This thread is to review the standard executive orders. I won't cover a lot of niche ones, and may forget some of the later techs one, but this cover the common core you see in a lot of games. I'll use this general guide system:
S - very very good, maybe OP.
A - solid, very useful throughout the game.
C - It has a niche but tends to scale poorly.
F - very poor scaling or just flat out too expensive for its use.
Galactic Festival - A, very good booster if you have a wide civ. Would be an S but its incredibly long cooldown means you will always always want to activate it...but you can still only do it rarely.
Invite Leaders - A, probably the gold standard to me of a generally good EO. Its got a solid cost and cooldown for what it offers, and the offering is very useful throughout the game.
Forced Overtime - C/A, its very expensive....but in the right circumstances it can be very powerful, so I go back and forth on C or A.
Illicit Deals - A, the crime bonus is often easy to mitigate (as there are so many crime reducers in the game). Its cheap and one I use often. Like Galactic Festival its cooldown prevents it from being an S.
Exhort Governers - C/F, loyalty is a precious commodity, and it takes expensive harmony crystals to boost back up. Yes this can be a lot of money all at once, but phew -12 loyalty is a lot, and its a pretty decent chunk of control as well. If this was control cheap I'd rank it higher.
Draft Colonists - S, for some races that are slow growing especially, this is a godly EO, as even though its critical for the expansion race, its still amazing for just adding pop to your big worlds out of nowhere.
Pressure Scientists - C, if you get it early its a solid EO that has terrible scaling, and quickly falls out of use. While I can see the argument for an F, for certain dumber races I might give it 1-2 uses in a game, but then never again.
Telescope Takeover - F. I can handle scouting with probes and the like, its hard to justify my precious EO on this one.
Print Money - C. Its important and useful early on, but the approval cost is steep and the control cost later on steeper, it doesn't maintain enough oomph to keep using.
Exploit Resources - F. Only if I'm desperate for money, pollution is hard to mitigate, and this is a VERY control heavy operation for a lot less money than the other options.
Goodwill Tour - C. If your really focused on diplomacy its never bad but its not amazing either.
Defense Sentinels - F. Its just too control expensive, and the sentinels do not scale at all, so the enemy quickly outpaces it.
Impress Foreign Fleet - C/A. This one is situational, as you have to have the right fleet go through your borders at the right time (aka when you have a whooping 100 control at your disposal). But on the other hand, taking over a powerful advanced fleet can swing entire games. So I debate a C or an A, its very situational, but one of the most powerful EOs in the game if used at the right time. I will say its likely the most "maniacal laugh" worthy EO, its never more fun than when I pull this one off.
