Hello, first of all, i'm no expert, but i would like to share my oppinion on what works for me.
[ Research ]
-» "Astrophysics" is one of the best research that you can have, update it when possible, it is expensive, but worth of it.
-» "Armor", "Shield", "Weapons" are very good research since it will make your defense and attack more powerfull.
-» Every player should have at least 15 % of his total points in research, not need more since mines are the best income.
[ Buildings ]
-» Mines are so important, it means you can rest all day and when you get back, you already have some resources and this is a 7x economy universe!
-» "Solar Plants" are very important, they can be expensive, but at least if you get attacked they will not get destroyed.
-» Every player should have at least 65 % of his total points in buildings, that would be a powerful account on future.
[ Defense ]
-» They will make your planet more secure, since is more easy to attack some planet that have no defense than a planet with some good defense.
-» This ratio isn't bad at all: "Rockets" ( 1250 ), "Light Lasers" ( 1000 ), "Gauss Cannon" ( 40 ), "Plasma Turrent" ( 5 ).
-» "Anti-Ballistic Missiles" are important, since they will make sure that your defense will not disappear in one second, the more you have, the better.
-» Every player should have at least 5 % of his total points in defense, not need more if you fleetsave your fleet and resources.
[ Fleet ]
-» "Large Cargo" is the best ship to transport resources, but the more resources or fleet you have, the more you need to divide the "fleetsave", since others players will try to destroy it.
-» "Fleetsave" are so important, even for small time, but when you go fleetsave, keep in mind that you should use "deploy" missions, but if you don't have a moon, try to use big "fleetsave" times, like this, if i know that i will be away 8h, the duration of the fleetsave should, at least, 10h, it sounds a little crazy, but sometimes some stuff show up in real life and in that way you don't need to bother to going run at home or check your mobile while your are talking to that cool woman that you meet at work.
-» Every player should have at least 15 % of his total points in ships, that is enough for attack some inatives and fleetsave the resources.
[ Miscellaneous ]
-» You should have least 2 moons, as soon you have 100 000 points, you should start now trade moonshoots with others players, since it is the best way to hide your fleet.
-» All planets should have at least 220 fields, this is 7x economy, soon or later, planets with 180 fields will be too small and terraformer will be on future very expensive.
-» Play with fairplay and by the rules, not only you will not be banned, but also you will have the respect from the all the players that play on the same universe.
-» And for last, play the game with passion, not obsession... the more you enjoy the game, the more fun you will have playing it.
Have fun and fairplay!
Best regards,
Intel Clips.