Custom Race Advice

from GalCiv2 Forums

Morning folks!

I'm in the middle of customizing a for-fun race for myself, having become bored of the stock races rather quickly.  The ship designs are all done, and with some play time under my belt, I've found the advantages that best fit my play style.  I typically play fast super-expansionists, grabbing speed +2 and a dash of economic, morale, and pop growth.  Given those, I've been trying to decide which tech tree and super ability best fits my style, and find myself at an impasse.  So far, the Torian, Drath, and Altarian tech trees all seem intriguing.  I realize now that without spending a good chunk of time as all three races, I'll never get a real view of how they work individually, so I'd love some input.  As things stand, how would those three tech trees hold up as a super-expansionist?

On a related query, what are the effective differences between Drath and Altarian?  Except for the single extra "good" tech after xeno ethics, I don't seem to see any drath-specific techs, while Altarians have some juicy race-specifics.  Is the Drath tree really just watered down Altarian?

5,895 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Read this post by DivineWrath if you haven't already. He outlines a TON of information on the new trees.
TA 101
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That was my first stop! (I did my prerequisite 30 minutes of forum reading before posting here.) However, a good amount of what's there is seen through the eyes of someone playing as the race itself, rather than just using the tech tree. For example, if I were to play as Drath, there's nothing that saddles me with the same crap population growth that they have, nor with the innate weapons deficiencies that the Altarians have, unless I don't understand the system correctly?

Also, that's what sparked my question about the differences between the Altarians and the Drath. Altarians seem to have all the benefits of the Drath, in addition to two new fleet modules, better morale buildings, extra dark energy bonuses, etc. I'm wondering what the Drath have in return for all that.

Thanks for your help!
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ok, so since that's out of the way (wanted to make sure you already had that under your belt).

Drath and the Altarians should have a very similar tech tree, seeing that they shared Altaria for many many many years.

For a fast expansionist, either the Super Breeder or Super Hive would work well. Super Breeder to get your populations up to 2b so self-support or Super Hive to get those factories up and running quick, so the planet gets fleshed out faster.

Tech tree for a fast expansionist...I've been partial to the Yor tree of late. That 12rp lab and the lack of needing to build econ buildings (just all passive bonuses) is very nice.

I could though also argue that the Thalan tree is good for expansion since you won't have much social projects to focus on...Save that Hyperion Matrix for a secondary planet (preferably one with a research or production tile). I'd say to go for Super Breeder if taking this tree though.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
For a fast, super-expansionist strategy (which is my preferred play style too), Super-Breeder is the only logical choice of super ability - but remember to keep approval at 100% as much as possible to get the benefit of it.

For tech tree, it really depends on what other plans and options you have (i.e. good / evil, tech trading & stealing on or off etc). The key to fast expansion is getting the economy to keep up (which is why the high population growth of a super-breeder is needed). The Yor tech tree works well here with cheap early economy boosts through their efficiency techs and low maintenance early buildings. That would be the recommended choice for an evil path.

For good, the Altarian tree would probably be the best (I can see no real benefits of the Drath tree either). I haven't played with the Torian tree yet, but nothing in it jumps out as special. IIRC, the Altarians are one of the few races that can't be bettered bonus-wise by using a custom race - their weapons deficiency only takes 2 points to reverse.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I haven't played with the Torian tree yet, but nothing in it jumps out as special.
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They have some awesome morale buildings and um...~scratches head~ Yeah, that's all I can think of. The Central Mine is a great starter factory...but they lack any other factories for a few more turns after that.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Okay, so I fired this up last night and used Altarian with speedy super-breeders with max points in morale and economics. Holy WTF. It's like playing a whole new game. More specifically, it's like playing a whole new game without opponents! Before for me, normal was a fun challenge. Now, I control 3/4 of the galaxy before I even see a single military boat from my enemies.

I think I need to play this on harder difficulties.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think I need to play this on harder difficulties.
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For sure - anything less than crippling will be a walk in the park. Even suicidal is a breeze.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
For sure - anything less than crippling will be a walk in the park. Even suicidal is a breeze.
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Thanks all for your advice. Think I'm going to fire up a nice rocking difficulty large game this weekend and see how things go. I can't wait to see how a well-tuned race can do against a universe of stocks!
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Make your own tech tree, tis what i did for my race. :p
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Coincidentally, without reading this thread, I also made my very first custom race, chose super breeder and the Altarian tech tree, and I'm seeing the same results you are. 'Gonna have to raise the difficulty level.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Even suicidal is a breeze.
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Heh. Perhaps for you. I'm working on obscene right now. I've won my first now I gotta repeat. I think I can work my way to suicidal though.