Ok, so there is this tech section called 'Theory' that contains a bunch of different fields. I'm researching Mobile,Mech,Aero,Info ... but i don't know if i should spend those research points somewhere else. Is it worthwhile to research this tech?
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If you read the descriptions on "Theory" techs it reads as though if you don't research Theory techs, you will get them anyway as you research related techs. Is that the case? If so, I wouldn't waste time researching Theory techs. In the few HoI3 games I have played so far I did not research any theory techs because it sounded from the descriptions like I would just get them for free anyway over time... but then that didn't seem to be happening.
Do you get theory techs for free as you advance through related techs or not? From the in-game descriptions of the theory techs it sounds like they at least meant for it to work that way.
I think their only effect is to increase your Theoretical Knowledge skills. In most cases I wouldn't research them; one knowledge point gives you at most about a 10% increase in research speed, which decays over time. I would only research them in the following situations:
- If I am trying to rush from 0 Knowledge and no techs in an area to modern techs--basically researching 16+ techs in the same area in a short time.
- If I am constantly researching something ahead of time, e.g. computing machines. I always have the computing machine techs being actively researched, unless I am a tiny country.
I had been in games so far as UK utilizing naval, air, chemical, engineer, electronic and sometimes automotive and infantry. In retrospective, I think it was bad idea mostly, since theory has like 30% contribution while practical has like 70% contribution. So in future, I will most likely only use this maybe for electronic and for nuclear for sure. After that, maybe for some areas where I will need fast improvement. But surely not for Naval, when I actively research over 12 other naval techs per year.
Since other (more useful) techs ALSO improve your Theoretical score, I only research pure Theory techs if there is no suitable useful tech in the same field left to research in the same time-bracket. Researching pure Theory is better than letting your theoretical score decay, and sometimes better than tech-rushing... but is inferior to researching a more useful tech in the same field.