How do I get more influence early game?

[skyhrg]

It's like +3 or +4. But I want to expand and conquer much more, especially early game.

What are some tips...?

[Immortalis]

Have authoritarian ethic, build ships, rival other empires or vassalise them as your protectorates.

That’s about as much as you can do in the early game

[Geoff]

Originally posted by skyhrg:

It's like +3 or +4. But I want to expand and conquer much more, especially early game.

What are some tips...?

Power projection is an influence bonus that scales to your empire size, so investing in corvettes early is a good way to accomplish it. You also need alloys to build the starbases, so focus early on alloy production.

Setting your diplomatic stance to "expansionist" will lower the influence cost of building starbasees.

Bum rushing the "expansion" tradition tree will also lower the cost of starbase construction substantially.

Close your borders to anyone you don't need to befriend - either by default through the policies or as soon as you've established contact.

Rush out in a tendril fashion towards enemy frontiers, then develop from the outside back inwards. The AI won't build new starbases three systems away from it's frontier, so when you connect a border and don't want to seal it, get everything adjacent to it to prevent the AI from hopping over you.

After you've taken the traditions that lower construction costs, if you're in a big hurry, take a close look at adopting "diplomacy" before you've completed "expansoin". It cuts the influence cost of treaties in half, which allows you to sign a few defensive pacts, which then allows you to spend less on warships and more on filling in the undeveloped bubbles you've sealed off early on.

[Comrade Burrito]

The Domination tree also has a tradition that provides a flat +0.5 Influence income bonus. It's also good if you plan on having a lot of slaves later on... Also, completing first contact events always grants a decent Influence bonus, so don't let the xenos finish those before you do.

[HappySack]

Easiest way early on is to expand your fleet so you can get up to 2 influence per month and the best part is that you don't even need any components on them.

Another way is to adopt the proactive first contact policy for a much larger increase to influence when you complete a first contact.

[skyhrg]

Originally posted by HappySack:

Easiest way early on is to expand your fleet so you can get up to 2 influence per month and the best part is that you don't even any components on them.

Do you mean that just by having a 20/20 fleet, I get more influence per month? And it's capped at +2 influence/month?

[HappySack]

Originally posted by skyhrg:

Do you mean that just by having a 20/20 fleet, I get more influence per month? And it's capped at +2 influence/month?

It's a max of +2 based on the Power Projection mechanic that Geoff explained which i also should have elaborated better, the calculation is just fleet capacity used divided by empire size.

[Hyperion]

Play Assimilators. They have high base Influence income and you can conquer enemy systems for free.

[baritune]

I've never been able to get better than +3 and a bit in Influence. My Fleet strength is at 20/20.

I have a defensive pact with one empire, and a non-aggression pact with another. The defensive pact is costing me 1.00 Loyalty, the non-aggression only .25. How do I replace the defensive pact with non-aggression, and will it cost me Diplomatic relations to do that?

Also, how do I learn the terrain types preferred by a species who's offering me a migration deal? I've been agreeing, then pretend to build a Colony ship so I can learn what terrain the new colonists prefer. But I wonder if breaking a migration treaty once it's made has a political or diplomatic cost.

[mss73055]

Get phobe, civis and the ascension perk to lower starbase cost.

[baritune]

What's a phobe, and how do I get one? Ditto for civis, I don't know what that is.

I start with the Exploration tradition, and then get -10% Starbase cost when I start, and another 20% off when I take my first ascension perk. This gets my cost down to 52 by the time I'm building my 4th or 5th Starbase.

I'm expanding my fleets sooner, which gives me some fractional Influence, and I'm being careful who I make Migration treaties with, so as not to cost Influence with species that prefer the same worlds I do. I generally stay out of trade and research agreements, due to the Influence cost, but if I can increase my Influence gain, I'd like to do more of those.

[argrond]

1. More influence
- Leaders with its increase as a trait.
- Authoritarian ethic.
- One of Domination traditions give you +0.5.
- Less empire size, more fleet power.
- Explore anomalies and choose influence-containing choices from them.
- You can also have more influence from inspecting some planet issues, for that you need 4-5 more planets colonized and have some luck on your side.

2. Mitigate influence consumption
- Leaders (scientists in particular) have the trait which mitigates influence consumption per outpost.
- Fanatic xenophobia gives a lot of mitigation of influence consumption per outpost and per other empires systems' claims.
- One of Expansion traditions gives you -10% influence consumption per outpost.

Should be enough for "early game". )

Be aware that other empires, especially your neighbors, will be very annoyed if you will occupy systems within their interest zone. The more you do it - the more likely for you to get an early war or two, sometimes - with multiple enemies. So be sure to build a strong fleet and improve it regularly with new tech.

Also a tip I'm exploiting and which gives a lot of systems to occupy - right from the start try to explore galaxy in every direction possible, ignore dead ends made by stagnant empires, expand your borders in as many directions as you can afford.
If you encounter an empire - prioritize expanding in its direction, do everything possible to find its bottleneck system and occupy it before that empire does. Ideally, you can bottleneck it in its home system, build a starbase from outpost nearby and be ready to either get a war declaration from it and to defend (good fleet and a bit of smart tactics needed), or declare war yourself and consume that empire while its still in vulnerable shape.

Btw, forgot to mention: you are getting significant amount of influence per each successful contact with any other empire (means you have to be the one to establish communication with it and not vice versa), including auxiliary ones like spaceborne aliens (tiyanki, crystallines and such). So be sure to explore as much of galaxy as possible, fleet of 1 ship with captain is good enough to do that.

[Wizzen One]

You have a navy cap number, exceed it. The more you exceed the more influence you will have. Oh, I think making rivals helps too.

[Kufesska]

Originally posted by Wizzen One:

You have a navy cap number, exceed it. The more you exceed the more influence you will have.

wrong

[Elitewrecker PT]

It's not about exceeding naval cap, it's a relation between used naval capacity and your empire size.

[MeniliteZ]

Originally posted by Geoff:

Rush out in a tendril fashion towards enemy frontiers, then develop from the outside back inwards. The AI won't build new starbases three systems away from it's frontier, so when you connect a border and don't want to seal it, get everything adjacent to it to prevent the AI from hopping over you.

I'm confused about this tip (which you gave me too) because you have to go back and fill in, and skipping systems causes the needed influence for a starbase to increase. Skipping 1 system causes it to double, skipping 2 triple, etc.. Wouldn't skipping require you to use way more influence?

Unless you've found an empire way far away from your borders, but ... if you have to wait for the influence to fill that high to build a starbase out there, why not build starbases on the route to there as it fills?


Unless you somehow have hundreds of influence stored up for just such an occasion... but I don't see how that's possible.