So I'm like brand new..2 SP matches against Normal Craver AI. But, both games so far they seem to be expanding way faster than me, and not leaving much chance to survive. I've been fairly careful to watch happiness and not stretch too far in that regard (at least on this second game). Oh, I've been playing with ..UE i think, just cause it seemed easy. Any pointers would be appreciated.

Well, Against Cravers you have to be mindful of their strategy.

I find its important to capture systems that lie between you and them and blockade the hell out of them with very tough fleets.

Get a War hero onto the principal defensive fleets and let him grind up the experience. You need to get the techs that increase your fleet capacity, and you need to get 2nd tier weapons ASAP. A large type hull is good as well.



They WILL have more ships than you, dont worry. Quality over quantity.

If you can get the larger hull, with 2nd tier weapons and 1st tier armor with at least 3 of each defense module, you should be pretty safe.

My advice is to go for a lot of long range kinetic weapons. The logic being that they fire 4 times a round so you can hopefully knock out more ships. Back these up with some medium range lasers.

Play the cards that reduce their accuracy, and heal when you can.



Most my games im just holding my ground with 5-6 decent systems, all of them defended by blockading key outlying systems (preferably theirs) that have a "retreat" path back to one of my systems.

Being outnumbered by a belligerent foe is pretty standard, just make sure each of your ships can slaughter a hundred of theirs.

Ah ha! Some things there I wasn't doing right. I hadn't rushed cruisers, nor had I grabbed higher cap fleets or t2 weapons. My little fleets of 5 corvetts were getting slaughtered.

Thanks for the tips! It's funny how similar yet different ES is compared to SotS2



I'm also finding this interesting reading. /#/endless-space/forum/33-strategy-guides/thread/14056-beginner-s-guide-to-disharmony-improving-your-game

if you are having trouble expanding i suggest you try horatio, they are fantastic early and mid game for growth, also once you get to know the game making a custom faction may give you an edge over the other factions.

So...tell me more about making a custom faction!!!

Is that a common thing to do? Are those usable only in SP? Is it really just like making an edited copy of one of the stock factions?

custom factions are a very common thing that most experienced players do. It allows for more specialization according to strategy. Custom factions are usable in single player and multiplayer. It is basically taking the appearance and affinity of an in-game faction but choosing what traits you want. You can make these by going into the faction menu, clicking on a stock faction and clicking add. Then choose what affinity you want and add traits accordingly. Affinities will decide what ships, custom technologies, and custom traits you will get. All traits have a point value and a custom faction has up to 65 points.

That sounds like an amazingly fun time-sync! Thanks for explaining.

glad to help