What's the best approach to research?

[Corvus_Alt1]

Vague question that's almost certainly contextual I know, but I can't get past turn 30 without suddenly becoming very anxious, and I haven't finished a single game yet. Is it generally better to focus on exploiting technologies in the current era as opposed to picking up all of the useful ones in the previous one, or is it permissible to pick up more than nine techs per era when they're particularly useful? How about when playing as a science heavy faction like the Vaulters?

[Dies Irae]

it isn't the tech you're doing wrong, it's the whole strategy. Think bigger.
Turns 1-50 are meant for two things: explore and expand.

If you can cut off your opponents from key regions it's basically a win. Well, and if enemy cutts you off those it's a lost game. Period.

[Jiks]

Very difficult question TBH.

First thing to consider, are you going to go for a science victory? As the Vaulters it's very viable ... but if so you have to ruthless about research choices. Any more than 45 before you get the era 6 ones makes those increasingly expensive and they are bad enough as it is.

More generally, try to minimise the the ones that require buildings to benefit from, especially those that need workers to use. For example, Dust Refinery gives a passive bonus, Dust Depository gives + dust per assigned worker. If you are not going to have a heavy worker emphasis on that, the first one is better value. I tend to have worker focus on industry and science to start with so I only get techs that support that. That's just playstyle though ...

I try to stick to 9 per era, perhaps going back to an early era later on if if something from there is now vital. Thing to ask yourself is, can I manage without this tech? If so miss it out, every tech researched makes all later ones more expensive.

Another thing to consider is strategics, if you go science heavy for example, even the Vaulters might run out of titanium if you build a lot of city fortification buildings as those need loads too and you will likely need a goodly amount for army equipment too. So if the buildings/equipment from a tech are going blow your strategics reserve that can probably be missed too.

This is very difficult bit of the game to get right, it's good design as it presents us players with painful choices and it's often only obvious afterwards that the wrong call was made ...

[Corvus_Alt1]

Okay, so lets say Vaulters, Science Victory. What techs would you generally want to get no matter what? Right now, I''m thinking that the Foundry, Glassteel/Titanium Extractor, Empire Mint, Cultivation, Language Square and Sewer would be all useful, and that would leave just one slot left for the Dawn Officer before hitting Era II. But what if I start somewhere where my capital region and most/all of my neighboring regions have lots of rivers and inland lakes? Should I drop one or two techs to get Aquapulvistics and Aquaculture for extra dust and food, or just eat the science cost hit and go for a 10th technology? If I start in regions with enormous amounts of science producing tiles, should I take Topography as an extra era I tech in the hopes that the net science boost will offset the increased cost, or should I still drop one tech? And in both situations, should I make it a point to wait until a later era before I start researching extra techs, and if so when? Oh, and is it always worth taking the Era II imperial coinage tech that enables access to the market place?

Also, if there's any consensus on what techs should be taken by all factions no matter what for, say the first 2 or 3 eras, I would appreciate the advice, as well as any advice on when to build new cities. Right now I'm following a rule to only build an extra city every 20 turns or so, only after I've already spent my influence points on the empire plan. Finally, while I do understand how boroughs, tile tiers and city planning work, I don't yet know how that affects where manufactured units emerge, or how multiple bouroughs affect combat when a city is attacked; is everything still tied to the original city tile regardless of what direction you expand the boroughs, or does the actual city center move whenever you expand further out in a particular direction?

[Jiks]

OK Vaulters/Science victory. Assuming standard sort of start location, the 7 extra techs after the free Library/luxury extractor techs I'd go for would be:

Mill Foundry/Alchemist Furnace/Mint/Dawn Officer/Mercenary Market/Topography and either Sewer System or Cultivation. If industry is low and it's not realistic to build all those things I'd miss one of the last 2 for now and get Parley, which is needed later anyway IIRC. For a science victory I'd always get Topography for that +5 science per worker in what will later be your science factory, where all the other one-off science buildings will be too.

If there is loads of *something* like rivers, lakes and such it might well be worth that 10th tech. TBH you can take as many as you like from each era as long as you don't go past 45 total, the number that triggers era 6.

Imperial Coinage ... everyone else swears by it but I often miss it out as I always get banned at the vital moment ><. If you want to pacify via quests it's pretty vital though, I usually just splat all the villages then rebuild afterwards. Both ways work, however.

Your expansion pace sounds sensible to me. The units always appear on the original city centre tile, unless you already have an armry on it, in which case it will be an adjacent one.

Boroughs do have a big impact of combat and thats another whole subject ^^

[foetus sub mundi]

It's perfectly acceptable to go back to earlier tiers for techs. Earlier techs give improvements that can be built with less industry, and they cost slightly less science to research. Especially for a science build, you should probably go back to earlier tiers frequently in order to speed your progress through the tiers, because you're not going to be able to build everything you research anyways.

Every faction, with every play style, should probably research Mill Foundry, Seed Storage (if they can), Public Library, Empire Mint, Alchemist Furnace, Meritocratic Promotion, and T3 and T4 extractor techs. Bread and Circuses is probably a must for everyone except Cultist.

I agree with Jiks, your settler strategy sounds sensible. There are alternative strategies that also work.

The city center never moves. Siege can be laid from any tile adjacent to any district that can grant movement onto that district (so be careful of flyers, who can siege from a cliff immune to counterattack from non-flyers). Battlefield terrain and reinforcements are determined from the particular district attacked, not from the city center.

[Sze]

Let's say each tech costs 10 science per era and each subsequent tech costs 10% more than the previous one. If you research an era 4 then an era 3, the cost is 73 (40 + 30 *1.1) and if you do the inverse it's 74 (30 + 40 * 1.1). So it's more economical to research from the later eras backwards in terms of total science spent. But ... if you research era 3 before 4, then you'll get the era 3 tech quicker so you'll have more opportunity with an extra tech. My point is that you should probably always pick the most useful tech from any era available. If going for a science victory, maybe you want to always pick the higher era techs first and/or limit the later era techs to speed things up.

I tend to only get a few techs from the later eras because the buildings are so expensive most of my cities won't make use of them. By era 4 you should know the path(s) you want to get to victory and you can priotitize accordingly. I always get resource mines, more minor factions, and greater army size; pretty much everything else is situational.

[Corvus_Alt1]

Thanks for the advice everyone! It feels good not having to play so blindly. Wish me luck!

[Root]

Agreed with FSM that the Era 1 passive techs are pretty much essential. However, I've been skipping Bread & Circuses lately and making up for it with luxuries. In later eras (after resource techs) I prioritize Management Sciences, Central Market, Dust Refinery, and Plow Factory. In Era 5 I may only get Improved Dust Alchemy before going back to earlier eras. Some of those later techs cost too much both to research and to build. Also, some have useless bonuses like happiness. I've always had a healthy number of luxuries by that point. But a crazy expansionist or someone playing with luxuries set to a low level could benefit from those, I guess.

Some of my favorite techs are ones I go back an era or two for. Topography and Aquapulvistics might not make my first 9, but expansion makes them stronger. Cargo Docks is another favorite that may not be useful when it first unlocks but can be pretty powerful once you have more access to coastal waters.

I only do single player, so my advice is probably useless in multiplayer.

[articulate]

Every faction ought to research techs related to industry and food, if you play the Broken Lords, then you sub food with Dust. Science techs are obviously beneficial as well. And these are your top 2 sub 1 priority. Influence is only ever useful for your empire plan/if playing as the Cultists. You get them as you can. If facing the Roving Clans, I aim to wipe these trolls off the map as fast as I can so I don't have to bother about nullifying their bans.

Generally what everyone has said is the standard RO(Research Order) at the start of the game, there is very little deviation unless one gets the quest that gives a very good reward for being at peace with another faction in the next 10 turns.

A few techs are almost never taken, Search Party is one of them.

[Corvus_Alt1]

So, I'm in Era II at the moment, and I'm stuck on my last tech decision for that era. I'm currently playing Vaulters on a few continents map, most of my regions have access to open ocean, and it looks like I'm sharing the continent with the Cultists and the Broken Lords (though none of them have met me yet, I've just seen their borders).

Because I am on a few continents map, I'm wondering if perhaps I should take Shipyard so I can embark units to search for other continents? Or would that be a waste since the Vaulters would probably follow a strategy of relative self-sufficiency? I'm torn since I do want to pick up Cargo Docks in Era III, and it would seem to make sense for me to try and find other factions to trade with over the open ocean. Other choices I'm considering are Central Markets or Hydrology. I considered Diplomat's Manse, but then a perpetual state of cold war with all factions seems tolerable at the moment.

[Dies Irae]

Originally posted by Corvus917:

So, I'm in Era II at the moment, and I'm stuck on my last tech decision for that era. I'm currently playing Vaulters on a few continents map, most of my regions have access to open ocean, and it looks like I'm sharing the continent with the Cultists and the Broken Lords (though none of them have met me yet, I've just seen their borders).

Because I am on a few continents map, I'm wondering if perhaps I should take Shipyard so I can embark units to search for other continents? Or would that be a waste since the Vaulters would probably follow a strategy of relative self-sufficiency? I'm torn since I do want to pick up Cargo Docks in Era III, and it would seem to make sense for me to try and find other factions to trade with over the open ocean. Other choices I'm considering are Central Markets or Hydrology. I considered Diplomat's Manse, but then a perpetual state of cold war with all factions seems tolerable at the moment.

Hmm. Depends on the type of the victory you want and the resources you posess. If you're going after science victory, it's a matter of related researches, boosters, empire plan and as much regions with water/ice to control as possible.

Shipyard is a must if you're after elimination victory.

Rest, well, isn't that important.

As for the DIplomacy values and such - the only two vanilla factions that really benefit from Diplomacy are Roving Clans and Drakken. Wild Walkers can benefit from it a lot, too - but the rest are better at other types of victories.

[Corvus_Alt1]

Well, I suppose I'm primarily focused on getting a Science victory, and I suppose a principle of autarky and self-sufficiency is prudent considering just how many regions are stil available for me to expand into. Guess I can safely discard shipyard for now Thanks for replying!

[Dies Irae]

Originally posted by Corvus917:

Well, I suppose I'm primarily focused on getting a Science victory, and I suppose a principle of autarky and self-sufficiency is prudent considering just how many regions are stil available for me to expand into. Guess I can safely discard shipyard for now Thanks for replying!

You're always welcome.

[Corvus_Alt1]

Okay, after looking at the tech tree again, I've broken the choice down to either Managerial Science or Central Markets. The former would be handy because all of my regions are between 30-50% forest with lots of room for industrial growth, while the latter would be handy strictly for the approval, food and dust bonuses. Thoughts?

[Jiks]

Originally posted by Corvus917:

Okay, after looking at the tech tree again, I've broken the choice down to either Managerial Science or Central Markets. The former would be handy because all of my regions are between 30-50% forest with lots of room for industrial growth, while the latter would be handy strictly for the approval, food and dust bonuses. Thoughts?

Well, they are both extremely useful. I'd base it on the approval level of your cities, if they are all Fervent now or will be once the luxury extractors are on line, miss Central Markets. Otherwise, get that ASAP, having cities Fervent boosts industry probably as much the Forestry improvements would, as well as food and security.