Favorite Techs?

I love tradeport spammers on ICO, they never have any fleet to fight back my invasion

My fav techs in order: Assailant prototype, Transporter prototype, phase missiles, HP regen.

Yes - but IF they stop your invasion, they are going to roll you as they can build a fleet quicker due to higher econ...

QuixotesGhost - without wanting to give away all my trade secrets - if you love this tech, you should colonise dead asteroids

Most civilian tech are pure luxury imo.

Broadcast center would be the only one (besides sun and wormhole jumping) that you really need vice a fleet.

But I'd say hull/armor/shield upgrades just because they improve.... everything. Every single ship you have and will ever make will be better because of any of these techs.

I quite like the antimatter and culture bonus boosts.

I agree with kingofsiam. Fighters shred through the trade ship fleets in seconds anyway.

I'm still pretty noobish on MP gaming (in SoaSE i mean), as far as I've saw it, sometimes it worth it, sometimes not. You better build more ships with your cash, since against massive focused damage your only real shield is shield mitigation AND a large fleet

Anyway..

I do improve hull/shields when things are relatively quiet (although it is very rare) or if I already have the avantage, pushing against my foes, in order to reduce attrition. It may help to repare faster a badly damaged cap ship too.

As for civilian tech i usually go for those who increase metal/crystal collecting (since i play vasari, I think it worth it because both metal and cristal collecting is improved at the same time. Needless to say, I pick ice and volcano, if needed. Sometimes trade port, ressource collector (haven't tried yet broadcast center), phase nodes (although it is often useless to try to rush an hypothetic RA, especially on smaller maps).

I also pick the terran planet improvement tech asap, but not be a focus: it helps a bit to sustain planetary damage longer, and most of all more cash income.

Phase inhibitors are nice for choke points.

Repair structures are also a must have on border worlds imo.

I sometimes upgrade my vasari phase weapon to enhance LR frigs damage.

I also try to grab techs reducing ship cost if I can, since cheaper ships means more ships on the long run. Better is to have it sooner, but again, it may not be a focus.
Eevery civ tech musn't be a focus, just be "cherry on the cake" techs.

A common mistake imo is to overfund R&D. While you're researching something, it is money that isn't spent for building more ships. But don't play dumb and grab some techs when things are going well. The main difficulty is to feel when it is time for research and when it is not. Scouting enemy positions might help you to make the right choice.

Full Terran lockdown ftw.

for me its the reasorce improvment, fase jump monatoring and the enforcer prototype.
most upgrades are iceing on the cake, while a select few are mandatory.

Ok, I think the HP and shield bonuses are obvious. When I saw the post title, I was thinking, "the game changers". I don't consider teching a ship to be a favorite. Otherise, every Advent player would vote Illum hands down. I would say my favorite is the phase missle tree, culture damage bonus, subverter in grav-well jumps, gravity tolerance, phasic transmissions (increased fleet supply without a permanent hit to the econ), and phase gates. The phase missiles rock and the phase gates give you an unparralled tactical advantage (I build them regardless if I choose to tech RA). If you are TEC, my favorites are "The Cannon" and the logistics slots. Those logistics slots are awesome, especially if your longest trade lane is going through a dead roid, because you are the only race that can build a trade port there. The cannon of course just rocks out right. For advent, repulse rules, the "alur" is awesome, divination (with the mothership and this techedup, you can explore planets for free), and mass trancendence.

What I like about ship research is that it boosts your military power without eating up supply - allowing you to operate at a lower fleet support cap for longer.

Let's pretend that two fleets of equivalent power face one another, Player A has superior tech and Player B has superior numbers, but once all the math is worked out the two fighting forces are pretty much the same. All other things being equal, Player A has a significant economic advantage on B because not only does he get more with each ship he buys, he's probably operating at a lower fleet support level too. Player A has the advantage in the war of attrition.

Well, I'm getting better to the game and pull more and more from my vasari's might. I aggre that hull tech are neat against attrition. But I still find this techs "ice on the cake" kind of. Since I have to run for RA and/or subverters, the only tech I really research (and wich really reduce attrition, but in a different way) is the phase missile tech line of research. Definitly worth it, since assaillants LRF are the backbone of the early fleet of a "normal" vasari player. Killing ships faster, by skipping shields means you'll take less damage at the long run.
But if I start with icy environnement (lots of cristal, so) I might research it earlier, since it doesn't cost you much metal at start.

However I do research beyond tier 1 hull updates, when RA and its gate network is set up, when ressources are here only for building subverteers and researching/planet improving.

RA. Definitely.
Seeing the reaction of your opponents when you go from 50 ships to 300 in a few minutes is classic...

yeah
I usually put a lot into research, especially at the beginning. I usually start with mil tech up to about T3, then I start civ tech. Contrary to popular belief, civ tech does actually help a lot. With the TEC and the Vasari, it helps you earn a lot more money and such. With the Advent, strange and wonderful techs are available (and by that i mean karmic retribution..hehe).

I am usually the one with the smallest (thus most mobile) yet strongest (because I do serious weapons/shields/armor research) fleet. This usually gives me more money to upgrade/rebuild ships/colonize/other, so when I do expand my fleet, it is many times more potent, and I still have money.


This strategy works best with TEC or Vasari. The TEC is heavy on economic bonuses, while the Vasari phase gates allow for smaller strike forces to defend larger empires.

With the Advent...I just try to burn my enemy's fleets. But the Advent can spam carriers and illuminators, so I guess it balances out.

huh noob lol

oh and on topic i love Development Mandate great tech perfect for any suitation

antimatter, I can never get enough antimatter. Just call it mana thats how it works.

I NEED MORE MANA!!!