easy difficulty. When I first got the game, I tried it on normal but found it too challenging. However, I have tried going back to it numerous times, only to feel like I am seriously failing late early game. Now, I know I am very easily frustrated, and it might just be minor setbacks that still allow me to steamroll in late game either way, but I am curious to see if someone can offer me some general pointers.

I started playing Endless Space 1 about the time it was released. Having only played Civilization 4, 5 and a some Warlock as my only 4X games, my experience was limited in terms of veriety, but I would say I was decent at those games, usually playing on normal settings. However, Endless Space was always a tougher nut to crack, and I think it has a lot to do with how factions are specialized. In a game like Civ, you can play most factions/civilizations the same way with minor differences. But if you try to play Cravers as you would do your standard Civ game, well, let's just say my first Endless game was very different.

I got Endless Legend around release too, but stayed on easy diffculty. Not until around last Christmas did I get back to the series in general, and in Endless Space, I went in hard with the Roving Clans and have since finished the game on normal with all factions, on every victory condition, and I believe I can play the game on hard if I wanted to.

Endless Space 2 though I find to be much more difficult personally. Which have been messing with me a lot too since I see people quite frequently critiquing the game for being too easy, even on Endless. Now, I think I can beat the game on normal, but I feel the jump between easy and normal is too big, at least for me to feel like I am improving properly. Thing is, I generally enjoy playing games on low difficulties. I don't necessarily play for a challenge and do it more so for, let's say, the atmosphere and feeling of 'being there'. That being said, I have a usual feeling when I play strategy games, Total War being another one, where I kind of want the "standard experience" to compare myself to others. Which means to usually play on a normal setting, with standard game settings in terms of pirates, resources, galaxy settings etc. I don't know if it is a stupid ego problem, because in the end, I play these games alone and to enjoy them. But I have been pushing myself in a few other games as of late with quite some success so I want to do that with Endless Space 2 as well, since I do really like the game at its core, as much as I have come to find personal issues with it.

Tl;dr(?) - I have played Endless Space 2 a lot but I am looking to improve myself. Are there some pointers that could be thrown my way about what to think about? I tend to play very 'balanced', so I don't rush specific technologies and try to keep an even pace, I try to keep approval high and rarely expand beyond my current expansion cap unless I am certain I can negate it. I usually go for Dust and Influence surpluses that are very big for when it could be needed when a war is declared. I always tend to build the first two legendary buildings, should I avoid them on some factions or just ignore them period? I tend to terraform everything to fertile planets eventually, is that necessary and good? Should I pick planet specialization depending on planet type, or should I focus a lot on specializing systems for production or science? Do I avoid building certain system improvements altogether? (To be fair, that I already do to some extent) I have no intetion of playing multiplayer, and I figure people might play quite differently against AI and players so could be good to know.

I appreicate any comments or thoughts on this.

Well, i can't say i'm a great player at ES2, but i do manage to play on hard without much issues. I guess the first things you should look for is tech that allow to colonize nearby planets, prioritize systems with resources you will need and deny your competitors from getting them before you do. Don't worry about happiness early game unless it goes bellow 50% and try to move your population around once you have the means to do it. You don't need to terraform every planets especially if your pop is happy enough there, you need those cold and hot planets for extra research and production. Don't fall behind in military tech and keep a sizable fleet around to keep pirates and other factions in check. It is also advisable to keep a good admiral or two for your fleets as they give massive buffs to the fleet they are on and save you a lot of ships in the long run. Don't rush building upgrades too much, the buffs they give to your systems won't make up for the upkeep if you don't have enough population to run them. And last, AIs are very likely to go to war with you if there are few free systems left or they lack certain resources you have, you can always try to bribe them with resources or tech if you don't feel fighting them all the time.

I appreciate the replies, and will take these things into account when I keep playing. Thanks again.

Do you have a certain faction(s) that you really enjoy playing as ? 

Definitely specialize planets based on what you either are currently aiming for, i.e science specialization for the science victory, slag and slug for strategic resource production. 

Also, whenever you start up a game get a clear goal in mind, like what are you aiming for, i.e victory conditions, galactic domination, alliances, a small but powerful empire, etc. 

As far as I'm concerned terraforming planets to Terran/Forest/Atoll/Ocean is always a good choice, especially later in the game, due to their well-balanced bonuses. 

The first wonder is great for overall empire improvement, while you don't necessarily need the second one, though it is great for the science victory and if you're trying to unlock certain technologies faster. However, be careful with wonders, if you don't time the turn you start building them correctly, your home system could actually fall behind when it comes to system improvements. 

Also understand your playstyle; are you more defensive and offensive ? 

(If you tell me that I can probs offer more tips lol) 

I have to go now sorry it's so short whoops  

I tend to play defensively. I really try to avoid military involvment into late game as much as I can. Also, I only really play with Score, Supremacy and at times Wonder victory, I find Science and Economic speciafically to ruin the experience a lot of the time.

I don't have one faction that I play a lot. Or rather, I do really like the Lumeris, but I like to switch around. The main factions I do play would be, again, the Lumeris, United Empire, Riftborn, Horatio and the Vaulters, I would say. Sophons, Unfallen are probably the factions I won't ever touch. The Cravers I like to play, but no regularly, and Vodyani are fun but really hard as far as I am concerned.

One thing I find frustrating is that every time I play on nomral, I seem to end up sharing a consetllation with another faction, which rarely happens on easy. So I also wonder if that is a difficulty thing, or just bad luck? I find that the randomized spawn can affect the game a bit too much at times.