Varies for me..

On more crampy maps I research repair station first and build 1-2 on my forward planet if I expect to leave my fleet there for a little bit (so I don't overextend myself and leave myself wide open to attack).

If I find an enemy quickly and they look to be in a vulnerable position, I go for Krosovs so I don't have to wait for 10 minutes for my capital to bomb their planet.

For general ship improvements, I do hp first, lasers second (mostly because they improve Cobalts, and since early game that's all you have..)

After that it depends on how I'm doing compared to the enemy.. if I'm able to go on the offensive without too much worry, I go for LRMs as quickly as I can, and then more hp/armor/weapon research. If I find myself retreating a lot or being under pressure, I'll research hangars for defense.

health usually, benefits everyone the greatest

although I'm considering switching to armor, to make my frigs more resiliant.

Same here, I've found I've beaten down all LRM frigates people have sent after me with either Cobalts or carriers. The problem was that these players sent ONLY LRM frigates after me.

A few LRMs with a fleet of Cobalts would be more effective than a LRM only fleet. Players generally don't want to run at the LRMs and take all those free shots from the Cobalts = LRM actually live long enough to do serious damage.

Also, LRM frigates are pretty much designed to be used against players who have significant turret defenses.

I generally dont allow my enemy to use significant LRMs, I send either some frigates or a capital ship against them.

either way that has little to do with primary tech... so why're we talking about it?

I've found the Sova's DPS even with a third bomber squad to be exceptionally low, why do you use it?

The sova's dps isn't dependent on being directly under fire. You can sit at the edge of a gravity well, stack a couple missile platforms before they even get to you, and kill a few frigates on the way over. Up against a kol, they aren't that much weaker head to head either, a marza would clean up pretty good on them, but they have issues with target aquisition and are the most vulnerable against frigates. DPS is nice, but the kol is getting pounded by bombers on the way over, and gets to play with at least one missile battery once it gets there. They aren't limited by the degraded movement capabilities of capships, versatility over raw strength.

I usually go for civic researchs first to prepare for my 2nd capital ship. More reasources lead to more research, more ships, and greater expansion. Nothing I hate more than to have a volcanic or artic planet just sitting there waiting for me to build civic stations, and research before I can use them. But the first military techs I end up going for is armor so that I can increase kienetic weapons quickly. I go for more capital ships, and do everything I can to gain experience for them. They are the single greatest asset.

Two bombers + fighter and I usually end up cleaning up enemy Kol's pretty handily. Plus, the fighters are just nasty when cleaning out enemy forces, and if you can get your flagship into enemy territory in the early game a single embargo can really change the tide of war.

well thats only if you're dealing with a complete doltz who is going to follow you around all day...

and even then if you get in range of the kol you're fooked.

and one who doesnt have support around would simply leave if you're goading him on...

Well thats why I said it.

you lost your marza to my Sova, remember?

agreed

And the retreat of one player is a victory for the other Ships survive, but you still gain control of that grav well, which is the whole point early on..

Essentially with Sova you sacrifice direct firepower for flexibility. The only thing a Kol can do is press forward and attack. A Sova can drop missile batteries on a particular path (or the edge of the grav well to ambush incoming ships), it can attack anywhere in the grav well without moving (perfect if you're expecting lots of reinforcements and don't want your Sova to be stuck on the other end of the well, unable to escape), and it can steal credits and resources

I usually take 2 in Fighters and 1 in Missile to start with, and usually with Militia it gains one more level before I take it up against an enemy player, and the 4th point goes in Embargo