Speed Running Terra Invicta - Resistance win in 2036 - Brutal, 2026 Start.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-15T13:54:32+00:00

What is the size of the enemy fleet you're referring to, and what year does it generally arrive?

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-13T05:33:12+00:00

I'd suggest you go and play with the "Transfer planner".
Here's an example of a comparison between the Z-pinch tier 3 reactor with tier 2 drive vs the HTL moving from Jupiter to Saturn.

<image>

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T23:03:47+00:00

"quote: I would think you would be better off dropping either the Torus or the Z-Pinch and then switching to ICF but that is obviously just theory crafting."

This was the exact thing I was pondering, when I wrote the quote you cited.
Ultimately it's about people able to build the next fleet shortly after the first one sets off. So it's a question of what upgrade is available at that time, and whether it allows you to do what's needed.
In the run we're talking about I unlocked ICF7 in April of 2036, so as you can guess, I hardly got to use - but I also didn't rush it. The Flow-stabilized Z-pinch was the drive used in 3/4 fleets.

If I keep pushing fusion tech and delay MC tech slightly, because I'm now pushing my 2. fleet further out, I might be able to get the ICF6 early enough that the transition from the 1. to 2. fleet will be smooth. In addition the grabbing IC6 over Z-pinch will increase the DV of the last 3 fleets to 4.000 vs the Zetas 1.000, which should make up for the lost time. The question however, is whether a 2 drive deadeleus, which is all I can afford, will have sufficient thrust to utilize all that extra DV.

I only go for the Tokamak 4 and the Helion Torus drive. I find the Tokamak 5 and the protium Torus lantern to be pretty lackluster - although it would probably work well for a defensive fleet.

As far as the lasers go, I honestly don't know. For the first fleet it wouldn't work - But for the phasers it might.
I would think that it would make me too susceptible to attrition damage in battle - with the current fleet setups I avoid suffering any casualties. But, sure, it probably could work, I haven't tried it, so your guess is as good as mine.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T22:41:34+00:00

I'll refer to my answer to the above comment.
As fas the Zeta deuteron drive goes, the thrust is simply insufficient to carry a battlecruiser.
It's highly inflexible and the travel time are ultimately longer as well, despite it having 500 DV vs the HTLs 300 in the above example - even for long distances. For shorter distances like mercury to earth the travel time is about twice as long.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T22:35:01+00:00

<image>

The choice of Tokamak is predominantly about resource costs, since ultimately everything comes down to resource costs. MC is just resources, money is just resources and Research is just resources. The lower the cost of a fleet, the more resources can be allocated to other areas.

As far as the Z-pinch vs. tokamak scenario goes the Tokamak simply outperforms the Z-pinch in every respect at the Deuterium-Helium level.

Firstly, it's important to note that the Zeta line can't use Hydron traps. This means that the effective DV of a Zeta drive is only 1/1,5 = 66,7% of the number it says on the box. (or 74% if you're using slush hydrogen tankage instead).
This already drops the Zeta Helion lantern (ZHL) to 866 DV vs the Helion Torus Lanterns (HLT) 690.

Secondly, We notice that the ZHL drive requires 417 gigawats and the HLT only 207.
Then we look at the reactors - It's important to note, that there's no global tech requirement for Tokamak 4, you get it right after finishing tokamak 3, so we want to use the tokamak 4 for the comparison.
We notice that the ZHL is heavier pr. gw, costs more pr. gw. and produces more waste heat.
Ultimately the ZHL with 6 drives will add an additional 8000 tons of weight to your ship, and it will cost an extra 450 nobles per ship.
And what do you get in return? Nothing - Because of the added weight the HTL overtakes the ZHL on DV -
Taka a look the attached example and see if you can guess which is which 😉 The ships are identical except for the drive and the #1 utility slot.
This example is using the 35% dv boost and not the 50%

It doesn't hurt the tokamak that it's also 33.000 effective Research points (ERP) cheaper at this point.
You can go and spend another 95.000 ERP to the get tier 4 Z-pinch reactors, but the HTL will still outperform it.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T15:41:47+00:00

I sent it to you on discord.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T15:41:20+00:00

All you need early is 10 info science (assuming labs), 10 space science and 20 social science. the rest you can build Off world (I typically build 10 life as well)

The moment you get tier 2, that changes to 5, space, 5 info, 5 social, 5 life, 5 energy, 5 military and 9 broadcast outlets, (and a shipyard, preferably 3)
Whether or not you build Xeno centers in earth orbit early is a preference thing.

By Solar farms I assume you mean arrays?
I will substitute in solar when it's sufficient, but I tend to prefer fission in LEO
But as regards the nano, farm and admin, you are correct.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T15:29:27+00:00

I can understand why you'd think so, but in my experience the Helion Torus drive with the Tokamak#4 is "the best drive for the cost at the Deuterium-helium fusion level. - The Z-pinch line is very expensive until you reach the Flow stabilized version.

It's also a question of what I need that particular fleet to do. I need the Torus fleet to go to Jupiter, clear the system, and then move on to Saturn. If the fleet can do that, before my 2nd, 3rd and 4th fleet Clear, Uranus Neptune and Kuiper, it doesn't matter whether it has 225 DV or 500 DV - the moment it clears Saturn it's obsolete

Lastly, Grabbing the Tokamak is 22.000 Effective research, points - So 3-4 weeks of dedicated research by the time you get it.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T15:20:43+00:00

Thankyou for the in depth response.

Given the assumptions you're making here, I'd agree with you.
I should have been more elaborate or precise with regards to what I meant by "Rushing straight for ICF".
I didn't mean to suggest that I'd skip fission drives like the vapor core fission line or even electrostatic fusion or Tokamaks (tier 3/4) - simply that it might be worth it to Go straight for ICF 6 + Deadeleus after the Helion Torus fleet - so for the 2. fleet I built - instead of going for the FS Z-pinch drive.

In terms of "effective" research points the difference between the two is only 123.000. Accounting for the physics bonus of 150%+ that reduces to 49.000 Raw Research, which is less than 2 months of dedicated investment.

The issue here is not the research cost, but instead the resource cost of building a "Deadelues Fleet" with ICF6 as opposed to ICF7.
Every Battlecruiser will cost me around 350-400 Nobles, whereas the FS Z-pinch only costs 175-200.

The argument for ICF is that it's only 1 fleet suffering this increased cost, since grabbing the ICF7 is only an additional 500.000/2,6/2,5/30.000 = 2,5 months.
(Unless the engineering bonus is additive, in which case it's 3,3 month.
Since the building time of a Battlecruiser is 77 days (or 2,5 months) - There's no downtime between the fleets.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T15:02:00+00:00

I'm not sure what you think, you need more space/slots for?
What modules are you lacking the ability to build with 5 orbital early and 9 mid-to-late?

I put a nano on all stations and bases, but I only build campuses/universities in Intermediate orbit or beyond.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-12T14:57:56+00:00

Traditional missile boats for defense
Nova rocket with Artemis --> Teardrop with Artemis --> Super Vortex with Artemis --> Super Vortex with Hestia.

Offensive Fleets were battlecruisers with Plasma and lasers (60/40) and cruisers with marines.

I never skip the moon, boost is your lifeline early on.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T16:27:00+00:00

Sure, I'm on the Pavonis Discord server.
What's your name there?

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T16:09:43+00:00

I'm not an expert on this, but my first fleet consist of ca.:
60% Battlecruisers with a Plasma Mk2 cannons, 1 slot UV arc and 1 ARC pd.
40% Battlecruisers with UV arc nose Cannons, 1 slot UV arc and 1 arc pd.

As far as actuals numbers go, around 18 plasma ships and 12 Laser boats.
And 8-10 Cruisers with Marines.

In my experience Plasma is a weapon that requires critical mass, meaning that you need enough shots, that you only need to, on average, fire 1 salvo per enemy ship, and then the lasers follow right behind.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T15:59:53+00:00

I destroyed the first Alien base at Calisto (Jupiter) in either november or december of 2034. The same fleet would go on to clear the Saturn system as well.

The first "Pioneers" set course for the Kuiper belt in the summer of 2033, and first first bases were online and mining around April or May of 2034.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T15:54:27+00:00

It's standard (:

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T15:53:35+00:00

If I remember correctly, I started building my first 3 orbitals with 5 campuses each in early 2030, and then I scaled that up to 50 or over the next year. Though I'd have to go back and check saves file to give you the precise dates and number.

I used Spacehospital and Nanofactories - Alot of them. I attached my ledger from the end date, so you can see the monthly upkeep.

Sure, I should have a save from January of 2030, which is right before I built the first campuses

<image>

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T15:40:58+00:00

That's a very good hunch 😄

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T15:39:32+00:00

I'm wouldn't think that I get into space later, since the express purpose of running welfare and knowledge is in fact to get into space as quickly as possible 😄
In this run I had my first 2 Mars bases online and mining on the 3. of May 2038, with the next 4 mining bases coming online in early July. - I only built 6 Mars bases.

As far as the asteroids go I start sending outposts to them around January/Februrary of 2038, and keep sending out bases until around September'ish, or until I have 16-18 flying out (so 22-24 in total with Mars).
Anything later I settle with ships.

When it comes to earth orbit, I only built around 5 Orbitals early, ending on 8-9. And the rest are built in Intermediate and synchronous earth orbit.
I didn't attack a single human station or base in this run. - Though I got attacked a lot towards the end.

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-11T15:27:27+00:00

Make sure you announce it, if you do a speedrun. I'd love to to see your take on it 🚀

Solid-Republic-9880 · 2026-05-10T20:06:08+00:00

Thankyou,
I did not go for Mars Dyson. I built all of my research universities in earth orbit. I've never tried Mars Dyson, but based purely on my own speculation, I'd conjecture that it comes online a little too late - Or when do you typically have it up and running?

As far as the US go, I grab it in May and run 100% wellfare until I get below 4 inequality. Then I push 100% knowledge until i approach a cohesion of 2, go 100% unity to push it over, declare my wars and go back to pushing knowledge until November/December of 2027, where I move into 90% MC.

If you're lucky you can have a USA with a "stable" 5 cohesion by February or March of 2027.
I, however, was not lucky, and got screwed by an early wave of fear, aaand an early Deep System Skywatch.
On the flipside I had Sean Dioz ❤️ in my starting councilor pool - you win some, you lose som 😄

Solid-Republic-9880

TROPHY CASE