Seeding: opening strategies

[The Dark Knight]

My friend has a good build:

- People's African Union: +10% Food in growing Cities when Healthy

- Refugees: +2 Food in every City

- Tectonic Scanner: No technology is needed to see Petroleum, Geothermal and Titanium resources

- Machinery: Begin with a Worker unit

He's gonna use this build to go tall, i think he will have a very large capital (if he's in grassland + river and some hills for production).

 

[Suicidekills]

Ok, well I want to gobble up as much alien land as I possibly can on my first go of Beyond Earth so....

Sponsor: Kavithan Protectorate- Outposts develop into cities 50% faster.

All the other sponsor abilities seem pretty bland and are bonuses that are too similar to CiVs UA's. The only other sponsor that I would try initially is the Slavic federation because of the satellite bonus. Plus like I said in the beginning I'm coming to this planet to grab as much land as possible.

Colonists: Artists +2 culture and +1 health in every city.

+1 health in every city would be silly to pass up if your whole goal is to expand. The only other colonist I would choose in this scenario is the aristocrats because of the +1 health per city. The extra culture for faster virtue acquisition and better border expansion for new cities seems better that the extra energy.

Cargo: Weapon Arsenal- Begin with a soldier unit.

I've skipped the spaceship upgrade for now because I feel like it's the least impactful to the game and therefore, should be decided upon last. I plan on being pretty militarily involved with Kavithan Protectorate due to expansion so weapon arsenal seems like a good choice here. Also it's another unit I can scout with.

ShipUpgrade: Fusion Reactor- begins with 100 energy.

This decision was made through eliminating the other options. All the scanner options were a pass. Life form scanner is unnecessary because I have a soldier already to protect myself and also I don't want to be pissing the aliens off in the early going. Continental scanner is also unnecessary because I plan on conquering all of the land so I don't really need to know the outlines of the continents. Tectonic scanner seems helpful but I'll be once again land grabbing so I'll be getting those resources no matter what. Retrograde thrusters seem to be the forum favorite but I don't see it. Based on the live stream I feel you have more than enough space to pick a good starting location. Anyway I don't need that great of a starting location if I'm going to be expanding. That just leaves us with fusion reactor. The extra energy could come in handy.

I would begin researching the pioneering technology which is why I didn't want the laboratory cargo. I would produce a worker or clinic first and second. Then I would probably produce another soldier, old earth relic or begin expanding with a colonist. I feel like this would provide a fairly balanced start and I can begin conquering the planet.

 

[CleverFool]

As a person who intends to start by playing ARC here are my thoughts and suggestions from what limited information we currently have at our disposal.

I think the main difference between your approach and my approach is that you seem to focus on Early Energy and I focus on Early Production. I think that the Best Early Choices should be Production or Science as Energy likely flows naturally enough in time (with good tactics) that an early bankroll is not unique and powerful enough to compete with early and persistent Production bonuses. Of course this probably means I should just play PAC

You raise some excellent points, and yes, you're probably right in that the reason it's tough to see synergies is simply due to limited information on espionage.

Another thought on how to play ARC might be to go with Artists, as I believe there are some virtues which either grant extra spies or perhaps provide some boost ti espionage (i.e. Information Warfare: Recruit 1 new Covert Agent). It actually might make sense to go with some culture, and use that to boost the Might Virtue tree as well, as I see ARC as being able to supplement their regular military with espionage (set off a dirty bomb then send in the troops).

This might prove to be one of the most interesting factions, as even from our brief conversation it seems as though there are a number of different ways to approach ARC. But yeah, I'm probably still too tied into the old spy system of Civ2 where money definitely helped...

 

[Becephalus]

Honestly I would want to go random. I think they need to add a random button.

 

[bhavv]

Random button would be great.

 

[aguliondew]

I wonder how things will play out in this game. For me in Civ 5 before the expansion production>science>food>gold>culture. In terms of what wins me games the fastest. Hopefully energy/culture will be more useful in the long term in comparison to production/science builds.

 

[OldEarthRelic]

"People's African Union: +10% Food in growing Cities when Healthy"

I think what they mean is different from what this says. E.g. I have 20 food and 9 citizens eating 18 a turn.

Literally my surplus should be 20*1.1-18 =4.

But I assume it means (20-18)*1.1 = 2.2?

Also, have they defined the cost of new cities e.g. 4 health? 5% technology cost?

 

[mabalogna]

ARC -> Engineers -> Tectonic Scanners -> Raw Materials

My first build for a semi-aggressive expansionist strategy. Clinic on turn 0 means I can focus on building units, and engineers will help expedite Marine production; there's also a slight research bonus from the clinic to help speed up getting Pioneering. Tec. Scanners helps identify better spots for expansion, and ARC's abilities will come in handy from being hated among everyone else

 

[Browd]

"People's African Union: +10% Food in growing Cities when Healthy"

I think what they mean is different from what this says. E.g. I have 20 food and 9 citizens eating 18 a turn.

Literally my surplus should be 20*1.1-18 =4.

But I assume it means (20-18)*1.1 = 2.2?

That same ambiguity exists in Civ V -- is it a raw "food" bonus (like Temple of Artemis and Aztec Floating Gardens) or a "growth" (net food surplus) bonus (everything else, inlcuding Monarchy, Fertility Rites, Swords into Plowshares, etc.).

When we get our hands on the game, we can check, but for now we have to endure the unknown.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

"People's African Union: +10% Food in growing Cities when Healthy"

I think what they mean is different from what this says. E.g. I have 20 food and 9 citizens eating 18 a turn.

Literally my surplus should be 20*1.1-18 =4.

But I assume it means (20-18)*1.1 = 2.2?

Also, have they defined the cost of new cities e.g. 4 health? 5% technology cost?

The +food v +growth mislabeled was a problem they had in civV as well.
+food would be more interesting (better with bigger cities) although 10% food would probably be OP.

They have not defined the cost for new cities. But they have said that poor health costs science and culture before it costs growth and production. (Unlike civ. where it cost growth and production first)

 

[The Dark Knight]

"People's African Union: +10% Food in growing Cities when Healthy"

I think what they mean is different from what this says. E.g. I have 20 food and 9 citizens eating 18 a turn.

Literally my surplus should be 20*1.1-18 =4.

But I assume it means (20-18)*1.1 = 2.2?

Also, have they defined the cost of new cities e.g. 4 health? 5% technology cost?

10% of 20 is 2, so he gets 2 food extra it seems.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

10% of 20 is 2, so he gets 2 food extra it seems.

You are assuming the text is correct. That is not a good assumption (in regard to food v growth).

I hope it is food, since that is more interesting, but 10% sounds OP

 

[Lucius_]

Considering it was described as "Africa can thrive where others may struggle", going on to say they can grow in the middle of a desert, implies it's +food not growth. +Growth wouldn't make a significant difference in a bad food location.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Considering it was described as "Africa can thrive where others may struggle", going on to say they can grow in the middle of a desert, implies it's +food not growth. +Growth wouldn't make a significant difference in a bad food location.

Yes it would.. you want to be continually growing, and if you have Just enough food you may grow slow... an extra 10% growth can add up over time.

I really Hope it is +food, (because of more interesting) but the "is growing" part makes it complicated.

eg
10 pop, 20 base food +10%=22 food -20=2 food for growth
11 pop, 20 base food +10%=22 food-22=0 food for growth... so I don't get the 10%??

Which makes me suspect +Growth

 

[OldEarthRelic]

I think if it's food, it's OP. If it's growth, it's UP compared to PAC

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I think if it's food, it's OP. If it's growth, it's UP compared to PAC

True, but the numbers can be adjusted (all of them are numbers that can be scaled) (PAC, and others, can be scaled up or down. PAU can be scaled down or up)

I'd far prefer a 5% food bonus to a 15% (or whatever would be balanced) growth bonus.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I fail to see how either % food or % growth would allow the faction to "strive in a desert". I am pretty sure you'd either need absurdly large modifiers OR a big base income from buildings to make that work (or an UI, Marocco/Inca style). The "+2 food per base" bonus from colonists seems much more fitting for that statement.

 

[s0nny80y]

People's African Union - +10% food in growing cities when healthy
Aristocrats +3 Energy and +1 Health in every City
Fusion Reactor Being with 100 Energy
Raw Materials Begin with a Clinic building in your first City

Initial build order - soldier, worker, soldier, soldier (clinic is already established and is pouring in money for unit maintenance)(ability to purchase tiles with resource units with 100 energy bonus)

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I fail to see how either % food or % growth would allow the faction to "strive in a desert". I am pretty sure you'd either need absurdly large modifiers OR a big base income from buildings to make that work (or an UI, Marocco/Inca style). The "+2 food per base" bonus from colonists seems much more fitting for that statement.

An early desert tile with a Vivarium and a farm (assuming it can get a farm) will produce 2 food 1 energy.

2 food tiles don't help you grow (the growth from that tile is 2-2=0)..... However if you get a 10% food bonus, that 2 food tile becomes a 2.2 food tile... that gives you 0.2 growth where before you had none.

 

[Gamgee]

Slavic Federation
Scientists
Retrograde Thrusters
Hydroponics