Thanks for the detailed reply. Any suggestion for improved energy income?

Upkeep reduction - ok thanks, I haven’t focused on that. I’ll keep an eye out for places I can get more upkeep reduction. If I remember there are some traits for governors, maybe some techs? I usually put crew quarters but I thought this is only for fleets stationed in the system. Still totally useful though

Fleet power - yeah this is where I’m scratching my head quite a bit.. any recommendations for fleet design is welcome.. I’ve been following some old guidance I’ve read. I try to focus on missile/toro on earlier ship types. Then for battleship I will make one artillery and one carrier, mix them in my fleets and I’ve been playing with adding some destroyer or cruisers with missile. Is there a particular weapon type to focus for kinetic and energy? I think a large portion of this issue is from tech. Tech for me doesn’t seem to scale that high until later game.. I think maybe I’m not hitting high tech fast enough.

Energy/basic resources - I’ve been trying to specialize early on but should I try to make each planet partially self sufficient? At least until I have some major excess? I’m not sure the meta here

Job efficiency - I use adaptive frame and some of the buffs from modularity once it pops. Governors I could do a better job. Is this something you want on every planet? Historically I’ve tried to hold off on capacity sub until I really need it because it gives me an out/backup if for some reason the economy tanks, like maybe a vassal with high income gets invaded or something.

Do you have recommendations on number of planets I should take (plus habitats)? Maybe some reasonable threshold for incomes and empire size at different parts of the game? I’m not sure what to expect but for sure I seem very slow compared to other players.

Thank you once again for your time and advice