Imperium Sixteen:The Night Santa Went Crazy

[Megafrost]

First things first, I'm not playing for score in this imperium. Given my skill level, and our playing as the Humans on only average difficulty, I wouldn't have any qualms about gifting every one of my techs to the AIs, and would spend huge amounts of my time trying to get as many techs as possible so I could gift them. I don't want to deal with that and the keeping track of said gifts. So this report will be more focused on my style of playing and giving advice to less-experienced players.

The first thing I do is to always take a look at a map of the galaxy.



The main thing for me here is to note the positions of the yellow stars and figure out which systems are under immediate threat. Usually I play on medium-size galaxies, where sometimes I have time to colonize before I build scouts and sometimes I don't. We're playing in a small galaxy though, and that means that each planet counts for more. The two yellows in the 9:00 and 11:00 positions are too far away to provide any threat right now, but the rest could potentially have AIs and colonize planets in my scouting space.

I'm thinking about the following stars:



The ones with red circles are immediately under threat, potentially in colony range of the other yellows and within scouting range of mine. If I'm going to secure these systems, I want to send scouts immediately. If I fail to grab those, however, the systems with yellow circles may become endangered. The green circles aren't under threat right now, but I want to make sure I send scouts to those systems before the AI does. I'd rather not lose a free technology if there happens to be an artifacts world around. My usual strategy is to immediately build enough scouts to cover all the systems under threat, which for this galaxy means full spending on the first turn.

In most of the games I play, I usually send the colony ship blind to the best-looking system. That tends to be either one that is coreward or one that is red/green/yellow or both. If there are lots of systems within colony range, I may not know which one to go for and scout them all before I choose one. In this case, the red star is the obvious best choice. I always send scouts to any other stars within colony range in case I get a bad break with the colony ship.

The next turn, I have 3 more (redesigned) scouts in play. I send them to the three red-circled stars. I'm figuring on having North Pole continue to go full scouts, since I want to blockade the green-circles and yellow-circles, and hopefully get a chance to blockade the green star to the east as soon as possible if my second colony extends range enough. This gives me 4 more scouts, easily enough to blockade what I need to for now. For my third turn, I go for factory construction.



The screen for settling Zhardan came up before the scouting report for Hyades, but I figured that if Vox already had a habitable planet, the chances of having one at the purple star were very low. Turns out, there was no planet at all!

Once I have my second planet, I will immediately build however many scouts I need to in order to blockade all nearby systems. In this case, since I've already built a lot of scouts in previous turns, I only need to build 2.

I don't play with formulas or anything like that. As such, I don't know exactly how much population is good to transfer for maximum empire growth, or how much to feed into research to get the most bang for my buck. I know the concepts, but I prefer to eyeball these things. I will send colonists to the second planets, but like a few others, I like to max the homeworld as soon as possible. I don't like to slow homeworld growth too much. Of course, there are exceptions with certain races such as the Silicoids and Meklar.

So how many colonists do I send off-world? This is the system I use: Send as many colonists as I can until the second world is about a third full, but don't bring the homeworld below 50 population. On the harder difficulties this usually means I don't send any colonists yet. This may not be the best system, but so far it has worked for me. My homeworld gets to keep building at fast capacity, and my second world usually builds itself up quick enough for me to use it for research or building fighters once I need it to.

One of my scouts that I send west explores an artifacts world.



Not a bad technology to grab! I used to avoid NPGs, but after having tried them out in my recent games (inspired by Refsteel), I've found them to be very effective weapons pretty far into the game. Not only that, they're small, and with just a little miniaturization, I can fit them onto a small design. I prefer small designs, since I tend to get more firepower with the same BC investment and I can more easily split my forces. Furthermore, when I lose them they're much easier to replace. I'll build larger ships if I need something that I can't fit onto a smaller design, such as special systems, shielding, or top-of-the-line weapons.

My scouts fanned out and in 2310 I had the following picture:



I ran into scouts at the three systems with non-yellow circles, and the guardian in the system marked above. Given where I ran into the scouts, I made guesses at the homeworlds of the other AIs. I'm pretty sure that I'll have to send some long range ships to defend some of the planets I've blockaded, so I'm throwing together this design:



Part of the reason I like NPG now is that I'll be able to bring it into play almost immediately. Without it, I would've had the same design using lasers instead. And with just one or two levels of miniaturization, I should be able to fit it onto a small hull.

Sometimes with the scout reports in, I'll immediately open up the planetology and propulsion tech fields, or sometimes I'll wait until one click from the homeworld brings exactly 4 RP to make the opening a little bit more efficient. In this case there's pressure to expand quickly, so I'm opening them now. Since 2 clicks brings me to 7 RP, I'm opening up Construction as well.



Construction isn't usually open at this point; this game is an exception to the rule. When I open it I usually choose Improved Industry 9 unless I've had a bad break in waste cleanup. In this case I had no choice. Under the planetology tree I generally choose Improved Eco unless I have to go up the tree very quickly, in which case I'll choose Terraforming +10. I don't go for Controlled Barren unless I have to. Only Terraforming is in the tree right now, so I go for that. Propulsion is the oddity here. I usually look at my surroundings first and make a decision before I open up the research field. In this case I wasn't sure which one I wanted, as I needed range 5 to secure the Klackon world, but that may have taken too long and possibly lost me the Silicoid worlds as well, which would be grabbable at range 4. I'm glad the game made the decision for me.

I usually split spending between Planetology and Propulsion, but since those systems out there are under threat, I'm putting 100% spending into Propulsion for now.

Because I want to get the most bang for my buck when researching, I'll spend the first turn with the home world putting all its money into research. Afterwards I'll have it keep one click on research and construct factories on the side.

My last scout reached Neptunus to the east. Unfortunately, Silicoids have already claimed the fertile planet, but at least I have a better idea where Cryslon is for now. The other green is dangerously close, so I'm going to have my home world build 2 long range fighters, one for Moro and one for Tau Cygni. Ajax will be fine, since I don't think Cryslons is where I previously thought it was. I don't build medium-size fighters unless I can do them in one turn each, which I can for now. If I think an AI can colonize a system before I can, I'll send fighters to delay them as long as possible.

In 2318 the Silicoids sent an unarmed colony ship to Moro. I don't know how long it will be before they send escort, but when they do, one of my ships may not cut it. I'm building 4 more at the homeworld so that I can have more force at the two threatened worlds.

This is how my early games go. If I can colonize a planet, I will. If I think it is threatened, I will send ships to protect it until I can colonize it. It doesn't matter if the AI thinks it is within their territory, I'll do whatever it takes to claim a planet for myself.

In 2327 Zhardan hit 48 factories, 2 under half max capacity. As Sirian pointed out on his website, if the second world is seeding new planets then it's not going to be at max population, and it's usually okay to not max out its factories immediately. I do follow this to some extend; I don't completely cease building factories, but I do slow down construction so that I can start using the second planet for a few other things. For now, I'm going to have it build some more scouts so that they can be immediately sent out once range 5 pops. After that, I'm having it on slow factory construction and research.

Depending on how many turns it takes to transport population from my second world to the first, I'll wait until that many turns before I think the homeworld will max to send some population back. In this case, the homeworld is at 96 population already so I'm only sending 2 population back. Of course, the homeworld is late since I delayed factory construction to churn out some fighters, but sometimes that's how things go.

North Pole maxes in 2332. Amazingly, range 5 pops the same turn (with a 3% chance). In the second tier of propulsion I'll usually take nuclear engines if it is offered, since it helps colonize planets more quickly. In this case, range 6 and nuclear engines are both options, so I choose nuclear engines. Range 5 brings me into contact with the Silicoids:



Any time I meet a new race, I will immediately set 0.4% spying expenditures so that I can find out what technologies a race has. I always have at least 0.4% spying so that I can have the latest intelligence updates. Earlier in the game 0.4% doesn't really do anything to my economy and allows me to have spying reports once I'm ready to build missile bases. Later in the game, my economy is usually big enough that my intelligence reports are never more than a couple years behind.

Two other things I might do are to establish trade treaties and try to trade technology for a more immediate tech report. Whether or not I make trade treaties depends entirely on how much I value good relations over my developing economy. The treaties will usually soften up relations a bit, but I never think myself safe unless I have a non-aggression pact or better. AIs have declared war on me out of the blue before despite good relations. If I think I'm in a bad position, I'll try to get as many friends as possible. If I think I can grab a huge chunk of the galaxy, I may forget trade treaties so that my economy is unimpacted. Even if I do the trade treaties, most of the time it is usually the minimal amount to reduce the strain on my economy.

In this case, we're the Humans. Diplomacy is our game, and we get much more out of trade treaties than any other race. It would be foolish to not go for the highest trade treaties we can support.

I will trade tech sometimes to see if the AIs are willing to offer me anything. This is mainly for intelligence; obviously if they're willing to offer me something, they have it. In this case they don't want to trade for anything. Looking at the bar graphs, I see why; I'm ahead of them in technology. They probably haven't researched anything.

One thing I do note is that the Silicoids are allied with the Klackons. With this in mind, I'm looking at the galaxy map again.



My new guess for the location of Kholdan is based on the Silicoids' alliance. It makes sense. I haven't seen any Klackon colony ships at that system to the north. My location for Altair is based on where I saw the Alkari scout, and my location for Mentar is based on the lack of any Psilon scouts.

When my homeworld maxes, I will of course start building colony ships. I build one (relocating it to Zhardan since I will be colonizing the eastern colonies first), and then after a few turns Improved Terraforming +10 pops.



Since I usually do not research Controlled Barren, I usually go for Controlled Dead first or, if that isn't available or no dead planets are around, I'll go for Controlled Tundra. Even if I went Improved Eco in the first tier, I usually want to make sure I grab planets first, with the mindset that if the later tiers are lacking in Terraforming, I'll backtrack.

In this case, I already have Terraforming +10. +20 would be a little redundant, so Controlled Dead is my first pick.

Then there's the pop-up asking if I want to increase ecology spending. For the most part, I click 'no' during the early game when I'm not done colonizing and need to spend every BC wisely, and I click 75% during the late game when my economy is at full speed already.

For the first round of upgrades, I'll have North Pole spend one turn Terraforming, but then go right back to colony construction, slowly building its factories to 220. Zhardan, on the other hand, will continue to bear the research load while also slowly buildings its factories to max. Once I get my first tier planetology and propulsion techs, I'll usually open up every other field.



Under the computer tree, my favorite choice is the scanner. There's nothing I like better than to know exactly what my enemy is up to, so I almost always upgrade my scanner whenever I can. If the scanner doesn't show up, then I'll choose battle computer unless I really need to advance the tree for some reason. ECMs are always my last pick.

As for weapons, the tree is much bigger than normal thanks to the NPG pick-up at the artifacts world. In the first-tier, my favorite choice is hand lasers since not only could it help save a planet from early border dispute invasions, it remains useful further into the game for launching invasions against other planets, plus it is dirt cheap and opens up the second tier very quickly. Hyper-V rockets are my other first-tier choice. I never choose gatling lasers.

In this case, I have access to third-tier technology already. Random events would make me reluctant to choose something too expensive too soon, given that when I did that in Imperium 10, a virus wiped out the project shortly before it was completed. Since there are no random events in this imperium, that's not going to hold me back. Neutron Blaster would've been one of my more favorite choices, but since I already had NPG I figured I didn't need the upgrade just yet. Fusion bomb would be good for offense and Merc missile good for defense once I got missile bases, but neither of those were happening any time soon. So I stuck with my favorite hand lasers. In the usual game, those would probably come into play the soonest.

Relations with the Silicoids were so good that, in 2340, they asked me for a Non-Aggression Pact. At this point in the game, such things favor the AI more than they favor me since they would be able to waltz past my blockades and take some planets. As such, I never accept a proposal for non-aggression if some unclaimed planets are under threat by the AI.

Since Moro was easily within 3 parsecs of Silicoid worlds, it was the world I deemed to be most under threat. I sent my first colony ship there and colonized it in 2343, making me first to 3 worlds and putting me within scanner range of both Silicoid worlds. They had a large orbiting Cryslon. Not something that made me comfortable, so I had my second colony of Zhardan start building some small fighters (equipped only with a single NPG) and send them to Moro. I built 18 over 4 turns and figured that would be enough to help.

Having seen the Psilon colony at Phantos, I figured Aquilae was the next system under threat, so in 2348 I colonized Tau Cygni to extend my range enough to reach Aquilae. This brought me into contact with two races. First, the Psilons:



The Psilons were willing to trade me Range 4 tech, but this wasn't helpful information. Their colony was 6 parsecs away from Tau Cygni, which meant that the Psilons definitely had range 6 tech. Which is bad news, because it means Vox could be under threat. After Aquilae it would be my next priority.

Next race, the Klackons:



They refused to trade techs, but having contact with all but one AI would be good for election prospects.

Hand lasers popped in 2352. After hand lasers, I usually go for upgraded missiles so that when I start building missile bases, they'll have some extra punch. In this case, I choose merculite missiles. I don't usually have any missile bases by this point in the game, usually relying on small fighters to defend my planets until they can build bases in a reasonable amount of time or the computer makes it clear that they'll be sending heavy forces to the planet. However, since my front line planets don't seem to be in any danger, they're focusing on infrastructure. I'll be using NPG fighters to defend them for a while (having Zhardan build more at this point).

My third colony ship planted a flag on Vulcan in 2354. Even when systems are under threat, I usually never keep colony ships waiting for orders if I don't have to. This ship left home before I had colonized Tau Cygni, and Vulcan wasn't exactly safe either.

I always use my second planet to seed every new planet I flag, generally sending enough to get the world to about one third full depending on the size of the world. If the world is really big, like size 100 or so, I won't feel bad leaving it at only 20 pop to start. I won't let the second world get below half population, but if it seems like I'll be under-seeding planets, I up the eco slider. In this case, it's looking like I need to do that now, and this is because I grab Vox in 2356 and Aquilae in 2357. Here's what the galaxy looks like now:



When you control 1/4 of the galaxy and you're not close to done colonizing planets, the game is probably already won. If you can extend quickly and successfully blockade every planet within your reach (with weapons, if necessary), you will be in a very good position to grab lots of land.

I'm reasonably certain that the Alkari will have already grabbed that red planet within their region. Since I don't know for sure, however, and I've already managed to prevent the rest of the AIs from expanding, my plan is to spread towards the avians and make sure there is nothing I can poach. Or at least that's what I thought. In my carelessness, I forgot to keep an eye on the Silicoids.



The planet has only a single scout protecting it. However, until they grab it, I never give up a planet that could be mine. If I can't send ships to fend them off, then I'll threaten them.



Such is the joy of playing as the Humans, since an AI with good relations is much more likely to back off. I don't think my front-line planets are in danger, so I give the money to North Pole and Zhardan to speed up my acquisition of planets. When I do get money this early, I usually save it for front-line planets in imminent danger or in case of random events, but I don't think either will happen.

I colonized Endoria in 2362. But then two turns later, the Alkari researched range 6.



Set up trade treaties. And just as I suspected, they had grabbed that red planet. Of course I still wanted to send scouts just in case they left it defenseless. I like having scans of enemy worlds. The more you know about your targets, the easier it is to choose one.

Several things happen in 2365. Improved Industry 9 pops. In the second-tier of Construction my choices will depend on what I've already got. If I don't have waste clean-up technology, I might be inclined to go back for Reduced Waste. If Improved Industry 9 wasn't a choice in the previous tier, I'll go for Improved Industry 8. If I already have Improved Industry 9 and don't need reduced waste, I'll go for Duralloy Armor. In this case, Improved Industry 8 is my only option.

Next, I colonize Ajax. This triggers the GNN 3/8 message. Not only that, it also triggers the elections.



Oddly enough, the Psilons are my opponents. Even though the Silicoids are higher on every graph except technology. This brings up an interesting question: How the heck does the game decide who is nominated? Whatever the case, Klackons and Alkari support me and Silicoids abstain, leaving me 1 vote shy of the win. If two AIs have been nominated, I'll usually abstain from the vote unless one of them already hates me. If I've been nominated, I'll vote myself into power if I can. If that's not the case and my support won't win the other guy the election, I'll vote for him for brownie points unless I decide to pick a fight. In this case, I throw my votes to the Psilons.

I grab Proxima in 2366, triggering the "preparing to merge" message. If you manage to get that message, there's probably nothing in the galaxy that can stop you. Worse yet, 5 planets are unclaimed. I can't obtain any of them right now (3 are hostile planets, 1 is out of range, 1 is Orion), but the AIs don't really have a very good chance of beating me to them.

At this point, when there are no more planets left to grab, I'll usually focus on building infrastructure on my new planets (with any ones especially at risk possibly building a missile base or two) while my two developed planets build ships and research technology. If I can secure my front-line planets without needing to stop to build defenses, I'm always happy.

Class 2 shields pop in 2369. Unless I seriously think that I need class 3 shields in order to defend my planets, I usually choose Personal Deflector Shield in this tier of force fields. Class 3 shields usually don't save me if class 2 can't, and I much prefer the boost in ground combat. In this case, both options are available, so I choose the deflector shield.

In the early game, I generally terraform my new planets once they've obtained enough infrastructure to build it in one turn. I might make an exception if population growth outstrips factory production, such as on fertile planets, poor planets, or when playing as Sakkra. Alternatively, I might terraform all my planets and try to grow population if I think I need the extra population for something significant, like preventing an election loss. In this game, I'm not in any threat and my population grows at a normal rate, so I don't need to terraform any more quickly than normal.

Given my focusing on building my economy and the lack of AI aggression, it isn't long before 2375 rolls around.



Silicoids become my opponents, but with 5/13 votes I have a veto. And with my planets nowhere near max capacity, that lead is only going to get worse. I can still toss my votes his way.

Deep Space Scanner pops in 2377. In the second tier of computers, I generally like to choose robotic controls for the increase in economic capabilites, especially if I already have improved industry and even more especially if I'm playing as Meklar. Unless I really need battle computers or get access to the second tier early (when the extra costs of factory construction would hurt), I choose robotic controls here if possible. Battle Computers are my second choice, though again I could choose ECM if I really need to get up the ladder quickly.

In the same turn, Moro maxed out. I have a non-aggression pact with the Silicoids, but I still like to make sure my front-line planets are adequately defended. If I haven't built missile bases yet, I will. However many I need to feel comfortable. In the very early game, usually 1 is adequate. At this point in the game, I'd feel comfortable with 5. I tend to want more and more as the game goes on, up until around 20 or so in the late game. But then, during the late game, I usually have scanners that tell me when they're attacking and I can build several per turn, so if 20 isn't enough, I can build more when they attack.

In 2378 Nuclear Engines pop. In the third-tier of Propulsion, I usually prefer to get Sub-Light Drives unless I really need fuel cells. Once I get range 5 or 6, that's usually sufficient for me, and I get anything beyond that from the AIs in ground invasions. In this case, Sub-light Drives are not an option, so I'm stuck with Range 7.

Tau Cygni maxes factories in 2381. I feel reasonably certain that I will be able to defend it now, and it is my only world within range of the Klackons. My economy has also gotten pretty strong at this point. By now, I'm usually itching for a little conflict and start spying on somebody. My usual target is whoever has happened to declare war on me at the time, but relations are good with every race right now. My next target is usually whoever I think would be easiest to conquer or easiest to defend from. I can defend from the Klackons right now, so I'm spying on them. However, I'm much less likely to pick a fight with them if I'm in fear of losing an election.

On the very first turn of spying, I get a major hit.



A few turns later I manage to steal Controlled Barren, giving me what I need to colonize Jinga.

Taking another look at the Klackon tech tree, it's pretty clear that they're having difficulties getting scary technology. Their only missle base upgrade is class 2 shields. So I'm building some ships to prepare to attack. Two designs, both small with nuclear engines and maneuver 2. One with nuclear bombs, one with npg. I usually don't attack this early, preferring to have fusion bombs and faster engines when I bomb out the computer. However, I believe I can win if I attack, and that they can't retaliate.

Personal Deflector Shields pop in 2394. Between class 4 shields and Class V Planetary Shields, I prefer the planetary shields. I don't usually use shields on ships since I use large amounts of small designs.

Controlled Dead pops in 2398. What I choose in the next tier generally depends on my needs, though I'll usually go for hostile environment technology if there are planets to get. In this case, my choices are Enhanced Eco, Terraforming +30 and some hostile environment technology. Forgetting for a moment that I'd stolen Improved Eco from the Klackons, I went for Enhanced Eco thinking about my lack of clean-up technology.

Improved Industry pops in 2399. My favorite to grab in this tier is Battle Suit, but I'll grab Automated Repair if I think I'll be using huge ships, or reduced waste/improved industry if those areas are lacking. In this case, improved industry is my only option.

Not much changes in the 2400 election.



This is usually the point where I'm starting to arm myself for war. As soon as I'm confident that I've secured every colony under possession, I will look for a way to attack the computer and obtain more colonies. While initially I had selected the Klackons as my target, the Psilons have recently attacked me. Despite their having fusion beam technology, I think I can attack them and steal their second world from them. Their fleet is much smaller than the Klackon's. It isn't unusual for me to choose one AI to pick on, only to change my mind a few turns later.



Their larges are colony ships, outfitted with 6 NPGs each. The stack of 4 mediums each carry 4 NPGs, and the last ship has heavy ion cannons. I know this from their recent attack on my colony. Their missile bases are using class 2 shields and nuclear missiles. They didn't even come close to winning this battle. Only their ship with the heavy ion cannon escaped, and after the battle their fleet strength bar dropped to almost nothing. There wasn't anything they could do about my invasion a few short turns later.



Ordinarily I would keep my fleet at the planet until it had built up economy and defenses enough to be able to stand on its own. However, the Psilons had almost no fleet, and I wanted to keep it that way. So I immediately sent my ships onward to Mentar, leaving a few behind for defense. The attack didn't fare well, as the Psilons managed to pop out a huge right before I arrived, and their missile bases and the huge tore up my bombers before they could get close. So I decided to back off. Robotics Control 3 popped, and that meant I should be waiting for my economy to upgrade anyways.

I chose Improved Space Scanner, hoping that I could steal battle computers from one of the other races, but at this point in the game I'm usually not paying nearly as much attention to the technology race. I usually pick what I think will be useful, but focus my attention more on any wars I'm in. Given my setback at Mentar and my recent acquisition of fusion beam (excellent for miniaturization purposes), I made upgrades to my two warship designs: To the bomber I added a second nuclear bomb and a battle computer 1, and to the gunner I gave it battle computer 1 and shield 1. I deleted my designs for the warp 1 gunner; they were too slow to be of use anymore. I usually don't scrap a design until it stops being useful. And I usually make new designs when my current ones suffer a major setback or if the new design would be a significant upgrade over previous ones (such as being able to fit anti-matter bomb onto a small, bye-bye fusion bombers).

The 2425 elections have me with 8/16 votes and the support of the Alkari. With my fleet rapidly building, it was time to try again to invade the AIs. With a force of about 300 fighters and 200 bombers near Mentar, and 200 bombers and 600 fighters near Neptunus, I lashed out at both the Psilons and the Silicoids. With my overwhelming fleets, their defenses were annihilated, leaving the worlds free for invasion.




I captured Mentar in 2439 (genociding the Psilons) and Neptunus in 2440. I should note that once I see that it's possible to win the next election, I will try to get myself as much voting power as I can. I invade whatever I can and send bombers to destroy what I cannot, getting me lots of voting power while diminishing my opponents'. So I had already sent my ships onward to Cryslon and destroyed its defenses. While I had nearby planets send troops (due in 2449), I sent my fleet onward to Kholdan and wiped out the missile bases in 2443. After a few years of bombing, Kholdan itself was destroyed in 2446. My invasion of Cryslon was successful (genociding the Silicoids), and even had enough troops left over to put the planet at max capacity. Game over.



As the game went on, I focused less and less on the details. At the beginning of the game, your empire is nothing and every choice is significant. The land grab is important. Every planet you grab and hold makes the mid-to-late game that much easier. Spread early and aggressive. Don't despair if your land grab isn't very successful. The AI will almost always be weak somewhere. Once you can't grab any more planets, find a place to hit the AI so you can steal some of theirs. With any luck, you'll loot some technologies from them and it'll make it that much easier to take even more planets from them.

More importantly, make sure you're enjoying yourself. This is a game after all, and if you're not having fun then what's the point of playing?

[RefSteel]

Great report - very clear and informative. (I say this with some degree of embarassment for my own bit of silliness!)

I agree with choosing hand lasers before a third-tier weapons tech here too, with or without random events; I pulled Duralloy in this game, and was lured into selecting IIT7 immediately, but I think it was a mistake for me to do so. The number of RPs it's possible to invest early in the game are plenty to grab the first tier techs in a reasonable amount of time, but the same few-hundred RP that get you a tier-1 tech (including the comparatively small interest from them) will represent a very few turns (sometimes even just one turn!) of savings on a higher level tech by the time you can spend enough to bring it in. The only time I think it makes sense to open with an artifact-enabled high-level tech is when nothing in the lower tiers is expected to help at all. (Actually, I'm sure there are a few exceptions; in Orion, there usually are.)