Kreios wrote:
Even without Eternal War, there's no reason to take Isolationists with Blockade Breakers because Isolationist screws you out a ton of trade routes that would otherwise benefit from Blockade Breakers.

Because it saves points and doesn't require you to take any other weakness.



Eternal War by itself is -10 and simply makes you eternally at war and you get no trade income.



Eternal War + Isolationists + Blockade Breakers is still -7 and you do get some trade income. It may not be as broken, overall, as Eternal War + Blockade Breakers + Merchants 2, but I think it's doable.



That said, from the strictest power-gaming perspective I'd guess that Eternal War + Blockade Runners + Merchants 2 is extremely broken.

AlpsStranger wrote:
Because it is *still* strictly superior to just taking Eternal War and is cheaper?

Even without Eternal War, there's no reason to take Isolationists with Blockade Breakers because Isolationist screws you out a ton of trade routes that would otherwise benefit from Blockade Breakers.

Kreios wrote:
Isolationist is not a good combo with Blockade Breakers. If your trade routes will be working without peace, why would you want to reduce them in number?

Because it is *still* strictly superior to just taking Eternal War and is cheaper?

AlpsStranger wrote:
Cool.



I think I'm going to try messing with Isolationist, Eternal War, and Blockade Breakers. It's a more mild version of what you're talking about that weighs in at -7 net.

Isolationist is not a good combo with Blockade Breakers. If your trade routes will be working without peace, why would you want to reduce them in number?

Kreios wrote:
If you think that's nasty, try combining Eternal War with Blockade Breakers, then throw in Merchants 2 for some real shenanigans. I tested it, and it works. I'm probably going to put that net +8 combo on every race until the devs rebalance the race customizer.

Cool.



I think I'm going to try messing with Isolationist, Eternal War, and Blockade Breakers. It's a more mild version of what you're talking about that weighs in at -7 net.

AlpsStranger wrote:
I'm pretty sure Isolationists shouldn't be selectable with Eternal War. It's basically free points.

If you think that's nasty, try combining Eternal War with Blockade Breakers, then throw in Merchants 2 for some real shenanigans. I tested it, and it works. I'm probably going to put that net +8 combo on every race until the devs rebalance the race customizer.