personally, I tend to build two military labs, and the rest civis first for a couple tiding-over prototypes, and for RA.
Phase missiles are a must. definitively. max them out ASAP, as well as shields. those two will greatly increase your fleets survivability, as shield mit is always active, but armor only comes into play once shields are down. if you are against another Vasari, tho, I'd suggest evenly researching armor/hull and shield/shield mitigation. these are extremely important.
I tend to max out my cap ship slots by late game (I like my Kortuls and Skirantras) but as for mid game, i usually have two to three caps - my first space egg, a devastator, and a marauder; marauder being the optional third choice. if you are really getting pressed, and your economy is a little weak, then I'd suggest just getting the cruisers and frigates instead. as soon as possible, I build a stabilizer on each planet and use RA for the extra ships. this usually ends up with my fleet carrier heavy, but it is very powerful. mid-late game, I like to have a devastator+desolator combo or two for the super fleet killing ability combination of destructive nanites and phase missile swarm.
Overseers are your mobile repair bays and subverters completely disable any ship. unfortunately these do not come with RA and must be separately built, so KEEP YOUR FRIGATE FACTORY.
Class dismissed.
[you're kidding. they don't have a fleet admiral smiley. on sins of a solar empire. that's just plain dumb]
