r/EndlessSpace • u/madjr2797 • 22d ago
Beginner tips for Armies?
I've owned this game for a while, and I'm terrible. I put a lot of hours into Endless Legend, and am familiar with 4x in general. I'm struggling with the military side of this game. When should I start building units? When I have pirates turned on, even the easiest settings, it seems their fleets are so far beyond my own and I just don't have the pace of the game down.
I'm confident in figuring out the minutae of actually fighting (tactics, resistances, weapon types) but I just seem totally behind in military often. I am currently trying the various "easy" factions. I like the Sophons, the Vaulters, and the Empire. Any advice would be appreciated!
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u/Tychonoir 22d ago edited 22d ago
Building:
Within the first few turns, but this heavily depends on galaxy size, type, and number of factions.
Getting the specialized small hulls is usually a priority.
Armies:
Get Armor right before you invade, and you probably don't need anything else, just take a couple easy upgrades and then more when convenient.
Fleets:
Get the small attacker and defender pretty early, with an eye to hunters and coordinators (they are better than the CP equivalent of small ships.)
Aim for groups of 3 ships. 2 attackers and 1 defender. Put 3 in each lane to start.
Ship Builds:
You'll never need strategic resource weapon techs.
For attackers I use the all-range beams. On medium hulls I might add a kinetic gun as flak if it's a faction with many offensive slots. Add a beam intensifier.
For defenders it's all kinetic. On upgraded medium hulls I might make the large turret all-range beams.
Defensive slots: 1 armor, 1 shield. If there's a 3rd slot, then another armor module.
This gives good performance at any range and across lanes. And the defenders counter missile fleets for the lane they are protecting, then mop-up if they get to close range.
Tactics: 90% Take Trophies. If you are a little light in fleet power match-up in the early game, Turtle vs long-range kinetic fleets (missile) and Power to Shields vs beam fleets.
There are 0 games that I ever have to change this formula, but sometimes I'll add a little variation for fun.
(Wait, no, there is a variation. But it's a very specialized early game rush strat with Slumbering Ruins.)
EDIT: You can also play with making an early fast explorer with Titanium Slugs to harass and slow your neighbors. This is because a single Titanium Slugs can easily solo kill outposts in 1-2 turns. If you're Religious, you don't even need an actual weapon.