This is my first 4X game and so I anticipated I would suck, but not quite so badly as this. I read the excellent tutorials for beginners, but unfortunately, most of them were written well before Disharmony came out and it seems like a lot has changed (for instance, Destroyers seem worse than Corvettes, at least for the Pilgrims).



I'm getting the impression that aggression is how to win this game. I tried to play a game on a medium ovoid galaxy, with pirates enabled. I was the Pilgrims and there were 3 random AI empires set on Normal. First off, early game was rough. I had a couple of ocean planets in my home constellation and the rest were mostly desert or arctic. I did luck out in that one system had 5 bluecap molds, which I tried to colonize asap (I had to research desert colonization first). The starting heroes were all corporate/espionage. Also, pirates suck.



I tried to play a pacifist game. After researching very early technologies to boost industry and science, I then went on to unlock peace negotiations. At first, all 3 empires signed peace treaties with me. So I improved my systems and got some nice trade deals going. I actually made an alliance with the empire furthest from me. I tried to have two ship designs, one was a corvette with extra engines and loaded with medium-range beam weapons and 1 or 2 armors to max out tonnage. The other was another corvette with full LR missiles (which ALWAYS seem to miss).



I tried to expand rapidly in the beginning, and then just sit on my systems and develop them. Then suddenly the two adjacent empires declared war on me and showed up with huge 12 CP fleets over over 2000 MP.



Is there any way to play this game and win via smart trading and development, rather than just researching military and killing everything?

You will need a fleet to defend your systems as the AI will think you are weak and easy to target. You will need to keep ships at all systems because pirates will occupy undefended planets. There is a bug where the AI will declare wars on you even if it is at war with all the factions in the galaxy. The AI is really good an economic victory. You can create a custom race if you want that might give you some better options.



With ship design I tend to create ships that carry all weapons types and set them to best range ie Kinetics close range, Laser Medium and Missiles to long range. I also do the same with defences system on my ship.



DarkMeph



I forgot the mention the AI does cheat. There are others who can explain that better that I would

Hi, I also bought the game a couple of days ago and had a similar experience trying for a "pacifist" victory. I picked the Sophonts (aka puny space nerds) and figured I'd just colonize a few neighboring systems and advance really quickly in scientific research. Predictably enough, the other empires beat me up and took my lunch money. It seems that really, the only way to win is to expand aggressively and attack everything before it can attack you.

DarkMeph wrote:
The AI is really good an economic victory.

Speaking of this, do you recommend letting the AI micromanage some star systems? On my last run through, I micromanaged everything. The game only lasted up to turn 75 before the Hissho and UE flooded in my territory with massive fleets.

Hey, I recently got into the game as well, so please do take my advice with a grain of salt.



I too like to play a pacifist/diplomatic game, and got totally wreck by the AI my first few games. But a diplomatic victory is possible, and it's so much more rewarding!

What's most important is to keep a balance of power. If you hover your cursor over the icons on the top left corner, you can see your ranking relative to the other players. Too often I find myself 1st at FIDS/research yet last militarily because I focus too much on my economy. This just spells trouble and sooner or later the AI will attack. It makes sense, if you're a militarist faction whose neighbor is rich, vulnerable and defenseless wouldn't you attack them too? So even if you don't plan on being aggressive, always have a strong defensive fleet ready! In fact I would dedicate a system with strong industry to keep pumping up strong fleets.



Also, just because you're at peace doesn't mean that the AI likes you. Pay attention to those relationship notifications (as annoying as they may be) and act accordingly. You can also check their overall attitude towards you in the diplomacy screen. I found it really helpful to initiate trades every now and then that benefit them more than you. This boosts your relationship, and also (I think) adds your score towards diplomatic victory.



There are two main factors that strain your relationship with the AI: Sharing a border and being too far ahead, so avoid them at all cost. You may want to to think twice before colonizing a system that will border your neighbor. It's often better to keep it in your sphere of influence instead. That way nobody else can colonize it and you don't have to suffer a relationship malus.

Lastly, and this is the hardest part, there's a relationship penalty if you're doing better than the AI score-wise (it says - x points "due to score" in the diplomacy screen). The further you're ahead of the AI the bigger malus. So you have to find the right balance. If you expand too much, they will hate you; if you don't expand enough, you'll be weak and vulnerable.

Think the AI as a bunch of jealous brats, and you have to act as their mediator.

If you must, give the weaker factions some free tech so they can catch up. Don't be too greedy, be generous.



These tips have work well for me so far, hope it helps for you guys too.

Cheers to fellow sneaky pacifists!

I am including a couple of thread that can help you with the game.



good start guide



Tutorial-for-Beginners



If you want to try diplomatic ending it would be best to use Amoeba faction as they get a lot race specific buildings that can help with trades. You can use a custom faction and select Amoeba affinity.



For micromanaging systems it depends on the size of the empire. If getting to big you can turn on AI governors and select what they do with the system ie select research. The problem is they do not always do everything in a good way. They will start converting planets to different planet types before they colonise the whole system.



I do use them myself when my empire is really big normally when I get to 15-20 planets or a couple of branches.



DarkMeph

You could fill all the empire slots with Amoebas. That usually makes a nice pacifist game

Sowers also like peace...even up to endless difficulty



I usually let the AI run a few of my systems. Its actually not at all bad at it. Some finer points throw it off but you can always change the building queue manually or deactivate the AI councelor.