Thanks for the replies.
If I understand correctly, I should research APBs and use them as my main weapons. What about ship hulls? Light cruiser seems to rock due to their low requirements (only 1 bridge / crew quarters / life-support). Should I build dozens of smaller ships (i.e. light cruisers) or should I move onto bigger hulls such as battleships and complement them with a few smaller ships? What about null-space weapons... are they any good?
If anyone has a link to "how-to-rule-the galaxy-with-Deeply-Religious-trait" guide I would really much appreciate it.
Also, I would be interested if someone could post a couple of their killer ship designs (with a talisman on it).