List of Playstyles

[Faulty Logic]

I want to know how people play the game. That means I want to know:

How many planets do you normally take?
What planets have top priority?
How high a priority is scouting?
What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?
How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?
What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?
Do you gate-raid?
How much hacking do you do and what kind?
What are your favorite fleetships?
Which, if any, starships do you use?

My playstyle:
Normally, very few. All the Core shields, and a couple of others. Golems often justify capturing a planet, but not always.

Rebel Colony>Civilian Leader>ARS>Advanced Factory>golem>other CSG

I always scout, but rarely picket.

Always: Riot IIs. Triangle ships mkIII. Some bonus ships mkIII. Spire/Zenith starships mkII. Engi IIIs.
Sometimes: Additional starships. Warp Jammers. Harvesters. Military com stations.

Golems: Hive>Botnet>Cursed>Widow>Artillery>Armor>Regen
Spirecraft: Jumpships>Siege Towers>Ion Blasters>Attritioners>Rams (I never use martyrs or scouts)

Eyes are defeated with the Starship fleet. Raid Engines are evaluated case-by-case. Against Homeworlds I send everything that moves and can shoot. Eyes on HWs are nuked.

I normally just throw every single ship I have at whatever my current problem is. I kite with riots if I have to.

I rarely gate-raid.

I only ship-design-hack if I can get something really good (see below) in the place of something really bad (infiltrators, younglings, autocannons).

My favorite fleetships:
Shield Bearers>Spire Blade Spawners>Bombards>Sentinels>Snipers>pseudobombers>others.
 
I use the mkI starship fleet, riot IIs, and Spire/Zenith IIs.


Interested to hear what other people do.
Balance discussion not welcome on this thread.

 

[Wanderer]

How many planets do you normally take?
4 ARSs, 1 Fact IV, Something with a Fab because of the CSG (otherwise they're just nice to haves), A D and E world as stepping stones, and usually one or two whipping boys.  Then whatever I need as stepping stones.

What planets have top priority?
CSGs and ARSs right after defenses are established.

How high a priority is scouting?
Insanely high.

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
Raid SS II, Harvester IIIs, Grav Is, Basic IIs, Tachyon Turrets.  Fort Is if I feel the need.

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?
Hate the spirecraft.  Broken power, bugged, or useless.
Golems: Botnet was OP but fun.  Haven't gotten a chance to actually get a new Black Widow, but they're all pretty amusing.

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?
Raid SS, Raid SS (or Frigate + transport), Overwhelming stupidity and general suicidal assault.

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?
Chokepoint (multiple if I can) turret defenses with patrolling weaker fleet ships to support.  EMP mines are fun and the general minefield 'line' is quite useful if you can set it up.  Tazer Riots under glass are a favorite as well.  Whatever I can use to make the defenses 'self-maintaining' as possible.  The new FF rebuilds have been quite nice.

Offensively is fleetball generally with raids as necessary for eyes and raid engines.

Do you gate-raid?
Yes.  Usually to control whipping boy ingress.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?
ARS hacking X 2 + as much K-Raid as I can get away with.

What are your favorite fleetships?
Blade Spawner, Sniper, Maw, Eye-Bot, Tigers.

Which, if any, starships do you use?
Raid SS heavily, Leech/Siege on defense, Bomber SS to help with anti-Eye Spireshield posts.  Haven't played with the new triplets yet.

[Coppermantis]

I want to know how people play the game. That means I want to know:

How many planets do you normally take?

Obviously it depends on the map, but usually less than half the planets on the map. I take whatever planets are necessary to maintain a low number of choke points except for totally useless planets that I neuter.

What planets have top priority?

ARS>Factory>Fabricator>Golem>Other "good" stuff

How high a priority is scouting?

High priority, I try to scout as much as possible.

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?

Economic II CCs are one of my first unlocks, I like to have a good economy established. Gravity turrets are also common for me, especially if the AI has a melee range ship.

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?

The Cursed golem is one of my favorites as it has high firepower and range. With my aforementioned established economy I can keep it having engineer support to negate the attrition and if I keep it far-ish away it will take little damage.

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?

My Eye strategy is to use Bomber/Raid Starships under cloaker support. Uncloak near Guard Posts then stand down and recloak, then repeat. Raid Engines are handled with Warheads or Rams. Homeworlds are usually taken all at once with my full armada.

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?

Defensively I make a line of Grav turrets from wormholes to my Command Center with MLRS turrets near each Grav turret. Missile turrets are placed in groups of 5 spaced out so that each is just able to range the wormhole. More critical planets have mines along the gravity line.

Offensively I just bring my fleet and break things, unless there is something special like a Raid Engine, Eye or something.

Do you gate-raid?

Yes.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?

I often end up with high AIP, so Superterminals are good finds for me. I neuter the planets until the ST is needed. I also hack ARS worlds.

What are your favorite fleetships?

Zenith Bombards are good for taking out high priority targets. Shredders are cool too since they can keep their numbers up. Blade Spawners are nice for killing stuff from really far away much like Bombards.

Which, if any, starships do you use?

The Flagship line as well as Riot Starships are what I make most often.


Something else to note about my strategy is that I take planets very slowly. For the first few hours I might take one planet. I make sure that my defensive network is as buffed-out as it can be before I move out.

[chemical_art]

I want to know how people play the game. That means I want to know:

How many planets do you normally take?
10 - 18

What planets have top priority?

Dyson sphere (popped, not taken), ARS, maintains borders, factory, fabricator 

How high a priority is scouting?

Full visibility; Like games to be like a chess match


What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?

First bonus ship MK II, laser turrets II, some kind of econ bonus, gravity turrets

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?

Zombies and Artiallary / Attritioners and Matyrs

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?

Fighter dash to guard posts / transport of bombers / full armada

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?

Comm station is place on the wormhole leading most directly to my homeworld with shield(s). Some gravity turrets on the direct path between wormholes and comm station. Missiles that always within range of comm station but that cover the maximal lanes from wormholes. Other turrets mix hugging the wormhole and hugging the comm station.

Do you gate-raid?

If a single gate is destroyed to shut down a third or greater flank, then yes.
How much hacking do you do and what kind?

All ARS, at least 3 if possible
What are your favorite fleetships?

Younglings

Which, if any, starships do you use?

Enclaves. Others only if fleetships cannot do job except in rare cases resources are maxed.

[Diazo]

Here I go. This will be interesting because from forum posts I've had the feeling my playstyle is very different then the norm.
(Keeping in mind I play on 10/10 at least half the time.)

How many planets do you normally take?
Absolute minimum the map allows, I play with CSG on so that's 8 + the 2 homeworld kills.

What planets have top priority?
4 ARS planets for the ships, then the other CSG worlds.

How high a priority is scouting?
Extreme. I try to raid enough data centers to keep the AIP at 10 for my first two system captures.

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
Always: Grav Turret Mk I, Warp Jammer Command Station. Almost Always: Harvester Exo-Shield, Fort Mk I, Missile Turret Mk II

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?
Usually have both off. At 10/10 the AI alone is enough for me.

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?
Eye: Starships. Raid Engine: Transport drop bombers and eat the single Raid Engine Wave. Homeworld: Soften Up with Warheads.

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?
First 5 systems are warp jammer command stations. Yes, that means I'm tanking waves with my homeworld for most (or all) of the game. Keep in mind I have no exo-waves however. The reason I unlock forts so often. I also favor hopping planets so I almost never have a defensive choke point.

Do you gate-raid?
No. Warp Jammers do that for me.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?
Saved for the Super Terminal. I run the Super Terminal to the absolute max to get the AIP down low. That leaves no room for anything else.
That does mean I take what I get from the ARS, I do often end up going "bah, you get stuck on defense in my homeworld."

What are your favorite fleetships?
Ummm, Shield Bearers? I usually start by clicking "New Map Seed" then "Start Game" without even looking at the map or bonus ships. Raiders and Space Planes are up there also, cloaking is huge for setting up highways between my scattered worlds.

Which, if any, starships do you use?
A lot. I actually have a strategy where I don't unlock any fleet ships, not even bombers Mk II. Note that is a relatively new strategy, I have not finished a game using it yet due to the Expansion Beta. I've gotten to mid game quite happily with it however. Having said that, I expect to have to unlock Bomber Mk II for the end game.

I actually got a Gravity Master AI recently, went full Spire Starship as they are immune to gravity. Attrition rate was high but I could even raid Mk IV worlds as the AIs ships can't catch me, I just run past the forces on my entry wormhole, pop my target and run out.

In general, I'm a very conservative and defensive player. I consider my homeworld "relatively safe" once I have 4 more FF Mk Is built on my home command and 50 turrets built. I won't even send scouts out until I get that minimum built.

D.

[Kahuna]

How many planets do you normally take?
~6 (including home planet(on 10 diff))

What planets have top priority?
Golem>CSG>ARS>Warbird/Beam Starship/Speed Booster Exp.Fabricator>Core Fabricator>Exp.Fabricator>Advanced Factory (If Exos enabled)
ARS>Advanced Factory>Golem>CSG>Warbird/Beam Starship/Speed Booster Exp.Fabricator>Core Fabricator>Exp.Fabricator (If Exos disabled)

How high a priority is scouting?
I don't always unlock MarkII Scouts. I often just build a couple of Spirecraft Scouts.

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
Always: MarkIII Harvesters (both), MarkII Bombers, MarkII Bonus Ships MarkI HardFFG, MarkI GravTurret, Mod Fort, MarkII Missile Turrets, MarkII HBC.
Sometimes: Spider Turrets, EMP Mines, MarkII Basic Turret, MarkII Riots, MarkII Scouts, MarkII Laser Turret, MarkIII Missile Turret, TachyonTurret, Mark IV HBC, MarkII Tractor Turrets, MarkIII (Hard?)FFG.

Now that we have the Mod Fort I think I would (almost) always unlock MarkIII Missile Turrets and Beam Cannons. 8xMTs(Or Laser Turrets) and 4xHBCs Mod Forts + Gravitational Turrets is a monster.

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?
Golems: Cookie Monster! > Hive>Botnet>Cursed>Widow>Armored>Regeneration
Spirecraft:Scout>Ion Blaster>Siege Tower>Ram>Attritioner
Top 3 MarkVs to get: Ion Blaster, Attritioner/Siege Tower

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?
Sentry: I send all ships at once, kite with Riots and group move around the planet destroying the Guard Posts.
Ion/Parasite: I use small squads, all available Starships and all sniper type ships if available.
Raid Engine: I transport my fleet next to the Raid Engine, destroy it and transport my fleet back. If there's a Black hole machine I transports only few ships capable of destroying the Raid Engine. ~50-100 Bombers for example. Or Raid Starships. If destroying the Raid Engine would alert another Raid Engine I would just sacrifice some Bombers and use the rest of the ships (and turrets) to stop the waves.
AI Homeworld: Having 2 Hive Golems is an optimal situation. At least 1 Hive Golem is a "must". Hive>Cursed>Artillery>Widow. I send my whole fleet trough the wormhole and "camp" at/near the wormhole. I let the Hive and Cursed Golems do their job and group move around the planet if I have to and/or when the guarding ships attack me. I try to use my fleet and starships as little as possible. I usually destroy the Core Guard Posts with Golems or Spirecraft Penetrators. I rarely use missiles when attacking the home planets. When the Avenger spawns I sometimes evacuate all fleet ships except Bombers. Depends on situation. I try to save as many fleet ships as I can and finish it with Golems and Starships. Penetrators work too.. if I have any unused ones at that point.

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?
Very defensive (Turtle?) with surgical attacks with golems and a small fleet. No MarkIII ships unless Exos are disabled.

Do you gate-raid?
Around my "not so well defended" planets and home planet yes. I usually have 2 "battlegrounds" where I take the waves. I rarely use Warp Jammers.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?
I never knowledge hack and almost never ship hack because it has become way too hard. I only hack Super Terminals. I always try to get ~120-200 AIP reduction.

What are your favorite fleetships?
Top 3: Sniper, Acid Sprayer, Sentinel
Other good/"not so favorite" ones: DoomShrooms, Bulletproof Fighter, Vampire Claw, Zenith Viral Swarmer, Space Plane, Space Tank, Spider Bot.

Which, if any, starships do you use?
All MarkIs. Cloakers as anti astro trains if needed. Very rarely Enclaves. Sometimes I unlock MarkII Riots.

EDIT: Ops I forgot to answer "How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?". Updated^^

[keith.lamothe]

An interesting variety in here

[rabican]

How many planets do you normally take?
CSG planets, and enough others that i don't have to deepstrike  for more than minute or two. i keep absolutely lowest aip possible.

What planets have top priority?
(rebel colonies) ,ars, golem  ,warbird/beam ss fab

How high a priority is scouting?
i scout, don't picket unless there is  reason, hybrid staging area or something like that. I find it pretty tedious so i often just use spire scouts and be done with it in first hour or so.


What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
Always : nothing, i try to vary as much as possible in my games. Riot II ,harvester II and  mk II-III of the initial bonus ship are most common unlocks.
never: lot of the support things. If it doesn't increase pew pew , i don't take it. econ stations, mrs, etc. Also i very rarely unlock higher levels of triangle ships.

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?
golems: doesn't really matter all that much, all of them are good enough
spirecraft : first i usually use scouts for cheese. Ion blasters > siege towers if i can spare crystal > rams because i have way too much metal > shield bearers > others if i have strong enough economy and have leftover asteroids

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?
eyes are non issue, i attack with fairly small fleet. raid engines i tend to completly avoid if at all possible, if not then pop em fast with suicide run.   Homeworlds without core raid engine : blob, set up way points, sip tee and just watch everything fallover. With raid engines : Various cheese methods(not sure anything else even works.). Nowdays i start working them waaaay before i have CSGs cleared , clearing the way to them, killing tachyon guardians to them, then at end just cloak transport stuff to raid engine and kill it fast. Other ways include warheads, martyrs,  luring the raid engine ships to ridiculous fortress planet.

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?
Defense: Defend every planet i get. keep every planet where i kill command station. turrets, forts and fleetships + spacedocks on every planet that can get attacked. Spacedocks build throwaway forces(neinzuls, autobombs, fighters , some high cap ships) for bigger hits, usually for every wave in mid-late game.
Offense: Small elite force. Sometimes augmented with throwaway forces.

Do you gate-raid?
no

How much hacking do you do and what kind?
ST if there is one. ARS if i don't have and can't get at least one throwaway ship by midgame, but 95% of the time i play with i would get naturally. K otherwise. Usually end up with 2 semi early K hacks in my games.

What are your favorite fleetships?
Note that these aren't neccesarily ones i consider most powerful(shield bearer) , just the ones i like most. Space plane(insanely good) > sentinel frigates> neinzul nanoswarms > most everything else.


Which, if any, starships do you use?
Everything. But riot > leech > raid  are the most usual unlocks.

I usually play 10/10 nowdays but options vary as much as possible.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Need to play a more complete game and revise this but, in any experiences I've had...

How many planets do you normally take?

Generally, however many I feel like. I like to have a connecting route between all of my planets, making it unlikely I'd ever play a very high difficulty.

What planets have top priority?

The more entrances to the planet, the lower priority it is. However, you bet ARSs, Factory IVs, and Fabs get a route plotted to them. How defensible their planets are has a factor however.

How high a priority is scouting?

I prefer to scout when I don't have enough scouting data to have anything to work towards. So, I guess pretty low? However, I will end up always picketing planets... and getting very nervous when there are like a lot of ships just hanging out as threat.

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?

Always get Mark IIs. Discovering the usefulness of Riots and Leech starships. I also end up getting the advanced warp sensor because I'm a fool who just lets the AI do what they please. =o
Also because it costs more or less nothing, and I'm not really at the point difficulty-wise that gate raiding ends up actually making things easy or manageable.

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?

Have not yet played with them... but I do want my hands on a botnet.

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?

Okay, my first game... here's the thing. I played a first game on a fairly low level. When I found the homeworlds they were clear on opposite sides of the map. I had no idea what I was really doing. Just looking at the scouting data scared me. The possibility of me freeing ALL AI ships got me not even wanting to attack... I still haven't come back to that game but I doubt I will. It was actually on a boringly low level of difficulty for me. What I would do if I did come back, is get more ships with some knowledge, and figuring out how to have a majority of the fleet knock out one while a smaller fleet raided the other to make it easier to knock out right after the other. I still don't know how the AI likes you attacking their homeworlds but I have to imagine they send all the guns. (Don't tell me. I want to get murdered on my own in this case. =o)

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?

This is another problem with me playing lower levels... But defensively, I love tractor beams, engine damage, slowing effects, and having fleet/starships take down the crippled enemies. Offensively? It's very possible that I haven't had to be really scared of game-changing enemy defenses. Don't worry, I'll push myself more.

Do you gate-raid?

I already spoiled the answer on this one. I usually don't, probably just because it's not necessary. If I couldn't possibly split or manage my fleet in a reasonable way, I'd have to gate raid.
Short answer: I'll only do it if I have to.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?

I'll openly admit I just don't even want to try hacking. The description of the response intimidates me. If I do eventually branch out, it will be ship design hacking.

What are your favorite fleetships?

I had a lot of fun with merc etherjets (I play slowly enough that my resources end up so high if I don't rely on mercs). Shield bearers are fun, but I just feel like I'm not microing them to the best level of effectiveness. I liked bombers for how immune to fortresses they were, but then I realized attacking fortresses is boring. I like space tanks just because I like having tanks in space. How can you not like tanks in space?

Which, if any, starships do you use?

In my limited experience... I love leech starships. I was sorta flying them around, I don't remember why... and then I was like "Wait, why are all of these allied ships of mine here?" because I forgot what they were... Then I was like, wait, leech starships... you mean these are MY ships now? Cue the evil laugh.

Edit: I will definitely be revising this later. If I'm allowed to set the pace I'm the kind of guy who goes very slowly. But, I'm thinking of jumping straight from difficulty 5 to 7. The only thing that's really kept me is the whole "If you're good at other RTS" thing. It got me thinking, if I'm just not good enough, I'd be afraid I was wasting my time only to lose very quickly or something. It should be interesting at least to see someone who should by all rights not be a newbie evolve into someone who actually plays at a reasonable difficulty level at least.

[TechSY730]

I'm impressed about the variety of playstyles on display here. Shows how deep this game is.

Anyways,

I want to know how people play the game. That means I want to know:

How many planets do you normally take?
I don't know off the top of my head, I'll have to check my last non fallen spire win
What planets have top priority?
Those adjacent to my homeworld, ARS, advanced factories, a planet that would make a good "chokepoint", and fabricators in some cases (depending on what they offer)
How high a priority is scouting?
Pretty high. I don't like attacking planets unless I know what is adjacent to it. And I try to scout pretty deep too. Finding the homeworlds is a high priority for me
What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
Mk. II harvesters, Armored forcefields, Mk. II forcfields, Mk. II armored forcefields, Mk. II fleet ships (order of unlock depends on the bonus ships the AI got), Zenith starships, Grav turrets, Mk. II scouts, Mk. III harvesters OR Mk. II econ stations (depending on how resource rich or poor my first couple of planets are)
What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?

Golems:
Armored, simple to use, no crazy gimmicks
Artillery/Cursed, long range, WTFPWN levels of power

Spirecraft:
Siege towers
Shield bearers (they make great backup shields in the case of emergencies or EMP guardians)
Spirecraft Scouts (which still need a nerf IMO)
Implosion artillery (great for things like forcefields )


How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?

Eyes:
Send in a small fleet of starships (including raid starships), bombers, and some other fleet ship type depending on what the AI has, and go around and raid and destroy the guard posts one by one. Unless I am near late game where I can deal with whatever the eye throws at me, in which case I just blob as usual (though the new eye types may make that less viable...)


Raid engine:
Raid the raid engine, usually with raid starships + bomber starships in transports.
Surprisingly never encountered the "joy" of dealing with a core raid engine...


In my experience, Homeworlds tend to be so well defended that my entire "blob" is only strong enough to act like raiding force...
So I send my blob in, but use raiding tactics (take out targets one at a time)

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?

Hmm, there is a lot of ground to cover, but I will try to summarize:
Defense:
I always keep plenty of defenses on the homeworld. ALWAYS! You never know when something might slip through...
Try to keep a "whipping boy" world (though map geometry may make that tricky at times)
Turrets on wormholes AND near command stations

Offense:
"Blob" if the planet doesn't have that much on it and doesn't have any special considerations.
Small raiding forces if the planet is too strong to just rush in and expect to win, has special considerations (for example, eyes), or if I am otherwise engaged (re-fleeting, I had to split up my fleet ships for some reason, etc)
I've been trying to "raid" during times I am not ready to "blob" yet more. The new champion stuff of the fourth expansion helps with this.

Do you gate-raid?

Yes. In the early game, to stop waves from a wormhole I'm not ready (or don't want to) to "turret up" against yet, and often times on planets I am planning on taking anyways. In the mid game, I gate raid primarily to keep my "whipping boys" the focus of AI waves.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?

I will hack 1 maybe 2 ARSs
If there is an superterminal, I will hack it some (though not as far as I can take it, as there are other things I want to hack as well)
Knowledge when I am tight on knowledge and there is a planet I know I will never take or take out through the course of my game (like it is out of the path to the homeworlds, has nothing interesting on them, and is not in the route to anything interesting on them)

What are your favorite fleetships?

Easy to use, "low gimmick" ones. So this would mean things like MRLSs, grenade launchers, laser gattlings, etc.
Though I will play around with Neinzul ships sometimes. ("Doom shrooms" are indeed hilarious)

Which, if any, starships do you use?

All of them, though I tend to use the parasite, bomber, and plasma siege the most.
I will sometimes spring for the Mk. II flagship, Mk. II parasite, or Mk. II plasma siege.

[Cinth]

How many planets do you normally take?
As many as I can fit behind a single choke. My last win I controlled more planets than the AI.

What planets have top priority?
If it isn't one of the above planets, then CSG-A nodes and a ST if one is there. I never keep those planets long though.

How high a priority is scouting?
A scout on every planet!!!!

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
Turrets and FFs and Forts, OH MY!

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?
Golems, I have found to universally suck. They have their moments, but they aren't for me.
Spirecraft SB (MkIII is good 'nuff for me) and Attritioners. Love me some Attritioners. Implosion Art and ST are good too.

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?
Raid Starships period. There isn't a thing in this game I can't kill with a cap of Raid SS (Mk II and Mk III included)

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?
I use a beachhead defense. I neuter the neighbors to that planet and force the AI to reinforce 4 deadbeat planets the whole game. Then Raid SS happens. I take the time to clean off EVERY AI planet I can.

Do you gate-raid?
I would IF it actually stopped waves from spawning where I didn't want them.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?
I hack ARS when I remember too. Nice to see what might have been...
If I could ever get a ST where I could protect it I would ride that to the floor.

What are your favorite fleetships?
Anything with long range --> anything that hits reasonably hard.

Which, if any, starships do you use?
Raid SS early. Once the Raids have done their job, SS aren't worth the trouble (take way to long to recap)

[Philo]

How many planets do you normally take?
Around 20

What planets have top priority?
First off planets with high M+C income. If possible then minerals too, so I can build mega scouts. After that I try to get Golems as soon as possible.

How high a priority is scouting?
After establishing good defenses it becomes a top priority.

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?
Usually start with Fighter Mark II. Then move on to Logistical Command Station Mark II or III. At some point I also get Spider Turrets but other than that it's pretty varied.

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?
Definitely Hive Golem. Just so much ease to take out AI Eyes and just generally attack worlds. Also great defensively.

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?
AI Eyes with Raid Starship and Bomber Starship squad. Same for Raid Engines.
Homeworlds are tricky. Usually I try to send everything I got.

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?
Defensively I try to get a choke point up as fast as possible, then defend that with all I got. Sprinkle some Spider Turrets on the other planets on the way to my homeworld.
Offensively I'm not that great yet. I just blob and then micro a squad of Bomber and Raid starships within the battlefield. I try to fight on multiple fronts a lot of the time but it fails a lot. My micro is bad. And I almost never pause the game.

Do you gate-raid?
Yes, when necessary. Which is often.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?
None. I might camp down AIP on a Super Terminal but that's about it.

What are your favorite fleetships?
Vampires, Shredders, Zenith Frigates and MAW's. MAW's are awesome.

Which, if any, starships do you use?
Bomber Starships are my most used starship, then Raids. I use a lot of Riot Starships too since I always play with Neinzull's on and they're good against that. Zenith Starships were a usual unlock when they were part of the Flagship line. Haven't tried them now.

[TechSY730]

Do you gate-raid?
I would IF it actually stopped waves from spawning where I didn't want them.

Wait, what do you mean? Unless you are playing with cross planet waves or that against AI that can warp to anywhere, taking out warp gates will stop waves from coming from that planet.

Now granted, that won't stop counter-attack guard posts, freed-ships (which includes cross planet attacks), or exo-waves.

[doctorfrog]

How many planets do you normally take?

I'm pretty conservative here. I usually try to follow the 'flow' of the game as it goes, and so it varies, but I like to sit for hella minutes and weigh all the advantages and disadvantages, so I usually end up taking very few.

What planets have top priority?

Early game, resource heavy planets. After that, it's mostly ARS planets, then, I like to grab planets that sit at the entrances to long stretches of 'highway.' So, placement has a consideration also.

How high a priority is scouting?

Medium high. I like to know what's going on, so I continually try to maintain a perimeter of "consciousness."

What techs do you always/sometimes unlock?

I don't play super often, maybe a game once every two weeks, lasting generally 10-15 hours. So, I try to approach each game 'fresh,' asking myself, "What would I unlock now if I had just come upon this situation?" One thing I'd like to see as AI War continues to evolve is a little more heterogeneity in the strategic situation, so that the same build/tech/etc options aren't the no-brainers they currently are, and that the same types of strategies don't work all the time. That can be very hard to do, given that one of AI War's strengths is that it actually supports and allows so many styles of play without forcing players down a narrow path, so I'm not being demanding about it. The latter is definitely preferable anyway.

What are your favorite golems/spirecraft?

It really depends. Like I said, I try to come to each game 'fresh' and give new toys a try all the time rather than go down the same path to assured victory.

How do you crack an Eye? A raid engine? A homeworld?

Eyes I just avoid altogether or otherwise go minuteman on each of the posts until the Eye pops. Raid Engines and Homeworlds, I'm very reactive to, so often I put off dealing with them until they become inevitable... which is not often a recipe for success.

What tactics do you use defensively and offensively?

Hoo boy, that's an open-ended question. I like spreading out a nice big net of turrets for the AI to blunder into. It's immensely satisfying to see a wave come in, take a gander at your defenses, then run screaming to the nearest wormhole... only to smash up against the glass of a forcefield. And then you push the forcefield into some minefields...

Do you gate-raid?

I don't read the forums that much or Wikis (I like figuring stuff out myself if I can, and feel that good games should explain themselves), so I don't know what that is. But if that's clearing out warp gates so as to focus enemy waves onto a narrow selection of wormholes, then, yeah.

How much hacking do you do and what kind?

I'm a giant wimp when it comes to AI retaliation, so not very much.

What are your favorite fleetships?

Ones that I haven't figured out how to use yet! Getting a weird ship and trying to make use of it unconventionally is a lot of the fun of the game.

Which, if any, starships do you use?

All of 'em. Even the Neinzul carrier ship things. There's a place for everyone in my circus.

[Cinth]

Do you gate-raid?
I would IF it actually stopped waves from spawning where I didn't want them.

Wait, what do you mean? Unless you are playing with cross planet waves or that against AI that can warp to anywhere, taking out warp gates will stop waves from coming from that planet.

Now granted, that won't stop counter-attack guard posts, freed-ships (which includes cross planet attacks), or exo-waves.

As much as I hate the amount of time I have to take to get rid of Counter-attack posts (wish I could just disable them), it isn't them or freed-ships. I gate raided a branch of the X map to stop waves from coming from that way. All gates. No SF Alarm posts were there and no Gate Guardians that I knew of. Still was dodging carriers and watching Exos float through from that direction, until I finished killing off the AI command centers there. Might have been a CPW enabled game, but I don't have a save to check.