I didn't realize there was so much strategy to this game until I got a ways into it.

here's a screen shot of what I've got going on right now:

legion by aprilsaur, on Flickr


I don't do a lot of PvP. Sometimes I hack. Mostly I focus on missions and helping my legion upgrade its base. It's a new legion (only active a few weeks, with six members).


I guess I'm just looking for some advice so that I can move forward in the game with a definite plan. I don't spend money on the game, so I'm not buying any artifacts or anything.

I think I'm doing pretty good on planets:


planets by aprilsaur, on Flickr

any suggestions?

Get all of your badge items as soon as possible. It will be much harder to do later on. Decide if you are gonna play like a turtle and slow rank (which gets you nowhere ultimately, but gives you bragging rights about how tough your ship is compared to others of your rank). Or fast rank by adding lots of energy and get to the top of the game quickly. (Which will make you very weak until your artifact production catches up, but will get you stronger overall MUCH faster than slow ranking). It just depends on how much you really care about stats versus being able to whoop on 9/10 of the galaxy.
Planetary structures should be anyone's main priority for research since production scores are the most important thing in the game. The more income you have, the stronger/faster you will grow.

first bit of advice. dont take just any ol crap planet, just to fill slots or git a tiny bit of production.
nothing below rich no matter what.
those gas ones you have are awful.

never take a very small unless its an exotic with like x8 arti..
dont take any more volcanics.
only take VL toxics that are rich

for arti planets.. your choice on what you take, size is better then production if its only a richness difference of one or two spots.

for research. massive and very massive gas or metallics are the ONLY planets you should be taking, and a plasma if you happen to find one unoccupied (unlikely but not impossible)

how you defend your planets.. at your rank, it doesnt matter what you put on them, anyone at rank 100 can take them, so i would suggest max production from them.

Not sure if you have 90 cargo from tesseracts or from rank points, but just know that you should never put any rank points into cargo.

or into scientists.. EVER.

Badge items-- check. I can definitely do that.

Thanks for the advice about the planets. I didn't realize when I first colonized the planets I have the differences between abundant and rich, and now that I know I realize I kinda made some mistakes!


Also thanks for the advice about the defending the planets. I'll wait to worry about that until later on in the game.

if I don't add cargo via rank points, then how WILL I add cargo?


are most people of the mind that you should focus research on planetary construction and energy? Or should I be adding decks as well as energy points?

add to whatever you like, engineers will help you rank faster, as will decks(since they allow you to install energy and other modules), but engineers are upkeep free and help with raids.

tac officers are free attack, very nice to have later on.

decks will come to you from tesseract containers, i honestly dont know what they cost in Artifact points. its been a long time since i was joyed to see one lol

Mass storage pods are the other possibility, if youre in an artifact legion. they come at 20K ap.

i would say the first thing to focus on is planetary buildings, get those up as fast as possible.. the last few tiers are a nightmare at low RP, but overall it will save you a ton of money by not having to retro fit all of your planets 2 or 3 times.

energy does come in handy... i would say keep your reactors at the max that you can easily afford and always have your relays on, except just before ranking, when you should remove them for the extra bit when you rank up. with the last relays, thats 480 energy to play with.

Some quick notes
1) Skip the Mk2 Dominions, but the Mk1 and Mk3 variants are worthwhile.
2) Get your decks really high, or keep them to your rank+19.
3) Keep researching sensors, planetary structures and energy. Once the tech is going to take weeks to finish, then start looking at hull and attack. Tap bases that your legion fights to get the BM Convoys for defence.

not trying to sounds harsh here, but i would advise a reset and starting with better planets.

then follow all the advice here.

That's not a bad idea, actually.

Hahha, I totally just did that before I even read this. Think I'll join a different legion, too.

Any advice as for what race I should pick?

Vygoid or Konqul Excavator

If you're interested in switching legions, The Invisible Storm can give you a home and help you with the starting planets.
Our forum thread:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=26906

Plus, Joseph and I are always available to give advice, as well as some of our other members.

Hey that sounds great- I'm going to search for the Invisible Storm.


edit: request sent.

that actually is great advice... i wasnt paying attention and thought this ship was the rank 170ish in the pub.. yeah, reset and focus your planet taking in a more positive direction. shouldnt take more then a week or two to get back on track. dump points into energy and do missions, youll be past rank 30 in no time.

best advice on here is get your red badge items early as you are able...just cos you cant fit mk3 doms til over rank 100 doesn't mean you shouldnt have the reds ready for that time...its easy to gain reds at low levels...til guys arti points can supply them with traps

Alright.

I went with a Konqul Excavator. I'm in the Invisible Storm legion.

RIght now I'm focusing on building up sensors, planetary construction, and energy.


I'm splitting my rank points between decks and engineers.



I haven't taken over any planets yet because the one scan I did only popped up enemy planets. I'm going to try to get my red badges.

Thanks again for all the help and advice, I do appreciate it. I'm not sure what it is about this game that has me addicted, but whatever it is, I'm here to stay!

actually- I'm thinking of not adding anymore decks for awhile and focusing on tactical officers. That way I'll be able to get those red badges more quickly.

That's never a bad thing, decks are finite anyway, tacs aren't so your gonna end up adding them anyway at some point.