Hi, (beware iam not an english native speaker)
Here my last working strategy with custom difficulty (dominators->impossible, price range->minimal, overall difficulty 150%)
well its obvious that i dont trade !
At game setup i choose almost always a skill in charisma (more money for government contracts aka. quests) and either attack or mobility (defense)
Then i choose the engine cause its always an upgraded version with longer jumprange and more speed (that also reduce sometimes the number of jumps and saves time on systemcrossing) the other item i would consider is either the rocketlauncher (cause it will take some time to be able to purchase it - especially if scientists are set to "dumb")
The race and profession i just match my desired "roleplaying" but if you like to zip around the galaxy like the galactic hero you want to be, then i recommend the faeyan fighter.
Always do the tutorial missions (unless you cant see them anymore) to get some cheap experience and one artifact (a kind of unique ship equipment)
Now ask at the government for some missions - read the info - and before you accept check the map and searchengine about the location of a remote missiongoal - you dont want to fail a mission just because you were one day due delivering a box of "maloq red buttons" to another planet.
Try to get transport mission at the standard difficulty - increase only if you have a better jumprange that allows you to make it in one jump.
Changing difficulty of the missions means usually increasing payout (and sometimes medals,upgrade items or even artifacts) for reducing the time needed to achieve mission.
Escort/protect missions higher difficulty means more time to escort your target - also beware that if you reach the escort goal and on your way to get your money the escorted ship is destroyed the mission will be tagged a failure.
Attack missions may also be impossible cause the ships pilot is in prison for a few months -> there should be a textadventure like sneak in prison and assassinate that guy
Beware of the "plasma-checker-tournament" it is a very challenging quest/puzzle - i already wasted two evenings and couldnt solve it - msg me if you got a solution!
Do as much of this missions till you get bored or rich
and be meanwhile on the lookout on nice equipment like better engines and *matching* fuel tank (critical at this stage)
After the quest for money, go shopping - if you want to be a real galactic hero and
prepare yourself for dominatorkilling !
Try to get a maloq warrior/ranger class ship with full slots - if it has some or all 4 artifact slots(like the Ranger "ideal" class) and try to get the highest affordable tech for the hull - (you can search for items *and* their techlevel in that searchengine)
Remember that a bigger hull size - especially when fully loaded - slows the ship down.
(maloq hull : most cost effective - maintenance is non-issue with repairdroid)
Stay away from this hull :
WWW Link">LinkShould you find a hull named "arriva tolosum" get it - its one of the best hulls i have seen - if you like a big and slow moving warship look out for that peleng parade cruiser with its own mud bath
(especially if you like extreme-looting like me)
I hope you have enough money left to purchase other equipment or already have it
Important thing about items the less space one item use - the more expensive it is to purchase (and if you sell looted items - the more money you get per unit sold) - also the repair costs of items are linked to their value
That means very expensive items - although looking nice and small can endanger your savings.
Although you may think that the items are quit durable - in peacetime they are - unless its maloq or peleng equipment with the itemfailure difficulty setting upped -
in a fight vs the hordes of dominators you will see quite fast equipment failure, that is if you dont get killed right away ^^ also dominators got weapons that do extra damage to equipment !
Equipment hints (always remember that cost/repair problem):
Repairdroid: get almost the highest tech there is - if you have a micromodule that adds to repair a significant amount, then you can get a cheaper one or pay the price for near-immortality (if your droid should fail while in combat - check those red wrench warning icons - then withdraw immediately - use even afterburners)
Radar: get a lowtech and lowspace one and upgrade it with a module like minivision - be cheap here
Gripper: the only way to make money fighting dominators is of course LOOOOOTING
like Radar get a lowtech and lowspace one and upgrade it with a module like "hocus" u may already got one or even two from the government contracts
Shield : either you take the risk and loot one of the small nice shields from the dominators or buy one if it has at least 20% protection - less is almost always wasted space
Fuel tank: you should consider having a larger fuel tank - just in case that your ships abilities doesnt match your heroism
and you have to decide to fight another day is better than looking at the highscoretable again
you can also refuel by very very close orbiting the star or if you are in a hurry and got enough hitpoints - right through the star to the nearest edge to warp out
Scanner : never ever buy such a thing - unless you want to seriously roleplay a pirate or customs officer !
WEAPONS : since its about battling dominators - and dominators usually comes in groups - use almost only area damage weapons like multi-resonators at first - then loot some of the big dominator weapons (Vertix and IMHO-9000) and install them if you find a preferable size/cost ratio
if you have credits left try to get the best hull upgrade at research station - or make it your next goal
Note that an ANTI-dominator configuration may not work vs that elite Pirate that holds a grudge against you since the beginning of the game - it usually has more than capable weaponry vs one target
With that anti-dominator config i usually target the biggest ship in weapon range and while the big bad guys armor is being teared away all the other small ships in its surrounding are being destroyed.
If you do some one-man-system-liberations then try to have some combat programs ready (available after military promotion and awarded by governments for contracts, missions and dominatorkilling) to make first good impression by using=talking "absolute weapons" on the "Equentor" class ships.
Used "Alarm Signal" Equentor lost its shields and some other stuff hehe
WWW Link">LinkCredit issues:
Depending on your configuration you may either (after venturing into an enemy system)
1. not survive a liberation effort -> bad but i hope you have a save game to try another loadout or make more money before switching to war
2. escaped with a badly damaged ship , no loot -> well thats almost like dead
3. snatched some loot from others in a battle, returned ->some use this tactic to make a quick money IF they survived this hit'n'loot run
4. liberated system, forgot to loot till the roof of your hopefully large enough remaining cargo hold, got thanked with a handshake and a measly medal or module -> your account will be broken soon unless you dont have other income like doing some contracts
5. liberated system, your 100-300units of cargospace full with dominator artifacts ready to be sold at research station for 200%value in the right department and dominator equipment also to be sold at research for 100%value (not the usuall lower % of your trading skill) -> you are on your way to be a rich ranger !
Always try to make repairs at military stations - and after that repair your artifacts at pirate stations - that will save you much money.
Also: fighting Dominators is really, really easy if your whereabouts as No.1 ranger are in the news and all nearby ranger and military vessels jump right beside you in an enemy system if there are no other liberations or defenses nearby.
Hope i could help you.
...some games add to life - some take life...
GalCiv2 Forums
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I'm glad to see we got a forum for this awesome game(bookmarking now). I am still working on my overall strat for this game. Right now I'm a Galian(maybe spelled wrong) merchant. Been running the government missions with a little trade. I also keep a lookout for any Dominator battles. If I notice one close enough, I'll zoom in and snatch any equipment I can and even get a kill or two if I can isolate a weak dominator. Got over 20k right now. Trying to save up for a really good hull I saw on a planet. Does anyone know about how long weapons and parts stay for sale on a planet or if it's just kinda random when they change out? Also early on I went into several blackholes and got some interesting items. The blackhole arcade battles aren't bad once you get the hang of them and quite fun, as is most the game. Well it's off to become a hero...or a rich merchant...or space debris.. you never know. 
