|
Spidey -> RE: Racial woes... (5/31/2014 4:53:35 AM)
|
Anyway, I don't really want this topic to be all doom and gloom over the lack of sufficiently effective extermination options. We might end up scaring new visitors and earn a reputation for being into this sort of thing.
So instead of further complaints about the funny Atuuk group activities I can't implement in the game, such as "The Running Atuuk" (one Atuuk get a machine gun and two million credits for surviving, 50 Atuuks get wooden sticks and one million if they land the killing blow), or the mandatory school subject called "how to juggle with running chainsaws", I went ahead and wrote down my thoughts on the different species and how I see their potential as members of my empire.
Ackdarians
Their direct bonuses are +research and -maintenance. On top of this, Acky-majored colonies build things 50% faster than default. That's pretty damn nice, I think. They're an ocean race too, which isn't impossible to research, but it still saves some time. Give me as many of these as you can throw at me.
Atuuk
Yuck. They have a fairly boring happiness bonus and that's it. Happiness isn't a global bonus but instead something that only manifests on Atuuk-majored colonies. On top of this, they build 25% slower. This doesn't affect your space ports over Atuuk colonies but it does affect the colonies themselves, which will cap at 450 instead of 600. AFAIK, build speed is essentially the number of constructed components per six day period times 100 and ROUNDED DOWN, so 10 billion Atuuks produce 4 components for every 6 anyone else does or for every 9 Ackies do. Oh, and they're continentals, which is both rather common and fairly easy to research. Oh, and did I mention that Atuuk troops are the second weakest in the game at 68 strength? They make pushovers look like badasses. There is one single upside, though. They have the fastest growth rate of all the continentals at a whopping 28%, but as far as I'm concerned, this simply means they're even more likely to overtake races with good colony bonuses.
Boskara
Their default troop strength is 134. Throw in aculon and it becomes 139. Oh, and their troops cost 25% less maintenance too. Build an armor factory and you'll have some mighty powerful troops and they'll be cheap too. Also, they're volcanics and researching that one is a pain in the butt. Also, their growth rate is 24%, which is pretty good. I don't mind these bugs joining the winning side at all. The sooner the better, actually, because a late game Boskaran faction with a horde of beetle warriors can take a while to sort out.
Dhayut
Big ugly psychotic desert spider thingies as they may be, they do at least make some fairly solid troops. Their default strength is 126 with +5 if you've got osalia to spare. Their growth rate isn't all that hot and desert colonization isn't that hard to get but overall they're at least adding something.
Gizureans
They've got a massive -35% ship maintenance, they're volcanics, and their growth rate is immense at 30% before their cycle kicks in. Their troops are kind of useless but so what when you can make ship costs drop rather massively while also getting indirect access to a planet colonization tech that's otherwise reserved for late game? I really hope to have these nearby when I'm playing Quameno but sadly it never happens. If it did, I'd probably let them do most of the colonization since they grow so damn fast.
Humans
Weird monkeys with no hair. They don't make for nice pets, but their troops are okay at strength 121 and they do provide a global bonus to both research and spies, which makes them worth including. They're yet another continental race and their growth bonus is okay'ish without being immense, but I wouldn't feel bad with these critters gaining numbers in my empire.
Haakonish
They're so ugly I want to punch them in their sad excuse of a face, but they do provide global bonuses to spies and reduced maintenance and their troops are only slightly weaker than Dhayuts at 124. Everything else about them screams for an extended stay in a prison camp, but I'm not really one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and global bonuses sure are nice.
Ikkuro
Another race that I really like having nearby. They give reduced ship maintenance, their troops clock in at a really nice 132, they get +5 troop strength if you bring the osalia, and their troops cost a lovely 30% less in maintenance. Oh, and they've got +10% colony income too, which I recall to be a global bonus. What's not to love? Well, they're continentals for one and their growth is mediocre for another. Still, I'll take 'em with a big smile on my face.
Ketarov
Swamp-dwelling critters with a mediocre growth rate and piss weak troops aren't really "my thing", but having a +50% bonus to spies makes up for a lot. There really isn't too much else to say about them.
Kiadian
Probably my favorite continental race. They give global bonuses o research and ship maintenance, their growth rate is just on the high side of mediocre, and their troop strength is solid at 126. I haven't experimented much with the energy research bonus since I've so far never managed to "include" these people in my empire until pretty close to the point where I've won the game anyway, but I'm guessing it applies to Kiadian-majored colonies. And if so then who can say no to that sort of potential bonus?
Mortalen
Their troops have a default strength of 138. That's enough to go toe-to-appendage with Boskarans and it's quite good enough that I'm happy to include them in my empire, but their troops also cost 25% less and if that's still not enough then they'll even add -10% ship maintenance on top. That's one heck of a deal, as far as I'm concerned. They don't really provide much of anything else, though. They're a desert species, which is nice but not awesome, and their growth rate of 16% isn't terrible but it also isn't amazing.
Naxxilians
Big furry reptiles that live on ice worlds (yay!) and produce very solid troops at strength 129 with a +10 (!!) bonus if you've got jakanta ivory and a -40% maintenance cost on their troops. Oh, and their growth rate is a very respectable 23%. Having these not-so-gentle creatures in your empire solves both the need to research an annoyingly expensive late game colonization tech and it gives you some truly excellent troops that are amazingly cheap. At least I very much like stregnth 139 armor at a base maintenance cost of 1200, but maybe that's just me.
Quameno
These amphibs would be pretty boring guests in your empire if it wasn't for that really immense 40% research bonus they offer. They're an ocean race but their growth is quite low at 14%, so that's not really a reason to invite them in, but come on, 40% research. That's just hard to pass up on, isn't it?
Securans
A bunch of wimps and slackers that don't provide global bonuses they may be, but they sure do multiply. These are probably my preferred desert species, if only because they grow their numbers so damn fast. Their base is 27% and every three years they start a one year super-growth phase. Those percentages add up rather quickly. They also have a truly massive happiness bonus, which while not exactly super-helpful is at least a nice touch. And I know I'm not supposed to say this, but who can turn down irresistably hot green-skins?
Shandar
What do you get if you convert Securans into volcanic-based lizards, and dampen their growth and happiness slightly? Yup, you get the Shandar. They're not quite as lovable as the Securans and they're not my favorite volcanic race at all, but they are volcanic and they do grow reasonably fast, so I tolerate their useless hippie ways. Oh, and while their troops are rather terrible, they at least don't have any significant drawbacks.
Sluken
I know what most people are thinking. Why would anyone invite angry swamp bugs into their civilization? Well, their troops do clock in at a very nice 130 with +5 for questurian skins and with a 20% maintenance reduction. They don't really do anything for the empire outright, and their native swampiness isn't that useful either, but their 21% growth rate is the fastest you'll get for a swamp race.
Teekan
At first glance they might look like desert-Atuuks. They're literally rat-like weenies with paper cutouts for troops (strength 65) and a fairly mediocre reproduction rate of 19%. But they do at least have some bonuses. Faster mining is, in my experience, not that valuable but +20% colony income isn't too bad and they do have a build speed bonus of 40% as well, so they're not the total disaster that Atuuks are. Smelly as they may be, their presence in my empire doesn't really offend me.
Ugnari
Ugh. Overgrown pink rats, right? And their main bonuses are faster mining and happines, neither of which are particularly significant. And they're gifted with slow growth on top. And their troops weak as piss too. Those are the negatives. The positives? There are two ice-based races in the game. This is one of them. If they're around then I'm happy and will do what I can to keep them the dominant race on the colony so I can colonize ice worlds long before I'd otherwise get the damn tech researched. They've also got a +5% bonus to high tech research per colony with tyderios, which may or may not carry over, and if it does carry over then that's not really going to make me like them less.
Wekkarus
Ugly squid-faced things, absolutely, but they could be a lot worse. They don't really offer a lot but +15% mining and +25% colony income isn't terrible either. They aren't Ackies of Quameni, but I generally accept their presence stoically and try not to think too much about the uglies that are swimming around on my water bowl planets.
Zenox
Happy cat-people that provide a maintenance reduction? I guess I'm biased since I was sold at "cat", but you've got to put something on continental planets and it may as well include a good number of Zenoxes. That said, I'd still rather have Kiadians or Ikkurus and probably even Humans too, but I'm still going to welcome Zenox with open arms.
|
|
|
|
