Ideas for starting techs...

[mavorspam]

Hello all. After losing my first two games (Lone Raid Sstarship first time, second time an I guess CPA from I-have-no-idea-where), was wondering what techs you guys like to unlock at the start of the game. Usually in grand strategy games like this I like to build a strong economy early, so I've been unlocking Mark 2 crystal/metal harvesters, as well as the Mark 2 economic command station with my first 10000 research points. I self destruct my early harvesters at the start and rebuild them at Mark 2. Was wondering what some of the vets think about this. Which starting techs do you guys like?

[Arcain_One]

   I start off by unlocking defenses until I feel comfortable as I can repel anything the AI throws at me. Next I get offensive techs, the faster I defeat the enemy the less reinforcing it will do. Economic is usually last or when more resources will significantly improve my offense (more ships to suicide per second).

[TheDeadlyShoe]

Mark II Fighters and Bombers are a must. Theyre significantly more cost-efficient and effective than Mk Is.

Usually I also get Mk II Scouts and Mk II Missile Turrets.

[Lancefighter]

i rarely ever unlock anything immediately, with usually my earliest unlocks being flagship, riot, or economic based.

generally though, none of this happens until after I've taken my first planet - i need to know what kind of economy i can expect so i can plan my fleet around that early on

[HitmanN]

I focus mainly on defenses at first too, but getting MRS and some mk2 ships is a high priority too on my list.

It's good to take a look at what ships the AI seems to have most, check their hull type, and get some higher mark turrets to counter those. For instance, in my last game, nearing the end the AI's used almost exclusively Acid Sprayers, so I had all flak turrets and fighters unlocked, since they seem to do well against those. Fortresses seem to give a nice boost to early defenses too, but they can be easily overwhelmed by an oversized wave, and the low cap makes sure you can't have 'em on every planet, so I mostly use them to back up main choke points, if I decide to unlock them.

I tend to always take Mk2 bombers at the start. Makes clearing the neighboring planets somewhat easier and faster. In the end, I get knowledge from those planets, so I don't tend to worry too much with the very initial unlocks. I can plan out further unlocks from there on.

[Winter Born]

After scouting the best I can with my mk1 scouts, I decide extra unlocks.
 I usualy build a:
leach SS - collect the AI ships
Light SS + Siege SS for early mobile defence and will become offence later
Missle turrets to cover all res nodes with an emphasis on the path to my comstation getting multiple coverage
Mixed Turret balls covering comm station (added mixed balls to cover WH with later FF covered tractor balls w mines as well)

Often it is RAId 2,3  for getting under AI ff
Cloaker SS to hide my offence

[mavorspam]

Hmmm. May have to rethink my early economy boost strat....

[Vinraith]

If you need an econ boost early (and you don't, under the new versions, the early economy is incredibly generous) you'd want to grab the stations. The harvesters, if you look at the numbers, are utterly useless until you have a large empire. With a small empire, a single Econ 2 station adds vastly more resources to your empire than upgrading every single harvester you have.

The intermediate tutorial strongly advises concentrating on fleet ships early, and I agree with it. Under the 4.x versions I really think it's best to just load up on Mk 2 fleet ships and get rolling conquest-wise. My only other recommended early unlock is Mobile Repair Stations, which will have the benefit of being both a tactical and an economic resource.

[Frozen Critical]

Unlock Mk II's and Start Running down the Nearest Planet that isn't Hard BEFORE you focus on Economy

[Winter Born]

For an economy boost.
X4000 said its not a cheat to boost all players income by 100% in the game setup lobby.
+100% each AI and +100% each human (human defaults back to +0 each new game while the AI settings are remembered)

Have fun

[Malibu Stacey]

Mark II Scouts.
Mark II Fighters, Bombers & usually whichever extra ship I took at game creation.
Flagship.
Mobile Repair Station.
Mark II Engineers.

That should cover most of the initial 10k Knowledge plus the 3k you'll harvest from your home system. Might be a little off, posting from work so I can't check in game right now but at worst you'll need some knowledge from the first AI system you take.

With all the stuff you're able to build at the start that's usually enough to get rolling through AI systems to take over the juicy stuff like Advanced Research Ships, Advanced Factories & Core Fabricators. I'll generally unlock mark 2 of bonus ships as soon as I get them unless they're something I don't have much use for which is rare these days.
Depending on what you're facing you'll want to start tailoring your fleet composition as the AI Progress gets high enough to unlock mark 2 ships (or at least shortly after).
The Zenith & Spire Starships are pretty impressive when coupled with a good mix of mark 3 & 4 fleet ships but if you're needing to do quick raids on AI systems you may find unlocking higher level Raid & Bomber starships and/or mark 2 Transports a higher priority.

[Spikey00]

Standardly,
- MK2 bombers,
- MK2 econ station.

Rush a planet, and anything else after that, really--usually all the other MK2 fleet ships.  I always skip MK1 bombers and frigates (even after the buffs) because they're inefficient.  MK1 fighter is actually the only MK1 ship in the triangle that is worth to be built early to mid game.

Afterward, it's usually:
- MK3 harvesters,
- Starship,
- Riot starship,
- All MK2 triangle ships,
- MK3 engineers (assist/repair/control group).

Essentially a no non-sense, no unnecessary tech unlock strategy.

[mavorspam]

Thx for the replies. Looks like my strat of an early economy unlock is ill advised. In my current game I have mark 3 Riot starships unlocked and I'm a bit underwhelmed by them. Even though I've run into a couple AI systems that have armor-boosters they don't seem to be cutting up the AI fleets as much as I'd like. Also it seems that high mark bombers are a must. It's taking me ages to cut through the AI FF's.

[Winter Born]

Thx for the replies. Looks like my strat of an early economy unlock is ill advised. In my current game I have mark 3 Riot starships unlocked and I'm a bit underwhelmed by them. Even though I've run into a couple AI systems that have armor-boosters they don't seem to be cutting up the AI fleets as much as I'd like. Also it seems that high mark bombers are a must. It's taking me ages to cut through the AI FF's.

Riots are better on defense by killing engines and stringing out the defenders for later mop up.
IMO they need a lot of micro to be effective
Depending on the ships I am up against I usually customize them Mk1 == 2 mg, 2 laser, 1 FF then possible shottie or 2nd FF
I might build 1 with a tractor (rarely)

You can use their FF to push engine dead attackers away from your critical facilities.

[superking]

I tend to build the full shipcap of missle turrets in my homesystem. they are long ranged enough to hit anywhere and fairly cheap to establish, and they smush any waves you are likely to encounter early on, problem solves.

its better economy to get the more effeicent MK II units- which are more than 50% more cost efficent- than boost your mining 20% early on