The Super Race

from GalCiv2 Forums
Each game I play has 1 race that is orders of magnitude stronger across the board in every category than any other race. This by itself isn't remarkable. It's the fact that they never seem to have any reasons as to why they are so far above the competition.

The Korath do it a lot, most recently tonight. They had 4 planets (their HW and 2nd home, then 2 others of no particular magnificience). Zero galactic resources, yet their economy, military and research were literally equal to or greater than all other races combined. They can be at war with the #2, #3, #4, AND #5 militarily ranked races and not only survive, but flourish.

edit: This begins very early as well, essentially from the start as I see it.

I usually play on masochistic. Tonight I began my foray into obscene. Non-random intelligences. Is there still some minor randomization that could be blessing a race with certain more juice in some things than others?

Korath most often it seems, Drengin a few times, Thalans, the Yor once, also Torians. Aside from the "peaceful" Torians (peaceful my ass when they're threatening my life haha), and "neutral" Thalans, the races are evil. I don't think there's a strong relationship between alignment and super race occurrence.

Anyone else experiencing this?


Also, the terrans always act really weird. They will go YEARS without making a combat vessel (or one with zero attack and just defense), nor does anyone EVER engage in war with them. They're like that guy you knew in college that never went to class, had a dime to contribute to beer, yet everyone still liked and let mooch. Eventually, when another AI or I decide to pop them while they're weak, they explode militarily like a 100 megaton thermonuclear device. First time this happened, I didn't surround them to nab several planets quickly, and they ate my face.
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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, heck, typically *I* go years without making a combat vessel. Of course, I have seven to ten survey vessels out there grabbing anomalies, as I research my way into higher tech levels - it's not a strategy I've noticed the AI using, but if one actually does, those 1% bonuses really add up over time.

Of course, *this* game I have Pirates and Dread lords (If I get the Jagged Knife, I swear I'll wimp out and load a save game -
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The Korath's 'power' is a combination of a few things, but they also have a great weakness or two. Lets examine what you're seeing and why.

Korath (and Dregin) buildings have no maintenance in the beginning, and when they do get maintenance, it's very low. So their economy can handle more of a beating for spending towards ships. Their Spore ships help them out economically since they don't need to sacrifice population on their planets to fill troop ships, so again, more money for military. Their morale buildings are surprisingly good. So there is why they can multi-war so well.

I'm unsure how their research can be outstripping others though as this is one of their great weaknesses. Their research buildings are weak in the beginning and they miss out on some of the higher normal research buildings. This could be mitigated by you allowing Tech Trading. The other thing on this same subject before I move on to another weakness is their lack of good economy buildings. They don't need a good line anyway if their maintenance is so darn low. These issues get removed the moment you allow tech trading...making the Korath much much stronger.

The last thing I can say for a weakness of them is one that not many AI seem to attempt to do anyway. Their tech tree doesn't include the Counter Espionage Center. You see where this is going and why the AI doesn't seem to be bothered by this weakness. Only the Krynn seem to build them and that is only due to them having the tech from the start.

I however will agree that the Korath are a very powerful race, but only if the conditions are right. There have been many games that I had more issues with the Torians, Yor, Terrans or Dregin than I did with the Korath. The Korath's one biggest power is their spore ships...pop them with a tiny hull ship with 1 laser until the AI starts to arm them... So what I'm saying is, when dealing with the Korath, a large number of ships on your side is more important than a few very strong fleets or very strong ships. You need a good galactic electric fence to keep the bugs out.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The evil races (especially Korath and Yor) do really well on small maps. They have quick to build structures with low upkeep and tend to go to war very quickly. With other races I think the AI tends to try to over research and max out structures, those races usually do poor in smaller maps.