How do I build a strong economy

[navycruiser]

Every system I claim, cost one energy and every station I build whether mining or energy costs one energy, so how try to know which systems are viable systems and will enhance my economy? Before long I find myself needing 100 ore per month because of advanced buildings and I find myself needing a lot more money. When I run into another race it usually their fleet is overpowering, their economy is equivalent and their technology is equivalent. Can somebody please help me?

[Mistfox]

Claiming systems, it's better to look in terms of security rather than resources, claim choke points and everything else within.

For advance buildings, those that need minerals are usually the strategic resource buildings but in reality you don't need that many of them so if you built less of them, it should help.

Lots of things to do to get an economy going, for example, if you can trade, use either wealth creation or the one that gives you credits and amenities. Leaders give +3% resources per level, change your colony designation to "rural colony" to get +3% to all basic resources produced, use edicts as your "get out of jail" card, build things like Energy Nexus, Food Processing and Mineral Purification Center etc.

If your fleet is not in a war, park it on a starbase with crew quarters to reduce upkeep, it helps for big fleets.

[Meewec]

make sure you only build jobs when you need them, especially specialist jobs since those will take away from your basic workers. you don't need to build buildings right away either, just build either when you can afford the building or when you need whatever it is that you're going to be building.

also, don't forget to keep up with science generation. there's some buildings and resource boosting techs that are useful but you'll never see them if you keep expanding but don't ever boost your science.

[Xaphnir]

You're probably seeing overwhelming fleet strength because you're not building enough ships. You may need to build up your naval capacity to match them, or just build more. Early game, though, you don't necessarily need a large fleet unless you're planning to be aggressive. Bastion starbases are typically stronger than fleets early on, so claim chokepoints and build bastion starbases at the ones hostile empires are likely to attempt to attack through.

[navycruiser]

I'm using the evolved hyper lanes mod and I don't think i've connected to and anybody but what are choke points I'm a pacifist and I have efficient bureaucracy I have discovered destroyer, right now I have three Corvette, but the upkeep for each science ship is equivalent to one destroyer so how big should my military fleet be.

[Schanez]

Basics:
1. Early on expand towards choke points and then fill in your little pocket of space.
2. Basic resources are Energy, Minerals and Food for the Empire. Amenities for the planet.
3. Each planet has the potential to build Mining, Generator and Agriculture districts. Each of those provide 2 jobs producing Minerals, Energy or Food.
4. Early on, use your planet to fill in the missing part of the Holy Trio. Food can be only grown planetside, untill you do some research. If you are in a Mineral rich space area, build more Generator Districts, if you have lots of Energy around, focus more on Mining Districts.
5. As Meewec said, don't rush with upgrading buildings as soon as you can. See how many free jobs you have on your planet. If it is anything bigger than 5, don't upgrade. The way it works, you have three tiers of workers. Lower tier will always upgrade to higher when possible.

Worker Tiers explanation:
1. Workers are divided into Rulers, Specialists and Workers.
2. Ruler Jobs are created by Capital Buildings and some specialized buildings from research and some civics and traditions.
3. Specialist Jobs are your Manufacturing and Research workers. Alloy Foundries, Civilian Industry Factories, Research Labs. Also Enforcers, all of the special resources manufacturing plants and cannot forget about Artists.
4. Worker Jobs are the most menial tasks. Miners, Farmers, Technicians, Soldiers and Clerks.

Worker Tier dynamics:
Consider your starting planet. You begin with a Capital Building (2 Administrator Jobs, 1 Enforcer Job), Research Lab (2 Researcher Jobs), Alloy Foundry (2 Mettalurgist Jobs) and a Civilian Industry Factory (2 Cultural Worker Jobs) as well as 3 Citi Districts (3 Clerk Jobs), 2 of Generator, Mining ang Agriculture Districts (2 Technician, Miner and Farmer Jobs).

That gives us:
2 Ruler Jobs:
- Administrator

7 Specialist Jobs:
- Researcher
- Metalurgist
- Culture Worker
- Enforcer

9 Worker Jobs:
- Clerk
- Farmer
- Technician
- Miner

Now what happens when you build a second Alloy Foundry, is simple. You create 2 new Speciallist jobs. Two Workers will see the jobs open and free and will go to work there, leaving their current assignments. Which in turn leaves two new jobs on the Worker level empty. Untill new pops grow, they remain empty unless you manualy prioritize the jobs on their tier.

What happens when you upgrade all buildings at once, is probably the fact, all Workers move up to work in the Specialist jobs, leaving your planet's base resource production jobs empty.

Originally posted by navycruiser:

I'm using the evolved hyper lanes mod and I don't think i've connected to and anybody but what are choke points I'm a pacifist and I have efficient bureaucracy I have discovered destroyer, right now I have three Corvette, but the upkeep for each science ship is equivalent to one destroyer so how big should my military fleet be.

As high as you can get. Usualy I build up to 20 Corvettes by the second, third year of gameplay.

[Meewec]

Originally posted by navycruiser:

I'm using the evolved hyper lanes mod and I don't think i've connected to and anybody but what are choke points I'm a pacifist and I have efficient bureaucracy I have discovered destroyer, right now I have three Corvette, but the upkeep for each science ship is equivalent to one destroyer so how big should my military fleet be.

choke points are systems that provide the only way or one of very few ways into an area on the hyperlane network
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1777966078
like patraggor in this screenshot, it's the only way in on that border so it makes a good place for a defensive starbase to keep aggressive empires out. after the early game you'd also need a fleet near them to help keep it secure from attacks but early game these starbases can outgun fleets and keep you safe as long as they have to fight the station.

[Mistfox]

Originally posted by navycruiser:

how big should my military fleet be.

Fill up your fleet cap big. Then build anchorages and logistics offices and build even more fleet. Try not to get below 100 in fleet cap once you are more set up and in the endgame, don't be too surprised to see things like 2000 in fleet cap. And the painful thing is, even 2000 cap in ships can sometimes only last you one battle.

[Schanez]

Originally posted by Meewec:

(...)After the early game you'd also need a fleet near them to help keep it secure from attacks but early game these starbases can outgun fleets and keep you safe as long as they have to fight the station.

Research FTL Inhibitors as soon as you can. That baby forces any enemy fleet to either fight the station or retreat along the same hyperlane.

As for fleet size. Early on you should always top off at least one fleet. So starting 20 Corvettes should be a priority, although not to the point of hindering your economy. Never go above Naval Capacity unless you can tank the increased costs. When you enter mid game, around 2300 you should be able to support two fleets with maxed fleet capacity.

I am currently in the year aprox 2350 and have a fleet with 186/190 and am building a second that will be 190/190. Each has a Titan and a few Battleships, but mostl Destroyers and Corvettes.

[NixBoxDone]

Several things.

First: have every pop growth modifier you can. Pops equal jobs equal output.

Second: multiple planets, at least 4 or 5 even if you go tall. You can do more with less if you know exactly what you're doing, but if you're asking for advice on how to make a stable econ you probably aren't there yet.

Third: Specializing planets is key, but that's late-game. Don't be afraid to build food/mineral or generator districts on a planet you wish to specialize until your empire has caught up enough to no longer need them.

Fourth: only build new districts or new buildings when you have pops about to grow up and become unemployed. Prior to that, all those buildings do is take up space, eat minerals you might have needed elsewhere and provide jobs you might not actually need when pops finally grow to fill them.

Fifth: buying and selling stuff on the market is fine, but keep it in moderation. I used to have my empire entirely built around making alloys and then selling them for ludicrous prices to buy other stuff, but after a game or two where my economy almost collapsed because something I was buying in huge amounts suddenly got cheaper or the alloys I sold stopped staying at the same value because there was a period of peace, I reconsidered.

Sixth: only use edicts when you are in danger of running afoul of your influence cap or if you need to fill a heavily depleted stockpile after a sudden large need for any one resource.
Edicts can boost your econ by a lot, but inexperienced players often activate them and then build their econ around them - when they run out and you lack the influence to renew them, that can quickly lead to a snowball effect.
Your minerals run out, your consumer goods stop getting produced, your pops become unhappy, they stop being productive, everything else runs out, you go bust.
Instead, use it as a multiplier to build a surplus in times of peace when influence is abundant, but keep your economy self-sustaining even without using them so you're not hanging yourself on your own influence income.

This should easily get you to mid-game, where tech and unity traditions should start to reduce upkeep, consumer good needs and other expenses while boosting individual pop productivity.

At that point you can start to specialize planets. Build a research-focused relic world, one or two rural planets to produce raw resources, a planet or two to pump out your consumer goods and alloys. Replace districts on planets where you only have 1 or 2 mining/farming districts to maximize housing/generators, start building habitats over planetary bodies with minerals and energy credits to supply more of your basic needs.
Construct the buildings that boost specific resource outputs on your newly specialized planets and you should see a large increase in production there, too.
This should turn a self-sufficient economy into one that produces a large surplus to fuel your alloy needs for the future.

[Xaphnir]

Originally posted by navycruiser:

right now I have three Corvette

That's why you're seeing overwhelming fleet strength, then. All you have are the three corvettes you started with. A quick guide on what the relative power terms mean:

Pathetic: <0.25x your power
Inferior: 0.25-0.5x your power
Equivalent 0.5-2x your power
Superior 2-4x your power
Overwhelming >4x your power

In your case, merely building 9 additional corvettes since the start of the game would give an empire overwhelming fleet strength relative to you.