Which races are strong WITHOUT tech trading/stealing?

from Stardock Forums

Which races, using only their own technologies, are strongest? This is a question I've been trying to answer since the Beta.

I hadn't played the new release (1.96) much, and thus I must now update my analysis of the relative strength of races w/o tech trading. I always customise the races, sometimes allocating points to stengths and sometimes to weaknesses. Sometimes I give all races the same point allocation and turn off super abilities. Mostly the same races come out on top no matter the settings! I'm guessing it's the inherent abilities plus the AI.

Top tier: Krynn, Terran, Korx!

The new Korx AI is badass! Through three games they expanded rapidly and used trading to build a huge economy AND good relations with almost everybody. Thanks Brad for beefing up my favorite race! The AI now plays this race exacly like I do. The Krynn always, always capitalize on their immense tourism income. I think they need a slight nerf.

Middle Tier: Torian, Iconian, Thalan, Altarian

Torians have gotten weaker since beta, while the Altarians have gotten much stronger. Was the Temple of Memories stronger in beta? Thank God the Thalan "pink blob of doom" influence strat is gone; now a fun race to play and play against. Spy spam.... devastating Iconian AI strat. The Iconian AI is now good at using Precursor Archives and Libraries to power tech!

Bottom Tier: Arcean, Drengin, Korath, Drath, Yor

The Drengin and Korath AI are now underwhelming; they won't expand after the first few planets. This may be a viable strat on smallish maps, not on larger ones. The Korath used to be a scary juggernaut. Now the Yor AI also seems to be faltering. And the Drath sit on huge piles of cash in every game, but don't convert it into improvements or military. Too bad, because Drath could easily be the strongest race in early wars. Maybe a super cheap invasion tech for them? And the Arcean... ug. One thing that would help this race a lot, would be to reduce the research costs of increased speed by a LOT. They usually get outmaneuvered in the race for planets, especially if their neighbors have +1 speed. At the very least the Stellar Forge should act as a navigation center. I also think weather control research and support costs should be reduced.

6,461 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The AI's not expanding well (you comment on Dregin/Korath) should have been fixed in 1.96, it did get broken in 1.95.

The Thalans, w/o tech trading are a (arguably) horridly slow starter. I will agree that the Torians and Korath hurt w/o tech trading due to their research hits (more-so the Torians).

The Korx are only finally a good race to play/play against due to the trade Bug being fixed. They seemed to count on that income too much.

Drath, while not a power upon itself, is a power none-the-less due to it's puppet master status. Games involving the Drath always seem harder due to chaos in the galaxy (oftentimes directed at me). If they are in my game and are near me, are my first target.

The Yor WITH tech trading on are very powerful economically.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Great question; I look forward to responses from the folks who have tons of time to play.

I think I'd put the Thalans in the top tier now, at least with no tech trading and on larger maps. Given a chance to get their industrial toehold, they seem always formidable by mid-game.

The Drengin and Korath AI are now underwhelming; they won't expand after the first few planets.
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I'm on turn 168 of a 1.96 game on a gigantic map and the Drengin and Korath are tied for 1st. I'm trying the Iconians and just dropped from 5th to 6th--I'm thrown by not having advanced governments to help my economy.

But these rankings are weirder than ever with unique techs and no tech trading. The Krynn are ranked 3rd, but they have no weapons tech at all and their defenders are just helpless hulls, all 33 of them. Ranking questions aside, early mid-game sure feels different, which is the main thing I was hoping for with TA.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's a good thing that, as a player, your not playing the Iconians w/ tech trading on. I created a monster Iconian ship by gobbling up all passive hp techs.

https://forums.galciv2.com/313638
The 709hp monster had a movement of 5 and beam attack of 478. 9 Doom Rays, 2 Hyper Warp mk3, 31 Organic Hull Platings.

Due to passive bonuses, the base hp went from 338 to 709.
As for the attack, it went from 198 to 478.
Regens 6hp in space, 25 in orbit.
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They, via their own tech tree, can create a nice fleet of 'tanks'. Get other people's techs and the 'heirs to the precursor throne' actually comes true.