Jumping in at the deep end

[Fyron]

So, eh, help? I've read the minmax guide, which is in a post on this forum but not at the site where it is most often linked to.

Eh? Are you refering to the following article?

http://www.spaceempires.net/home/mod...showpage&pid=1

I am not aware of it being on the forums anywhere...

I can not possibly stress the importance of Berzerker culture enough... those 10% combat bonuses are crucial. Combat bonuses are of utmost importance in SE4. You must get as many as possible from traits and culture, then from training, CS, ECM, stealth armor, etc. Do not forget training! 40% penalty to offense and defense is going to make you lose.

The only other culture that can really try to compete is Merchants, and only then if you take 115 maintenance aptitude (to get the minimum 5% maintenance rates for your ships) and hefty construction bonuses. The idea is to spam the Berzerker enemy with as many ships as you can... Scientists is a rather weak culture.

[Jtownsend]

(removed 10 foot url) "Re: PBW Strategy Guide (Help Please)" is the thread. It may be as old as the hills, but Spacebadger did repost the substance of the article.

For the record, I went with Berz and minimums on Physical Strength, Cunning, Farming, and Repair, with 81 on ER and Savvy (likely to be trade in this game.) 120 intelligence, attack, defend, construction and maintenance, and 105 on reproduction. Advanced Storage techniques.

I was shooting for generic. I appreciate that the 80s are probably not optimal choices with good gameplay, but there was nothing else I quite wanted enough to sack them, given that most of my boosted abilities were at 120.

Anyway, many of the players will be new which is a wild-card factor anyway, so I hope it will suffice. Thanks for the help, all. Any other suggestions happily accepted.

[Fyron]

Ah. The copy on SpaceEmpires.net that I linked to is slightly updated from the one in that old thread.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Good luck on PBW. And remember, there's no such thing as being surrounded. It's just a target-rich environment.

[Jtownsend]

Ok, a few more questions if folks are bored enough to answer -

1. An emergency build 11 colony ships - wise? These will have to be 3 engines only with my 120 construction, afaik.

2. Early research - I understand I want minelayers for the near sides of warp points? And there is a tech bonus on turn 1? What might I want to spend that on? My ideal fleet "shape" from what I've read, is destroyers/light cruisers with direct fire weapons and some PDC. How do I get there? I'm sorry to be a bit RTFF, but I'm not getting that great a grasp of the tech tree even with future techs made visible with the game mechanics.

3. Early facility builds - is there sort of a basic rote for the 1-5 facility colonies and then another basic rote for larger, wealthier colonies?

I likely have to start today, and I've been working too much to do any reading or playing I'm sure I'll pick it all up, but I'd rather get clobbered as little as possible in the interim. Thanks for the help thus far.

[Fyron]

Jtownsend said:
1. An emergency build 11 colony ships - wise? These will have to be 3 engines only with my 120 construction, afaik.

You can either retrofit them to add the rest of the engines, or you can take the Hardy Industrialists racial trait. I prefer the latter myself.

2. Early research - I understand I want minelayers for the near sides of warp points?

Mines are good in the early game. As are Point Defense Cannons. Mines are available from Construction tech, then Mines. PDC are available from Military Science, then Point Defense Weapons.

And there is a tech bonus on turn 1?

Yes. some extra research points, depending on game settings.

What might I want to spend that on?

Whatever you want to get first. Construction or Military Science is usually a good idea.

My ideal fleet "shape" from what I've read, is destroyers/light cruisers with direct fire weapons and some PDC. How do I get there?

Light Cruisers are available with Ship Construction 4. Due to mounts, you do not want to build any warship Destroyers after you get Light Cruisers, except possibly as missile ships or boarding ships. But direct fire weapon ships should all be Light Cruisers. They do 50% more damage than Destroyers due to Large Weapon Mounts.

3. Early facility builds - is there sort of a basic rote for the 1-5 facility colonies and then another basic rote for larger, wealthier colonies?

Depends on what resources you need to produce more of, really. Minerals and research are quite important. Some of those colony ships you build should travel to semi-distant systems, colonize small worlds, and build Space Yards. They will then start building new colony ships.

[Suicide Junkie]

1) You may want to spend some of the last few turns building spaceyard bases in orbit of your homeworld, thus permanently increasing your total build rate. Such bases are handy for repeat building units, while the planet builds the ships to carry them.

By the time your E-Build year is up, you should have new spaceyards operating on the first colonies, and can build more colony or war ships from there.

2) In the game setup, starting resources are set anywhere from 20k to 100k.
This applies to minerals/organics/rads and research as well.
Whatever you would have normally researched is good.
Some people will use it to complete one of the large theoretical techs early as well.

It is hard to justify a 50k theoretical when you're only producing 3-5k of research a turn, but the bonus can make it easier to think about doing it to get at the techs it unlocks.
In the end, you're still going to get and spend the same amount of points, so the choice depends entirely on your needs at the time.

[Jtownsend]

I believe the game is starting at medium tech, with a 100k bonus on the first turn. It may also be a crowded universe, with 3-4 systems per player. That considered, and with my non-HI race, I am considering doing without EB and making a faster colony ship, every second turn.

I'm leaning towards Stoney's idea of a transport ship with 2 mines early on, to stake out as many likely border warp points as I can. Continued advice along the veins already given here is much appreciated.

EDIT: Bit of important information - the game will be medium galactic edge, unless the players top 10 or 12, in which case large. The players start out with a bonus 100,000 on the first turn, and 3 good planets! Which rather alters my worry about having to have a cheapie colony ship if I did a land rush. On the other hand, given the size of the universe and the three starting good planets, I'm not sure EBing 33 colony ships would be very sane either. Brilliant advice?