KingJohnVI wrote:
In Summary: Maximizing FIDS research will help you toward your goals, but be cognizant of changing situations and be prepared to adapt your research accordingly. Note that all the techs mentioned by everyone above serve to increase your FIDS in one way or another.

Great post. The details you gave might help me a bit more since i did what the others said and got an early boost but started to lose it later on as i did not prioritize things that would boost my empire... Weapon and ship upgrades can wait, once we have a powerhouse running those techs are quick to research and we can pump military ships much Faster. Of course, having some ships around to upgrade when the tech comes is always a good idea...



Anyway, this should help me get better at this game.

ben_caleb wrote:
Just think, without science tech your research will suffer, without expansion your research will stagnate, without diplomatic your research won't benefit from fervent and trade. Military is more of a defensive measure.

I don't think that's true for all races in the game. Hisshos and Cravers are better off conquering (the earlier the better, and taking the hard labor of others benifit them), and the Imperium makes so much fids it doesn't care much for trade with other empires (thus can happily conquer them). Trade is more for the peaceful races...

ben_caleb wrote:
Just think, without science tech your research will suffer, without expansion your research will stagnate, without diplomatic your research won't benefit from fervent and trade. Military is more of a defensive measure.

Well said!

I usually do all the base research, 1st tier circle, then research for warp. After that I vary between diplomatic, colonial and science. Unless military is your goal I find you can stay relatively balanced for military tech when you do a quick research when it only takes 1 or 2 turns.



Just think, without science tech your research will suffer, without expansion your research will stagnate, without diplomatic your research won't benefit from fervent and trade. Military is more of a defensive measure.

Tredecim wrote:
Yeah, I'd agree too, but it depends on my oponents if I will make some weapon techs earlier.

This is so true. For example, if I meet some Cravers, I always go for a few more weapons to balance their larger fleets. You know they will attack sooner than later, so it's best to be prepared, rather than lose 2 or 3 systems which will be hard to reclaim.

KingJohnVI wrote:
Glad I could help. If you have any other questions about game mechanics or strategies, feel free to ask. There are many players, including myself, happy to give guidance where we are able.

Yeah, feel free to ask, that's what the forums for - and we (usually) don't bite

Foraven wrote:
Great post. The details you gave might help me a bit more since i did what the others said and got an early boost but started to lose it later on as i did not prioritize things that would boost my empire... Weapon and ship upgrades can wait, once we have a powerhouse running those techs are quick to research and we can pump military ships much Faster. Of course, having some ships around to upgrade when the tech comes is always a good idea...



Anyway, this should help me get better at this game.

Glad I could help. If you have any other questions about game mechanics or strategies, feel free to ask. There are many players, including myself, happy to give guidance where we are able.

Foraven wrote:
Great post. The details you gave might help me a bit more since i did what the others said and got an early boost but started to lose it later on as i did not prioritize things that would boost my empire... Weapon and ship upgrades can wait, once we have a powerhouse running those techs are quick to research and we can pump military ships much Faster. Of course, having some ships around to upgrade when the tech comes is always a good idea...



Anyway, this should help me get better at this game.

Even if you go to war, and pump out serious amounts of ships, you should never neglect your FIDS. To do so is usually to lose, especially once you get on to Hard and above. This includes upgrading your planets when the upgrades become available.

KingJohnVI wrote:
If you don't start with it, I'd recommend N-Way Fusion Plants as THE first tech you research, to get you +10 industry, and subsequently build that on your homeworld. Also, if you start with a species that isn't already pretty amazing at food production, and especially if your starting world(s) is(are) Terran or Ocean, your second tech should probably be Soil Xenobiology, to give you Alien Grafting as an upgrade to your food planet exploitation.



After that, it depends:



If you are in a galaxy with "Many" Systems, I would highly recommend going for Applied Casmir Effect in order to traverse wormholes. If not, consider your surroundings to determine how much you want to invest in the Exploration and Expansion Tree (the bottom tree); if you have plenty of colonizable worlds don't waste your time here initially, get these techs a little later. On the other hand, if you have few or no tier 1 (Terran, Ocean Jungle) worlds to colonize, get these techs asap.



Other early techs to consider:

Xenology: This MAY give you a huge boost to your world(s) if you have these economic resources present on your worlds. This is doubly important to get early if you have something like Hydromiel on your homeworld, or if you can get a monopoly.

Core Mining: This gives you an upgrade to your production exploitation on your worlds. This is only important if you are actually using a production emphasis on your worlds, or for example, if you are playing the Sowers affinity.



A Wee Bit Later: Botanical Scanning (for Supermarkets *Morale*), Non-Baryonic Particles (for +40 Science), and Graviton Manipulation (Planetary Institute *+6 of everything*), and High Energy Magnetics (for additional Production). Your goal here should be to increase your FIDS as fast as possible. As a result, you will have to interrupt these short-term goals to get military technology if (or when) you meet a hostile neighbor. Don't be afraid to totally switch gears, even in the middle of researching something to get something else you need.



Alternatively, you can take a more aggressive stance depending on your species traits and more heavily research military tech, BUT ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE A REASON. One good reason to research military tech is that you are either at war, or war is clearly coming. If this is the case, research it! Another good reason is to conquer an enemy. If you believe you have a chance to take over a number of valuable systems, do it! This will increase your FIDS while decreasing your enemies. Final reason to research military tech: It is your only hope. Whether its because your starting position was crap or your neighbors were hostile, or perhaps because your species design was lacking, sometimes you won't be on top of the charts in overall production. If that's the case, you better go to the poor man's alternative, weapons. Keep in mind that in the game, as in life, if there are no checks on someone's growth, they will only continue to grow even faster, so if you find yourself lagging in FIDS or science, your only chance may be to build a big military and overwhelm them quickly.



In Summary: Maximizing FIDS research will help you toward your goals, but be cognizant of changing situations and be prepared to adapt your research accordingly. Note that all the techs mentioned by everyone above serve to increase your FIDS in one way or another.

Well said, well said, much better than the description I was working on lol

I've been playing this game for a while now and realized i'm terrible at keeping up with the AIs research wise. I understand combat and colonizing well enough, but i tend to waste my research points grabbing cheap stuff with no real goal in mind. I need some tips as to what to get first and what i can wait later for...

If you don't start with it, I'd recommend N-Way Fusion Plants as THE first tech you research, to get you +10 industry, and subsequently build that on your homeworld. Also, if you start with a species that isn't already pretty amazing at food production, and especially if your starting world(s) is(are) Terran or Ocean, your second tech should probably be Soil Xenobiology, to give you Alien Grafting as an upgrade to your food planet exploitation.



After that, it depends:



If you are in a galaxy with "Many" Systems, I would highly recommend going for Applied Casmir Effect in order to traverse wormholes. If not, consider your surroundings to determine how much you want to invest in the Exploration and Expansion Tree (the bottom tree); if you have plenty of colonizable worlds don't waste your time here initially, get these techs a little later. On the other hand, if you have few or no tier 1 (Terran, Ocean Jungle) worlds to colonize, get these techs asap.



Other early techs to consider:

Xenology: This MAY give you a huge boost to your world(s) if you have these economic resources present on your worlds. This is doubly important to get early if you have something like Hydromiel on your homeworld, or if you can get a monopoly.

Core Mining: This gives you an upgrade to your production exploitation on your worlds. This is only important if you are actually using a production emphasis on your worlds, or for example, if you are playing the Sowers affinity.



A Wee Bit Later: Botanical Scanning (for Supermarkets *Morale*), Non-Baryonic Particles (for +40 Science), and Graviton Manipulation (Planetary Institute *+6 of everything*), and High Energy Magnetics (for additional Production). Your goal here should be to increase your FIDS as fast as possible. As a result, you will have to interrupt these short-term goals to get military technology if (or when) you meet a hostile neighbor. Don't be afraid to totally switch gears, even in the middle of researching something to get something else you need.



Alternatively, you can take a more aggressive stance depending on your species traits and more heavily research military tech, BUT ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE A REASON. One good reason to research military tech is that you are either at war, or war is clearly coming. If this is the case, research it! Another good reason is to conquer an enemy. If you believe you have a chance to take over a number of valuable systems, do it! This will increase your FIDS while decreasing your enemies. Final reason to research military tech: It is your only hope. Whether its because your starting position was crap or your neighbors were hostile, or perhaps because your species design was lacking, sometimes you won't be on top of the charts in overall production. If that's the case, you better go to the poor man's alternative, weapons. Keep in mind that in the game, as in life, if there are no checks on someone's growth, they will only continue to grow even faster, so if you find yourself lagging in FIDS or science, your only chance may be to build a big military and overwhelm them quickly.



In Summary: Maximizing FIDS research will help you toward your goals, but be cognizant of changing situations and be prepared to adapt your research accordingly. Note that all the techs mentioned by everyone above serve to increase your FIDS in one way or another.

eqronis wrote:
I mostly agree with the posted list, but I always get the 2nd lvl missiles VERY early just in case I have a hostile I need to deal with.

Yeah, I'd agree too, but it depends on my oponents if I will make some weapon techs earlier.

I mostly agree with the posted list, but I always get the 2nd lvl missiles VERY early just in case I have a hostile I need to deal with.

For very fast expanding empires the wormhole tech should be prioritized over +40 sci all the time.



I recently started a test game, slow speed, 4 Empires, 8 Spiral, Large, no pirates, everything else on default settings, serious difficulty.

Modified Sophon Race /w Masters of Illusion and Legendary Heroes as core traits and more to speed up colonizing.



At turn 20 I already colonized ~8 Systems / ~12 Planets - basically all tier 1 and 2 planets of my whole constellation. Researching Nonbaryonic Particles would have slow me down for like 8 turns, while the -22% exp disapp was very very useful. Supermarkets were next. I still got much more knowledge (and science of fids) than any AI. (Next game I'll go for endless difficulty)

Foraven wrote:
The weapons and other goodies can wait a bit later...

I tend to go for the first level of laser quite early.

The production to destruction value is quite high, since it receives a 30% "discount" with 4+ Hyperium.

Ail wrote:
Tech's worth rushing for:



1. the 40 Sci-Building

2. the wormhole-tech

3. the first 2 approval-buildings

4. planetary institutes (+6 fids-builing)



After that you can feel pretty free to research whatever you feel like.

Thanks. I guess i should have thought of that. I should start with any research/production bonuses at the begining, that should make it easier to jumpstart my empire. The weapons and other goodies can wait a bit later...

Ail wrote:
Tech's worth rushing for:



1. the 40 Sci-Building

2. the wormhole-tech

3. the first 2 approval-buildings

4. planetary institutes (+6 fids-builing)



After that you can feel pretty free to research whatever you feel like.

I agree with this, and this is my priority list pretty much all the time.

Only thing I can wait a bit with, is wormhole tech, depending on how the nearby galaxy looks like.

If there's little to no wormhols near me, and the ones that exist are far away, I'll go for the approval techs and planetary institute first (but always +40 science first).

Tech's worth rushing for:



1. the 40 Sci-Building

2. the wormhole-tech

3. the first 2 approval-buildings

4. planetary institutes (+6 fids-builing)



After that you can feel pretty free to research whatever you feel like.