Manifold Nexus

[Darrell01]

Ok, so what does this do? Once you get to it, you get +1 Planet? Is it the first to get there gets it, or it is all people who get there? Or do you have to place a city there? I do remember in a game suddenly having +1 planet and I had no idea where it came from. I just thought it had bugged.

[Leon Trotsky]

The player whose territory includes the central tile of the Manifold Nexus gets the benefit. That could lead to some strange situations; two neighbours might repeatedly gain and lose it as a consequence of building additional bases close to the border, or one might get +1 Planet without ever having discovered it. The tile cannot be submerged, and maybe it cannot be raised either (got to check that out).

[Hydro]

The Nexus is one of my favorite features of Planet after the Jungle. There is no downside to having +1 Planet, even if you are busy raping Planet, running FM, and spewing out ecodamage or if you are granola-munchy - it can only help you.

For instance, one variable in ecodamage is your Planet rating so getting the Nexus will help if you're running FM and, of course, capturing MWs requires at least a +1. For the Gaiains going from +1 to +2 Planet is a big deal, especially if you're trolling the seas for Isle of the Deep (IoDs) (read that, slurping up Unity pods, hauling probe teams to wreak green havoc on your enemies, or just exploring). Your IoDs have a better chance surviving with an increased Planet rating. I like pairing IoDs with a 1-2-4 foil or later a 1-2-4e (empath) foil so they take the heat. An IoD is a terrible thing to waste...

Hydro

[Leon Trotsky]

I love the Manifold Nexus. It may be the most powerful lanmark to land on, even better than the monsoon jungle. All of the above is true, but the Planet benefit shines its most on the very beggining of the game. Any faction that starts near it will have an enormous boost in pod popping and a good chance of getting a worm army to rush unready opponents. The psi combat benefit will make exploring even safer.

Later into the game, it is still a nice landmark to have, but by no means a gamebreaker.

[Mead]

Originally posted by Leon Trotsky
The player whose territory includes the central tile of the Manifold Nexus gets the benefit. That could lead to some strange situations; two neighbours might repeatedly gain and lose it as a consequence of building additional bases close to the border, or one might get +1 Planet without ever having discovered it. The tile cannot be submerged, and maybe it cannot be raised either (got to check that out).

I think I've managed to destroy its usefulness once by teraforming it. I don't think it likes being turned into something like a borehole.

Mead

[Sikander]

I wouldn't rank it as highly as the Monsoon Jungle. In fact I'd probably take a well-placed special or river over it at the beginning of the game. But it is a nice bonus, and more important if you are building a Green army.

[Hydro]

+1 energy in a few squares of a river vs the ability to get free mindworms, easy movement in fungus, loads of PlantePearls, and an early army that can be used to severely harm/overwhelm an opponent - especially early in the game? Consider a +1 Planet University fighting the Gaians: tech+MWs = dead Gaians. Or +1 Planet Morgan (!!!), Hive, or anyone else fighting another faction - e.g. Gaian abilities with their own advantages intact. +1 Planet is very versatile. Hmmm, seems like a no-brainer to me.

I have to admit I like Monsoon better, though, for sheer growth horsepower.

Or better yet, both! No that I'm greedy or anything...

Hydro

[Darrell01]

Holy cow, I'm building a borehole on mine right now! Time to put an end to that!

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Hydro
+1 energy in a few squares of a river vs the ability to get free mindworms, easy movement in fungus, loads of PlantePearls, and an early army that can be used to severely harm/overwhelm an opponent - especially early in the game? Consider a +1 Planet University fighting the Gaians: tech+MWs = dead Gaians. Or +1 Planet Morgan (!!!), Hive, or anyone else fighting another faction - e.g. Gaian abilities with their own advantages intact. +1 Planet is very versatile. Hmmm, seems like a no-brainer to me.

I have to admit I like Monsoon better, though, for sheer growth horsepower.

Or better yet, both! No that I'm greedy or anything...

Hydro

I'd take the monsoon over the nexus but I think I would prefer the nexus over most other landmarks particularly if playing a faction that I want to go maritime . The benefits of just 2-3 captured IODs with passengers can be huge in popped pods, instabuilds and exploration

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Hydro
+1 energy in a few squares of a river vs the ability to get free mindworms, easy movement in fungus, loads of PlantePearls, and an early army that can be used to severely harm/overwhelm an opponent - especially early in the game? Consider a +1 Planet University fighting the Gaians: tech+MWs = dead Gaians. Or +1 Planet Morgan (!!!), Hive, or anyone else fighting another faction - e.g. Gaian abilities with their own advantages intact. +1 Planet is very versatile. Hmmm, seems like a no-brainer to me.

I have to admit I like Monsoon better, though, for sheer growth horsepower.

Or better yet, both! No that I'm greedy or anything...

Hydro

Don't underestimate the turn advantage you can gain if you land on a river and can quickly found two bases on river tiles. The movement bonus of course makes this possible, and the energy is significant for the first couple of decades of the game. Depending on your faction it can be huge (I'm thinking Yang here), reducing the time to get crawlers significantly. Most of the advantages of the Nexus come a bit later and thus for me aren't as powerful.

[Aabraxan]

Obviously, I want to possess both the Monsoon Jungle and the Manifold Nexus. If I have to choose one, though, I'd have to go with Monsoon Jungle, especially in the early game. Maybe it's a factor of my inexperience, or the fact that I've played Yang more than any other faction (though I'm working on remedying that), but I don't get much use out of that +1 Planet until later in the game. Monsoon Jungle, on the other hand, is an immediate benefit. Pair tons of food with +1 growth and you can make an early pod factory, or even several.

[Hydro]

Sikander,

I completely agree with the turn advantage - think of the utility of speeding along on fungus as roads. Also, MWs are terrific for defense of weakly defended early bases since they can hold off (and attack if they are strong enough) a horde of MWs. All others are dead meat, especially if they are so unfortunate as to be in fungus. The raw energy from MW Planetpearls are huge when energy is so thin on the early game - 20 energy from one worm is more than you may make in a decade, depending on your SE energy settings. Think of buying a few recycling tanks early, or a Commons to keep those pesky drones under control. There is also the prospect of safer pod openings. Nothing is worse than an ill timed pod opening that unleashes a horde of cranky MWs - and you only have one or two defenders and terrified formers nearby to do something about it.

That said you are quite correct that a few +1 energy tiles can bump your research noticeably in the very early game, especially for energy shy factions (like Hive). It is all proportional to your total energy take, of course. Rivers are very nice for movement, too, and can be huge getting those first few critical CPs to their destination. And it does take time and resources to putz with the fungus to scare up and then capture MWs.

So, how about lots of rivers, Manifold Nexus, and the Jungle. Heaven on Planet? Miriam would be pleased.

Hydro

[vyeh]

Originally posted by Aabraxan
Monsoon Jungle, on the other hand, is an immediate benefit. Pair tons of food with +1 growth and you can make an early pod factory, or even several.

Where do you get +1 growth?

[Flubber]

Originally posted by vyeh


Where do you get +1 growth?

I think he is continuing to talk as if the HIve is the faction being discussed