AI been kicking my ass for a while now, any tips?

[115Ironwolf]

Highest I've been able to muster is two 6k fleets, mean while the UNE is bring that amount in spades.

[HappySack]

Always disable advanced empires as they get unfair advantages over anyone else, otherwise lower the difficulty to ensign or cadet if that wasn't the case.

[Crai-Crai]

I find that the AI tends to rush big fleets in the early game, sacrificing their tech and economy to do it, or maybe they just get big bonuses at the start of the game, regardless of "scaling difficulty." If you hold out defensively and tech up, and get some defensive agreements, and get better at managing your economy, you should be able to scale up later in the game to expand and fight back. I find that the AI has trouble keeping up over the course of a full game.

I think the AI has gotten smarter lately too, so they are putting up a much stronger fight in recent patches, to the point where I have to scale back the difficulty level to have a good game. There's no shame in going easier or restarting if it helps you enjoy the game. Grand Admiral isn't for everyone.

Find a couple good choke-points and defend them well. Be prepared to surrender a system in the early game. Focus on tech and good relations. Fine-tune your economy. Don't over-expand. Find a play style with an empire design that works for your play style, that you enjoy.

And if you find yourself rage-quitting, go play something else for a while.

[Razorblade]

Option 1: Focus more of your production on Alloys. Basic resources can always be bought (relatively cheaply) from the Market or produced in Starbases, but those planetary Districts are vital for your Alloy production.

Option 2: Focus diplomacy and join/create a Federation. The AI will build all of the ships you could ever need to defend yourself, while you contribute next to nothing.

[Sero]

Use Scaling Difficulty.
That way you start at the same point as the AI but the Ai still has the boni to help them not completely crumble by mid-game.

[Druitt]

Hard to tell. What difficulty level?

I've generally found that envoys (with the target empire), maybe a defensive treaty (with another empire), a well-prepared starbase and a reasonable fleet docked there can hold off invaders.

I have gotten rushed in a game or two. At least once, I think it was due to my neighbor buying a fleet from the Scrappers. Had a funny name and was too large.