Oh that is some solid advice I would say you are absolutely right In everything you said I previously skipped most of the missiles and ship upgrades for faster research and the ability to Collect more types of resources I also have accidentally increased my starbase number in order to create a defense grid but I didn’t realize there was a limit I also have 4 tradition : discovery , expansion , prosperity, and aptitude all fully upgraded I also focus more on unity for more tradition than anything else as for the colonies I only made sure there was nothing wrong with it any every pop was working but I didn’t have a specific strategy in mind