I made the mistake of upgrading ALL of my ships at once, which put me in the hole by 100,000 credits. Even though I was making almost 1000 credits a turn, I couldn't produce ANYTHING, nor would I be able to for quite awhile. But it all turned out well in the end.

That's a little deep, but I won't hesitate to go 20k or so in the hole upgrading a fleet workhorse.

I don't think there is any "must have" bonus picks - it all depends on the strategy being used by the individual player. You can win with any of them if you play it right. Some choices might be easier or more effective than others, but again it all depends on the strategies you adopt and your style of play.

Be assured, you may have found a good personal strategy for achieving victory, but that doesn't mean you have found the ONLY winning strategy

I usually go with a 20 or 30 percent population growth bonus, but I've played without any pop. growth bonus and did fine.

Incidentally, a good quick fix for lowered morale due to high population is to build some transports and launch a few thousand legions of troops into space, even if you aren't at war currently. Just put them into a fleet or in guard mode and save them for later - when you need them as soldiers or when you've researched enough morale tech or whatever to land them back on a planet again.

Maybe I was wrong to say that there was anything that needed work... It would indeed seem that every pick has its uses... although maybe not as "obviously" strong, it can be used in a way that makes it well worth its points.

I am still a very new player so I have to say that this has been a very enjoyable thread to read the responses of Thanks all... I'm looking forward to trying out some new strategies using the abilities that I previously under-valued.

You do know that with custom race, spending 3 points in soldiering only gives you a 5% bonus since you start out with 25%?

Well, the fact that we can debate this much about where to put bonus points is a testament to the well balanced nature in which they apply. Kudos to the game designers.

I'm one of those people who gets stuck in a rut when playing these games. I pretty much stick to the first strategy that works. You can look at the profiles for my game characters and see that right off. I played the same strategy all through 1.2 and only changed when the game changed in 1.3. In 1.3, I really like the Yor so that's what I'm playing. I'm also happy with my bonus picks. I think I just go for what seems cool and stick to it, like the miniaturization bonus the Yor gets. I just love that one.

I think the main thing is to find what enhances the strategy you're playing. That can be a lot of different things which makes it one of the more complicated parts of the game. Personally, it took me a long time to figure it out.