(For reference: I am rank 1066 and have about 13.5k energy.)

Time is another factor... I am not in a part of the world with super-fast internet (it's not bad here, but noticeably slower at home in Australia than when I connect in, say, USA). The combination of connection speed and necessary XP to rank means that if I do autorank solely on NPCs, it's 45 minutes to an hour. Per rank. I don't have time to do that every day, let alone multiple times each day.

As a result of the necessary time input, many days I don't do a whole lot of NPCs. If I have time for a run, I'll go until I rank up or for an hour (convenient as that's when my Shockpulse wears off) depending on how I'm feeling - then either have a break or get off the computer and do whatever RL thing I am supposed to be doing(!).

I also mix in some missions each rank. They have a lower XP return, so if you want to do that while autoranking you need a bigger energy tank. But they do give you a bigger hit of XP for each click of the mouse, so it cuts down on the time you are sitting and clicking. That's a big help if time is an issue for you.

hum the fastest way to increase AP for free is using all the methods on the list at the same time

* Scan and take as many decent planets you find (200+ aph)
* Change to Talth and slowly (but surely) make big planets,
* Sell your artifacts/CTP/soul and buy one of the many planets for sale on the forums or trade groups. (don't sell EM, use it to make purgers)
* Complete free surveys to buy your mission planets (it is doable )
* Autoranking off NPCs (terraformers + dark badges + fold generators)

More or less 2 years played here, and well past 250k aph (mostly from NPCing, but I have also scanned a lot... 115k scans performed or so - 472 planets occupied).

However, I think increasing your energy only to focus on scanning will leave you with a weak ship, and the colonization costs on the long run will be too high (plus there is a cap on the amount of planets you can colonize, which is the max scan available).

*Thumbs up*

Thanks to Taylor Swift for the tips. I really like them and id love to dry hump the real Taylor Swifts un panty hosed leg.

That being said, i dont like the idea of trading or leaving my legion. I dont want to make friends all over the galaxy. I want to maintain and keep 50-60 friends and grow tight with them and accomplish things together. Like.... a team.

I think all the Vets have great plans and points and each game player is a unique individual and must do what they feel is best. There is no wrong way to play a game if you have fun.

I can see at the higher levels, as with a lot of other games i have played, theres a lot of..........Drama and sillyness ego and jealousy. Bizzarre the natural cycle of grown adults taking on the character of Jr High school teenage girls. It would be more fun if everyone just shared their ideas and input without the jabs

But, i use poor grammar, am a noobster so my opinion means nill..

Thanks Taylor Swift. I enjoyed the input and see the concept. I also respect the others input as well. Nice to see people willing to share info. Would be cooler with out the poop.

2 Cents from a Neeeeewwwwwbbbbbbster :p

I only want to spend a few minutes on this so I'm going to summarize:

1) Re 'These threads were created purely to inform others' comments. Taylor Swift labelled it 'Strategies of Elite Ships' then opened with a detailed description of his own stats, highlighting and going into more detail for the ones he felt were particularly good. I would consider that a bit of needless self-indulgence. Of post(s) suggesting jealousy, that requires a desire to emulate or exceed, and from my PvP stats it can be clear that I haven't made any attempt to do so (for a variety of reasons including kill counting mechanics that I won't go into now). With regard to the stat that's repeatedly suggested to be key, AP income, I've nearly 150% of his hourly pull, so no reason to be jealous there either.

2) Comments of 'The best way is to do a bit of everything'. No build is solely going to hit bases and not NPC or scan, or NPC and not base or scan, or any other pure-build hypothetical. Every ship does each of these to some extent during their playtime, the distinction is in their emphasis. I've already listed enough details to give sufficient backing to the claim that scanning and colonising 200+ AP/hr planets is significantly better in regard to the topic, but to make it more accessible: (over 200k AP/hr at the two year mark, a paltry number of total NPC kills in comparison to other ships of a similar bracket, 175k total, cf. Kirk Eastment/The Sun Tzu with 974k total, Sharnhorst 1,083,480 total, and Taylor Swift with 263k kills and only 66% of the AP income). If I haven't gotten the AP from scanning, where have I gotten it from? I haven't been handed planets, and I haven't used GP either directly, through buying planet upgrades, or indirectly, through trading storages/CTP for others' high quality scans.

3) The general futility of a subsequent beginner's guide for this game. Not even mentioning the fact that this game is... in its twilight, it's one that places so much weight on time played that anyone who's starting now is going to be farmed consistently at each rank, and never come anywhere close to the top 33% (if not much more) of ships, no matter what strat they end up employing. The best thing to do, imho, is simply to enable them to do what they want and enjoy the original features of this game without any suggestion of 'beating the curve', as it's so often described.

Anyway, I'll finish to allow subsequent comments to take the post out of context and mischaracterise it as is so often the case, apparently.

So much for not having time for the last word.

i personally thought this post was very helpful and informative, im now slightly changing how im building my ship and advising others in my legion, thank u taylor swift

Well there... we started at the same time more or less, and I'm ~50k aph ahead with less planets colonized. I think that kinda proves that NPCing really gives an edge on aph, the way I see it.

Nothing wrong with colonizing a lot of decent planets, I'm just concerned about colonization costs and the ~1300 planet cap with current scanning modules available.

I still scan as much as possible though, but EM is starting to be expensive as well and it's hard to keep up with prices. Plus I don't like to depend on others to get the cash I need to colonize or invade planets (I don't need to find a buyer for my stuff / energy... if I need cash, I can do 20 - 30m damage to a base and replenish my credits in just a few hours).

Also, I kinda dislike adding more energy than needed; I don't feel I'm getting stronger by putting more engineers, which is the whole point of increasing your aph to begin with (to strengthen your ship).

Edit: I have also stopped colonizing planets (I just invade)... I want to have 100 planets ready to colonize when I hit 3 years in December, which would give me a 2% extra bonus and around 25k more aph as well

Unlike Mr. McAuley, I generally can step away from a conversation when I have said my piece, but his third point is new and, I feel, demands a response, since this is the beginner's hub...

To new players
When I started Galaxy Legion, many players had over a year of play on me (closer to two, since I did not really play for the first 3-6 months and then reset when I began to play "seriously"). I looked at all of the ships above and ahead of me and assumed that I would never catch up to them, but I figured I would enjoy the game anyway. I never dreamed I would be considered one of the top PvPers, be associated with the top legion, or have any of the things I have in Galaxy Legion today. While I am aware that Mr. McAuley has already characterizes Taylor Swift's use of information like that to be part of some sort of self-aggrandizing agenda, I merely point out where I came from and where I stand today in hopes it inspires you newer players to keep plugging ahead.

A new players might have a few more challenges than I did, since established players would have had even more years of production as well as a solid understanding of the tactics and strategies that only became widely understood later in Galaxy Legion's history. On the other hand, you new players can benefit from the relatively cheap mining and research planets higher ranks sell, soak in the production of established level six or higher bases that might not have even existed two years ago, and of course, learn from the mistakes of established players who are willing to take the time to share their experiences. Speaking of experience, I have not found that I often compete with players that have been around since the beginning of Galaxy Legion's history, so let me assure those who started Galaxy Legion in 2014 that some of the players you are impress by right now will have quit galaxy legion by the time you get up in the ranks, and if they ever decided to come back while you continue playing, you might find yourself rivaling, if not surpassing, them.

Mr. McAuley could be right, and Galaxy Legion might be in a twilight. However, history does not have be view linearly, starting in the morning and ending at twilight, but rather cyclically, with twilight giving way to a brand new day. Galaxy Legion does seem to have less players than when I first started playing, and a trend toward losing players might exist. On the other hand, an economist kept telling me "past performance is not indicative of future results," and every month this year, I have met a new player or two (well under rank 100) and began a conversation. Possibly with a new rush of advertising, an introduce your friend to Galaxy Legion week, or just sudden happenstance, Galaxy Legion might explode with activity again.

Regardless of Galaxy Legion's future, I imagine most players both new and old gain value from the game here and now, particularly players wondering around the forum, and I, of course, encourage players to do what they find fun. Simultaneously, I do want to encourage and help you new players in "beating the curve," since through education and mentoring, you will be better equipped to do what you want, (which usually includes beating your similarly ranked rivals anyway).

In conclusion, do not worry about the grumpy old naysayers, since they are dead inside and are just festering until the winds finally blow them away. Many of us want Galaxy Legion to continue and grow, and we want to help empower you to be a part of that growth. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions or comments. I am happy you are here.

thanks for posting this, really informative about how to improve arti production for my planets, once again thanks

i totally agree here that npc hunting is the best choice to go i was at rank 1k on a daily basis getting hit by many ships as my ship was only producing 10k ap per hour i then went around travelling to a few legions getting a bit of advice as the legion i was in was not giving me the advice i needed. example starbuck witch is now a eots member doing a trade there or member for good now who knows or cares.

starbuck had told me then that cloak was worthless that defence was the way to go.

while i went on a bit of a legion tour i then spoke with bigger ships that were producing 50k to 90k more aph then i was and all said cloak is best way to go and to npc hunt so i then started picking up what i was told that not to do and use cloak to and started npc hunting like crazy now aph is over 170k per hour only a year later and those players who used to hit me daily are no longer hitting me on a daily basis some do not even look my direction. so a member who is not a eots fan i do agree with taylor swifts advice and strongly say read up on it and make your choice to do it that way or follow your own way.


i also agree with taking planets to improve your aph and doing trades but at the same time again agreeing with taylor swift here lol keeping it at a low costs as possible was not til last week my invasions went from 100bil to 200bil but i took control of 30k more mining per hour the rest were aph planets for my 3 year ally i auto ranked in just 5 days expensive process to do but it done now and i can go back to focusing on better planets and not waste time on the lower planets like i was before.


also another suggestion most high rank will possibly agree is get your energy bar to 17 to 1 rank ratio after you are rank 1k+

reasons is for this so you can npc hunt and auto rank but as well do legion missions base and the new bi weekly's that are energy drainers. also will let you auto rank off of pvp if you wish.

me personally i go 20 to 1 then you can focus on pure tact's non stop for a good while and not worry about energy issue but we all have our own ways of doing things but when it breaks down allot of us follow the same route..


so again thanks taylor swift for making this post to help assist the newer players witch 1 right now is a rank 10 is a person i known for over 10 years i finally convinced him to try out gl after 2 years of trying lol hopefully he can bring us some more new players and the chain can continue on with even more players joining lol