Natural Merchants: Isn't necessary to construct Space Ports so that the solar system generates points for the empire.

Ship Craftsmam: Planetary space yards can repair the double number of components per turn (eight).

Durable Ships: Ship maintenance cost are half of normal.

Tiny Race: Planets can store 120% of normal capacity.

You can't trust in the ministers controled by the AI. Though AI is enough competent, neither is 'Deep Blue'.

The first Research Area must be the 'Component Construction'. When have achieved this, you can design a Space Station (SS type), that utilizes as 'Space Base Yard'. They're very cheap, and can include until 3 components of construction.

Afterwards you must investigate the design of the Frigate and the Destroyer.

Previous technologies to discover the hidden technologies:

Is good to create some scouts and to explore the near systems, but don't can neglect your originals planets, without protection.

After colonizing a planet, is good setting the 'Production Output' to 60%, thus increases the 'Reproduction Rate' and the population will grow more fast.

For every 2000 of population, the time to build anything on a planet is halved from normal.

You must build ships of 'Population Transport' at the beginning of the game, and transport populations from your more developed planets, to the more recently colonized. Thus, you can increases the speed of growth of population too.

If was selected the racial advantage 'Ship Craftsman', and was investigated the 'Component Construction', is very probable that you have a fleet of ships many ahead of the remainder of the opponents. By it, is good to destroy the neighboring opponents before they could expand, and thus can win most space to be able to grow in the beginning of the game.

Types of construction in the planets:

Is good to investigate in Facilities of Construction, Research and Intelligence the more fast possible, because you don't need many points of investigation, and the new facilities increase many the production.

Also, could be good if you investigate in Sociology/Psychology, and to construct ONLY A 'Urban Pacification Center' in the most poor planet of every solar System, and later to increase 'Production Output' to 140 % in all developed planets of the system, to improve the production.

The information is a fundamental element to win any war. For this reason, to know if approximate hostile forces, is good to dispose scouts in the frontiers of the empire:

When was investigated in 'research areas' of weapons, is good to improve only one type of weapon in particular, and to deepen in this weapon, and not to investigate many types of weapons at the same time.

If the game was started with the normal technology and without 'technology points', the weapons of Plasma are the first weapon that you must investigate.

Ships with 'Point Defense Canons' are indispensable in all fleets, because are the weapons that could stop the fighters and the seekers weapons.

Use boarding ships to take over an opponent's ship.
Then you can disassemble it and analyze the new techs or you can use it as another ship.

When you advance in the technology of one game, or when was commenced with 'tecnology points', not exist one opinion about which are the better arms for a ship. I prefer the Shields Depleter, the Ripper Beam with the Tractor Beam, and the Incinerator Beam. But you must remember that all types of arms have some advantages and some debilities, and for this reason, it's necessary to construct different types of ships so that complement according to different functions.

The betters 'Design Types' to create ships, are :

Some examples of Ships in the early game:

The big designes (Battle Ships, Dreadnougths and Base Ships), are very costly and have slow displacement. But over all, delay many turns to construct and by so are difficult of replacing, upgrade and repair. This disadvantage is not so big if you utilize files of different technologies than the original technology file of the game, because the majority include 'component construction' very fast.

Generally is true that's better to dispose a fleet of many median and little ships, that one of very few large ships.

Is good to place mines in the 'warp points' of access to the external systems of your empire.

If you're beginning a game with many 'technology points', or already you're in a step advanced of the game, could be good to insure that your enemies can't destroy your solar systems: put mines in the sun, or building a 'Defensive Base' inside the sun.

Almost never recommending to colonize the planets 'small', 'tiny' and the asteroids. In my opinion is better wait the technology to destroy the little planets, and later reconstruct them as 'Large' planets. (This's valid in medium and large galaxies, when you have time to growing, or when was commenced with many 'technology points').

If was discover the technology 'cloak device', is good to include this device in the ships:

Like the older proverb, in SE3 the better defense is a good attack.

Upon invading solar systems enemies (and in particular of human players), is very important to create a balanced fleet, with multiple types of ships :

In my opinion, the Planetary Napalm, the Neutron Bomb, the Radiaton Bomb, and the Smart Bomb, are useless: you must destroy all the people and facilities in the planet or invade the planet with 'Troops'.

You must have always some fleet of reserve to could cover a reasonable rank of systems, to stop possible surprise attacks from the enemy (over all with human players, because they could utilize ships to open 'Warp Points' from systems very distant...).

When you has a powerful empire, though seems unpleasant, is very good to solicit tribute to the allied AI most weak, because generate valuable extra resources.

If you has a treatise of 'Partnership' with an powerful empire AI, and is necessary to enter in war with this empire, is good to create ships with the 'cloak device' and 'Star Destroyers' or 'Planet Destroyers'.
Later, you could position this ships together with a 'Cloack Sweep Mines' in the planets and/or the more important solar systems of the other empire. When you declare the war, you only need press the buttom and ...kabooom!
We recommending not use this strategy against an human opponent, because you can win one war, but the humans have a better memory than the computers, and you also can win a lifelong enemy...