Issue with hack and essence as a Necromancer.

[Octavian Dresden]

So I've been playing the necro and am having a tough time finding enough hack points and essence. I've been trying to hack the rifts but at 40 hack points per rift it goes through my points fast, and killing the crusader bases and units doesn't give me all that much in total. I also am having issues getting essence where the feeble elderling give decent essence but I'll only find one and the others give such little essence (aside from being hacked, which as I said I'm having trouble finding points for) that I can't take over a system to lower the hack cost of a rift or upgrade any of my ships. And waiting for the elderlings to level up means just sitting for a long time not doing anything because I don't have the points to push. Any tips on getting more of each?

[Strategic Sage]

If you capture planets the cost of Rift hacks is halved. I think it also depends on what you mean by 'a long time'. After an hour I find myself swarming in more high-mark Elderlings than I can spit at. The most hacking will come from Templar structures. Spreading through the galaxy (not necessarily in clusters) as quickly as possible is very beneficial on Necromancer, to knock down the Templar structures and limit them and also to be able to reach more of the elderlings.

I also highly recommend conserving your essence more than you are probably doing based on the description. I.e. always having 15 left allows you to move your phylactery. If you are constantly low on essence then I suggest having a goal of pushing out more to hit more elderlings rather than doing more hacks/taking territory. It's basically a balance between the various goals.