16-05-2003 20:11									#1
	Luck Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Hello fellow board members! This is my first post.

I have played 4 games to completion at this point and last night I just finished my first game where I chose luck as a racial ability. Based on the results of this game, I think the Luck ability is far to cheap (1 point) for the benefit it gives you and is now a must have for me in the future.

I played the game on the smallest galaxy setting with all sub-normal AI's (gimme a break im still learning the tech tree as there are no in game helps with this monster). Fairly early in the game, my luck skill gave me 2 Lucky rangers (85 HP, 27 attack, 15 defense). The best unit in the game at that point was the battle axe and I was made an instant badass. It just so happens my strat for this game was to build a strong industrial base and build a large fleet with which to terrorize the other races. With the lucky Rangers and a few well placed battle axes and starbases, my transports were able to whipe out both minor races and the Yor almost immediately. The other races started teching hard at that point to neutralize my advantage. Battle hammers started showing up on the scene pretty quickly and I had to make peace and assimilate my gains.

Then, I had the event where all uninhabited planets in a 2 sector radius increased in planet value (by 16 points this time) and suddenly I had 2 30's a 29 and so many 17's through 28's that I had to pause from the game for an hour before I came back to shift every planet I had to colony ship production. In just a few years my population boomed to hundreds of billions. I then Tech'd real quick to Battleships (still pretty blind when it comes to the tech tree so I was making educated guesses as to what I needed to research to get to Battleships) and it was over.

Without the Luck ability, this game would have been much different and much much more difficult.

Is luck a must have?

P.S. How hard would it be to hyper links in game to show future techs and the way they branch out? Great game but someone really dropped the ball here.

	16-05-2003 20:37									#2
	Inflate your Upload Space

They're fixing the tech tree in 1.04 to hyperlink. I've never tried luck as a racial pick before. I usually take extra industrial.

	16-05-2003 20:44									#3
	Put an end to popups!

I understand your reluctance. Its hard to quantify the advantage luck brings, especially when you can spend the points on a concrete advantage which tells you exactly how it will help you. I tried it and it made all the difference. Give it a chance and see what happens.

	21-05-2003 12:35									#4
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

It's impossible to quantify Luck. I've taken it in my last 4 games on Gigantic, Crippling & have never had one free ship, improve PQ event etc. BUT I've also never had a bad random event either. According to the GalCiv site, Luck is supposed to stop bad things happening to you rather than making good things happen. For 1 point it seems like a good insurance policy!

	21-05-2003 17:56									#5
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

In my current game I chose luck. So far nothing 'good' has happened, and now 3 space monsters escaped in my capital sector. They seem to have the attack/defense/HP of a Ranger. The best ship I have is Defender, and the AI isn't much better since it is so early in the game.

Bad events DO happen to those with a Luck ability. This one may end the game for me since my freightors and trade will get eliminated and my resource-guarding starbases will be destroyed.

I'll try a few options:
* Use fast scouts to draw monsters to other areas so they can wipe out someone else's defenses and starbases.
* Hope they defend my planets from enemy transports. Fat chance of that, though.
* Desparately reseach to Battleships.
* Switch all production to ships and attrition them to death.

None of these (except option one) seems very hopeful.

	21-05-2003 19:10									#6
	Remove this text

If you can't lead them away, you're doomed. Having the space sharks escape is the main reason I always vote the zoo to the far side of the galaxy.

	19-09-2004 03:24									#7
	Increase the size of your Attachments

Might be interesting if there are still GalCiv Players around to revive the GalCiv-Sub

In my current Game (Vers. 1.20) where I am the sole "good" Player in a huge Galaxy full with evil and demonic Civilizations (with Exception of the Drengin which are Neutral)
I had to date 3 events where I found Ranger Ships on some of my Planets.
I think having a Luck Value of 50 might have been beneficial
(25 from chosen ability and 25 from my Party, the Universalists)

I also had two Occurrences of Space Sharks.
The first one got out of my sight and for some strange Reasons I never again heard of him.
The other one currently follows my Explorer into Altarian Territory

	19-09-2004 13:54									#8
	Tired of ads?

Luck tends to give you rangers when you have a weaker fkeet than the oppos. That can be devastating early on.
Sharks tend to follow the nearest ships. Stupid things, they are, but can be annoying if they appear in a sector full of starbases or mini freighters, or too near one of your planets. The ai doesn't seem to know how to herd them.

	19-09-2004 15:47									#9
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

Explains why some years later the Yor also got 2 Rangers, when they were weakened by waging War against too many Civilizations.

The sole Spaceshark btw. wreaked Havoc among the Altarian and Arcean Fleets.
The Altarians attacked it with Spacefighters and they got slaughtered one by one without causing much Damage to the Shark (mayb e 3-4 Points from the 20 it had)
It was only after the Arceans came with Corvettes that the Spaceshark could be defeated.