Early game strategy

Depending on what phase the player is currently in, early game strategies may vary significantly - especially if the player is part of a union that has a plan. However, the very early part of the game, right after the player's base spawns, is almost entirely an individual effort - the player versus the environment they find themselves randomly thrown into.

## Unnamed strategy

This plan was posted in the #ask-for-help channel of the main Infinite Lagrange Discord server. The original author is currently unknown.

Here is a general rough draft of what you can accomplish in the first 24 hours when the new season starts. I will continue to update this as I tune the process, feel free to test it on new servers and provide any input to help people out.

When rushing, do it smartly, do a -1 and anything < ~4 minutes do not rush all the way as these can be used on level 2 base tech.

In addition you will be getting about 1-2 tech points an hour for your utility ships, be sure to keep a constant eye out for them.

Mining Speed > Warp Speed > Cargo Space (If you are pairing your miner with FG300 or AC721, otherwise Cargo Space > Warp Speed)

There should also be no resource issues for the first couple of base levels as long as you keep doing missions, placing utility ships immediately, and spending their tech points as you get them.

### Starting resources

* 100,000 Metal
* 5,000 Crystal
* 5,000 Deuterium
* 20 Speedup
* 40 Prefab

### Base Expansion zone 1

Rush the following upgrades for level 2 base:

* Capital Shipyard 1, level 4
* Warehouse I, level 4
* Generic Port I, level 3

That will allow you to start zone 2 (40 minutes)

1 Utility Ship Dockyard (You don't need more than level 1)

Rush 2 utility ships and place them (Place a FG300 for fast warp if needed)

Ideally you would have 1 dust at your base and 1 metal nearby to fund upgrades.

Metal > Dust > Crystal > Deuterium

Here you have a little time to breathe to fix your tech point distribution and farm pirates.

Build 2 of any ship (for missions, 6 total ships)

Attack 3 nearby pirates (for missions, with at least 4 FG300 or other better ships, TURN OFF AUTO RETURN!)

Upgrade a frigate to level 3 (for mission)

### Base Expansion zone 2

Required for level 3:

* Generic Port II, level 5 (Rush this with leftover engineering prefab)
* Small Integrated Plant, level 1
* Habitat I, level 1

Rush 1 (3rd) utility ship when Generic Port is upgraded (level 1, 3, and 5 allow for 1 additional utility each, so 5 after maxed)

Pair a frigate with the utility ship for more storage

Keep upgrading Small Integrated Plant for passive income

Generic Port II level 1-5 will take about about 5 1/2 hours and 190k metal (most of which will come from missions)

Research Habitat (for mission and upgrade, do not go beyond level 1 yet)

#### Chapter 4 Missions

4 Generic Port I

Defeat 1 Level 2 Privateer

Own 8 Frigates

From here you can start exploring as it is required by a mission

Continue completing missions

-> Level 3 Base (6 hours)

Liasion Command Center Level 1 (for mission)

Research Repair Dock (for prefab storage)

Continue researching until base level 3

Small Integrated Plant > Repair Dock > Habitat

### Base Expansion zone 3

Required for level 4:

* Generic Port III, level 5
* Capital Shipyard II, level 5
* Trading Center, level 1

Rush Generic Port III

Build 1 (6th) utility ship.

Research Smelting Plant level 1 and Destroyer Dockyard 1.

Continue researching Generic Port III and Capital Shipyard to 5.

Research Trading Center

-> Level 4 Base (11 hours)”