First off, No, we don't clone. We just breed like rabbits.



Currently in progress, writing as we speak



First thing: read this thread by Arrowlance (https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/27-general/thread/8879-tutorial-for-beginners ). It is a very nice tutorial for beginners.



This thread assumes you have are relatively new, but have played the game for a little while, know the basics, and have decide to conquer the world through peace, love and rock and roll. However if you have any questions/ comments/ ideas etc. Feel free to respond/ comment/ dispute me etc.. I will test out the ideas and revise it accoccordingly. I will also endevor to update the guide as the alpha/ beta/ release edition progresses.























Before I start I will explain this one concept. War is war, you can't attack a owned planet without war (an owned planet is one with the thick colored circle around it), you can however attack colonies, they are the planets these planets do NOT have a thick colored circle, they have a partially filled colored bar, you can invade these planets and take them from the current owners without starting a war (However keep in mind the respective owners WILL attack you to stop the invasion).



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Philosphy:

me eat you. me eat you good.



Play style:

Fast early rush and eternal war



How to beat:

Craver empires are like an living organism, they MUST eat, devor and expand, if they stop they will die. If you stop/ control their expansion. you will stop/ control them. Cravers have an early advantage through overharvesting and with 2 extra cp (which means more ships in a fleet earlier). However, if you stop their early expansion and curtail their colonization of planets, they have a heavy late penalty that will make them easy to beat.



Expect to be attacked early. Hope and pray that they are near you. Ie: you can force them to change their focus from attack mode to defence mode. Once Cravers they are on the defensive, they are easier to beat. You can get Cravers on an early defensive, by invading their colonies and attacking their fleets with masses of low-cost suicide fleets (all offence no defence, you will loose whole fleets, but you will take most of not all of them with you). Keep in mind you will need a couple fleets per planet atleast, and several for backup, so plan accordingly. Also, research weapons early (specialize in one type of weapon to start, atleast 2 levels), also the fleet increase as early as possible.

If you meet cravers late game, hope and pray you have enough omni-fleets with omni defence to defeat them. Also keep in mind there is no diplomacy with cravers, so once a war starts there is no cease fire.



NOTE: I would suggest building up a good amount of full fleets (meaning if you can get 7 cp fleets, make a bunch of 7 cp etc) before starting any war, but this is especially important with Cravers, as once you start a war, you have to finish it. You can NOT attack them, then say "OOPS, my bad". What is considered a good amount in the early game will vary by size of the galaxy etc. If you are playing small, 3-4 full fleets may be a massive armada for example.



Also to those that think suicide fleets are an exploit, I say nay, if you can build ships to counter them, then it is NOT an exploit. There are plenty of real life examples of vehicles with major offence but very little defence, cannon, armed jeeps, etc.





















Philosphy:

Do you want fries with that. - How to conquer the galaxy through corporate greed.



Play style:

Massive industry and Dust production



How to beat:

Given a decent start, UE should be difficult late game. They have a good industry advantage, so late game they can produce massive amounts of fleets with ease.



To beat them, control their expansion in the early game. Also through harassment (ie: specialized suicide fleet attacks on colonies) you can turn their focus from building up their industry, to pumping out ships earlier, thus cause them to not be as productive in the late game.

















Philosphy:

Excuse me sir, can you hold my phase pistol while I shove this thermite grenade up your *ss?

Play style:

Flexible, techwhore or rusher with a speed advantage.



How to beat:

The classic way to play sophon is by being a pacifist techwhore. Ie: befriend everyone early, then late game splatter them through science.

If they are played this way, conquer them early OR befriend them inorder to trade research, them splatter them later. Like the UE, they should be weaker in the begining, but more powerful later, so becareful and deal with them accordingly.



Becareful however, sophons have a powerful tech advantage. If a sophon player deciedes to focus on weapons. fleet size etc techs, they could easily turn into a decent early rusher. If this is the case, treat them like the craven above.

To beat them, control their expansion in the early game. Also through harassment (ie: specialized suicide fleet attacks on colonies) you can turn their focus from building up their science, to pumping out ships earlier, thus will cause massive problems for them later in the game.

Hissho

Philosphy:

Honorable warrior, me hit you now, and me hit you later.



Play style:

Flexible, they have a weapons advantage so they can rush. Also they do NOT have the cravers fids penalties, so they can build up slower and be a force late game.



How to beat:

Observe their strategy and act accordingly. If they rush, treat them like cravers, if they have a late game strategy, treat them like the ue. Observe their strategy and react.



In general the harasement strategy applies: To beat them, control their expansion in the early game. Also through harassment (ie: specialized suicide fleet attacks on colonies). Like the cravers, the Hissho have an advantage in war (more weapons damage etc), so all other things being equal, you will take more damage, plan accordingly.

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Philosphy:

HMM, who here thinks the head writer has a cold?



Play style:

Probably they slowly engulf you, then digest you. I am thinking the blob in space.



How to beat:

ATM, I am thinking equip your ship with antibiotics. but I will have to play them and see.

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reserved for later

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Late game should be easy. You should have more territory, more population, thus more industry that most. Thus it is all about adapting to your oponents strategy. Be watchful of your enemies ships designs, at this stage (and partially through middle game phase) you should adapt a omni-based ship design (more than one type of weapn, and all defences).





Have fun romping though the galaxy, if you have any questions, comments. etc. post them please

I've found that having a small army of Administrator heroes (especially late game with the academy cap and clone cap boosting techs) is even better for Horatio than it is for the other factions. Since the goal of Horatio is basically to have an economic snowball effect, being able to get systems you just colonized (or just-colonized systems you stole from anther player) off the ground with Civil Engineer and Crop Geneticist is very important. That initial 10-15 turn period of waiting for the system to grow to a decent size so it can do useful things can be cut down to five turns or less with a level 6 or 7 Admin parked in the system.



This is a really useful strategy for systems with low food production (lava, desert, arctic, and barren systems) because those systems are usually really handy for science/industry purposes but often take an inordinately long time before they're contributing. It's not uncommon for me to have five or more clones of the same admin hero, late game, and I usually have three by the first academy cap technology. Since Horatio has a harder time fielding ships when their industry base is small, it's important for them to get high pop industrial focused systems quickly, and to expand them quickly. Admin heroes make this a lot easier, and I really couldn't imagine playing Horatio without a lot of them.

OHH never thought about that, great idea.

CagedByTruth wrote:
I've found that having a small army of Administrator heroes (especially late game with the academy cap and clone cap boosting techs) is even better for Horatio than it is for the other factions. Since the goal of Horatio is basically to have an economic snowball effect, being able to get systems you just colonized (or just-colonized systems you stole from anther player) off the ground with Civil Engineer and Crop Geneticist is very important. That initial 10-15 turn period of waiting for the system to grow to a decent size so it can do useful things can be cut down to five turns or less with a level 6 or 7 Admin parked in the system.



This is a really useful strategy for systems with low food production (lava, desert, arctic, and barren systems) because those systems are usually really handy for science/industry purposes but often take an inordinately long time before they're contributing. It's not uncommon for me to have five or more clones of the same admin hero, late game, and I usually have three by the first academy cap technology. Since Horatio has a harder time fielding ships when their industry base is small, it's important for them to get high pop industrial focused systems quickly, and to expand them quickly. Admin heroes make this a lot easier, and I really couldn't imagine playing Horatio without a lot of them.