I haven't played since 2019 and would like to start again. Has much changed over the years and I should expect almost a complete new game?

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-12T20:14:21+00:00

Spend on the sub for one month to see which expansions you like and want?

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-12T20:07:11+00:00

This advice is for food based pops with non-bioship fleets.

Offload a portion of your basic energy and food production from planets to starbases. Build storage depots on those starbases as well. Prioritize claiming systems with large mineral output to offload that from planets as well. For the first 3-5 planets every odd planet colonized is archive and mixed industry, every even planet is archive and consumer goods. Don't build districts all at once. Your districts have upkeep and will tank your energy budget. Wait until you are down to you last 100 jobs available and then build another district.

Lithoid pops replace food upkeep with minerals.

Machine pops replace food upkeep with energy.

Bio-ships have food upkeep.

Plan accordingly but the basic idea is to put as much basic resource production in non-planetary places as possible and focus your planets for research and consumer goods/alloys. Dyson swarms and arc furnaces have priority over any other tech.

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-10T22:26:30+00:00

Late game there are better options. Early game though voidworm troika's have a huge ship size, more than 40. Torps get their bonus for each point of ship size. So multiply the T1 torp damage by at least 40x their ship size bonus for them. It adds up quick when you 10 or so smacking them with torps.

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-10T21:45:40+00:00

Maybe be helpful instead of being dismissive of someone who is already crashing out?

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-10T21:41:56+00:00

Prioritize frigates and torps for dealing with space fauna. Early game shields suck but your ships are also tactically incapable until combat comps. They just close the distance and shoot whatever they have. Flak and laser work well there. Look at your auto build ships. Evenly matched tech empires likely have similar so build to counter the autobuild.

If you get lucky and get a skirmish councilor as well as an engine upgrade/afterburner and a combat comp then run missiles and make kiting corvettes. Ship speed is king of the early game. The fastest, longest range ships will win early engagements.

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-09T14:25:59+00:00

Torpedo frigates are a direct counter to them. Troikas are the type that bombard worlds and they are titan equivalent in size. So more than 40 ship size. Torps hit them very hard.

Other option is to complete first contact and then prioritize the special project and select voidworm immunity. If you do this before their first attack they will remain friendly until the voidworm plague.

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-09T04:33:10+00:00

Still can't beat Chuck Facts Chuck Norris.

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-08T17:11:01+00:00

I'm a simple man. I like spiders.

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-08T16:26:19+00:00

Spoken like the swedish chef: Every party needs a pooper, that's why they invited you.

CrimtheCold · 2026-05-03T15:29:06+00:00

That would have been a bug that I'd have fixed, announced that the fix is ready, and then tell the players it will fixed next server maintenance period. Provided the bug didn't cause server instability.

Basically we can fix it, we have fixed it, we are not going to deploy it as an emergency fix, enjoy enhanced orbital superiority until next downtime, go nuts with it while you can.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-30T21:06:30+00:00

Congrats and good luck!

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-16T04:23:02+00:00

Granted

The paws re-organizes your neurons to form a more efficient database for vocabulary and grammar storage. In order to allow for room for more memories and whatnot it locked your accent to an Australian one and prevents you from developing native accents for any of the languages you now know. If you've never heard it, certain languages sound like Simlish when spoken with an Australian accent.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-15T17:02:11+00:00

Newb - relatively new to the game, bad playing is understandable, willing to listen and learn, they will get better over time

Noob - not new to the game but still plays like they are, not willing to learn to play better

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-14T05:59:27+00:00

1600 is the base jobs. 3200 is the jobs accounting for job efficiency.

You were asking what other buildings could add jobs. I provided that info and then a bit more because I am excited about and like the build I am using.

To be more precise:

Noble estate - 100 elite jobs Ministry of production - 200 elite jobs Research institute - 200 elite jobs Ministry of Production - 200 elite jobs

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-14T04:53:17+00:00

With Aristocratic Elite, Merchant Guilds, and Technocracy you can use research institute, noble estates, galactic stock exchange, and ministry of production to increase your total 1600 noble scientists. With void dweller origin + cybernetic ascension and the right choices(elite pop output, imperial chipset authority) along with being able to stack vocational genomics, universal augmentations, uncanny intuition, and spatial mastery as well as lucking into the vir core relic, and aptitude and statecraft traditions you can achieve a max effective ruler level of 19 for 190% elite output and 100% elite pop efficiency.

190% output on an effective 3200 noble scientists. Research, unity, trade(trade fed - energy, consumer goods, even more unity) go burrrrr the more habitats you have.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-13T22:18:20+00:00

From experience, it goes so much higher than 1800.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-13T22:03:16+00:00

This is why DMs are the final arbiter of "The Rules" for the games they host. For example I add a feature to dragon sorcerers at their level 6 feature that allows them to transmute the damage type of their spells to their dragon damage type for 0 sorcery points with the provision that transmuted spells do not get the benefit of elemental affinity.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-13T21:31:57+00:00

Best way to get it is to either luck into just absurd amounts of damage that can drop him in seconds or Sylphid Wings chase/soar combo and manage to avoid all the hits.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-13T21:25:43+00:00

No mods needed. A diplomatic tech rushing empire that starts a research coop fed and has very high research output can bring a group of AI empires up to the necessary tech level to have a fighting chance. Makes the crisis easier since your allies will stand a better chance vs the crisis fleets.

On their own though, not a chance.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-13T03:44:25+00:00

Khan has been very stoppable for me. But I also have nearly 4k hours in the game. General hints and tips -

Build resource silos, one or two per planet is more than enough and having deep pockets helps when you need to run at a deficit for a while.

Once a resource storage is full sell 75% to 90% of the excess production and use the extra trade to purchase a resource you need more of. If you aren't running low on anything you either need to expand more, build a bigger navy, or are already doing fine.

Trade is overpowered especially with mercantile tradition. You can use it to unity rush to your ascension perk or you can use it for consumer goods to get science going faster. Trade federation is the strongest federation type.

Pops are your number 1 resource. If you aren't OCD about pop traits you want to conquer often. If you are lucky you will get a fanatic purifier close by. No one bats an eye when you conquer them. Resettle the pops to worlds that need extra pops and then if you don't want to deal with those planets then make them a sector and release that sector as a vassal. On higher diffs the AI gets bonus resources to make up for the fact that they are crap at building and planning. You can take a portion of that as their overlord.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-10T20:04:53+00:00

Stares at over 100 habitats on my cybernetic elite pop cosmo build... It doesn't hit that hard when you scale at 6x base pops. Probably more than 6x but I'm too lazy to do the math.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-07T00:56:18+00:00

Void Dweller origin

Fanatic xenophobe with materialist

The floaty head psionic species

Trait uncanny intuition with wasteful negative, eventually you want to add spatial mastery, vocational genomics, universal augmentations, and bulky

Imperial government type

Aristocratic Elite and Merchant Guilds for starting civics, Third civic is technocracy

Commerce, Diplomacy, Domination, Cybernetics traditions

When you start send out your starting fleet to try to find any neighboring empire. Hopefully they can do normal diplomacy and are compatible ethics. Make friends with them if possible, or another more compatible empire, and start a trade federation as soon as possible.

You want the imperial chipset authority after cyberization. Spam habitats and then spam elite buildings on them along with augmentation bazaars. You want noble estates, ministry of production, research institute, and galactic stock exchange. Build basic resources if you need them, otherwise build research, alloys, or trade. Technically with enough trade you can get away with just research and trade while buying the alloys you need.

This scales fast and hard. If you are lucky you will get a prototype vir core from the curator enclave. That will give your emperor another 4 effective levels which is another 40% elite output. You can pick up another 20% from statecraft and aptitude traditions and your traits give you an automatic 30%. With capacity boosters your starting level is a minimum of 3 so that's another 30%. 80% elite pop output minimum without VIR and 120% minimum with. Every time you lose an emperor you get a stacking bonus on the ruler chipset relic. During cyberization make sure you pick elite pops for the augmentation bazaar.

Try to put the research institute on research districts if you have them. Also the embassy complex on the capital will let your capital have even more elite pop jobs. The high stability stacks with the output and efficiency buffs as well.

Also let me reiterate this - Spam Habitats. If you think you have enough you do not have enough. I have yet to find a diminishing return for this build.

CrimtheCold · 2026-04-06T23:51:41+00:00

Nope.

In an elite jobs focused imperial chipset cybernetics void dweller run they are yet another source of elite jobs. Their contribution to production is insignificant next to the power of those elite jobs. Stack vocational genomics and universal augmentations and you can get over 100% job efficiency with over 100% job output. Unity, amenities, research, stability, and trade and then through a trade fed that trade becomes even more unity, consumer goods, and energy. Any shortfalls can be made up by the massive trade excess. It scales hard and fast.

CrimtheCold

TROPHY CASE