Your "must-buy" techs

[zebramatt]

I'm another resource hog, so I pile on the economic improvements unnecessarily.

Aside from that, grav turrets and all the raid starships are my bread and butter.

Everything else is pretty much up for grabs game-by-game!

[NickAragua]

Raid Starships II/III - I routinely use them to drastically reduce the combat effectiveness of an AI planet that I'm trying to take over, and only rarely do I send my main battle fleet in until I've done a guard post cleanout. And even when I'm not trying to take a neighbor planet over, I'll still go over and whack the guard posts and any warp gates present.

Scouts II/III - Have you tried getting MKI scouts out more than two or three worlds beyond your territory? Maybe even clean out some Tachyon Guardians on nearby world? Good luck with that. Once I secure an initial group of worlds, I need the info so I can make a beeline straight for the AI homeworlds (stopping off at Advanced Research Stations/Factories on the way). To do that I need large groups of scouts that can survive very many jumps.

Fighters/Bombers II/III - The fighters are to deal with bomber waves and take point on most assaults, the bombers are to deal with things that require bombers (force fields, spire shield posts, astro train stations, etc).

[chemical_art]

Relative order of acquisition:

Gravity Turret MK I
Fortified Shield MK I
Fighter MK II
Bonus Ship MK II
Econ Station MK II (Team) / Military MK II (Single)
Bomber MK II
Basic Turret MK II
Shield MK II
Fighter MK III
(Team matches only) Fortress MK I / Econ II (Single)


From there it splits: If using Fallen Spire
Laser MK II
Spider Turret
Beam Turret MK I

Otherwise they both converge with
Bonus Ship MK III
*Flexible slot for anothe MK III
Econ Station III

From here things diverge too much so it is situational

[Procyon]

I haven't fully completed a game yet (shame on me!), but I tend to put tech into getting Mk2s of the main three, MK2 scouts, and the grav turret/Beam cannon combination early on. The setup lends to a more aggressive playstyle with some baiting into cannon-secured systems that I'm finding to be fairly successful. I avoid the warp sensor, as gate-raiding and absorbing the small AIP increase is much better than using the very limited knowledge points.

[Kittens]

Bombers Mk2
Logistics Station Mk2 + Mk3
All other fleet ships Mk2
Bombers Mk3
Flagship
All other fleet ships Mk3

Usually Riot Control Starships as well. More FFs when I've built them all or need stronger ones. I'm usually not the defensive type, but if I am on the defensive I might get Mk1 Fortress and some turrets.

I think all other starships cost too much knowledge for what they are, to be honest. Maybe if Mk2's cost 2k and Mk3's cost 4k, I might be tempted to use them. They still cost oodles of resources and you can build very few of them. Teching Mk3 fleet ships effectively gives you two caps of ships once you get the factory, so it makes no sense for me to tech starships if I still have some Mk3 fleet ships to unlock.

[Nice Save]

The only thing I unlock first thing in all my games is the stealth tachyon emitter. I could probably get by with the non-stealth version, but they're only useful when they're not destroyed.

I'm surprised no-one else has mentioned them. What does everyone else do against cloaked ships?

[Kittens]

Scout starships.

Unless someone threw a wrench in my brain, I'm pretty sure they're (cloaked) tachyon emitters, albeit with a very short range.

[Commiesalami]

Scout starships.

Unless someone threw a wrench in my brain, I'm pretty sure they're (cloaked) tachyon emitters, albeit with a very short range.

Yup, they also protect against snipers and dark matter ammunition, so having at least 1 in your blog is always a good idea

[keith.lamothe]

Yup, they also protect against snipers and dark matter ammunition, so having at least 1 in your blog is always a good idea

For when the AI tries to raid your comments thread?

[superking]

For me the most vital tech is the Zenith Starship.. once they are built, and combined with transports, I have a way of effectively raiding without losses VS just about anywhere (including those horrible AI eye systems) through the first half of the game.. the rest of my fleet can just function as a giant sledgehammer for when I need to take planets.

[TechSY730]

Yup, they also protect against snipers and dark matter ammunition, so having at least 1 in your blog is always a good idea

For when the AI tries to raid your comments thread?

Yea, that's why CPAs (Cross post attacks) are so feared. 

[eRe4s3r]

And what you worry about must, is exo-galactic track-backs