------------ |ASCENDANCY| ------------ TECHNOLOGY TREE - Ver 0.1 (no spell check or major editing), 06/16/05 Written by Nathan Williams Copyright 2005 Nathan Williams (StarTours@collegeclub.com) This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright, so there! This guide is the second guide I have written for Ascendancy. This guide covers everything regarding technology including "The Tree" itself, recommended paths to take, what each "bubble" or branch of the tree gives you and the time it takes to complete each bubble and what to look for in Xeno digs. By reading this, I assume you have a basic comprehension of the game and know what the ground rules are. If not, I suggest you read my other GameFaqs guide entitled "Ship/Planet Weapon/Gizmo Guide" which goes into disturbing detail on various weapons and how effective they are. My Ship guide gives a better idea of the interplay between weapons ans ships, important to know if you really really need to waste time researching Strong Force Weakening for a Molecular Disassociator, a dead end in the Tech Tree. TECH TREE AND BUBBLES: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? A valid question for a person new to Ascendancy. Technology is a very important piece in playing the game. Through the discovery of new Technology, one can build better weapons, bigger factories, enhanced planetary defenses and bigger ships. Without keeping your technology up to date, odds are an alien race will be laying siege to your colonies and ships with Nanomanipulators while you try to destroy their Enormous ships using Mass Barage Guns. Technology is advanced under the Research button to the right of the galaxy screen. After you build your first factory, there are three circle (which I will refer to as either branches or bubbles from now on) with possible areas of research you can start developing. Usually, by studying and learning one bubble of technology, you are then able to access other levels of increasing technology. Once you have selected a certain branch, the display will tell you the number of days needed until the research is complete when you can start to build whatever it was you just researched. Eventually, the entire tree becomes full with no further technologies to advance. These branches advance everything from the types of structures built on planets to the types of ship parts (not to mention ship hulls) you can build. Since all other alien races will start out with 0 branches of technology, it can be very advantagous to know which branches to develop in order to get to a certain point or which ones to skip over to save precious days of research time. The number of days it takes to research certain branches can be decreased by building more planetary structures which increase research output, such as Laboratories, Research Campuses, Engineering Retreats, etc. The research output of all your colonies is added together for one race-wide research amount. The more structures you build for research, the higher your total research output is and therefore the faster you can achieve more branches in the tree. The game never openly states your total race-wide research output, but the research from every colony is added together and then factors into the number of days I have written below. (If anyone knows of an on-the-fly method to find out your current research output levels, please let me know so I can add it to this FAQ and give you credit for it.) CALCULATING RESEARCH DAYS The number of days left to research a branch decreases as the total race-wide research output increases, as stated above. The equation used by the game is very strange in calculating research days. The closest approximation I can give is this: (Number of days listed below) Number Research Days Needed = ----------------------------- ((0.5x) + 1.5) where x is your total race-wide research output. This formula is by no means completely accurate for all race-wide research outputs, but it is a rough approximation and is exactly right half the time and very close the rest. BRANCHES AND BUBBLES: WHAT YOU GET & HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GET THERE What it is: Simply put, a listing letting you know what technologies you can get and the number of days needed to invest in research for each bubble. The number of days needed was calculated by going through the entire game with one and ONLY one Laboratory on a white square, making my entire tree completely accurate as all branches were learned with a total research output of 1. Each entry is read as follows: Branch/Bubble name: (# days using one white square Laboratory) - What you can build/use from this branch Accel Energy Replenishment: 12480 - Lush Growth Bomb Action At A Distance: 12960 - Moving Part Exploiter Advanced Chemistry: 100 - Artificial Hydroponifer - Ion Banger Advanced Exploration: 4140 - Ship Hulls (Large) - Star Lane Hyperdrive Advanced Fun Techniques: 5580 - Endless Party - Logic Factory Advanced Interferometry: 90 - Invasion Module - Subspace Phase Array Advanced Planetary Armaments: 12240 - Long Range Orbital Mega Whopper - Surface Mega Shield Cloaking: 1800 - Cloaker - Orbital Cloaker - Surface Cloaker Coherent Photonics: 7000 - Cannibalizer - Ueberlaser Diplomatics: 2000 - Alien Hospitality - Observation Station Doom Mechanization: 37600 - Disintegrator - Self Destructotron Ecosphere Control: 9240 - Fertilization Plant Electromagnetic Field Coupling: 4200 - Aural Cloud Constructor - Electromagnetic Pulser Energy Focusing: 5220 - Accutron - Myrmidonic Carbonizer Energy Redirection: 4400 - Deactotron - Recaller - Sacrificial Orb Environmental Encapsulation: 50 - Colonizer - Colony Base - Ion Wrap Fergnatz's Last Theorem: 10880 - Fergnatz Lens - Gizmogrifier Gravimetric Combustion: 2600 - Gravitron Projector - Toroidial Blaster Gravimetrics: 1320 - Molecular Tie Down - Orbital Docks Gravity Control: 560 - Quantum Singularity Launcher Gravity Flow Control: 12720 - Gravimetric Condensor Hyperdrive Technology: 8800 - Lane Magnetron Hypergeometry: 12920 - Hypersphere Driver - Hyperswapper Hyperlogic: 1120 - Intellect Scramber - Research Campus - X-Ray Megaglasses Hyperradiation: 5040 - Hyperwave Tympanum - Van Creeg Hypersplicer Hyperwave Emission Control: 9460 - Backfirer Hyperwave Technology: 7260 - Hyperwave Nullifier - Orbital Mega Shield Illusionary Machinations: 33000 - Invulnerabilizer Inertial Control: 10080 - Inertia Negator Interplanetary Exploration: 50 - Proton Shaver - Ship Hull (Small & Medium) Large Scale Construction: 4200 - Metroplex - Ship Hull (Enormous) Level Logic: 3300 - Scientist Takeover Light Bending: 2560 - Replenisher - Wave Scatterer Mass Phasing: 2200 - Gravimetric Catapult Matter Duplication: 5040 - Cloning Plant - Disarmer Metagraph Theory: 11760 - Internet Microbiotics: 9020 - Automation Molecular Explosives: 720 - Mass Condensor - Phase Bomb Momentum Deconservation: 280 - Concussion Sheild Momentum Reflection: 4420 - Gravity Distorter Murgatroyd Hypothesis: 5940 - Gyro Inductor - Murgatroyd's Knower - Short Range Orbital Whopper Nanodeflection: 21600 - Nanoshell Nanoenergons: 12580 - Nanotwirler - Nanowave Decoupling Net Nanofocusing: 22080 - Nanomanipulator Nanopropulsion: 17600 - Nanowave Space Bender Orbital Structures: 50 - Orbital Shield - Shipyard Planetary Replenishment: 2560 - Habitat - Terraforming Plasmatics: 5700 - Plasma Coupler - Plasmatron Positron Guidance: 2400 - Industrial Megafacility - Positron Bouncer Power Conversion: 100 - Orbital Missle Base - Subatomic Scoop Repulsion Beam Technology: 7040 - Fleet Disperser Scientific Sorcery: 5400 - Containment Device - Smart Bomb Self-modifing Structures: 12000 - Remote Repair Facility Snooping: 11520 - Lane Endoscope Space Time Surfing: 90 - Starlane Drive Spectral Analysis: 120 - Fourier Missles Star Lane Anatomy: 3450 - Lane Blocker - Lane Destabilizer Stasis Field Science: 3600 - Brunswik Dissipator - Tractor Beam (for planets & ships) Strong Force Weakening: 980 - Molecular Disassociator Subatomics: 3300 - Hyper Powerplant - Quark Express Superconductivity: 100 - Mass Barage Gun - Surface Shield Superstring Compression: 3640 - Hyperfuel Teleinfiltration: 8580 - Shield Blaster - Specialty Blaster Thought Analysis: 7700 - Engineering Retreat Tonklin Diary: 50 - Tonklin Frequency Analyzer - Tonklin Motor Xenobiology: 90 - Xeno Archeologial Dig Observations: NOTE 1: In the early part of the game, it is crucial to get some Labs built quickly in order to take a time & tech advantage over your opponents. Let's look at the first few techs we need in order to build ships, colonize planets and have them travel through Star Lanes (note that invadingwas NOT mentioned). This would then include the branches of Orbital Structures, Tonklin Diary, Environmental Encapsulation, Interplanetary Exploration and Spacetime Surfing. Xenobiology will need to be researched as well as it is the prerequisite for Environmental Encapsulation. These techs all added together come out to 380 days using only one Lab. Scenario 1: If you only built one Lab (and assuming ONLY white squares are used), the earliest possible time you could start building a ship is day 430 (50 days building your first Lab and 380 days of research, assuming you built a Shipyard by then which is easily done). Scenario 2: If you have planets in your home world that look good for colonies (basically NOT Husk or Tiny), and your first few planetary structures went in this order (assume white squares except the first Lab MUST be on a blue square): Agriplot, Factory, Lab(BLUE), Lab, Fact, Shipyard and your first Lab were on a blue square, you could start building NON-Star Lane ships on day 212 (222 makes the most sense ... read on) to colonize those "local" planets. Day 1 would be an Agriplot built in 30 days. The population needs to catch up, so we can't start building anything else until day 37. Build a Factory on day 37, another 30 days. By day 67, the population will have grown and you can start a Lab immeadiately, taking 15 days to build. This Lab MUST be on a BLUE square for this to work. (This is easy enough and you can probably just keep restarting new games until a blue square is within three squares of the colony base.) Day 92 and we can start researching branches. You'll need to research Orbital Structures first so the Shipyard is available when we need it. We can also start another planetary structure on day 92, so choose to build another Lab as we need the research speed to have all the mandatory ship parts available when we need them. On day 117, we can start a new research bubble with Xenobiology and building a Factory in 15 days as the population will grow in only 12 days. We could have started the Shipyard on day 117, but it would have taken 120 days to build. If we first take 15 days to build another Factory, the Shipyard only takes 80 days to build, a net gain of 25 days ((120-(80+15))=25). On day 132, start building your first Shipyard. Day 147 rolls around and we can again research a new bubble, so choose the Tonklin Diary. While the Shipyard is being constructed, begin researching Interplanetary Exploration on day 164, Environmental Encapsulation on day 181 and Spacetime Surfing on day 198. Day 212 brings a new era as our Shipyard is built and we have everything we need for fully functional, colonizing ships ... but no Starlane Drives. A Small ship with one Proton Shaver, one Tonklin Motor and 3 Colonizers would take 69 days to build on day 212. Instead, use day 212 to build a Factory, taking 10 days. On day 222, start the same Small ship (1 Pro Shaver, 1 Tonk Mtr & 3 Colonizers) and it can be built in 52 days, a net gain of 7 days ((69-(10+52)=7). Once Star Lanes have been discovered on day 228, research Advanced Chemistry next as it includes two items you'll actually use, the Artificial Hydroponifer (2x the output of an Agriplot) and the Ion Banger (2x the power of the Tonklin Motor). On day 274, your Small colonizer is ready to seed those first few planets in your home system. You will now need to build at least one Artificial Hydroponifer as your home world will be VERY low on Prosperity output. Scenario 3: If you have no other planets in your home world or only have Husk or Tiny planets in your home world and your first few planetary structures went in this order (assume white squares except the first Lab MUST be on a blue square): Agriplot, Factory, Lab(BLUE), Lab, AGRI, Fact, Shipyard and your first Lab were on a blue square, you could start building Star Lane ships on day 228 (245 makes the most sense ... read on) to go through Star Lanes and colonize new systems. Follow the Scenario 2 instructions until day 117. On this day, build an Agriplot instead of a factory. This will pay off in the long run as all that time while we build the Shipyard, our Prosperity will be higher resulting in 3 people being available after it is built, rather than just 2, meaning more factories later and less waiting for new population. On day 132, build a Factory to get the Shipyard build time down. Day 147 has a flurry of events with Xenobiology researched, the Factory being built and new population. Begin research on the Tonklin Motor and start building the Shipyard, which will take 80 days. While the Shipyard is being constructed, begin researching Interplanetary Exploration on day 164, Environmental Encapsulation on day 181 and Spacetime Surfing on day 198. On day 227, the Shipyard is finally complete, we have 3 people waiting to build, but Star Lane Drives will not be ready for one more day. It is actually a moot point since we are going to want to use 2 out of 3 of those people for Factories before we begin the first ship. I will elucidate: Star Lane Drives will be available on day 228, but we are ready to build on 227. If we start ship building first, we need to wait until day 228, which is why Day 227 below for Test 1 says Wait (Star Lane). Assume a Small ship with a Tonklin Motor, Proton Shaver, a Star Lane Drive and two Colonizers will be built. Ship (XXD) means the above ship will be built in XX days. Day 227 Day 228 Day 237 Day 245 Ship Done Test 1 Wait (SL) Ship (64D) ------> ------> Day 296 Test 2 Factory ------> Ship (49D) ------> Day 286 Test 3 Factory ------> Factory Ship (39D) Day 284 Using this information, we can see it makes the most sense to build two factories and then begin ship building on day 245. So, using what we have learned thus far, here is the cheat sheet for the Scenarios I listed: If some home system planets look good to colonize (Scenario 2): D-### D-001 D-037 D-067 D-092 D-117 D-132 D-147 D-164 D-181 D-198 D-212 D-222 Build Agri Fact Lab-B Lab Fact Shpyd ----> ----> ----> ----> Fact SmShp Reasearch OrbSt Xeno ----> Tonk IntPl EnvEn SpSrf ----> ----> D-228 D-262 D-274 Legend: ----> ----> Done! If these abbreviations do not make sense, read AdvCh PwrCn ----> Scenario 2 above. If NO other home system planets OR they are Tiny/Husk (Scen 3): D-### D-001 D-037 D-067 D-092 D-117 D-132 D-147 D-164 D-181 D-198 D-227 D-228 Build Agri Fact Lab-B Lab Agri Fact Shpyd ----> ----> ----> Fact ----> Reasearch OrbSt Xeno Tonk IntPl EnvEn SpSrf ----> ----> AdvCh D-237 D-245 D-262 D-284 Legend: Fact SmShp ----> Done! If these abbreviations do not make sense, ----> ----> PwrCn ----> read Scenario 3 above. NOTE 2: Start planning ahead once you start researching Space Time Surfing, Power Conversion and Momentum Deconservation by focusing a little more on Lab building. These branches only take 90, 100 and 280 days respectively. The next branches immeadiately following are Gravity Control, Molecular Explosives and Hyperlogic which take 560, 720 and 1120 days respectively! Don't get caught with too few labs at this point and make the transition into the next series of bubbles easy on yourself. NOTE 3: Doom Mechinization takes the most amount of time at 37600 days as it yields the most powerful ship to ship weapon in the game in the Disintegrator. Closely behind is the most powerful defensive armament, the Invulnerabilizer, obtained through the Illusionary Machinizations bubble taking 33000 days to research. THE TECH TREE Converting a three dimensional tree into a TXT document is not pretty, so I am warning you right now. I tried to make it as easy to follow as possible, but with all the different ways branches go, overlap is inevitable. If a branch would overlap too many other branches on the way down the tree, I have employed the use of symbols to help. Just match the odd character to the next one down the tree to find where it links down to. (I have handwritten a couple different trees in an attempt to make it coherent (and legible). With so many overlapping branches, it is nearly impossible. I will more than likely take some screen shots and create one big JPG and post it as a separate FAQ. I should have it ready by the end of 6/05.) TECH TREE RECOMMENDED PATHS In lieu of the actual tree, I am going to give some quick paths to accomplish certain goals until I can get the pictures together. By researching branches in this order, you will be ensured of the quickest method to accomplish the goal. FYI, in the parentheses next to the research branch, I have selected not everything on the branch, but just what is needed to accomplish the goal the branch is in. If there is a number in the parentheses OR a bubble name in brackets ([]), then the main branch is a prerequisite of the numbered or bracketed lower branch. Goal 1: Build ships I believe I covered this in extreme detail in the above Scenarios. However, for redundancy, your lack of patience or the ability to comprehend it: 1. Orbital Structures (Shipyard) 2. Xenobiology (5) 3. Tonklin Diary (Tonklin Motor) 4. Interplanetary Exploration (Sm&Med Ships, Proton Shaver) 5. Environmental Encapsulation (Colonizer) At this point, you can build ships that can colonize other planets. 6. Spacetime Surfing (Star Lane Drives) At this point, you can build ships that can use Star Lanes. 7. Advanced Chemistry (Ion Banger) 8. Power Conversion (Subatomic Scoop) These should be added next as Advanced Chem. has the Ion Banger and Power Conversion has the Subatomic Scoop, a ship engine upgrade and ship power upgrade respectively. These will be your bread and butter on the first few Medium ships you send out into the universe. Granted, the next upgrades to these catagories are 3 bubbles away, but the number of days of research increases sharply and you will want faster ships and more power for weapons & shields sooner than that. 9. Advanced Interferometry (Invasion Modules) You want to go make the Minions extinct? You'll need these. 10. Hyperlogic (Research Campus) Since we are focusing this document on research, we should get the structure that is twice more effective than the Laboratory. This will speed things up in the long run by having this now. Goal 2: Industry (assumes Goal 1 has been completed) The faster you can build things, the quicker you can rule your little corner of the universe. Industry cannot be under-rated in this game. Honestly? The only time I build a Research Campus is when I see blue squares. Other than that, Industrial Megas and Automations are about all I build on planets, with Agriplots or Artifical Hydros thrown on when I need them. If I need extra research, switching one of my industry powerhouses into Scientist Takeover mode provides an instant shot of research output. Here's how to get those workers working: 11. Spectral Analysis (12) 12. Molecular Explosives (13) 13. Positron Guidance (Industrial Megafacility, 14) 14. Subatomics (Hyper Powerplant) EVERY colony should have a Hyper Powerplant. Again, EVERY colony should have a Hyper Powerplant. A 50% increase in Industrial output? EVERY colony should have a Hyper Powerplant. Now for Automation: 15. Momentum Deconservation (16) 16. Momentum Reflection (19) 17. Plasmatics (18) 18. Superstring Compression (19) 19. Matter Duplication (20) 20. Microbiotics (Automation) Once you have Automation, you can "get back" the person that was used to build the structure. This works on any structure and takes the same number of days to complete as did building the original structure. With every colony, it is a good idea to have the largest planet as an industrial powerhouse with Orbital Docks to refit ships and to provide some defensive muscle once you can start building Long Range Orbital Mega Whoppers. Goal 3: Research (assumes Goal 1 has been completed) So you're the brainiac of the crowd, huh? This one is easy: 11. Level Logic (Scientist Takeover, 18) Internet is available via Metagraph Theory which shows up fairly late in the tree. Internets, like Hyper Powerplants, increase output by 50% for a colony, only Internets do this for Research. This one is a doozy: 12. Spectral Analysis (13) 13. Molecular Explosives (14) 14. Positron Guidance (15) 15. Subatomics (16) 16. Plasmatics (17) 17. Superstring Compression (18) 18. Murgatroyd Hypothesis (19) 19. Scientific Sorcery (20) 20. Fergnatz's Last Theorem (21) 21. Metagraph Theory (Internet) Goal 4: POWER! SHIPS! KILL! DESTROY! (assumes Goal 1 is complete) Easy there, killer. For this track, we want to build big, bad deadly ships fast. I therefore suggest getting the industry up to snuff and netting the Industrial Megas and Hyper Powerplants: 11. Spectral Analysis (12) 12. Molecular Explosives (13) 13. Positron Guidance (Industrial Megafacility, 14) 14. Subatomics (Hyper Powerplant) Odds are, most of your enemies will have a few Orbital Shields and Orbital Missles Bases, meaning you need to stay at least 8 squares away from the colonies at all times. To play the game of "Keep Away" correctly, pick up the Plasmatron right below Subatomics, just making your life easier when it comes to invading that Huge Cornocopia you have been eyeing for a few days now: 15. Plasmatics (Plasmatron, [Superstring Compression]) This weapon should become a staple on your ships as it has the longest range of all weapons to easily bypass planetary defenses and packs enough of a punch to win battles, assuming a shield or two is on board. Now comes the debate of what is more important. Best weapons fast or increased ship size? I'll provide a few different ways of tackling this question. All of these assume you have made it through number 15 in Goal 4. SUPER WEAPONS: You can't WAIT to have the Nanomanipulator? Start warming up Research Campuses as you'll need them. This track is THE fastest way to the Nanotwirler (the best ship power source) and the Nanomanipulator (the best ship weapon). For this to work, no complaining about ship size as you'll only be making Small or Medium ships. Also, your power will come from the Quark Express and engines will be Ion Bangers. If all these stipulations are ok with you, read on. If not, skip to the SUPERSIZE SHIPS section: Complete 1-15 in Goals 1 & 4 16. Level Logic (18) 17. Superstring Compression (18) 18. Murgatroyd Hypothesis (19) 19. Scientific Sorcery (20) 20. Fergnatz Lens (21) 21. Nanoenergons (Nanotwirler, 22) 22. Nanofocusing (Nanomanipulator) Again, if you are ok with medium ships and Ion Bangers, this is your way to fly. SUPERSIZE SHIPS: To get the biggest ships the fastest: Complete 1-15 in Goals 1 & 4 16. Gravity Control (17) 17. Gravimetrics (18) 18. Gravimetric Combustion (23) 19. Mass Phasing (22) 20. Light Bending (21) 21. EM Field Coupling (22) 22. Advanced Exploration (Star Lane Hypers, Large Ships, 23) 23. Large Scale Construction (Gigantic Ships) Goal 5: No goals, just well rounded. Basically, follow the entire tree from top down filling the highest empty bubbles in first, ensuring lower branches will come available in time. By following this method, the only problem is to know which bubbles are dead ends, providing no further access down the road of research. Follow the next section to find those dead ends and decide which ones are most important to you. DEAD ENDS: THE PATH TO NOWHERE Cloaking. It takes forever in the begining of the game to get and its buildable items are completely usless throughout the game. What makes matters worse is that it is a dead end on the tech tree allowing for no further techs to advance. I will be providing every dead end on the tech tree and a brief opinion if you should research it or not. A value from 1 through 5 will be given, 1 being you should for no reason research this and 5 being you will definitely see some benefits to this dead end. Superconductivity - 1 - Mass Barage Gun, Surface Shield The Mass Barage Gun is put to shame by the Fourier Missles as both weapons are equal in strength, the Missles have a range of 8 compared to the Gun's 5 and the Missles use 50% less power than the Gun. Surface Shields should never be built. Instead, build Orbital Shields as they prevent ships from entering orbit while you destroy them with either orbital defenses or offensive ships. Advanced Chemistry - 5 - Artifical Hydroponifer, Ion Banger Artifical Hydros are twice as effective as their Agriplot counterparts and when placed on Green squares, the results are even better. You won't find another engine after the Ion Banger until all the way down in Gravimetric Control, so you better get these to save yourself from the dreaded Tonklin Motor. Cloaking - 1 - Cloaks for ships, planet surfaces and orbital structures Junk. Never ever research. Strong Force Weakening - 2 - Molecular Disassociator While it is more powerful than Fourier Missles and has a slight range edge, it just is not worth it in my opinion. The Plasmatron is really not that much further down the tree and is identical to the Mol. Diss. except the Plasmatron has double the range. Advanced Fun Techniques - 2 - Logic Factory, Endless Party Logic Factories are useless. Build either a Research Campus or an Artificial Hydroponifer. Endless Parties seem like a good idea, but as long as you stay current with Prosperity, you really won't need them very much. These will come in handy later when your entire population is busy, you build a ship and need to replace the lost person. Stasis Field Science - 3 - Trctr Beam (planet&ship), Brunswik Dissipator Tractor Beams are a little more handy if you are playing with the ANTAG patch for races which actually challenge you. Enemy ships will know the range of your ship weapons and planetary weapons. If one of your planets has plenty of shielding and a few Whoppers on hand, don't let the enemy get away and turn your planets into offensive juggernauts. What is especially fun is to pass an enemy ship around a system with say 3-5 planets controlled by you all with Tractor Beams. Then, once the enemy's ship has run out of power, toss it around like a rag doll and blast away until nothing remains. The Brunswik Dissipator flips a ship's ON/OFF switch to the OFF position, totally draining all power it has. A fine little addition for shielded ships with adequate weapons, but by no means a necessity. Advanced Planetary Armaments - 5 - Surface Mega Shield, Long Range Orbital Mega Whopper I said before never to build a Surface Shield, I'll also tell you never to build a Surface Mega Shield. Keep those Orbital Shields up and you will have no problem. Long Range Orbital Mega Whoppers are simply wonderful. You won't need ships to guard systems with these installed. These are not planetary defenses, these are planetary OFFENSES. With a range of 18 and firing 3 shots per day, just one of these can take out an unshielded Medium ship in a single day (3 shots) and it only takes two of these to take out an unshielded Enormous ship (5 shots)! A must-have item and really fun to use. Repulsion Beam Technology - 1 - Fleet Disperser Takes a solid chunk of research time and will never be used on a ship. Do not research this bubble. Ecosphere Control - 1 - Fertilization Plant The Fertilization Plant increases Prosperity output by 50%. By the time you get this, you'll realize that Artifical Hydros are all you need to keep the population populating. Don't waste your time. Self Modifying Structures - 2 - Remote Repair Facility A nice little add-on to have as it can repair a ship without the use of Orbital Docks. Odds are shielding and your own intelligence will keep your ships out of harm's way. Not a necessity, but nice to have. Nanodeflection - 4 - Nanoshell The best ship shield in the game. Shields are nice, but there are other branches around it that are more important to research. Once you've filled out the rest of the tree below it, come back and get this one. Snooping - 1 - Lane Endoscope You can look through a Star Lane and see the other side ... OOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo. Big deal! You'll have probably had ships fly through every single system 5 times by the time you get this. Worthless. Doom Mechanization - 4 - Disintegrator The most powerful ship-to-ship weapon in the game and will destroy any ship it is used upon, regardless of shields. It has the single longest research time in the entire game and the Disintegrator is destroyed when you use it. Again, a nice little add-on, but nothing ultra fancy. Typically, after I research this, I'll make a fire truck or two with lots of power, shields, a few Star Lane Hyperdrives and a few of these installed to "plow the road" and destroy enemy ships while the clean up crew comes in behind to invade. Gravity Flow Control - 1 - Gravimetric Condensor Useless. Draw ships closer. Fun to watch, not much else. Illusionary Machinations - 4 - Invulnerablizer Makes your ship invulnerable for one day and is destroyed on use. Great for that odd emergency you run into. Another good strategy to employ is to have a ship use this, drawing enemy fire to it. Once the enemy can no longer fire weapons having drained their power generators, move in and take them out with the other ships you have in the system. XENOBIO DIGS: WHAT TO LOOK FOR Xenobio digs are great and can really put you in the driver's seat as far as tech goes compared to research with other races. If you complete one, however, and end up getting Cloaking, I suggest re-loading your last game save and wait for something different. I have provided a list on what to look out for when digging up those Xeno sites. 1. Accel Energy Replenishment - Lush Growth Bomb Great to Lush Bomb planets as max population size increases, not to mention the shot at finding a random bit of technology, provided you have not saved you game within the past few game days. 2. Advanced Planetary Armaments - Long Range Orbital Mega Whopper Awesome add-on to any planet. If you have them in the begining, it just isn't going to be fair for other races. 3. Doom Mechanization - Disintegrator Helps in emergencies and save you from researching the longest research branch on the tree. 4. Microbiotics - Automation Great at keeping the population going long after no new population can be added. Frees up workers from having them work other places. That's all for now. Will spellcheck and message board later. Comments? Questions? Concerns? Giving away free money? StarTours@collegeclub.com