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Hints by Christian Wizzard
This game is ... let's say very similar to Master of Orion II. If you+ve
played that before, it is not too difficult to start your own Empire. The
real-time mode is not too bad; slow it down at the beginning or in
important phases. For those who never saw Orion: you can create your own
galactic empire by colonizing planets, doing research, conquering worlds
and managing your empire. It is a complex strategic and economic
simulation where you often have to think about all aspects at once, in
short- and long-term plans. I played only the German version, so I am not
sure about some original names. By the way, the German translation of this
game has many funny or just stupid mistakes. (Ever seen "Schlitze" in a
spaceship? ;-). Here is one strategy (there are many ways to win) and some
common tips:
* I don't play custom races. My created race are the Elarians. They are
a proud race of scientists (science +5 in the attributes) and constructors
(construction +5) of mighty space fleets. Doing Espionage or sabotage is
against their honor (espionage -5). They don't need that because of their
superior technological knowledge (weapons, shield, ship & colonial
research "high+1"). Alcyone, the home planet of the Quantum Empire, is
well known for its great cities and impressive buildings, for the Elarians
are a rich race (finance +1).
* Starting your empire: better test your starting position. If you have
many opponents, check out that no one is directly nearby. Start on the
edge of the map. It's important to find several green planets (very fast
population growth) in range of the start-position. Build another
transporter immediately and send the other off at once (Speed = 0). The
research should go 100% on research buildings (750 points, 3750 points)
and then on construction. Build these buildings very fast on your planet
and start all your new planets with research. This is a very important
phase. After some time (hope to have no encounters yet) you can start
researching some weapons, shields and basic spaceship equipment like fast
tactical engines. But do most research on weapons and shields at the
beginning, for they are the most important at that time. When you have
some destroyers (don+t research or use rockets -> trash) you should
research very fast for better colonizing units (Class C). Never build a
ship with old weapons when you found new technology, e.g. the waveshield.
* The Elarians don't like espionage, so don't pay any money for it (0%).
* Planets: at the beginning, finding and choosing the right planets is
very important. Green is best with high wealth, orange is OK when having
more than 10 population with at least 3 wealth. Don+t build colonies on
red planets in the beginning; they have no population growth. This and
efficient research are the keys for your superiority in the virtual galaxy.
* When you find a green planet with a high wealth and population, then
start constructing buildings and later a wharf in the orbit to build fast
transporters for more colonization.
* Research in mid-game: try to skip useless things like the tactical
drives with defense bonus (takes too long to research). I don+t research
any warp drives for more than 2 jump range, because I never needed them.
But: to get the biggest ship fast you need to research the neutronium (in
the field of shields) and some other warp-engines and fundamental
research. Try fast to develop the biggest ships. While waiting for
research (Speed = 5) don+t forget to look from time to time after your
colonies that they always build what you want.
* Computer-research: very stupid. Never stressed on a special field
(like "How do I get the best shield in the galaxy?"), it just goes through
all topics with 750 points, then all with 3750 and so on. The Elarians are
much more effective.
* Computer-constructing: again stupid. You should be more clever and
specialize planets for research, finance centers (many of them in mid-game
to finance your future fleets!) or planets with fast constructing. Don+t
build some constructing buildings at the beginning; time is too short.
Just start directly with science or finance. Don+t ever build a espionage
building (in this particular strategy).
* Weapons-research: don't waste any time on rockets and don't research
planetary bombs too much at the beginning (firestorm is quite enough). But
get some good long-range weapons quickly (Durg-Cannon) and then some nice
mid-range weapons.
* Research in Space: don+t waste many points here at the beginning. A
C-class colonizer is important and a level-3 wharf is good, but here are
not too important. In the mid-game you will encounter intelligent mines.
To get rid of them, research the mines and then the anti-mine ship, and
build it in your bigger ships. Later, you might encounter mines this ship
can't see, and so you must research better mines and the better anti-mine
ship.
* The Elarians conquer other worlds and protect these with the fleets
which guard their systems (the guarding-symbol). They don't ever need a
planetary defense system, because part of their fleets (two ships) always
protect their systems at the borders to other territory. They are smart
enough not to fight at too many places of the galaxy at once, they first
finish a branch off and then go to another. Because of their superior
technology their ships win nearly every battle.
* The computer can play very stupid. It has only three little
spaceships, notices my big fleet and declares war. Talk about stupidity:
the computer is not bad at automatic fighting, but has difficulties with
good moving big fleets. Sometimes you have to move your ships to the right
position and click again on automatic fight.
* Cracking the planetary defense system can be difficult with even very
modern ships, so take at least four big ones (4000) and some medium ships
(2000) to attack a system with mines, rockets and battle station.
* In the later mid-game you should start to research good fighters. The
Elarians don't have any problems fighting their opponents, but have to be
careful about fighter pods and battle stations on other planets. Now you
should fast research all fighters and develop a carrier-ship with some
weapons, but mostly eagles & co.
* Talking about weapons: the Elarians never use weapons on the left or
right side on their ships, they attack always from the front, for they
never flee. Weapons for the front are long-range like the gauss cannon and
mid-range weapons like the quantum torpedoes. Important especially for
attacking mined systems are the point-defense weapons for the ship. Here
you should place mostly mid-range or short-range heavy weapons, but many
different ones. Don+t let the computer automatically equip your ship!
* The computer places two fighting fleets in far-weapon-range. But it is
better to move your ships very near to the enemy fleet and then switch
back to automatic fight. Then the heavy short-range weapon can be used.
With these tactics, the Elarians destroy even four times bigger fleets.
* Attacking heavily guarded systems: the others launch their fighters
and they come near, your fleet starts. Then press the automatic-stop
button and wait for your fleet to destroy the fighters. Then start to
attack the mines and the battle station. With this easy tactic you save a
lot of ships.
* By mid-game you've got many nice planets (I hope), so you should look
from time to time to find the best administrator for the fields like ship
construction or research. This brings much more points, often 10%.
* Damage: in Pax Imperia II, the ships don't just have hit points going
to zero when they're attacked, the enemy attacks can damage important
systems such as tactical engines (no moving), weapons or warp engines. If
your fleet doesn't move or go through the wormhole, try to find out which
ship is damaged and scrap it.
* Moving your damaged ships back to a construction bay repairs them
faster. You should research fast the repairing-drone. For fast Hit
Recovery (reminds me of Diablo...), put two repairing drones in one ship.
* You will see that having a good fleet will be expensive: after the
first research and colonizing phase, start with building specialized
finance worlds. When having the class-C colonizer, you should also
colonize on red worlds if they are rich (at least x4). This is a good
trick to get lots of money, because you have five million colonists at
once on this planet.
* In the end-game (hopefully you got this far ;-) your empire should
attack the strongest opponent, build many transporters and move the front
of your systems through the galaxy. With the InfiniShield(tm) and the
Corona (great weapon) you can easily destroy any planetary defense system.
But in the rush of building a big fleet, look from time to time to see if
you have enough money to finance it. If not, scrap the oldest and most
damaged ships in the fleet menu. During the end-game, the Elarians have
enough research points, so they only build finance worlds (change switch
to "finance").
* When playing against 15 computer opponents, you will see they mostly
work all together against you, even do research together! But no problem -
the superior Quantum Empire of the Elarians wins all battles.
Now start your empire and colonize the galaxy. Good luck.
This game is ... let's say very similar to Master of Orion II. If you+ve
played that before, it is not too difficult to start your own Empire. The
real-time mode is not too bad; slow it down at the beginning or in
important phases. For those who never saw Orion: you can create your own
galactic empire by colonizing planets, doing research, conquering worlds
and managing your empire. It is a complex strategic and economic
simulation where you often have to think about all aspects at once, in
short- and long-term plans. I played only the German version, so I am not
sure about some original names. By the way, the German translation of this
game has many funny or just stupid mistakes. (Ever seen "Schlitze" in a
spaceship? ;-). Here is one strategy (there are many ways to win) and some
common tips:
* I don't play custom races. My created race are the Elarians. They are
a proud race of scientists (science +5 in the attributes) and constructors
(construction +5) of mighty space fleets. Doing Espionage or sabotage is
against their honor (espionage -5). They don't need that because of their
superior technological knowledge (weapons, shield, ship & colonial
research "high+1"). Alcyone, the home planet of the Quantum Empire, is
well known for its great cities and impressive buildings, for the Elarians
are a rich race (finance +1).
* Starting your empire: better test your starting position. If you have
many opponents, check out that no one is directly nearby. Start on the
edge of the map. It's important to find several green planets (very fast
population growth) in range of the start-position. Build another
transporter immediately and send the other off at once (Speed = 0). The
research should go 100% on research buildings (750 points, 3750 points)
and then on construction. Build these buildings very fast on your planet
and start all your new planets with research. This is a very important
phase. After some time (hope to have no encounters yet) you can start
researching some weapons, shields and basic spaceship equipment like fast
tactical engines. But do most research on weapons and shields at the
beginning, for they are the most important at that time. When you have
some destroyers (don+t research or use rockets -> trash) you should
research very fast for better colonizing units (Class C). Never build a
ship with old weapons when you found new technology, e.g. the waveshield.
* The Elarians don't like espionage, so don't pay any money for it (0%).
* Planets: at the beginning, finding and choosing the right planets is
very important. Green is best with high wealth, orange is OK when having
more than 10 population with at least 3 wealth. Don+t build colonies on
red planets in the beginning; they have no population growth. This and
efficient research are the keys for your superiority in the virtual galaxy.
* When you find a green planet with a high wealth and population, then
start constructing buildings and later a wharf in the orbit to build fast
transporters for more colonization.
* Research in mid-game: try to skip useless things like the tactical
drives with defense bonus (takes too long to research). I don+t research
any warp drives for more than 2 jump range, because I never needed them.
But: to get the biggest ship fast you need to research the neutronium (in
the field of shields) and some other warp-engines and fundamental
research. Try fast to develop the biggest ships. While waiting for
research (Speed = 5) don+t forget to look from time to time after your
colonies that they always build what you want.
* Computer-research: very stupid. Never stressed on a special field
(like "How do I get the best shield in the galaxy?"), it just goes through
all topics with 750 points, then all with 3750 and so on. The Elarians are
much more effective.
* Computer-constructing: again stupid. You should be more clever and
specialize planets for research, finance centers (many of them in mid-game
to finance your future fleets!) or planets with fast constructing. Don+t
build some constructing buildings at the beginning; time is too short.
Just start directly with science or finance. Don+t ever build a espionage
building (in this particular strategy).
* Weapons-research: don't waste any time on rockets and don't research
planetary bombs too much at the beginning (firestorm is quite enough). But
get some good long-range weapons quickly (Durg-Cannon) and then some nice
mid-range weapons.
* Research in Space: don+t waste many points here at the beginning. A
C-class colonizer is important and a level-3 wharf is good, but here are
not too important. In the mid-game you will encounter intelligent mines.
To get rid of them, research the mines and then the anti-mine ship, and
build it in your bigger ships. Later, you might encounter mines this ship
can't see, and so you must research better mines and the better anti-mine
ship.
* The Elarians conquer other worlds and protect these with the fleets
which guard their systems (the guarding-symbol). They don't ever need a
planetary defense system, because part of their fleets (two ships) always
protect their systems at the borders to other territory. They are smart
enough not to fight at too many places of the galaxy at once, they first
finish a branch off and then go to another. Because of their superior
technology their ships win nearly every battle.
* The computer can play very stupid. It has only three little
spaceships, notices my big fleet and declares war. Talk about stupidity:
the computer is not bad at automatic fighting, but has difficulties with
good moving big fleets. Sometimes you have to move your ships to the right
position and click again on automatic fight.
* Cracking the planetary defense system can be difficult with even very
modern ships, so take at least four big ones (4000) and some medium ships
(2000) to attack a system with mines, rockets and battle station.
* In the later mid-game you should start to research good fighters. The
Elarians don't have any problems fighting their opponents, but have to be
careful about fighter pods and battle stations on other planets. Now you
should fast research all fighters and develop a carrier-ship with some
weapons, but mostly eagles & co.
* Talking about weapons: the Elarians never use weapons on the left or
right side on their ships, they attack always from the front, for they
never flee. Weapons for the front are long-range like the gauss cannon and
mid-range weapons like the quantum torpedoes. Important especially for
attacking mined systems are the point-defense weapons for the ship. Here
you should place mostly mid-range or short-range heavy weapons, but many
different ones. Don+t let the computer automatically equip your ship!
* The computer places two fighting fleets in far-weapon-range. But it is
better to move your ships very near to the enemy fleet and then switch
back to automatic fight. Then the heavy short-range weapon can be used.
With these tactics, the Elarians destroy even four times bigger fleets.
* Attacking heavily guarded systems: the others launch their fighters
and they come near, your fleet starts. Then press the automatic-stop
button and wait for your fleet to destroy the fighters. Then start to
attack the mines and the battle station. With this easy tactic you save a
lot of ships.
* By mid-game you've got many nice planets (I hope), so you should look
from time to time to find the best administrator for the fields like ship
construction or research. This brings much more points, often 10%.
* Damage: in Pax Imperia II, the ships don't just have hit points going
to zero when they're attacked, the enemy attacks can damage important
systems such as tactical engines (no moving), weapons or warp engines. If
your fleet doesn't move or go through the wormhole, try to find out which
ship is damaged and scrap it.
* Moving your damaged ships back to a construction bay repairs them
faster. You should research fast the repairing-drone. For fast Hit
Recovery (reminds me of Diablo...), put two repairing drones in one ship.
* You will see that having a good fleet will be expensive: after the
first research and colonizing phase, start with building specialized
finance worlds. When having the class-C colonizer, you should also
colonize on red worlds if they are rich (at least x4). This is a good
trick to get lots of money, because you have five million colonists at
once on this planet.
* In the end-game (hopefully you got this far ;-) your empire should
attack the strongest opponent, build many transporters and move the front
of your systems through the galaxy. With the InfiniShield(tm) and the
Corona (great weapon) you can easily destroy any planetary defense system.
But in the rush of building a big fleet, look from time to time to see if
you have enough money to finance it. If not, scrap the oldest and most
damaged ships in the fleet menu. During the end-game, the Elarians have
enough research points, so they only build finance worlds (change switch
to "finance").
* When playing against 15 computer opponents, you will see they mostly
work all together against you, even do research together! But no problem -
the superior Quantum Empire of the Elarians wins all battles.
Now start your empire and colonize the galaxy. Good luck.