Alright, I have an easy question for you guys. Where are you with the empire, and what is your general strat? Let me start. I have finished 14, and am on 15:
There are some pretty clear advantages for this type of gameplay, and I have settled currently on the Sharkarn. They have scouting units that fly, and are invisible in water. You don't have to worry about that one time your unit gets within 8 spaces of a boat most times. Past that, they have practical offensive and defensive mods, and by far the most powerful T4 unit. When you start nearly able to build it, that goes a long way.
I am currently using Celestian, as you start 1/2 the time with True Ascendancy already researched, so by turn 15 or so, you have an actually unkillable stack. I may swap off this now, as the Ascended Teacher is a unit you can get it as an 'operation,' so it may be best to combine it with other unit types. Still though, starting with it up in your available operations is amazing.
I don't need most of the reliquary now:
I have one more grail pickup and a few niceties to go, but most items don't do much. Just a few things to focus down.
I have the gameplay setting on max every time. Note that this is a tiny bit harder on turn 1, but with the right settings, you will find it is much easier in the end, especially the way I play. I use the enemy units as a money and research opportunity. If you are stupid-agressive, that pays off so much it is hard to believe.
I have only two empire categories maxed out, Shakarn and Celestian:
The rest are in mixed shape.
I have a lot of heroes, with varying experience, but that is because I was a dumb-dumb. I didn't see that little check-box beside their name:
Which appears to mean that you can select the heroes you go into battle with. Now that I know that, I have a lot more heroes with high levels.
Build-out is typically always the same:
Star Union Scholar or Martial Tradition
Larger starting army
No weapon
Kleptomaniac
I don't see a lot of options. If someone has a better idea than this, please tell me, as a turn 20-50 win only has a few possibilities.
Options are typically this:
Units:
Dvar Prospector
Psyfish Spawn
Therian Sharpshooter
Operations:
Black Market Connections
Wasteland Scavangers
Battlefield Autopsies
Mods:
Enhanced Limb Augments
Eyes of Eternity
Battle Pattern Analyzer
Cheap and powerful. Obviously this leads to a certain type of gameplay; ultra-aggressive and combat-oriented. I typically start with 3 scouts, and then expand to 6 cities incredibly fast. That strategy is courtesy of Ninjew, Sinsling, and Winslaya. Get 5-6 cities on the map and focus research (and energy). This was a PVP strat we went over a while back. We had some gameplay discussions and competitions, and their strat worked amazingly well. Get that research up and win. It works even better when you have a lot of tech already researched, but it is not critical. Typically I gun for maybe 3 tier-3 units on turn 20, with good mods, and then I walk all over the opponent, no matter what they have.
I like Celestian, as you have numerous options on this type of play. Obviously the biggest advantage is resurgence, which can simply not be beaten. They can also very effectively manage maps with 3 NPC factions. In those cases, it feels like god-mode.
I typically run planets with optional ending, as you can probably get 80% of the victory conditions with 20% of the game time. Grail planets on max level are particularly appealing, as you can BLAST through them, snag the grail, and win reliably by turn 50.
Fastest planet win was turn 19:
Longest was turn 91:
Last time I do that. That sucked. Most games lasted until around turn 50, when I got the grail, NPC buildings, or whatever I was supposed to do. I typically don't fully complete planets now, as there is 1 or 2 items unfinished. That said, you only need the spacer artifacts once to get everything, so... cool?
Your turn. Where are you at? Do you like this? How is it going for you?
Disappointments in the game? I have one: no DNA Injector: Apex. This was the absolute worst thing that Flagship has done without a doubt. They need that item in the game. I was robbed.
Actually two. They psy-fish construction modifiers don't work when the unit is fully evolved. That happens with me a lot, as I am aggressive with the gameplay. The fact that the construction mods disappear is a real problem.
There are some pretty clear advantages for this type of gameplay, and I have settled currently on the Sharkarn. They have scouting units that fly, and are invisible in water. You don't have to worry about that one time your unit gets within 8 spaces of a boat most times. Past that, they have practical offensive and defensive mods, and by far the most powerful T4 unit. When you start nearly able to build it, that goes a long way.
I am currently using Celestian, as you start 1/2 the time with True Ascendancy already researched, so by turn 15 or so, you have an actually unkillable stack. I may swap off this now, as the Ascended Teacher is a unit you can get it as an 'operation,' so it may be best to combine it with other unit types. Still though, starting with it up in your available operations is amazing.
I don't need most of the reliquary now:
I have one more grail pickup and a few niceties to go, but most items don't do much. Just a few things to focus down.
I have the gameplay setting on max every time. Note that this is a tiny bit harder on turn 1, but with the right settings, you will find it is much easier in the end, especially the way I play. I use the enemy units as a money and research opportunity. If you are stupid-agressive, that pays off so much it is hard to believe.
I have only two empire categories maxed out, Shakarn and Celestian:
The rest are in mixed shape.
I have a lot of heroes, with varying experience, but that is because I was a dumb-dumb. I didn't see that little check-box beside their name:
Which appears to mean that you can select the heroes you go into battle with. Now that I know that, I have a lot more heroes with high levels.
Build-out is typically always the same:
Star Union Scholar or Martial Tradition
Larger starting army
No weapon
Kleptomaniac
I don't see a lot of options. If someone has a better idea than this, please tell me, as a turn 20-50 win only has a few possibilities.
Options are typically this:
Units:
Dvar Prospector
Psyfish Spawn
Therian Sharpshooter
Operations:
Black Market Connections
Wasteland Scavangers
Battlefield Autopsies
Mods:
Enhanced Limb Augments
Eyes of Eternity
Battle Pattern Analyzer
Cheap and powerful. Obviously this leads to a certain type of gameplay; ultra-aggressive and combat-oriented. I typically start with 3 scouts, and then expand to 6 cities incredibly fast. That strategy is courtesy of Ninjew, Sinsling, and Winslaya. Get 5-6 cities on the map and focus research (and energy). This was a PVP strat we went over a while back. We had some gameplay discussions and competitions, and their strat worked amazingly well. Get that research up and win. It works even better when you have a lot of tech already researched, but it is not critical. Typically I gun for maybe 3 tier-3 units on turn 20, with good mods, and then I walk all over the opponent, no matter what they have.
I like Celestian, as you have numerous options on this type of play. Obviously the biggest advantage is resurgence, which can simply not be beaten. They can also very effectively manage maps with 3 NPC factions. In those cases, it feels like god-mode.
I typically run planets with optional ending, as you can probably get 80% of the victory conditions with 20% of the game time. Grail planets on max level are particularly appealing, as you can BLAST through them, snag the grail, and win reliably by turn 50.
Fastest planet win was turn 19:
Longest was turn 91:
Last time I do that. That sucked. Most games lasted until around turn 50, when I got the grail, NPC buildings, or whatever I was supposed to do. I typically don't fully complete planets now, as there is 1 or 2 items unfinished. That said, you only need the spacer artifacts once to get everything, so... cool?
Your turn. Where are you at? Do you like this? How is it going for you?
Disappointments in the game? I have one: no DNA Injector: Apex. This was the absolute worst thing that Flagship has done without a doubt. They need that item in the game. I was robbed.
Actually two. They psy-fish construction modifiers don't work when the unit is fully evolved. That happens with me a lot, as I am aggressive with the gameplay. The fact that the construction mods disappear is a real problem.
