1. For your first game, choose the Human faction (Empire United). This way, it will be much easier to manage your empire. People use classic solutions, more modules can be put on their ships, and they use Influence (one of the main resources in the game) to speed up production, research, etc. Also, humanity can colonize many more systems up to the fine, which is given for that there are too many systems under your control. Alternatively, you can choose the Sophon race (research and science bonuses) or Horatio (more systems, upgrades for your population, but more expensive ships).
2. In the game, you will come across the FIDSI concept. It is an acronym for the five main resources in the game: Food, Industry, Dust, Science, and Influence. Food, science and industry speak for themselves, but dust is the main currency that is spent on buying resources or speeding up production. On the other hand, influence is used to expand the borders of your empire, as well as during negotiations and diplomacy.
3. It is systems, not planets, that constitute the basic territorial unit (equivalent to cities in Civilization, provinces in Universalis Europe, or planets in Sterallis). However, the more planets in the system, the better. Such a system would accommodate a larger population, provide a higher FIDSI income (basic resources), and have a better chance of anomalies, or strategic and luxury resources. Each planet has different bonuses to the corresponding FIDSI route and approval. In the system itself, you can control the population at will, especially since almost all races have specific bonuses to production on certain types of planets.
4. Concentrate on colonizing large neighboring systems. In the beginning, you should avoid systems with a lot of gas planets. Yes, their resources can be tempting, but it will take you a long time before you get the technology you need to make these planets useful. Focus on planets with favorable environments, special resources or positive anomalies, and therefore ...
5. … Start with your research! This will help you find out which planets can be even more valuable (or less). You can often find a lost population or a new module for your ships. Each research vessel (with a magnifying glass icon) carries several probes. They resupply every few turns depending on the progress of the module. You can send probes to the planet out of curiosity or take them out into the unknown (they will open the area for several turns). At first, you will only be able to travel along the star lines between systems, but later you will open up free movement for your ships, which will allow you to reach the most isolated systems. At the beginning of the game, it is worth building several of these ships and even creating a small reconnaissance fleet.
6. Usually you will need a colonial ship to colonize. Most races use the classic colonization model: build a colonial ship, send it to this system, build an outpost and help develop this outpost until it becomes a legal colony. I usually wrote because some factions have different methods of resettlement, but you will learn about this in the descriptions of specific races in the next guide. Unlike many other games where you build a colonial ship, it does not drain a population from your home planet! The outpost encourages migration or tries to "grow" its own population. Thanks to this, you can create units for colonization without fear of reducing your population in your system. If you find that you have accidentally colonized the wrong system, use the "evacuate" command. You will receive a colony ship from the entire population and the improvements you have already built.
7. Modules are elements of each ship: weapons, armor or shields, additional equipment (engines, probes, etc.). You will get more powerful ships not by opening the best unit, but by unlocking new, more advanced modules and installing them on the ship. In a separate design menu of the ship, you can choose the quantity and quality of the invented modules. You can also discover new ship classes, which will often have more lives and modules, as well as denser module slots (for example, you can place weapon modules in a specific location, but they will count as double).
8. Another easy way to increase the power of your fleet is to increase the number of command posts. Each fleet has a limited number, which affects the number of ships in the fleet. Only one fleet can fight another fleet in a battle. Only after the skirmish is over can the other fleet join the fray. Therefore, even a small but strong fleet can destroy several enemy fleets one after another. Some technologies will allow you to develop a modifier that will compensate for the firepower due to the presence of more ships in the flotilla.
9. Pirates come from neutral systems belonging to minor factions. They will appear from time to time and spread throughout the system. Until you win or master such a system, their fleets will be created every few turns. Their number will be limited, and the size of the fleet depends on the size of the neutral settlement. The smaller the factions, the more such groups will travel throughout the territory.
10. Make sure you have adequate administrators and admirals (heroes). It is better to have specialists than universal agents (although one or two station wagons will always be useful). Heroes have access to many paths of development, so check all the options and choose one of the two paths that I suggest. The Admiral is a character who will only develop skills related to the fleet and will send your best ships into battle. The administrator is the hero who will focus on improving the profitability and performance of your best systems or those that have just been settled (in order to accelerate growth). However, you can assign one or two skill points from the opposite branch of the skill tree to make characters more useful in times of peace or war.
11. Cold War is a diplomatic status that you have with every new civilization. You can attack enemy fleets outside of their sphere of influence and block / invade their systems if they are within your influence. This will affect your relationship with this race. Increased influence generation (purple star symbol) in a given system can expand your sphere of influence. Thanks to this, you will not only receive a reserve of diplomatic currency, but you will also be able to calmly capture the enemy system (or use the already mentioned military method). In addition, if the asteroid belt or nebulon field is within the range of your system's influence, you will receive a corresponding bonus.
