Worst Faction

[joncnunn]

Belivers main weakness:
#1 No reseach points prior to 2110.
#2 -2 Knowledge
#3 -1 Planet

Offset #1 by for the first ten turns of the game set Economy to whichever value gives you the most energy. (Due to efficency, depends upon your bases.)

Offset #2 by beeling to Foil Probe Teams. Build lots and Go out and steal tech!

#3 Results in nothing produced from fungus until late in the game unless you go green. So after you can build Foil Probe Teams set your reserach to beeline to Centauri Empathy to allow the Green economy to cancel out the planet penalty . As a side effect, you'll get native mind worms that are just as good attacking high tech units as low ones. And the same tech allows Biolabs which is both a cheap way to increase science output, especally for a small base, and enhances your life forms.

Main strength: +1 Probe. Complement by the building of foil probe teams.

As for best social choices for Belivers when not pop booming and assuming you don't have cloning vacts: Democracy (Fundie would give you a -4 Knowelge rating at which point you might as well turn reserach off unless you have a lot more cities than anyone else) + Green + Wealth (You don't want to add a crippled construction of units that power would give you to your knowlege handicap).

Originally posted by Curiosity

Of the original seven, I would definitely say Miriam is the weakest. Her early game tech is abysmal, and there's a real disadvantage in not having formers for that long. Then, by the time she actually has the tech to go out conquering she's going to be facing very stiff opposition. It's not so bad starting near to someone, but on an island... there's not much hope for her.

[joncnunn]

What???, there's no way the Hive is the best, they have a very serious economic problem early in the game. In non-head quarter bases without a river they get no income from size 1 bases prior to recyling tanks being built. (Offset by beeling to Recyling Tanks followed by a beeline to Wealth.)

Also, Gaia is really the easyist with the ability to capture mindworms form year 2101 and being able to terraform right away.

Originally posted by Lazerus
Worst to best in my opinion :

Cult
Spartans
Pirate
Angels
Believer
Caretaker
Usurper
Peacekeeper
Gaian
Morgan
University
Drones
Conc. - if techsteal for all is on then put below drones
Hive (Yeah i don't care if this is biased, def the most fun faction )

note, thinking of this as MP, so aliens have been rated rather lowly - easy to gas, no chance of govt and u've got a pain in the arse AI or another player bugging u all game.

[Lazerus]

if you noticed that little sentence afterwards saying "yeah i dont care if this is biased" ... i find them the most fun to play, i don't really care much that they slow down abit later in the game with others pop booming etc.

Also i never bother to build rec tanks until later in the game, play ICS and get alot of bases thats where you get the energy from (also early on go 80% labs for a tech rate of 8-10turns,once you've reached wealth switch to that and it keeps it going). Theres no way i'd go for the tanks before IA aswell, wealth is def more important, the increase in economy to give just -1 energy at the HQ base which is neglible. Also once your in wealth your at the stage that every other faction bar morgan is in at the start of the game.
Trust me anyways the economic problem isn't that bad, the +3 industry from faction+planned+wealth offsets never having much money to rush and as for research you're just a standard researcher, but stick in a few specialists and your as quick as any of the others or play momentum and go beat those researchers up.

[Hydro]

The fact that there are defenders for (almost) any given factions says a lot for the balance of SMAC and SMAX. BR - well done!!

Hydro

[The Vagabond]

The weakest faction is definitely Miriam.

As for the Cult, I find it pretty amusing. I get pretty decent amounts of cash from hunting the native life. It's actually a win-win situation: you either capture a worm, or kill it and get the cash. You need to have a really bad luck in order to lose your unit. In the early game, all this cash offsets the economic and industrial penalties: I rush-buy SPs with the Cult all the time. The only real drawback of all this is that I find it boring to move too many units each turn.

The situation is pretty much the same with the Spartans! I always try to hunt the native life by deliberately wandering in fungus. With Spartan high morale, it's rather a realistic and profitable undertaking. Unlike the Cult, you can't capture native life (unless you are Green, which we assume you aren't), but on the other hand you encounter more native life as the Planet rating is lower. Besides, your units get a morale upgrade after killing a worm.

[joncnunn]

I've found that an additional two points of efficency yeilds more energy than the additinal +1 a base when your empire has a large enough population.

Commerce income is very low in early game when you don't have many contacts.

Free Market also has very unhealthy effects on PSI Attacks & Defense and significantly increased fungus booms. If you add Wealth to Free Market without Command Nexus, your units are dead meat.

Originally posted by Jac de Molay

Why not free market? If you build the PTS and start pooping out colony pods, you're making big time energy on the base square alone for new bases. Just wondering because I'm playing morgan extensively for the first time.

Anyway, I dont like believers because yang can pick up the same support benefits with se choices, plus free P. Def and starting with command nexus makes mirian much weaker by comparison, IMO.

[Lazerus]

I've found that an additional two points of efficency yeilds more energy than the additinal +1 a base when your empire has a large enough population.

true with any faction in my experience, I'd definately recommend FM for morgan atleast until mid-way in the game just after his first pop boom though when you can have a quick switch around to see which will yield greater results.

Free Market also has very unhealthy effects on PSI Attacks & Defense and significantly increased fungus booms. If you add Wealth to Free Market without Command Nexus, your units are dead meat.

1-1-1-trance units, dirt cheap and if i remember right planet rating has no effect on defense?
You'll have enough cash to just probe the enemies units.
As for fungus blooms just keep an eye on your clean mineral limit and push it up with a few early pops and tree farms then you'll have no problem with them as im sure i remember reading planet rating only affects the severity of eco-damage caused by the minerals that are over the clean limit.

If i wasn't so reliant on my cheap 1-1-1-police units for Yang then I'd definately be running FM most of the time.

[Mongoose]

Free Market (and Planet Rating generally) has NO effect on Psi DEFENSE...only on attack.

[Hydro]

Mongoose is right - FM has no effect on psi defense. You're just hosed when you try to attack the MW parked next to your base. Advice - invest in empath rovers and trance scouts (or armored probe teams for that matter - expensive before fusion, but no support)!

FM/wealth has its place. It is wonderful for Morgan, since he can make tons of energy with dinkly little bases (ICS anyone?). As mentioned, it is less attractive with larger bases, larger empires, and enhanced terraforming/crawlers. FM/wealth can tide him or other factions over until he gets a chance to get on his feet and get hab units built - then boom away, and switch to Dem/Gn/Kn/GA.

[VoidEvils]

I don't find Morgan's pop prohibiting. I just usually side-step it with supply crawlers.

[Hercules]

I am never quite sure what is meant by 'worst faction'.

In SP games, does it mean:-
the most difficult faction to win with. And thereby maybe the most challenging faction to play.
the most boring faction to play (the example of moving all those units, or the 'too easy' faction, like the Uni or Pks)
The worst faction for attaining a high score or fastest transcend.

In MP games a different set of factors kick in. Pacts, Treaties and Diplomacy, geography, can partly help 'weaker/worst factions' ride out their bad times.

Atm I enjoy playing the 'worst' factions, for one, they're comparatively less well documented in terms of strategy (I am not saying I going to discover anything new, but I might).

[Adalbertus]

Originally posted by joncnunn
What???, there's no way the Hive is the best, they have a very serious economic problem early in the game.

For the first 20 turns, yes (unless you are lucky with a special or river). Your first tech should be Centauri Ecology, giving formers (especially with Yang). Plant forests and farms. Exploit that you can run PS/Planned without penalty. Gives you bigger bases than everyone else, or two formers per base instead of one.

I'd guess the only even more easy faction are the Drones. Compensate your research penalty by initially building 18 bases instead of 9 (huge map assumed). Build like crazy.

Btw. playing the Drones I discovered that "no research during first ten turns" is an inherent property of -2 Research, and not specific to Miriam ...

[VoidEvils]

Hercules has a good point. I'd say that "boring" would be the deciding factor. But hey, that's just me.

[Jac de Molay]

Originally posted by Hercules
I am never quite sure what is meant by 'worst faction'.

This is a good point, and I define the worst faction as meaning least flexible, and why I stick with miriam. The research and planet penalties are like an albatross, and I always get the feeling Im just sitting there shuffling units around, especially if there's no nearby neighbors to hassle.

[AMD4EVER]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay


This is a good point, and I define the worst faction as meaning least flexible, and why I stick with miriam. The research and planet penalties are like an albatross, and I always get the feeling Im just sitting there shuffling units around, especially if there's no nearby neighbors to hassle.

The worst one is the one that wins the least often under the standard settings IMO.