Universalists
Economy +5
Defense +10
Pop. Growth +10
Luck +25
The bonuses the universalists provide are too spread thin to actually matter much. I'm not saying they're useless(especially the pop. growth bonus) but they are spread too thin.
I'm currently building Medium Hull Fighters with two Psionic Beams (attack of 24) and HP of 26 for a cost of 400BC, which my homeworld can kick out every two weeks.
I've found that building a whole lot of fighters in the beginning of the game which can match your opponent civilization's military might but in the long run is terribly counter-productive. So I tend to choose quality over quantity.
This is how I manage attack 98 frigates by early year two:
My HW must be either the research or manufacturing giant of the galaxy, a research or manufacturing bonus tile is extremely helpful in achieving the mega frigates.
-Research upto "Expert Miniaturization"(or advanced minaturization if you're playing a race which has a miniaturization bonus.)
-Research upto Psionic beams.
-Research upto warp drive or Impulse drive MK III(anything below will cause drastic reduction in the potential of the mega frigate explained below).
-Research upto Medium hulls.
In fact, its very easy to get these frigates while not falling behind in other areas. I would advise to not worry about burning through your treasury. A -150 bc loss is normal(for me atleast since I am not as experianced).
Then design a frigate with
one engine and as many Psionic Beam modules as you can. Then the real challenge. Each frigate costs upto 1027 BC to manufacture. But if your HW can produce 250-200 MPs/week then it'll take about 4-5 weeks to make. The attack output is measured at 72 attack but with a +20-40% weapons bonus it can go to 98. If one of the engines(i.e. Impulse Drive MK II) cost too much space then that means you will have a shortfall of 2-5 points and then the last Psionic beam module can't fit.
Just 2-3 of the mega frigates can catch upto suicidal AI's military might rating even if you have no other military vessal. The AI might have dozens of small weaker fighters but it'll consider your military superior.
Just remember to use them quickly as the suicidal AI is not going to take being outclassed for too long. There will come a time when even the mega frigate will be obsolete. But the point is, a very powerful ship built with relatively basic tech able to outclass a dozens of fighters alone in military rating.
Hmm, looking back on this I don't suppose anybody would be willing to read something this long.
