Hey. So I have a question for the strategy experts about what sort of planets are best to terraform in Endless Space.



I understand that there are planets that are best for focusing on dust, science or industry. What I notice is that the "Tier 1" planets (the ones that don't need any tech to colonize) have slightly lower outputs then the "Tier 2" planets (the ones that need a bit of tech).



For example, an Ocean planet will generate 4 science per population while a Tundra planet will generate 5 science per population.



Obviously the Ocean planet will also provide food and dust, but if I want to maximize my science output, wouldn't it make sense to terraform planets to be Tundra planets? I ask because when I set the AI to be a governor of a system and prioritize science, they will terraform planets to be oceans.



I understand that food and high approval are also needed, but in the late game, when empires are big and I have a bunch of improvements, do I really need to have Tier 1 planets in all systems?

T1 is the best for Food, Production and Dust at late late game.



Not sure about science, but by that point you have researched everything.



so I shall wait for the better gamers to answer that.

You also need to take into account max population, which can often trump other considerations.



You might want to read through this guide:



/#/endless-space/forum/33-strategy-guides/thread/14044-which-planets-are-actually-the-best

The simple answer is:



Always prefer Tier 1 planets, even if they are not as good in specializing.

You don't want to keep an arctic for it's maybe 10% better science-output than an ocean would have, when after Terraforming that planet could have 5 times more production and more dust.



The only reason to not terraform to Tier 1 is when you have a tiny 1 planet-system where the terraforming sometimes would take longer than the rest of the game would take.

If you really want to max out science output, you'll pick the science planetary exploitation. The last planetary exploitation for science gives +3 science per pop for all planets, and an additional +2 for ocean planets. Tundra would give 8 science per pop, while ocean would give 9 AND a higher population cap AND higher food per pop, higher industry per pop, higher approval.



If you can afford to terraform to tier 1 in a reasonable time, do it.