I play Vasari alot but have gravatated now to tec ,especially on small maps that extra 4 logistics slots are huge IMO and the fact you can get another free logistics slot by getting the frigate factory upgrade in the star base,,,,,anyway
Map size depends how I play but this is an average medium large to huge single map set of tips
I... in the 1st 5 seconds of the game do. (single player mode ) Buy 500 crystal , Upgrade homeworld pop to max , Build cap factory, 2-3 scouts, crystal mine 1st then the 2 metal after.
I don't build any ships except cap and scouts unless I run into 2 asteriods. If I do, I build 3 LF and a colony ship and send them to asteriod while cap takes out the other roid. Save rest of cash for 2 labs ASAP
Now the AI does this to. The advent AI I find to be the most intelligent at colonizing they will 90% of time build mothership as 1st cap and a small secondary force to colonize another roid.
After about a minute or so ......
On homeworld planet I build 2 civil labs right away(as soon as enough cash) to research fire and ice colonize tech. As the 1st labs is building I'll go ahead and research "full terran lockdown" 1 time while I wait for my other lab to come on line. Then I ONLY research what I'am going to take 1st so if my next planet phase lane leads to ice planet thats what I'll research. If volcanic worlds are like 3-4 jumps away I won't waste time and research it at all till I get starting fighting the milita on the planet.
So basically starting techs for me are..
Civil Line
1. Full terran lockdown 1
2. Fire or ice colonize (depends whats closer to you somtimes you need to do both right away its a situational thing)
3. Full terran lockdown 2
4. mining metal upgrades 1 & 2
At this point its up to you what road you want to branch off to? Resources or culture route? 9 times out of ten I'll head down the resource route but there were times when the AI threatened me with culture early on and I had to bum rush some media hubs. ( $%&# Advent ! ) So again kinda situational.
By now after about 5-10 mins into game I get about 3-4 planets and the reason for getting 3 planets ASAP is to avoid paying the logistic upgrade on home world so I can spam 3 military labs for no extra cost, 1 on roid and 2 on the new planet.
All this time I haven't build 1 ship unless of course the situation I explained earlier.
The only time I will build ships other than the scouts, 3 LF and colony ship is if I hit terran or desert planet with ( 3 ) heavy crusiers on it. And even then sometimes I'll wait for the AI to show up, bail, and then let dummy clear it for me then mope up his battered fleet and take his would be planet, if we happen to bump heads early. I'm not going to waste precious time either, I'll micro a scout back and forth to the planet to check if AI is attacking the fat desert planet
The ones with only 1 crusier on it your egg will eat them up solo. May take some time its a trade off, time vs upgades ...which is more important to you? Because even if you can take the planet fast you still won't have the resources to upgrade it and it will be a drain on you econ big time. I can't stress this enough....ONLY TAKE PLANET IF YOU CAN AFFORD THE UPGRADE...... 2 or 3 planets not upgraded will drain your econ into the crapper big time and null and void all these stream lined tips here ! And in the very beginning of the game it can cost you no pun intended.
Ok after I take my 1st roid....upgrade pop 1st, build extractors, then 1 military lab.
After 1 lab is done I research repair bay, then hull 1 & 2( ha ...you guys are gonna flame the heck out of me for not researching assailant 1st but I don't, as a matter of fact I don't even bother, I go right for carriers then HC's)
So the risk for me is.. instead of blowing my fleet supply and and getting like 15 assailants made of paper, and giving the enemy cap ship free exp...
I risk I can get up 5 military labs ASAP before ANY AI can pose a serious threat and research heavy crusiers before any other AI and on top of that I'll already have about 10 carriers while crusiers get online.
If I face Advent and he or she decides to be a pain I'll go for the Sentinel right after carrier, but if you make enough carriers in beginning of game you don't need sentinels IMO for a little bit.
Starting techs military and defense for me in order .
Keep in mind your priorities can change the research order so ... as you build more labs you will stop researching the lower techs and jump to higher ones in most cases. One good example is bum rushing 3 military labs to get carriers ASAP ( can't stress that enough )
1. Phase missile 1 & 2 because I soon will have lots of fighters and bombers
2.Hull 1 & 2 (I like the hull and armor techs alot 1st cause I feel you get more bang for your buck with it early on , does structures and ships IMO ) I'm pretty sure the AI will research attack techs 1st so I'll do hull and armor 1st
Second military and (defence )lab. Remmember just research these only, your goal is 3 military labs and carrier tech
1. Hanger defence
2. Phase missiles 3 & 4
Third military (defense) lab
1. Carriers
2. Remote- Constuction ( for star base building)
From here after you get the carrier tech, max out your fleet supply twice with carriers you will never have a problem in game trust me.
After you aquire 3-4 planets ,5-10 carriers, hanger defense , 1 turrent and repair bay on each FRONTIER planets. The reason why I do this is because the AI smells an easy target if its not guarded by at least something ,he will come anyway but now your ahead of game and he may go elsewere because of it who knows?. You would be surprised what 2 turrents and 2 repair bays can hold off in the very early stages of game. A cap and about 10 LF!
Ok you should be thinking about 1-2 more capital ships soon as the AI will have at least 2 caps by now, if Advent possible 3 which is a major concern.
Even in their nerfed state, fighters and bombers for me make up most of my fleet supply besides cap ships.
That should get you off the ground ...also almost 95% of what I told you I got from these forums so its not my master stat.
If it wasent for the great people of this forum heh, I'd probably still be getting my butt kicked still.
I didn't go into to much cause you will find you own style soon , I did, just keep playing this awesome game!
Later
