Quickest Way to build up credits?

What is the quickest way to start building up credits at the beginning of a game? I have done the civilian infrastructure upgrade twice and a civilian research to up pop by 8%, but it still seems really slow. I only had enough money to build 3 light frigates in 30 or 40 minutes before like 15 pirates came and owned me. Am I doing something wrong or does it just take a little longer to get stuff going than I thought?

edit: I was TEC btw. Also, I just quit to start a new game, and looking at the statistics the 1 enemy AI's income skyrocketed right at the beginning while mine was a super gradual crawl.
24,801 views 19 replies
Reply #1 Top
by expanding and grabbing more planets =P that's the fastest way of gaining more income =)
Reply #2 Top
Make sure you upgrade the infrastructure on new planets you colonize. Fresh colonies operate at a loss, they need some upgrades before they start churning out money.

The TEC are masters at economy, and get access to trade centers with 2 civic labs (more labs needed for the other 2 races), and trade is a huge economic boost.
Reply #3 Top

by expanding and grabbing more planets =P that's the fastest way of gaining more income
End of quote


Well on the map I picked the two adjacent planets were occupied with enemies already. I'll just start on a different map ;)
Reply #4 Top
Adjacent planets are just NPC militias that don't like you coming to capture them :) Not the enemy AI.
Reply #5 Top
Vasari and Advent have the slower economies, but the Vasari are very good at metal and crystal resources.
Reply #6 Top
Also.....many new players (heck Im a new player) seem to overlook building that first free capital ship. Get that sucker done quick as one Capital ship alone can thwart off any early pirate attacks. Even 7-8 pirate ships are no match for your one Capital ship.
Reply #7 Top

by expanding and grabbing more planets =P that's the fastest way of gaining more income
End of quote


No, that's the quickest way to go broke. Also, I greatly enjoy the TEC's early access to trade ports, I set one up in every gravity well.
Reply #8 Top
Aye, the first capital ship is Completely free guys It will really aid you.
Reply #9 Top
Yep, use the free capital ship as sort of a Hero, let him run around and mop up the initial local defences :)
Reply #10 Top
I normally build up a force of 6 or 7 frigates plus my free flagship. Then go off and secure one or two planetoids. Build up their economies, make sure I have 2 civic stations, research trade outposts, and then place them as the first structure in the gravity well of any new planetoid I capture.
Reply #11 Top
you still do need to build the capital ship factory for 1000 credits to get that free ship though, correct ?
Reply #12 Top
Yes :P
Reply #13 Top
Yep you still need to build that capital ship factory :) What I do (and hey even though I played in the beta I'm still a new player *smiles*) is build up my infrastructure, develop metal and crystal extractors save up for a capital ship factory, create 5-7 frigates and start to explore. I'll try adding 2 civic stations to my build list and see how the trade outposts work :).

Sins is a fun game, but there's a heck of a lot to learn to play it properly. Not that thats a bad thing :)
Reply #14 Top
It is a little bit of a start-up cost to get the trade posts. I only got to play the final this morning for about a half hour before work (dial-up connection at the moment, which meant 16 hours to download) but it was working pretty good. I had four planets, and 2 asteroids. All with trade posts. My trade was actually already outstripping my colony's revenue.
Reply #15 Top
Vasari and Advent have the slower economies, but the Vasari are very good at metal and crystal resources.
End of quote


Vasari get an econ boost late game cause of phase gates :)
Reply #16 Top
After trade posts, shoot for culture. Every jump away from the homeworld reduces the allegiance of your colonies (so the second planet will have a max of 90% allegiance, but there's a floor), which means lower production (10% less credit/ore/crystal for 10% allegiance). Culture boosts max allegiance by 10% by default, and that's a lot of boosted income :)
Reply #17 Top
Free cap ship? Huh? Please explain.
Reply #18 Top
some great beginner tips in this thread, I started over once and I believe I'm doing well, but now I may have to start over again!
Reply #19 Top
After you build a capital ship factory, the first capital ship costs 0 :P