Post by Deleted on May 15, 2014 14:10:47 GMT -5
So after playing for over 2 years, I've finally found the perfect strategy to survive for an eternity and gain XP as fast as possible. This documented strategy is a work-in progress and may be complicated for some. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I used this strategy three times, twice getting past lv300 until I got bored and deleted the captain/uninstalled the game and once getting past lv600 before I accedentally uninstalled the game (still super pissed about that).
Captain: Star God (lv1-14)
Ship: Godly Shuttle (Upgraded Custom Starter Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 12 hull, 5 armor, 24 engines, 13 sails, 45 crew, 42 cargo, 19 guns, 0 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Stats (with upgrades): 12 hull, 16 armor, 29 engines, 13 sails, 45 crew, 42 cargo, 19 guns, 0 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Dreadnought - increased resistance vs board and ram
Escape Shuttle, Bulkheads or Impact Shield (escape shuttle protects vs 0 hull death, bulkheads increases board defense and board damage defense, impact shield increases ram defense and ram damage defense)
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Titan Components - double engine bonus for combat
Hyperion - damage defense bonus
Specializes in: gun attack, ship defense
Your goal is to upgrade your ship and stats to better withstand combat. All the upgrades listed above will help either offensively or defensively in combat.
Skills:
36 Pilot - ram, gun, ship defense, advance, wc, landings, deep-space travel
15 Warrior - ram attack, boarding, dueling, blockades, surrender vs hostiles, mutiny
15 Strength - ram attack, boarding, dueling, HP defense
12 Intimidate - morale loss prevention, blockades, surveillance, wc, mutiny, surrender vs hostiles
9 Tactics - boarding, gunning, torping, blockades, surveillence
Order of XP allocation - +6 intimidate, +13 pilot, +8 pilot and tactics (alternating), +pilot to lv12, +pilot and warrior to 36 and 15, respectively
Primary combat actions:
Gun - vs normal enemies
Board - vs capture contract targets after being gunned
Ram - vs high-level aliens
For combat, your primary weapon is your guns. Avoid combat at low levels vs high-level enemies with better ships (pay attention particularly to agility). If you are torped while advancing at long range, try gunning as that may increase chance of avoiding a second torpedo attack. For bounty capture contracts, aim at engines to avoid hull breach. If it feels that hull will be breached even though you’re aiming at engines and warrior=12+, board enemy (again, only do this during capture contracts with a high enough warrior and an enemy hull that is close to hitting 0). Vs aliens, consider ram attack with a significantly higher LV and high-end ship.
Primary actions:
Contracts - reputation, credits, XP (minor)
Solar War Blockading - reputation, XP, credits (minor)
Spy Battle Surveillance - reputation, XP, credits
Other:
Military Officer class - rank discount, bounty surveillance ability
Military rank with all - immunity for warships, military base access, military upgrades access, conflict participation bonuses, blockade contract access
Death warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses, bounty contract bonuses, surveillance contract access
Trade permit with all - contraband access at exchanges, less hostile encounters, immunities from pirates and warships, cargo contract bonuses
During this phase, your first goal is to gain minimal rank, death warrant and trade permit with all factions from contracts. Avoid bounty contracts vs factions and use surveillance ability so that if encountering a non-pirate faction ship during bounty contract, can redo the mission. Avoid doing bounty, surveillance and blockade contracts until pilot=21+, tactics=9 and intimidate=12. Purchase pardons early on to prevent low negative rep and high-cost pardons. Once you gain rank, permit and warrant with all 6 factions, tactics=9, pilot=21+ and intimidate=12, begin participating in conflicts to further increase reputation, improving urban zone conditions and allowing for higher rank purchases later on in the game. Alternate surveillance and blockades during solar wars/spy battles so that rank is gained with all factions involved. This should allow reputation for all factions to gradually increase and your bank account to gradually get bigger.
If you bump into any military, pilot or templar hydra officers, recruit them.
Death note: This phase is when you’re most vulnerable to aliens and there is a good chance of dying from fighting an alien.
Star God (lv14-50)
Ship: Holy Destroyer (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 160 crew, 136 cargo, 45 guns, 33 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 22 armor, 56 engines, 49 sails, 234 crew, 136 cargo, 45 guns, 33 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram and board bonuses
Escape Shuttle
Battleship - boarding bonuses
Components - double engine bonus for combat
Torpedo Battle Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Purpose: deep-space travel and contract/rumor participation
Ship: Heavenly Blockader (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 36 hull, 23 armor, 51 engines, 35 sails, 160 crew, 158 cargo, 45 guns, 41 torps
Stats: (with upgrades) 36 hull, 29 armor, 51 engines, 35 sails, 160 crew, 158 cargo, 45 guns, 43 torps SLOW/MEDIUM
Battle Prow - ram and board bonuses
Escape Shuttle
Water Tank - provides special storage for water-fuel
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Torpedo Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Purpose: blockades and surveillance
Ship: Heavenly Blockader, alternate (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 sails, 49 engines, 150 crew, 146 cargo, 45 guns, 41 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 25 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 150 crew, 146 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram and board bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Hyperion - decreases ship damage
Purpose: blockades and surveillance
You may want to get another custom ship or pre-made ship at stardock before buying your final custom ship above, as the custom ship listed above (Holy Destroyer) will be extremely expensive. You want to station Heavenly Blockader ships (see above) throughout the quadrant so that you can use those ships to blockade and spy during solar wars and spy battles while still using the Holy Destroyer for as much deep-space travel as possible. This is because deep-space travel is when you encounter the most aliens, and you want to fly the Holy Destroyer when you encounter an alien because that is the ship that is best in combat. I recommend having at least 1 upgraded Heavenly Blockader in de valtos prime and thulun prime. This way, if you want to blockade cadar, you can fly to de valtos prime with your holy destroyer, pick up the heavenly blockader, and then you only have you travel from de valtos prime to cadar prime using the heavenly blockader. With the heavenly blockader, perform surveillance mainly in orbit, not in deep-space, otherwise you’re more likely to encounter aliens. Heavenly Blockader, alternate will be better for combat than original Heavenly Blockader, but it has less cargo space and increased fuel consumption meaning that it will take longer to gain XP with that ship.
Officers:
Pilot - increases Pilot, increases resistance vs ram damage
Templar Hydra - boarding bonuses (dueling, HP damage, board damage, board defense), anti-alien bonuses (boarding, board defense alien salvage), morale protection for enslaving crew
Military - increases ram attack, boarding bonuses (board transitions, morale damage, board upgrades, weapons), blockade bonus, increase Intimidate
You want to look for deadly rouge traders, military base surplus and booming spice rumors to gain a templar hydra, military officer and pilot officer respectively. The templar hydra does not always show up for deadly rouge trader rumors, so you may need to go to multiple planets with active deadly rouge trader rumors before you encounter the hydra.
Cargo:
40-80 weapons (depending on ship, whether you’re conflict participating or shortage/surplus participating) - boarding bonuses, blockade bonuses, increase Military bonus
10-14 spice (depending on ship, whether you’re conflict participating or shortage/surplus participating) - increase Pilot bonus
Carry 60 weapons and 14 spice during deep-space travel with the holy destroyer for rumor participation. Carry 50 weapons and 10 spice with the holy destroyer for blockades and surveillance. Carry 60 weapons and 10 spice with the heavenly blockader during blockades and surveillance. Carry 80 weapons and 14 spice with the holy destroyer when traveling to a planet yto pick up a heavenly blockader for conflict participation.
Skills:
2400 Strength - ram attack, boarding, dueling, HP defense
225% Pilot - ramming, gunning, ship defense, advance, wc, landings, deep-space travel
150%Warrior - ram attack, boarding, dueling, blockades, surrender vs hostiles, mutiny
12 Intimidate - morale protection, blockades, surveillance, wc, surrender vs hostiles, mutiny
9 Tactics - boarding, gunning, torping, blockades, surveillence
Order of XP allocation: +2485 strength, +Pilot and Warrior such that both remains 225% and 150% of lv respectively
Use the XP to invest in strength until it reachers 2400. The reason you’re investing so much in strength first is because strength doesn’t count towards your lv, so you want to investing strength early on while its easy, rather than later on with you other skills once it becomes really hard to invest in. After strength reaches 2400, invest in Pilot and Warrior so that both remains equal to 225% and 150% of lv respectively.
Primary combat actions:
Gun - vs normal enemies
Board - vs aliens
Ram - vs aliens when crew = less than (engines x2) + 15 or engines = 10 or less
For combat, your primary weapon vs non-aliens is gun and board. Only board once strength=100, weapons=40+ and crew=100+. Vs aliens, only advance and board. If you do gun, only do so at long range. If you are torped at long range, try switching up your actions (advance, gun, torp) until you find an action that evades the enemy or gets him to advances on you. With QUICK agility, you have the greatest chance of evading torpedoes while gunning. Once at medium, continue to advance until you reach short range. At short range, board if crew = 120+ and 20 more than engines x2. If you’re ship is severely damaged and/or crew is less than this, ram.
Primary actions:
Contracts - early on to gain credits to buy ships and rank
Rumor participation - early on to gain credits to buy ships and rank
Solar War participation - early on to gain reputation for rank or after stationing heavenly blockaders to gain XP and reputation
Spy Battle participation - early on to gain reputation for rank or after stationing heavenly blockaders to gain XP and reputation
Other:
Military class - rank discount and other secret military-related bonuses
High reputation with all - urban landings bonus, decreased urban zone prices, improved ships at stardocks, more recruits at halls, access to purchase of higher rank
Maximum rank with all - trade embargo immunities, improved reputation bonuses (urban landings, exchange prices), decreased torpedo prices, less hostile ships, immunity from warships, conflict participation bonuses, military dock and military upgrades access,
Death warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses, possible decreased hostility and immunity from certain ships
Trade permit with all - access to contraband in exchanges, decreased hostile ships, immunities from pirates and warships
Participate in contracts and rumors early on to increase your reputation throughout the quadrant and make your bankroll bigger so that you can afford high-end custom ships. Make sure that you maintain permit, warrant and minimal rank with al 6 factions and that your reputation will all 6 factions s gradually increasing. Avoid trading in trade embargoes. You will eventually gain the credits to buy and station heavenly blockaders throughout the quadrant. Once you station a heavenly blockader in de valtos and thulun, get maximum rank with all 6 factions. Then you can continue to use the heavenly blockaders on those 2 planets, or buy additional heavenly blockaders in other areas of the map (such as the middle and bottom right section of the map). Once you have the heavenly blockaders, you should mainly be doing solar war and spy battle participation, not contracts nor rumor participation. You can do rumor participation, but only a small minority of the time.
Death note: You only have a good chance of dying if you don’t follow these instructions. If you do follow these instructions, the chance of death vs aliens is slim to none. You’d have to be torpedo by an alien (which is unlikely, considering holy destroyer has QUICK agility and heavenly blockader stays in faction orbit which doesn’t give alien encounters). Then, the torpedo damage would have to be so great that you’d no longer have the crew to board by the time you reach short range (which is unlikely, considering torpedoes don’t primarily hit crew). Then, when you ram you’d have to breach your engines and not your hull (which is unlikely, considering ram damage hits your armor and hull much more than engines). You can get an advanced bridge with the holy destroyer to decrease chance of being torped, but then there is a slim chance of you dying from boarding without battleship architecture.
Star God (lv50-600)
Ship: Divine Vessel (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 23 armor, 67 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 26 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non combat bonus
Titan Components - double engine bonus for combat
Torpedo Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack
Purpose: Deep-space travel and rumor participation
Ship: Divine Warship (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 19 armor, 68 engines, 26 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 26 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors or Battle Prow
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Torpedo Battle Prow, - ram and torp bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack strength with maximum blockade and surveillance advantage
Purpose: conflict participation
Ship: Divine Warship, alternate (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 160 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 57 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 170 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors or Battle Prow
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc consumption
Cargo Pod
During this phase, your holy destroyer is replaced with a divine vessel and your holy blockaders are all replaced with divine warships. The divine vessel has the same function as your holy destroyer, and the divine warship has the same function as your heavenly blockader. Carry at least 1 spare divine vessel at all times so in case your hull is breaches from ram vs aliens, you have a spare ship. Divine Warship, alternate has decreased fuel-consumption and increased cargo space allowing for faster XP gains, but it has slightly less armor, hull and engines to absorb impact, increasing the chance of getting a hull breach or engine breach from ram.
Officers:
Pilot Officer - increases Pilot, ram damage defense bonus
Military Officer - ram attack bonus, board bonuses, blockade op bonus, increases Intimidate
Veteran Officer - combat and damage bonuses vs aliens, increase xeno salvage
Cargo:
12 spice - increases Pilot Officer's Pilot bonus
Because board is no longer being utilized, replace your templar hydra with a veteran and only carry spice
Skills:
2400 Strength - ram attack, ram defense, resistance vs HP loss
290% lv Pilot - ram attack, ship defense, advance, gun attack, deep-space travel, landings, wc
20% lv Warrior - ram attack, board defense, resistance vs HP loss, blockades
9 Tactics - blockades, surveillance, gun attack, torpedo attack, ship define (minor), board defense (minor)
12 Intimidate - morale loss and mutiny prevention, wc, blockading, surveillance
XP allocation order: Unimportant as long as Pilot and Warrior is kept at 290% and 20% of lv respectively
Primary combat actions:
Gun - vs normal enemies, low-level aliens and at long range vs high-level aliens
Advance - At medium
Ram - at short range vs high-level aliens
Torpedo - vs normal enemies after gun has been unsuccessful many times consecutively
For combat, you no longer are boarding, as boarding becomes too risky after level 50. Instead, your primary weapons vs non aliens is gun, and if gun seems to be unsuccessful continuously, torpedo. Vs aliens, gun at all ranges, or if the enemy is a high LV with a high-end ship, gun at long range, advance at medium range and ram at short range.
Other:
Military Officer Class
High reputation with all - urban landings bonuses, decreased urban zone prices, improved ships in stardocks, more available recruits in halls
Maximum rank with all- trade embargo immunities, improved reputation bonuses (urban landings, ships in stardock etc), less hostile encounters, decreased torpedo prices, conflict participation bonuses, immunity from warships, military base and military upgrades access
Death Warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses
Trade Permit with all - access to contraband in exchange, less hostile encounters, immunities from warships and pirates, decreased exchange prices
Primary actions:
Solar War blockading - XP, reputation and credits
Spy Battle blockading - XP, reputation and credits
You are still spending the bulk of your time participating in conflicts, with rumor participation acceptable but only done a small minority of the time. You are still maintaining maximum rank, permit and warrant with all 6 factions. Because you have maximum rank and permit, you can surrender to all ships except indy pirates and you don’t have to worry about trade embargoes.
Death note: The only way you can die during this phase is by breaching engines from ram vs aliens. This is highly unlikely, because hull and armor get hit more than engines during ram, and during high levels (200+) you’re hull almost always hits 0 before you take any engine damage.
Star God (lv600-1200)
Ship: Divine Vessel (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 23 armor, 67 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non combat bonus
Titan Components - double engine bonus for combat
Torpedo Prow - torpedo and ram attack bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack
Purpose: Deep-space travel and rumor participation
Ship: Divine Warship (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 19 armor, 68 engines, 26 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 26 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors - combat bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Torpedo Battle Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack strength with maximum blockade and surveillance advantage
Purpose: conflict participation
Ship: Divine Warship, alternate (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 160 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 57 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 170 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors - combat bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc consumption
Cargo Pod
Officers:
Pilot Officer - increases Pilot, ram damage defense bonus
Military Officer - ram attack bonus, board bonuses, blockade op bonus, increases Intimidate
Veteran Officer - combat and damage bonuses vs aliens, increase xeno salvage
Cargo:
12 spice - increases Pilot Officer's Pilot bonus
Skills:
2400 Strength - ram attack, ram defense, resistance vs HP loss
200% lv Pilot - ram attack, ship defense, advance, gun attack, deep-space travel, landings, wc
200% lv Warrior - ram attack, board defense, resistance vs HP loss, blockades
9 Tactics - blockades, surveillance, gun attack, torpedo attack, ship define (minor), board defense (minor)
12 Intimidate - morale loss and mutiny prevention, wc, blockading, surveillance
XP allocation order: +warrior to 200% lv, +warrior and pilot such that both continue to equal 200% lv
You will start to invest exclusively in warrior until it reaches 200% of your lv, and then you will invest in pilot and warrior equally such that both remain 200% of you lv. The higher warrior will allow you to keep a high enough ram attack strength to ram any alien, even though your strength isn’t going up. However, because of the decreased pilot, you will be more succeptable to torpedo attack from enemies. However, because skills are so high at this point, even a severely damaged ship should be able to successfully ram attack, even vs aliens.
Combat actions remain almost the same as previous levels except that you will use the ram strategy vs all xenos except low-level xenos.
Other:
Military Officer Class
High reputation with all - urban landings bonuses, decreased urban zone prices, improved ships in stardocks, more available recruits in halls
Maximum rank with all- trade embargo immunities, improved reputation bonuses (urban landings, ships in stardock etc), less hostile encounters, decreased torpedo prices, conflict participation bonuses, immunity from warships, military base and military upgrades access
Death Warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses
Trade Permit with all - access to contraband in exchange, less hostile encounters, immunities from warships and pirates, decreased exchange prices
Primary actions remain the same as previous levels. You will still spend the bulk of your time blockading and spying on factions during conflicts over faction planetary orbit, with occasional rumor participation.
Death note: Like stated before, you will be more susceptible to ram attack from xenos even though your ram attack will always be successful. So, there is a very small chance of getting an engine breach from continuous torpedo fire or an engine breach after ramming using a ship severely damaged from previous torpedo fire. However, not many xenos torp, and even if they do many don’t torp continuously. Plus, your torp evasion strength when gunning is still pretty good. Hence, chance of death continues to be very low.
You are most succeptable to death between lv1-13 (25% or higher chance of unpreventable death) and lv50-100 (10% chance of unpreventable death)
***THIS STRATEGY IS DESIGNED TO INCREASE XP AS FAST AS POSSIBLE WHILE GUARANTEEING SURVIVAL. THIS ENTAILS FRIENDLYNESS WITH ALL FACTIONS, COMBAT-ORIENTED XP ALLOCATION AND SHIP/UPGRADE COMBINATION AND REMAINING OVER FACTION ORBIT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. IT IS A MILITARY STRATEGY. IT DOES NOT GUARANTEE SURVIVAL 100% AND IT MAY NOT BE AS EFFECTIVE IF IT IS COMPROMISED OR CHANGED IN ANY WAY. A DIFFERENT STRATEGY CAN BE TAKEN FOR BOUNTIES, PIRATES AND MERCHANTS WHO DO NOT WISH TO BE MILITARY-ORIENTED NOR FRIENDLY WITH ALL FACTIONS OR CAPTAINS WHO PLAN TO REACH LESS THAN LV600.***
Captain: Star God (lv1-14)
Ship: Godly Shuttle (Upgraded Custom Starter Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 12 hull, 5 armor, 24 engines, 13 sails, 45 crew, 42 cargo, 19 guns, 0 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Stats (with upgrades): 12 hull, 16 armor, 29 engines, 13 sails, 45 crew, 42 cargo, 19 guns, 0 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Dreadnought - increased resistance vs board and ram
Escape Shuttle, Bulkheads or Impact Shield (escape shuttle protects vs 0 hull death, bulkheads increases board defense and board damage defense, impact shield increases ram defense and ram damage defense)
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Titan Components - double engine bonus for combat
Hyperion - damage defense bonus
Specializes in: gun attack, ship defense
Your goal is to upgrade your ship and stats to better withstand combat. All the upgrades listed above will help either offensively or defensively in combat.
Skills:
36 Pilot - ram, gun, ship defense, advance, wc, landings, deep-space travel
15 Warrior - ram attack, boarding, dueling, blockades, surrender vs hostiles, mutiny
15 Strength - ram attack, boarding, dueling, HP defense
12 Intimidate - morale loss prevention, blockades, surveillance, wc, mutiny, surrender vs hostiles
9 Tactics - boarding, gunning, torping, blockades, surveillence
Order of XP allocation - +6 intimidate, +13 pilot, +8 pilot and tactics (alternating), +pilot to lv12, +pilot and warrior to 36 and 15, respectively
Primary combat actions:
Gun - vs normal enemies
Board - vs capture contract targets after being gunned
Ram - vs high-level aliens
For combat, your primary weapon is your guns. Avoid combat at low levels vs high-level enemies with better ships (pay attention particularly to agility). If you are torped while advancing at long range, try gunning as that may increase chance of avoiding a second torpedo attack. For bounty capture contracts, aim at engines to avoid hull breach. If it feels that hull will be breached even though you’re aiming at engines and warrior=12+, board enemy (again, only do this during capture contracts with a high enough warrior and an enemy hull that is close to hitting 0). Vs aliens, consider ram attack with a significantly higher LV and high-end ship.
Primary actions:
Contracts - reputation, credits, XP (minor)
Solar War Blockading - reputation, XP, credits (minor)
Spy Battle Surveillance - reputation, XP, credits
Other:
Military Officer class - rank discount, bounty surveillance ability
Military rank with all - immunity for warships, military base access, military upgrades access, conflict participation bonuses, blockade contract access
Death warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses, bounty contract bonuses, surveillance contract access
Trade permit with all - contraband access at exchanges, less hostile encounters, immunities from pirates and warships, cargo contract bonuses
During this phase, your first goal is to gain minimal rank, death warrant and trade permit with all factions from contracts. Avoid bounty contracts vs factions and use surveillance ability so that if encountering a non-pirate faction ship during bounty contract, can redo the mission. Avoid doing bounty, surveillance and blockade contracts until pilot=21+, tactics=9 and intimidate=12. Purchase pardons early on to prevent low negative rep and high-cost pardons. Once you gain rank, permit and warrant with all 6 factions, tactics=9, pilot=21+ and intimidate=12, begin participating in conflicts to further increase reputation, improving urban zone conditions and allowing for higher rank purchases later on in the game. Alternate surveillance and blockades during solar wars/spy battles so that rank is gained with all factions involved. This should allow reputation for all factions to gradually increase and your bank account to gradually get bigger.
If you bump into any military, pilot or templar hydra officers, recruit them.
Death note: This phase is when you’re most vulnerable to aliens and there is a good chance of dying from fighting an alien.
Star God (lv14-50)
Ship: Holy Destroyer (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 160 crew, 136 cargo, 45 guns, 33 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 22 armor, 56 engines, 49 sails, 234 crew, 136 cargo, 45 guns, 33 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram and board bonuses
Escape Shuttle
Battleship - boarding bonuses
Components - double engine bonus for combat
Torpedo Battle Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Purpose: deep-space travel and contract/rumor participation
Ship: Heavenly Blockader (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 36 hull, 23 armor, 51 engines, 35 sails, 160 crew, 158 cargo, 45 guns, 41 torps
Stats: (with upgrades) 36 hull, 29 armor, 51 engines, 35 sails, 160 crew, 158 cargo, 45 guns, 43 torps SLOW/MEDIUM
Battle Prow - ram and board bonuses
Escape Shuttle
Water Tank - provides special storage for water-fuel
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Torpedo Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Purpose: blockades and surveillance
Ship: Heavenly Blockader, alternate (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 sails, 49 engines, 150 crew, 146 cargo, 45 guns, 41 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 25 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 150 crew, 146 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram and board bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Hyperion - decreases ship damage
Purpose: blockades and surveillance
You may want to get another custom ship or pre-made ship at stardock before buying your final custom ship above, as the custom ship listed above (Holy Destroyer) will be extremely expensive. You want to station Heavenly Blockader ships (see above) throughout the quadrant so that you can use those ships to blockade and spy during solar wars and spy battles while still using the Holy Destroyer for as much deep-space travel as possible. This is because deep-space travel is when you encounter the most aliens, and you want to fly the Holy Destroyer when you encounter an alien because that is the ship that is best in combat. I recommend having at least 1 upgraded Heavenly Blockader in de valtos prime and thulun prime. This way, if you want to blockade cadar, you can fly to de valtos prime with your holy destroyer, pick up the heavenly blockader, and then you only have you travel from de valtos prime to cadar prime using the heavenly blockader. With the heavenly blockader, perform surveillance mainly in orbit, not in deep-space, otherwise you’re more likely to encounter aliens. Heavenly Blockader, alternate will be better for combat than original Heavenly Blockader, but it has less cargo space and increased fuel consumption meaning that it will take longer to gain XP with that ship.
Officers:
Pilot - increases Pilot, increases resistance vs ram damage
Templar Hydra - boarding bonuses (dueling, HP damage, board damage, board defense), anti-alien bonuses (boarding, board defense alien salvage), morale protection for enslaving crew
Military - increases ram attack, boarding bonuses (board transitions, morale damage, board upgrades, weapons), blockade bonus, increase Intimidate
You want to look for deadly rouge traders, military base surplus and booming spice rumors to gain a templar hydra, military officer and pilot officer respectively. The templar hydra does not always show up for deadly rouge trader rumors, so you may need to go to multiple planets with active deadly rouge trader rumors before you encounter the hydra.
Cargo:
40-80 weapons (depending on ship, whether you’re conflict participating or shortage/surplus participating) - boarding bonuses, blockade bonuses, increase Military bonus
10-14 spice (depending on ship, whether you’re conflict participating or shortage/surplus participating) - increase Pilot bonus
Carry 60 weapons and 14 spice during deep-space travel with the holy destroyer for rumor participation. Carry 50 weapons and 10 spice with the holy destroyer for blockades and surveillance. Carry 60 weapons and 10 spice with the heavenly blockader during blockades and surveillance. Carry 80 weapons and 14 spice with the holy destroyer when traveling to a planet yto pick up a heavenly blockader for conflict participation.
Skills:
2400 Strength - ram attack, boarding, dueling, HP defense
225% Pilot - ramming, gunning, ship defense, advance, wc, landings, deep-space travel
150%Warrior - ram attack, boarding, dueling, blockades, surrender vs hostiles, mutiny
12 Intimidate - morale protection, blockades, surveillance, wc, surrender vs hostiles, mutiny
9 Tactics - boarding, gunning, torping, blockades, surveillence
Order of XP allocation: +2485 strength, +Pilot and Warrior such that both remains 225% and 150% of lv respectively
Use the XP to invest in strength until it reachers 2400. The reason you’re investing so much in strength first is because strength doesn’t count towards your lv, so you want to investing strength early on while its easy, rather than later on with you other skills once it becomes really hard to invest in. After strength reaches 2400, invest in Pilot and Warrior so that both remains equal to 225% and 150% of lv respectively.
Primary combat actions:
Gun - vs normal enemies
Board - vs aliens
Ram - vs aliens when crew = less than (engines x2) + 15 or engines = 10 or less
For combat, your primary weapon vs non-aliens is gun and board. Only board once strength=100, weapons=40+ and crew=100+. Vs aliens, only advance and board. If you do gun, only do so at long range. If you are torped at long range, try switching up your actions (advance, gun, torp) until you find an action that evades the enemy or gets him to advances on you. With QUICK agility, you have the greatest chance of evading torpedoes while gunning. Once at medium, continue to advance until you reach short range. At short range, board if crew = 120+ and 20 more than engines x2. If you’re ship is severely damaged and/or crew is less than this, ram.
Primary actions:
Contracts - early on to gain credits to buy ships and rank
Rumor participation - early on to gain credits to buy ships and rank
Solar War participation - early on to gain reputation for rank or after stationing heavenly blockaders to gain XP and reputation
Spy Battle participation - early on to gain reputation for rank or after stationing heavenly blockaders to gain XP and reputation
Other:
Military class - rank discount and other secret military-related bonuses
High reputation with all - urban landings bonus, decreased urban zone prices, improved ships at stardocks, more recruits at halls, access to purchase of higher rank
Maximum rank with all - trade embargo immunities, improved reputation bonuses (urban landings, exchange prices), decreased torpedo prices, less hostile ships, immunity from warships, conflict participation bonuses, military dock and military upgrades access,
Death warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses, possible decreased hostility and immunity from certain ships
Trade permit with all - access to contraband in exchanges, decreased hostile ships, immunities from pirates and warships
Participate in contracts and rumors early on to increase your reputation throughout the quadrant and make your bankroll bigger so that you can afford high-end custom ships. Make sure that you maintain permit, warrant and minimal rank with al 6 factions and that your reputation will all 6 factions s gradually increasing. Avoid trading in trade embargoes. You will eventually gain the credits to buy and station heavenly blockaders throughout the quadrant. Once you station a heavenly blockader in de valtos and thulun, get maximum rank with all 6 factions. Then you can continue to use the heavenly blockaders on those 2 planets, or buy additional heavenly blockaders in other areas of the map (such as the middle and bottom right section of the map). Once you have the heavenly blockaders, you should mainly be doing solar war and spy battle participation, not contracts nor rumor participation. You can do rumor participation, but only a small minority of the time.
Death note: You only have a good chance of dying if you don’t follow these instructions. If you do follow these instructions, the chance of death vs aliens is slim to none. You’d have to be torpedo by an alien (which is unlikely, considering holy destroyer has QUICK agility and heavenly blockader stays in faction orbit which doesn’t give alien encounters). Then, the torpedo damage would have to be so great that you’d no longer have the crew to board by the time you reach short range (which is unlikely, considering torpedoes don’t primarily hit crew). Then, when you ram you’d have to breach your engines and not your hull (which is unlikely, considering ram damage hits your armor and hull much more than engines). You can get an advanced bridge with the holy destroyer to decrease chance of being torped, but then there is a slim chance of you dying from boarding without battleship architecture.
Star God (lv50-600)
Ship: Divine Vessel (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 23 armor, 67 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 26 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non combat bonus
Titan Components - double engine bonus for combat
Torpedo Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack
Purpose: Deep-space travel and rumor participation
Ship: Divine Warship (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 19 armor, 68 engines, 26 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 26 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors or Battle Prow
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Torpedo Battle Prow, - ram and torp bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack strength with maximum blockade and surveillance advantage
Purpose: conflict participation
Ship: Divine Warship, alternate (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 160 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 57 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 170 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors or Battle Prow
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc consumption
Cargo Pod
During this phase, your holy destroyer is replaced with a divine vessel and your holy blockaders are all replaced with divine warships. The divine vessel has the same function as your holy destroyer, and the divine warship has the same function as your heavenly blockader. Carry at least 1 spare divine vessel at all times so in case your hull is breaches from ram vs aliens, you have a spare ship. Divine Warship, alternate has decreased fuel-consumption and increased cargo space allowing for faster XP gains, but it has slightly less armor, hull and engines to absorb impact, increasing the chance of getting a hull breach or engine breach from ram.
Officers:
Pilot Officer - increases Pilot, ram damage defense bonus
Military Officer - ram attack bonus, board bonuses, blockade op bonus, increases Intimidate
Veteran Officer - combat and damage bonuses vs aliens, increase xeno salvage
Cargo:
12 spice - increases Pilot Officer's Pilot bonus
Because board is no longer being utilized, replace your templar hydra with a veteran and only carry spice
Skills:
2400 Strength - ram attack, ram defense, resistance vs HP loss
290% lv Pilot - ram attack, ship defense, advance, gun attack, deep-space travel, landings, wc
20% lv Warrior - ram attack, board defense, resistance vs HP loss, blockades
9 Tactics - blockades, surveillance, gun attack, torpedo attack, ship define (minor), board defense (minor)
12 Intimidate - morale loss and mutiny prevention, wc, blockading, surveillance
XP allocation order: Unimportant as long as Pilot and Warrior is kept at 290% and 20% of lv respectively
Primary combat actions:
Gun - vs normal enemies, low-level aliens and at long range vs high-level aliens
Advance - At medium
Ram - at short range vs high-level aliens
Torpedo - vs normal enemies after gun has been unsuccessful many times consecutively
For combat, you no longer are boarding, as boarding becomes too risky after level 50. Instead, your primary weapons vs non aliens is gun, and if gun seems to be unsuccessful continuously, torpedo. Vs aliens, gun at all ranges, or if the enemy is a high LV with a high-end ship, gun at long range, advance at medium range and ram at short range.
Other:
Military Officer Class
High reputation with all - urban landings bonuses, decreased urban zone prices, improved ships in stardocks, more available recruits in halls
Maximum rank with all- trade embargo immunities, improved reputation bonuses (urban landings, ships in stardock etc), less hostile encounters, decreased torpedo prices, conflict participation bonuses, immunity from warships, military base and military upgrades access
Death Warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses
Trade Permit with all - access to contraband in exchange, less hostile encounters, immunities from warships and pirates, decreased exchange prices
Primary actions:
Solar War blockading - XP, reputation and credits
Spy Battle blockading - XP, reputation and credits
You are still spending the bulk of your time participating in conflicts, with rumor participation acceptable but only done a small minority of the time. You are still maintaining maximum rank, permit and warrant with all 6 factions. Because you have maximum rank and permit, you can surrender to all ships except indy pirates and you don’t have to worry about trade embargoes.
Death note: The only way you can die during this phase is by breaching engines from ram vs aliens. This is highly unlikely, because hull and armor get hit more than engines during ram, and during high levels (200+) you’re hull almost always hits 0 before you take any engine damage.
Star God (lv600-1200)
Ship: Divine Vessel (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 23 armor, 67 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Battle Prow - ram bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non combat bonus
Titan Components - double engine bonus for combat
Torpedo Prow - torpedo and ram attack bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack
Purpose: Deep-space travel and rumor participation
Ship: Divine Warship (Upgraded Slayernz Cruiser)
Stats (without upgrades): 29 hull, 17 armor, 62 engines, 36 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 24 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 29 hull, 19 armor, 68 engines, 26 sails, 120 crew, 120 cargo, 20 guns, 26 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors - combat bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge System - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc for orbit
Torpedo Battle Prow - ram and torp bonuses
Specializes in: Ram attack strength with maximum blockade and surveillance advantage
Purpose: conflict participation
Ship: Divine Warship, alternate (Upgraded Custom Ship)
Stats (without upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 51 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 160 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps
Stats (with upgrades): 25 hull, 16 armor, 57 engines, 49 sails, 106 crew, 170 cargo, 45 guns, 31 torps MEDIUM/QUICK
Ancient Reactors - combat bonuses
Escape Shuttle - protection vs 0 hull
Advanced Bridge - major pilot combat bonus, minor pilot non-combat bonus
Gravity Scoop - decreased wc consumption
Cargo Pod
Officers:
Pilot Officer - increases Pilot, ram damage defense bonus
Military Officer - ram attack bonus, board bonuses, blockade op bonus, increases Intimidate
Veteran Officer - combat and damage bonuses vs aliens, increase xeno salvage
Cargo:
12 spice - increases Pilot Officer's Pilot bonus
Skills:
2400 Strength - ram attack, ram defense, resistance vs HP loss
200% lv Pilot - ram attack, ship defense, advance, gun attack, deep-space travel, landings, wc
200% lv Warrior - ram attack, board defense, resistance vs HP loss, blockades
9 Tactics - blockades, surveillance, gun attack, torpedo attack, ship define (minor), board defense (minor)
12 Intimidate - morale loss and mutiny prevention, wc, blockading, surveillance
XP allocation order: +warrior to 200% lv, +warrior and pilot such that both continue to equal 200% lv
You will start to invest exclusively in warrior until it reaches 200% of your lv, and then you will invest in pilot and warrior equally such that both remain 200% of you lv. The higher warrior will allow you to keep a high enough ram attack strength to ram any alien, even though your strength isn’t going up. However, because of the decreased pilot, you will be more succeptable to torpedo attack from enemies. However, because skills are so high at this point, even a severely damaged ship should be able to successfully ram attack, even vs aliens.
Combat actions remain almost the same as previous levels except that you will use the ram strategy vs all xenos except low-level xenos.
Other:
Military Officer Class
High reputation with all - urban landings bonuses, decreased urban zone prices, improved ships in stardocks, more available recruits in halls
Maximum rank with all- trade embargo immunities, improved reputation bonuses (urban landings, ships in stardock etc), less hostile encounters, decreased torpedo prices, conflict participation bonuses, immunity from warships, military base and military upgrades access
Death Warrant with all - conflict participation bonuses
Trade Permit with all - access to contraband in exchange, less hostile encounters, immunities from warships and pirates, decreased exchange prices
Primary actions remain the same as previous levels. You will still spend the bulk of your time blockading and spying on factions during conflicts over faction planetary orbit, with occasional rumor participation.
Death note: Like stated before, you will be more susceptible to ram attack from xenos even though your ram attack will always be successful. So, there is a very small chance of getting an engine breach from continuous torpedo fire or an engine breach after ramming using a ship severely damaged from previous torpedo fire. However, not many xenos torp, and even if they do many don’t torp continuously. Plus, your torp evasion strength when gunning is still pretty good. Hence, chance of death continues to be very low.
You are most succeptable to death between lv1-13 (25% or higher chance of unpreventable death) and lv50-100 (10% chance of unpreventable death)
***THIS STRATEGY IS DESIGNED TO INCREASE XP AS FAST AS POSSIBLE WHILE GUARANTEEING SURVIVAL. THIS ENTAILS FRIENDLYNESS WITH ALL FACTIONS, COMBAT-ORIENTED XP ALLOCATION AND SHIP/UPGRADE COMBINATION AND REMAINING OVER FACTION ORBIT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. IT IS A MILITARY STRATEGY. IT DOES NOT GUARANTEE SURVIVAL 100% AND IT MAY NOT BE AS EFFECTIVE IF IT IS COMPROMISED OR CHANGED IN ANY WAY. A DIFFERENT STRATEGY CAN BE TAKEN FOR BOUNTIES, PIRATES AND MERCHANTS WHO DO NOT WISH TO BE MILITARY-ORIENTED NOR FRIENDLY WITH ALL FACTIONS OR CAPTAINS WHO PLAN TO REACH LESS THAN LV600.***
