DivineWrath

@ jmgarth

I don't think there is a way to use the AI ship designer the way you mentioned. I can't even choose the ratio between weapons and defense.

@ several folks

There does appear to be some opposing opinions about the Yor's economy. I'll get to them once I play the Yor again.

I disagree with your assessment of the Yor completely - I've found them to be brilliant economy wise - if I was to sum them up they'd basically be the 'efficient' faction. Their initial buildings have almost no maintenance, while their 1-off research building is amazing. They get a strong population growth, and their economy bonuses are focused in one tech branch which also cuts down on research time. Basically I find they have a very strong early game thanks to their good initial buildings, and providing you use that to launch a quick attack on a nearby race you'll be able to make up for your initial buildings steadily becoming inferior to the alternatives in the medium term. Their population growth makes them great for conquering enemy planets (with the population able to recover quickly, while you can also afford to throw loads of soldiers away taking a planet, something you end up needing to do due to the lack of invasion tactics), and your initial buildings are quick to get while providing a decent effect. Your economy also ends up very strong using this strategy before too long, allowing you to then either spend loads of money on whatever takes your fancy, or to upgrade your industrial base to the more expensive (but also more productive) factories.

In the game I just completed with the Yor I was able to have my espionage spending at 25% almost the entire time, and was still gaining lots of money, for example. That said I did have several economic mega-events at the time which allowed me such a high level of espionage (e.g. star democracy initially, and then when I started getting loads of ships to maintain I had 2 economic boost events), but even without these I would've been able to cope financially with ease.

They do have quite a few annoying disadvantages however - not being able to upgrade resource starbases, no (decent) invasion tactics, average soldiering techs, only able to reach average research efficiently (can get better research but it then costs much more), no government techs (alleviated by their economics bonuses though), and of course their 1-per-planet build limits are a problem with very high quality planets.

I've updated the guide. Most of the stuff from the top to (and including) Drengin has been rewritten.

Each of the affected civs now has a section talking about what structure enhancement modules they get (hit point modules), a section mention what fleet modules they get if not mentioned elsewhere, and a suggested strategy section.

That question could be rephased as "Which civs would you not bother playing against.". There are 12 core civs, and only 10 civs can play at a time (including yourself). Once you knock off the ones who don't add much variety because they feel like another civ, it should be an easier decision to make.

That said, here are the ones who either don't add much, or has a matching pair:

-Drengin/Korath: These two feel very much alike. The big difference between these 2 is the Drengin have a better economy due to cheaper research structures, and because of better economic buildings (standard stuff like stock markets). The Korath give you the impression that they are much stronger due to additional techs and stuff (including spore ships), but their economic buildings are weaker and things like the Aul Incinerator is overrated (+30% industry, reduces PQ by 1, so its like getting 2 +15% industry structures). The Korath do get Dark Influence, as structure that provides a planet with +200% influence (a very big deal).

-Drath/Altarians: The Altarians feel like they were a copy and paste of the Drath. The only notable difference I can think of in terms of tech trees is the techs they get after researching "Xeno Ethics", and the few techs that they Drath gets that relates to their manipulative nature. The Altarians gets many more techs than the Drath after researching Xeno Ethics, including a few that unlocks additional ship modules.

-Korx: They can probally take second place in terms of having the most similiar tech tree to DA, so they don't feel too special. Beyond that, they get a bunch of additional techs for starbases and such, some of which are worth while, like mining modules.

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I suppose I haven't quite answered your question yet... only provided a few thoughts to consider. For me, to get the greatest variability means to have the game randomly select opposing civs for me. If I didn't, I might get somewhat biased in my selection of civs. I know that I didn't often play against the Korx and Krynn back in DA.

They didn't seem to draw my attention. Back then, the only difference between civs seemed to be the super abilities, and the Korx and Krynn super abilities didn't seem to cause as much trouble as other civs super abilities did. Some of the notable ones are: Super Warriors (first strike advantage), Super Isolationists (slows down the speed of other civs ships in your territory), and Super Manipulator (reduces the cost of paying other civs to fight each other).

well hopefully this well help some of the newbee`s


Nasty

Back in Dread Lords, if I recall correctly, a military win counted more than an influence win (in terms of final score), which in turn counted more than a tech win. I don't remember where an alliance win fit in. Do you know where the ascension victory fits into this scheme? TIA

Altarians militarily weak? Now, i am just a poor little newbie, and these new tech trees confuse me horribly, i just barely managed to get a grasp on the old generic one...

But looking at the things they can research after aligning with good, it seems like their starting penalty is not only overcompensated to the point that it puts them ahead of most other races, but they also get first strike, as a tech, a luck bonus, and some really nice modules.

In fact providing they align good they actually seem like they have quite a terrifying offensive capability.

But i could be missing something or reading the descriptions wrong or who knows. Can someone comment on this? 0_o

I'm still in the process of rewriting the guide right now, so I'll provide an update when I get too it. Until then, I'll provide a few comments.

The Altarians do get some good stuff in their tech tree. I keep forgeting that they, like the Drath, do get some techs that provide weapons bonuses (I think one +30%, and the other +20%) so they are not as bad off as I originally wrote. That and a high research bonus can push them far ahead of the other civs in terms of weapons technologies. Their fleet support modules do look useful on paper, so I have to look into those as well. Inaddition, I think that PQ bonuses now work retroactively (as in, any planets you own or buy get improved as you get the bonus) so you don't have to worry about getting the "Paradise Worlds" tech so you can benefit from that +10% PQ bonus as you colonize worlds.

I still want to play a bit more, and ask the devs a few questions before I provide further comments on the Altarians.

For Korath, if you get mini tech researched all the way, and with engine tech tree branch researched mid way coupled with spore, the planet tech can be dispensed with for awhile.

In my previous post, i mean to say that with the korath tech researched, the planetary invasion tech can be dispensed with for awhile so that weapons tech can be developed.

Updated the guide:

-Updated the Torain, Korath, and the Yor. Provided more details for each civ, including but not limited to: Fleet support modules they get, HP boosters (called "structural enhancements"... for now), and some suggested tactics.
-Added a few comments in the fleet support modules section.

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This guide is taking longer to finish than I thought. So many distractions... including applying for university.

Thats the norm. Looks like I didn't mention the one-per-ship limit in my guide. I'll make a point to add it in my next update.

All modules that might boost attack or defense can't be placed on a ship that already has a like module installed. So if you want more, you will have to consider using a second ship. However, fleet warp bubbles are considered different. As such, fleet warp bubbles can be used with those modules.