Terra Invicta's tech tree is extremely complex and large. The interface makes it difficult to understand which techs are crucial. This guide will help to prioritize which projects and techs, and give you tips and tricks for your research.
 

Understanding Research

Let's begin by understanding the basics of research. Research points can be obtained from three main sources:
 
1. Nations you control
 
2. Your councilors can org
 
3. Space labs
 
 
1. The following are some examples of research at country scales
 
 

• Population – Research scales for population1.1. Big pop nations are better
• GDP per Capita Linear scaling with a floor of 15k and a ceiling at 48.75k. You won't get any more research to increase GDP beyond this point.
• Education – Scales associated with education2, higher education levels contribute more to research than those at lower levels.
• Democracy – scales for democracy0.2, with an floor of democracy=0.1. This means that even at 1 government research, there is a multiplier of 1, while at max democracy (10, there is only a 1.58 multiplier. It is likely that democracy is less important than you think.
• Linear scaling for unrest, from a 80% decrease at 10 unrest to full research when you reach 2 unrest
• Linear scaling – Cohesion, starting at 40% at 10 or 0 at full research for 5 cohesion.

 
 
The knowledge priority does not boost education, government, or cohesion. Research can also be aided by other priorities. Economy increases your GDP, military decreases unrest (but not significantly)), welfare also lowers cohesion and indirectly helps it. Unity is great for solving unrest and cohesion issues, at least in the short-term. If your cohesion is low, you should prioritize unity over knowledge. Spoils are the worst thing for research output. They can lead to a reduction in many of those quantities. Do not allow spoils to be run in research-focused countries. I recommend that you choose a large population country to be your research hub and then build it up. The EU, China, and India are all good options, but it will take time for the latter two to really come together.
 
 
2. Research points can have a significant impact on your research early on. This source of research is less important later.
 
 
3. There are many modules that grant research points or bonuses to research. These are extremely useful later in the game. However, the tier 1 models are worth it. The xenology labs grant a 10% bonus to xenoscience researchers. The other models grant a measly 3 percent and only a few research point, so don't build them if they aren't necessary for your gameplan. Later in this guide, we'll discuss the tier 2 modules for research.
 
 
4. Ok, I was lying. There's another source of research income that is hidden in the tooltips, and it's not explained in the tutorial. Bonus research is available if you place research priority on multiple projects and techs. To get the boost, you only need to choose one priority point. It can be quite a significant boost. If you don't want to rush through a project/tech, I recommend you include at least one point.
 
 
Let's now talk about technology. Technologies are global and everyone contributes points to them. They benefit everyone, so not all tech will be an advantage. You will have a better chance of obtaining the projects you want if you do more research. If you invest the most, you can also pick the next tech. If you are anti-alien, it is possible to have an interest in improving technology so that you can match alien technology. If you are playing the role of the servant, it might be a good strategy to invest only in technology to keep everyone behind the aliens. You can also try to lock out key technologies if you do enough research.
 
 
Many techs don't offer any benefits by themselves. You need to look at the related projects in order to reap the benefits. It's difficult to see details about projects in the interface. In some cases, like ship modules, you don't get any information before you unlock the project. Make sure to read the rest of this guide to learn what priorities to set.
 
 
 

Early Game

Priorities for early game priority fall into three categories:
 
 

1. Supporting earth-based operations
2. Space mining requires the use of technology that isn't locked up.
3. Faction Projects

 
 
1. Clandestine Operations is the only important project in this category. This allows you to recruit your fifth Councilor. You can do more of everything with a fifth councilor. This is your most important early game priority. This tech is called the We Are Not Alone. This should be your priority. Deep Space Skywatch is another tech to be aware of. The Academy will be affected by half the control points that you have uncovered when you research it. You should time it to get the most out of it.
 
 
2. Space mining should be your first priority. Space mining is much more affordable than using boost. Once you have done some online mining, don't waste your boost on any other projects. This will require that you research Mission to the Moon and Outpost Habs as well as Space Mining and Refining. These will unlock mining on (, which is where you place your mines) and the mining module. You should make sure that you do your research on the projects for these modules. These modules will allow you to mine the moon. The moon won't have all the resources you need so you should next research Mission to Mars and Fission in Space. Fission in Space unlocks the fission heap, which will make it easier to get the required energy on Mars. You will need to have enough boost to send a probe and grab the most lucrative mining spots as soon as possible. Sometimes, you may need to wait until you have enough boost. You want to find projects that lower boost costs so you can launch beyond the earth. Each one of these projects has a significant effect on boost costs. These are Solid Fuel Space Rockets, Liquid Fuel Space Rockets, Cryogenic Fuel Space Rockets, and Advanced Chemical Rockets. It is important to research them in the order they are listed. Also, keep in mind that it can take time for future projects to appear so prioritize them. The first three require no techs, while the last one requires Advanced Chemical Rocketry. Advanced Chemical Rocketry unlocks other projects that increase boost, so make sure you unlock it. Solid Core Fission Systems is another useful tech to improve your boost economy. It gives Nuclear Freighters which greatly reduce boost costs (. Next-Generation Aerospace has a few projects that increase the efficiency of boost priority. These techs can be more costly, so it's important to get your space economy going before you start researching them.
 
 
3. Faction projects are not necessarily related to a particular tech but are usually tied with an objective. These should be completed. They will be available later, but I won't mention them in this guide.
 
 
There are also many shipbuilding techs in early game trees. These are not necessary. It will be many years before you can build your first ship.
 
 
Below, I have highlighted the most important early game techs as well as their prerequisites.
 
 

 
 
 

Mid Game

This guide will assume that you have some basic space mining going on, some consolidated power in certain countries, and the year is 2024 or 2025. You have four broad tech priorities in this section of the game:
 
 

1. Get tier 2 space holdings
2. Support Operations on Earth
3. Faction Projects
4. To take down an alien vessel, build a few ships

 
 
While you can pursue all of these goals simultaneously, the last one should be achieved later in the game.
 
 
1. Your technological progress can be greatly aided by Tier 2 space holdings. Start by unlocking the bases using the Orbitals or Space Habitat techs. These will unlock the projects that will give you the tier-2 energy generation modules. Useful tier 2 modules are
 
 

• Skunkworks, unlocked using Advanced Neural Networks These are extremely important because they accelerate all your projects and allow you to open up new project slots by having one of them. Important note: Skunkworks should not be built in earth orbit. They allow enemy councilors to target you to steal or sabotage your technology. I found myself in a situation where I couldn’t make any technological progress due to the constant sabotage by other factions.
• Space Research has unlocked research campuses. They provide a huge tech boost.
• Directed Space Research is not able to unlock all the research centers. Stronger than the tier 1 versions.
• For accelerated building, there are nanofactories. These also make you money, but you'll still need to get most of the funds from Earth. I wouldn't recommend building them in mass quantities.
• Shipyards, for building ships quicker.
• Operations Center gives you more mission control. One common strategy is to spam them around mercury, where it is easier to get the energy you need. However, I wouldn't recommend investing too much in them as both alien hates and cash will limit your space expansion at that point in the game. I think you should still be building mission control on Earth at the time you unlock these.
• Layered Defense Array. Layered Defense Array.

 
 
You'll need Mission to the Asteroids to support your budding space industry. Mission to the Inner Planets will allow you to build more efficient bases thanks to the large amount energy per solar collector.
 
 
Once you have a space economy that is well-developed, you need to start thinking about how mission control affects your alien threat meter. Alien hate is the number that informs this meter. If it exceeds 50, the aliens begin to retaliate. The rest value is determined by Mission Control. It's multiplied with x0.4 at normal difficulty to create the rest value. This means that you can go as high as you want without aliens constantly at war is 119. To be safe, you will probably want to go lower. There are many useful projects that can increase the soft cap by around 25% each. Arrival Security is the first to offer Strategic Deception. Hydra Interrogation . It unlocks Maskirovka which, when combined with Quantum Encryption, gives an additional 25%. Fleet Logistics has not yet unlocked Operational Misdirection, which is deep in the tech tree.
 
 
2. Ships can be complicated. It's easy to lose track of all the different modules. Let's begin with the basics. Do not research parts for ships that you do not need. There are many modules that are obsolete, underpowered, or otherwise not needed. Only look at those that offer something better. Let's discuss the components of ships that you will need to research.
 
 

• Drive. It is difficult to move your ships around reliably with most early game drives. Grid Drive is the best available drive at this point, and it's not locked by high-energy electrostatic propulsion.
• Battery. Batteries are not important, according to my experience. Batteries are not very important because ships don't usually use all of their battery. If you have a great battery project, do it.
• Radiator. Radiator is not the most important, but they will work for a while. Keep improving your skills.
• Power Plant. The Solid Core Fission reactor will take you far. After you've reviewed the previous version, there are six iterations. These can be purchased from Solid Core Fission Systems
• Armor. Advanced Carbon Manipulation can unlock the composite armor, and then Carbon Nanotubes can unlock the nanotube armor. Both are vast improvements over the previous armor so you don’t have to worry about anything else.
• Weapons. There are three types of weapons. You could write a whole guide about them. The short version is that you need to use missiles and lasers early on if you want aliens to stop you. The starter magnetic weapons are too slow for aliens. Their ships can easily dodge them. Later, missiles are no longer useful as the alien point defense picks them up easily. Magnetic weapons are then used again. For now, you can choose a weapon type. Once you have done your research, you will find a lot of other projects. Prioritize small weapons that take only 1 nose/hull point. You can put multiple smaller weapons on larger ships without much penalty. You should also make sure to unlock a point defense module such as the autocannon or point defense laser. These are essential for protecting your ships from alien projectiles.
• Utility Modules. The most important are the lithium heatsink (Advanced Heat Management Concepts,). This will make your ships lighter and unlock the magazine (easily with starter techs,). However, this is only useful if you want to use it for missiles. The ECM module can only be used to fight humans until an alien project is developed.

 
 
3. Many of the operations-related social science and technology technologies are weak and offer only 5% for a particular investment point category. There are three options for good technology. These technologies can be expensive, so it may take some time to obtain them. First, Cybernetics technology gives you projects that allow you to add 1 to each level of most of your councilor state. Cybernetics provides the first tier, Applied Artificial Intelligence provides the second tier, while mind and machine provides the third tier.
 
 
There are also Unity Movements and Great Nations that will allow you to create mega-countries. These technologies can be very expensive and will not grant you the ability to create mega-countries.
 
 
Finally, there are independence movements that unlock Global Command Structure, which gives 25 more control points.
 
 
4. Faction projects unlock a variety of projects that make it more difficult for Aliens to disrupt your story. These are the ones you'll want to investigate.
 
 
I have highlighted important techs in the tech tree once again. Circled techs refer to weapon techs. You should research at least one of these, but there is no reason to study all.
 

 
 

 
 
 

Late Game

This section is still in development.
 
 
There are three main priorities at this stage of the game
 
 

1. Infrastructure for self-sufficiency in space, including Tier 3 habs or modules
2. Building capable defense fleets
3. ) Resistance, Humanity First Initiative Academy)

 
 
You don't have much good earth operations techs at the moment, but you can still take some if it's helpful or you didn't get enough from the previous section.
 
 
You will be focusing on each goal individually, rather than trying to accomplish them all at once. However, the order of these goals can be different. In some cases, you might have attracted a lot of alien hate. In that case, you should start with defense fleets. Otherwise, tier 3 stuff will likely be the first. The last thing you should do is fight the aliens.
 
 
1. Ring Habs is the key tech here. After you have completed the ring core project, it will unlock most Tier 3 modules. Tier 3 modules are more powerful and will allow your space economy become self-sufficient. Your space economy is likely to be hampered by money or alien hatred. The cap for alien hate (should be 120 on normal difficulty and 180 after completing both relevant) projects. Tier 3 habs can help you get past both. Nanofacturing complexes can make up to 250 dollars per month, which is significantly more than the previous iterations. They consume a lot of metals and rare metals. To get the income you desire, add Space Hotels or Geriatrics facilities. Agriculture complexes are better than farms and can help you keep your volatiles and water income stable. Battlestations can be used to defend against all alien mega-fleets except (. You should at most be able do some damage to them if they attack, but don't autoresolve for). To keep up with the growing demand for this resource, you will likely need to expand your mining operations. Colony Habs tech will be required as well as Mission To Jupiter and possibly mission to Saturn. Note: Do not send probes or habs from Earth to Saturn and Jupiter. It could take many years. Instead, you can use colony ships to deploy outposts and platforms. You can quickly prospect a planet by either building a space dock on a nearby platform or by placing the mobile space science laboratory on your ships.
 
 
Two other key technologies are worth mentioning. First, Fusion in Space, which unlocks fusion module which produce twice as much electricity as fission energy modules. This makes them more efficient. For reasons I will soon explain, that's all you should do in the fusion tech pathway.
 
 
Second, antimatter mass production unlocks the supercollider Module. Supercolliders can be used to power antimatter drives. With the right techs, they can also provide the cash you need. If you have all the projects you need to sell resources, you can sell antimatter at 45k per unit. That means that every supercollider will yield 4.5k per month. Space Commerce, Administration Algorithms, and Integrated Space Earth Economy are the techs that unlock these projects. The tooltip for those projects is misleading. They allow you to sell for 10% more than the buying price. This can easily be twice as much. Even without these techs, antimatter can sell for a lot. This same tech opens up some of most exciting late game drives.
 
 
2. Three key components are required to build capable defense fleets.
 
Good armor. Use Adamantine Armor made from diamondoids. Anything else requires lots of exotics.
 
– Good weapons. Tier 2 weapons should suffice at this point. Either green lasers (, preferably arc lasers), or coilguns.
 
– A mid-game drive. The minimag orion drive is my recommendation for this stage. It can be purchased from Z-Pinch Techniques or Fission Pulse Drives. Magnetic Nozzles tech can be added to this drive for an upgrade later.
 
 
These defense modules can be used to defend your stations from alien attacks.
 
 
3. You need to have really powerful ships to take on the aliens. A good drive is the most important component. Without it, you will not be able to chase aliens around or travel around the solar system. But, the majority of perfect drives are gated behind a lot of very expensive fusion research. Some of the most advanced fusion drives have very serious heat waste issues. Two drives are better:
 
 
a. The Neutron Flux Torch, one of the most powerful in the game, is possible if you only research Advanced Fission Systems. It can be difficult to master. After you have completed the tech, you will need to study Salt Water Fission Reactor I. This will unlock Neutron Flux Drive (, not the one you want), and Salt Water Fission Reactor II. Salt Water Reactor II has an additional requirement that is not listed in the tech tree. It's not clear what it is but it changed from red (to white) after I researched Terawatt Gas Core Reactor II and Terawatt Gas Core Reactor 1. So it's most likely one of those. Once you have completed research on Salt Water Reactor II, the drive, and the code, Neutron Flux Torch will unlock. It is important to be patient. These projects can take some time to unlock so be prepared.
 
 
b. The weakness of the Neutron Flux drive lies in its high cost of production and high fissiles required to power it up. The Advanced Antimatter Plasma Drive is my preferred alternative. It is slightly less powerful but also less expensive and requires less mass. You will first need to study Antimatter Propulsion. You will then need to complete the Antimatter Plasma Drive I-III, Antimatter Plasma Drive, and Antimatter Pulsed Plasma Drive. There are many more technologies that you can unlock along the way, but you should be able to unlock the technology prerequisites for Neutron Flux Torch.
 
 
You will also need very good weapons. Although I have limited experience with lasers, I've heard that coilguns can be very effective. You'll need to buy Phasers for lasers. It's much more important than UV lasers. Both antimatter nukes as well as plasma weapons are slightly underpowered at the moment. Applied Artificial Intelligence, which unlocks projects that increase your damage output up to 10%, is also a nice option.
 
 
You should now have enough space resources from priority 1 as well as enough battleship tech to be able take on the alien megafleets. I recommend you use the skirmish mode to test your plans and tactics before committing to them as much as you need. Two tips are important to mention at this point. First, you can destroy alien colonies by simply placing your ships in them and using destroy hab. It's possible to destroy a colony using just one ship. If you're traveling far away, the second tip is to send several colony ships together. This will allow you to refuel and repair at the destination.
 
 
 

Conclusions

Your feedback is appreciated! Let me know what techs are important to you so I can add them to this guide. I'll end by repeating the most important tips from the guide.
 
 

1. Research in a country involves more than just knowledge priority. For example, investing in unity can be a good investment for research.
2. You must put at least one point into a tech that interests you to get the distribution bonus. In most cases, you should allocate at least one point for every project.
3. Research obsolete or simply bad ship modules. Accept the fact that your research options for project research will be stuffed with random stuff.
4. Skunkworks should not be built all over Earth. They make it easy for enemy councilors to steal.

 
 

 
 
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