Whats the best combo of starting bonuses?

Speed and planetquality are my current fav's 7 points for 10% PQ is so evil, would be perfect if it was 6.

Planet quality boost is really, really good... makes it a bit too easy IMHO. Improving trade is also amazing, you can bring in huge amounts of cash very quickly just trading with a minor race.

Don't think too much of anything that boosts production, research etc since it takes extra cash to keep that production ticking and generally I've been cash-constrained rather than constrained by available industry.

Speed is ok for early game but later on tech and trade goods give good enough speed. Creativity and luck may be good but are really hard to quantify.

I think planet quality is a bit unbalancing the way it stands now. Taking the +15% for 9 points vastly expands the number of planets one can colonize early. You get a sizable lead in the "land rush", and sheer volume will make up for any other bonuses you might have bought for those 9 points.

PQ+15 and usu. morale+10
Hard to go wrong.

Planet Quality 15%, Pop Growth 10% = Breakfast of Champions. Would like to hear more suggestions!

~SDC~

Just completed a game with speed+2, pop growth+20. My colony ships were moving 4 parsecs and were able to capture systems which in normal cases would have been taken by other races.

The extra speed was useful beyond just the colonizing. Managed also to scout out and grab resources near enemy races before they could. Really enjoyed this set of bonuses and would definitely use this again for next game.

~SDC~

I'm on the PQ bandwagon. 9 points to that, then do whatever you want with the remaining 1.

~SDC~

I used speed 2 in my latest game...it's pretty nice for fast colonization, fast scouting, fast grabbing of anomolies, and fast constructors...and eventually fast warships.

But...I'd have to say +PQ is the best ability by far. I usually only use +10 as +15 is overkill.

It seems clear that PQ + 'whatever' is the best, maybe we should now talk about the second best.

I like the combination of Soldiering, Bravery and Pop Growth. 30% in Soldiering means if you have 3 billion tax paying people you'll have 4 billion fighting people (I *think* this was written in the Survival Guide). The AI - at least in the beginning - doesn't like the idea of sending that many troop transports in your territory and therefore (often) he takes his war threads somwhere else.

~SDC~

Used to be a speed freak until I figured out that the PQ bonus gave me enough of an advantage early on, and then I could simply use my superior planets to culturally influence other planets to join my side, so in the end how quickly I colonize doesn't have much of an effect.

If I were in a really cheesy mood I could simply load my population on a transport, then trade that planet to an AI for a starbase/tech/cash/etc, then use my influence to recapture the planet.

*looks at RayChua's metaverse stats* YOU EVIL BASTARD

~SDC~

In my current game, I wanted to be a good guy to convince myself that the "Better Way" could work for me too.

But so happended that I got a random event for a class 26 system offering the evil option for a 50% PQ boost.
Alas, the Dark side proved to be too strong

I've posted in another thread that my warmongering style suited the evil alignment for the quick PQ, produc
tion and starship boosts together with the evil techs giving soldiering bonuses.

Back to this thread, at the highest AI levels where the AIs get some aid and expand like crazy, I found speed invaluable for grabbing planets which are nearer to AI starting positions than my own, depriving the AI and boosting my own empire at the same time.

Mobility is the key lesson from "The Art of War" Are you a follower of Sun Tzu?

~SDC~

Well, I can't call myself a follower but I did read this military classic.

Since it seems that PQ is acknowledged as the best pick, I vote speed as No 2.

Get there the first with the most men (often misquoted as "get there the fustest with the mostest"). Mobility is *always* key.

~SDC~

Diplomacy +50%, Economy +30% and Federalist party with +20% economy.
As a result you gain a lot on taxes and don't depend on trade in the beggining that much, plus you get great deals on technology exchange and your trade goods, especcialy if you get Diplomatic translators fast.

Almost unfair advantage.




~SDC~

Economy is an exceptionally strong pick, right up there with planet quality (maybe not *quite* as good, but very close).

~SDC~

My favorite combination is Federalist (+20% econ), +1 speed (4 pts), +5% PQ (3 pts), and +3 sensors (3 pts).

The +3 sensor choice is possibly not the best one, but it makes the game much more fun for me. Scouts have a *huge* sensor range, which makes sweeping large/huge maps (looking for resources) much less tedious. (I usually have finished exploring before I can research sensor tech and buy the sensor-wonder.) If I didn't improve sensors I would get another 10% economy bonus.

Federalist is nice, but if I'm going with an economic race I just buy the +20 Economy and pick the Mercantile party. +20 Trade *and* Espionage all in one package! Add in trade technology, well-upgraded trade starbases... trade can account for a lot of your income. Granted, espionage and spying doesn't seem *quite* as useful in GalCiv as in other similar games, but the added ability can't hurt. I assume it reduces cost and/or speeds up when I get info?

As for racial picks, I've avoided Planet Quality as I believe it's a bit unbalanced. If nothing else I don't want to become reliant on it if (when?) it gets hit with the nerf stick. I usually go with +20 Economy, either a military or social production boost, and +10 morale.

However, Mobility is different than speed.

~SDC~

Mobility is your ability to move. Speed is certainly a big part of it.

~SDC~

Ok, I'll give my own as well. I'm not that great at GalCiv (I have had the game for like 4 days now, and boy did I lose many many games when I started playing... I'm starting to grasp it now though !)
The latest game I've played I had Pacifist (+20% social production, + 20% influence), "Dont't Ask" pop. grwoth (+80%) and +30% social production if I remember correctly.

My only hitch is that I don't see anything different with my social/military production, so I'm going to put those points elsewhere. But the 80% population growth really helped me, it's like if my people were darn rabbits.

Also, the game that I won with that, ok so it was with low-intelligence AIs, but I won without destroying a single ship OR having a single ship destroyed. That's right, I never fired even a shot
Now I'm trying with higher-intelligence AIs, I fear for my life

PQ+10% rules becuase you can turn class 14 worlds into class 15 worlds instantly. That usually means at least 1 or 2 more worlds within my borders become more easily colonizable. I Seldom take that though.

My favorite pick is Trade Routes +3. Combined with the routes you get from tech this can net you a whole lot of extra cash and also make the other races more dependent on you (and therefore less willing to screw you)

I've just played another game (and won, this time killing 2 ships and losing none) and I had absolutely
-no- trade routes, 0% taxes, 100% spending and loads of money in reserve. I just found that you can make other civ pay you a -lot- of money for researches and trade goods. Basicaly what I did was sell those things one by one for a sum of money for 50 months (or more). Obviously having a good diplomacy bonus helps here. It was kind of crazy, I was getting 1200 in tributes per month from other civs
Of course you can only achieve this if you are far ahead the others in terms of science researches. Some techs, such as Battleship or Dreadnought, can be sold for around 200-250BC per month for 50 months. It's better to sell them to minor races though

Gui, selling them to minor races might not be a good idea because techs that go to the minor races have a nasty way of ending up in Drengin hands as tribute. By the time you've got BBs and DNs I'm assuming the minor races will militarily be a non-issue, so that would make it easier for major races to extract tribute from em...

~SDC~