There are lot of new to mining folks here, I’m one of them. Here is my journey and some of the lessons I learned

Why did I go here?

When Bitcoin hit $40k I finally decided that cryptocurrency isn’t going to go away. And if it’s not going to go away I should look into it. The sad thing is that in the early early days of bitcoin I had played with getting a miner going. I even got to the point where it was happily mining away on my computer. But then I had to get back to work and when my computer rebooted I never started it up again. What a loss!
I should also call out, the EtherMining guide is really good. If you are starting your mining journey it’s very helpful

The Wallet

I made the investment in a Ledger wallet. I’ve seen the reddit post that made it to all about poor souls that lost huge amount because of some hack or thievery. If I’m going crypto I’m controlling the keys. I did some research and determined that Leger or Trezor are the best cold wallets. After which I read on Ledger’s site that you shouldn’t mine directly to ledger because it can’t handle a large amount of small transitions (more on this later). Did some google and went with Mew for my mining software wallet figuring I’ll transfer to ledger after.
Here I learned about the magic 20 words or a Mnemonic phrase. Unlike banks, Ledger and Mew don’t hold your account. They are simply devices. If Mew is installed on your phone and if you lose your phone you’re screwed and you can lose all your holdings. Unless you can rebuild your wallet with the Mnemonic phrase that is. Alright, good stuff. I have mine and a safe wallet

And Ethereum?

Of course first I looked into mining bitcoin again. What? You need an ASIC miner these days? Holy shit they cost how much? Alright, who’s number 2. When you start researching about Ethereum it’s pretty freaking cool. This thing could overtake Bitcoin someday and you can mine it with a GPU. Hey I have one of those!

The card

I have a 2070 super which I got shortly after they were released for under $500. I’ve been using it for video games and it’s great. Who knew there would be a run on GPUs and the cards worth more than I paid for it!

The Pool

I quickly learn that solo mining is a fool’s game with Ethereum, you need a pool. I went with Sparkpool simply because it was the largest. As the new guy I don’t need to be trying out the newest pool, I want stability. I also wanted to stay anonymous, turns out all you need is a deposit address. Nice

The miner

Fees to use a miner? The heck? I’m not afraid of a CLI, let’s go with the free one. I download the latest Ethminer. Now we hit the first real challenge as the example configurations were all over the place. After some trial and error I settle on a .bat that does;
ethminer.exe -P stratum1+tcp://

[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]):3333

We’re mining!

On Sparkpool you can search by your wallet address. After ~10min, there I am. Cool! I’m mining! Change the sleep settings on Windows and I’m mining while I sleep. Now when can I get my earnings? Let’s see they pay out at 0.1 ETH….. Let’s do some math…. Yeah that’s not happening for a long time. Ahh, they pay out on the 28th of the month even if you don’t make 0.1. Just got to wait. And this is where I was for a few weeks

On to Upgrading

I’m mining, what a fun start. I’m not in a position to put together a rig though. Maybe there’s some reasonable changes I can make

The Miner

Let’s start easy, the miner. I see post on EtherMining that Phoenixminer is just the best (I’ve since read the same thing for about 3 different miners). Ok, I don’t like the idea of a fee but I have stats at Sparkpool, let’s see what it does to the average. Around this time I found the guide on EtherMining and learned about adding commands to my .bat file for etherminer or phoenixminer as well. My .bats now start with
setx GPU_FORCE_64BIT_PTR 0
setx GPU_MAX_HEAP_SIZE 100
setx GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS 1
setx GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
setx GPU_SINGLE_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
Turns out I do get a bit better results with Phoeixminer. Nothing amazing but it is better. And the reporting in the CMD prompt is better. I can see information on my card and hashrate. Cool!
I also finally take the time to find my electricity bill to see what I’m paying. My cost per kWh is 0.09, lucky me! Plug that into mining calculators online, I’m ok. At least I’m not losing money.

How about a 3070?

Alright, this is fun and all, but what if we can could do more. My computer has some more PCIe slots. How much could I make with a Nvidia 3xxx? Turns out betterhash let’s you know. You can plug in any card there and get a hash estimate. Turns out I could make over $100 month with a 3070. At $600 the card would pay for itself in 6 months!
….There are no freaking cards for sale. Anywhere. What the heck. How late am I too this game? And the ones that are available, they want $980 for a 3070? I look deep. I make the half hour trip to Micro Center and get told to try coming in at 8am every day and I might get lucky. Not looking good.
Finally I recall I used to order stuff from CDW at my old IT job. I hit pay dirt! They have a 3070! It’s expensive but it’s not $900. Card ordered! (Since then, they’ve been out of stock. I got lucky)

Upgrade issue #1

I need to make room for the 3070. My 2070 Super is a 3 fan and it’s long. There’s not room in the 2nd PCIe slot in my case for the long card. I end up moving everything around and break off some plastic from the hardrive cage, I got it in!
I have a 3rd PCIE, can I put a card there? Not unless it’s super thin, the power supply is right under it. Looks like I’m limited to 2 cards for now.

Upgrade issues #2

My new 3070 is extra wide (PHY uprising edition if you care). The fans literally sit on the 2070. And with both cards in there my computer is hot! My computer feels like a heater right now. Let’s google on how to deal with heat. I learn about and download MSI Afterburner. Pretty cool tool! Not only can you see the temperature you can adjust a lot of settings on your GPU. I spin up my miner and start MSI afterburner. Ok, the 2070 is doing fine, let’s see how the 3070 is doing.. 90 degrees, ok, ok. Wait it’s Celsius, holy crap! What the heck! That’s 194 degrees F! It’s gotta be that wide ass 3070 making the fans sit on the 2nd card. The cooling air it’s sucking up is coming straight from the 2070…
I switch the cards (why did I break my hardrive cage?). Now the 2070 is back in the first slot which is not ideal, I liked the idea of using the 3070 for video games.. Spin up my miner, we are doing better. Both cards are in the mid 70s Celsius. That’s fine right? Do some googling… Crap, no it’s still too hot…
Time to upgrade the fans in the computer. Another half hour trip to Micro Center, I get a 140 and 120 size fan. I also get a fan controller because I noted that I only had 1 free fan plug in on my motherboard. The fan controller ends up fitting perfectly in a hardrive slot, like it was made for it. Fortunately I overbought my PSU and I have plenty of power slots for adding one offs like a fan controller.
Alright, I’ve filled every Fan spot on my case, there are 5 fans going…. And there blowing wrong…. After redoing everything because I messed up the fan directions…. (Remember kids, air should flow front to back and heat rises) Let’s try again!
Spin up the miners…. I’m under 70 degrees Celsius! Progress, progress. But high 60’s is still in the danger zone. Here is where I find some nice post in EtherMining on MSI afterburner settings. Raising my fan speed to almost 80, cutting my power to somewhere in the 70s, raising the memory clock to +500. Now I’m at 63 c! And my hash rate went up as a bonus!

Here I am and where I’m going

If you’ve made it this far, it’s been a learning journey for me. There are some things I can still do better at but I think I have the basics of Ethermining down. I’m happy with where I’ve gotten. I’ve also learned a ton about crypto currency.
Going forward, I might change from Sparkpool but I’m still on the fence. From EtherMining I know everyone and their mother is going to Flexpool. But I’m a small player (~100 MH/s) and waiting for 0.2 ETH for payout would take a long time which is risk. And I’m not sure what the PPLNs type plan would net me.
I’m also considering using the address for my ledger for my proceeds. It’s going to go there anyway and I would like to avoid fees from moving my coin around. I know ledger cautions about large amounts of small transactions but with a pool the payout is only once a month so I don’t think it applies. If the ledger can’t handle 12 deposits a year then I need to find something else anyway.
You know, I might have gone big but with staking being the future of Ethereum, the rising difficulty level of mining, not really having a place to put a rig or honestly the funds for one, I think I’m going to stay a small player and just see if I can eventually pay back this 3070 I bought. In the end it’s been a ton of fun and added excitement to the monotony of being quarantined to a house all day. Thank you for the forum post and the new hobby!
Were you entertained? You can always send things to 0xAD0cd237BDE28AF4Dc4E0D913285e74217384e29 (worth a shot)

This is supposed to be like a Let's Play YouTube video, but in text form with some pictures, so you don't have to spend hours in order to experience my game. I'm not expecting people to read everything; instead, I suggest you use the search function on your web browser (Ctrl + F) in order to find the specific information that you want to know.
The galaxy seed is 50244, Supremacy and Awakening are disabled, and I played on Endless difficulty against these custom factions: Cravers, Riftborn, Sophon, Vaulters, Horatio, Lumeris, United Empire.
https://i.imgur.com/bEpgVIA.jpg - settings
I colonized Nusakan, researched Xenolinguistics (for the Titanium and Industry) and Off-world Agribusiness (hoping to find a minor faction), assigned my hero to my Explorer (in order to gain a few levels by exploring curiosities), and passed Dirty Hands Act.
https://i.imgur.com/wUtdSfa.jpg - Nusakan
https://i.imgur.com/pAdnRs4.jpg - galaxy turn 19
Acturus and Mira only have cold, sterile planets but Hydrus has a Mediterranean planet with +2 Titanium and +1 Hyperium. Unfortunately, Hydrus also has 2 Ash and 2 Lava planets.
Turn 8: started a hack on Vyrak, the Lumeris home system, which should finish in 10 turns.
Turn 9: met the Kal'Tik'Ma, who give + 10 approval per sterile and -25% overpopulation penalty when assimilated; their system has a Monsoon, Arid, Desert, and Toxic, so it's a good system and I praised them twice.
Turn 10: discovered Spica, which has a Jungle, Boreal, Ice, Toxic, and Frozen Gas. I know it was risky to move my Argosy deeper in enemy territory but, if I wanted to retreat my Argosy, I could still reach Hydrus before my free colonization became available. I assigned my Overseer hero to Nusakan.
Turn 12: pirates spawn on Spica and Arcturus, and I meet the the Tikanan on Igris, which only has 3 planets (Tundra, Arctic, Temperate Gas) and no resources, so I have no intention of assimilating them, especially since their faction trait boosts Infantry troops.
Turn 15: I had just enough Hyperium to colonize something, but the Argosy still needed 4 turns in order to reach Hydrus. I discovered a Z'Vali and Niris population, from curiosities, and they reached my home system on this turn.
Turn 16: searched some curiosities for the Kal'Tik'Ma and found that their system has a lot of Dustciduous Trees and some anomalies that boost approval.
Turn 19: I become the sovereign of Kal'Tik'Ma and their quest tells me to discover more curiosities in order to assimilate them. I colonize the Mediterranean on Hydrus.
https://i.imgur.com/pWJtewt.jpg - Hydrus
Turn 20: the hack on Vyrak finished and I got Pev-Scale Accelerators (science specialization, science improvement, and Arid colonization). My hack was almost traced back to me and, so I started another hack to Vyrak, but went through NGC 6F21 so it takes 17 turns.
Turn 21: election result is Scientist (55%) + Pacifist (14%), even though I supported Ecologist (18%) without cheating. It didn't matter since I have only 1 law slot. Built another Explorer and sent it to Mira for the curiosities.
Turn 22: finished researching Aurigan Shielding (curiosity 2, free movement, Savannah), Eukaryoptic Sap (approval, Snow), Plasma Metallurgy (Industry, Hyperium), Planetary landscaping (Food), Ex-Atmospheric Filtration (approval on luxury, +1 Industry & +1 Hyperium, Ash), and Galactic Commodities Exchange (+1 Strategic resource, Marketplace), so I chose 30 Titanium as my level 2 modernization (+40 industry, +40 food). Applied Cryogenics (Hunter ship hull) and Universal Conscription (for manpower) will finish in about 11 turns and then I'll start building Hunters. I finished the quest for Kal'Tik'Ma and somebody put a pirate mark on Nusakan. It's noteworthy that Mira has a planet with +3 Antimatter.
https://i.imgur.com/Tkwlt9g.jpg - Isso
Tirn 23: found that Altair has a Warm Gas and an Arid with +2 Dustcidious Trees and +2 Adamantian, but the Riftborn attack my Explorer so I retreat. The pirates are using ships with lasers so I'm going to build 2 Explorers with missile weapons, because that's my highest damage module available.
https://i.imgur.com/ds9FFv6.jpg - Dart, an offensive Explorer
Turn 25: Isso got hacked. I discovered that an Ash planet on Hydrus gives +2 Adamantian. As my Explorer is scouting new systems, I am choosing to NOT explore curiosities on planets owned by the Riftborn, since the Riftborn and the Cravers have a higher score than I do. I would explore curiosities only on uninhabited planets or on planets owned by factions that have a much lower score than me.
Turn 26: The Z'Vali give me the best pop bonus and, since I just grew my second Z'Vali pop, I sent it to Hydrus.
Turn 27: got offered a free hero, so I chose the Seeker Horatio because I plan on going to war soon and I always want my admiral to have some kind of speed boost. I assigned him to Hydrus so he gains some levels for 8 turns.
https://i.imgur.com/qxUTdjM.jpg - first hero choice
Turn 29: found the Epistis on Rhea, who control 4 planets with +2 Jadonys and +1 Transvine but are allied with the Riftborn. Bought 1 Titanium so I can afford Level 2 Modernization on Isso.
Turn 32: started building my first Hunter with slug weapons and will finish in 4 turns on Nusakan.
https://i.imgur.com/LA37vLs.jpg - Hunter blueprint
https://i.imgur.com/RKOZfIm.jpg - galaxy turn 32
Turn 33: started building the Endless Research Park on Hydrus, which should finish in 12 turns.
Turn 34: Lumeris and the Riftborn arrive at Isso, at the same time, and fight each other, even though they only have 2 small ships each. They both declare war on me, and I destroy the remaining Lumeris ship with my 4 small ships and my Argosy. I swear, the Lumeris don't usually play this badly. I switch my troops to 100% Armor units.
Turn 35: my Argosy has a free colonization but I don't want to get Mira, since I can't exploit Antimatter yet. Oyera has 3 planets, +2 Jadonyx, and no level 3 curiosities, so it's not worth it. I upgraded the ship for Horatio and assigned him to my war fleet, in case someone attacks me again.
https://i.imgur.com/33wufdI.jpg - Seeker hero ship
Turn 36: Nusakan got hacked and got turned into a Dictatorship. Anarchy will last for 1 turn and the Religious are in power. I'm not going to pass any laws. My hack on Vyrak finished and I chose Support Revolutionaries, in order to spawn 4 small pirate ships and make them choose a detrimental Ground Battle defense. I'd like to hack Ingris, to prevent the Riftborn from getting them, but I don't think there's enough time so I hack the pirates on Arcturus.
Turn 37: pirates destroy Vyrak, I kill the pirates, and colonize all 4 planets that used to be owned by the Lumeris. The Lumeris have a slightly higher score than the UE, in the previous turn and, so far, I've seen 3 systems belonging to the UE so I'm worried that the Lumeris still own a system somewhere. For some reason, the population of Vyrak is still decreasing; not sure if this is a bug. I moved a Z'Vali pop from Nusakan to Isso, which travel by Portal, but I'm not going to spread my custom Lumeris pop to all my systems.
https://i.imgur.com/qAxZpQL.jpg - Vyrak
Turn 39: my Overseer gets moved to Hydrus, so I can finish that wonder.
Turn 40: I found the Lumeris fleet on Spica, which had a hero and 4 Attackers, who were using a mix of missiles and slugs. I won with my Hunter taking most of the damage, but no casualties. I start sieging the pirates.
https://i.imgur.com/YHvivCy.jpg - first battle with my Hunter
Turn 41: Oracle of Science gives me +1 science per pop and -10% tech cost, so I choose the Scientist party and enable Dirty Hands Act. Pirate Lair is destroyed and gives me 15 Adamantian and 900 dust. Lumeris try to colonize Spica, while my fleet is still on it, so their colony will die next turn. I reject their peace offer. I start building Predictive Logistics everywhere (+20 industry per planet).
Turn 42: found another Lumeris system with 4 planets and my 3 Hunters are going towards it.
https://i.imgur.com/2mTi9hS.jpg - galaxy turn 57
Turn 43: I buy the first 2 upgrades for the Armor troops, which cost dust, Titanium, and Hyperium. Endless Research Park is finished.
Turn 44: I blitz the 200 manpower of Bellatrix, who choose Protect System.
Turn 45: finished the quest for Scavanged Ramscoop and I put it on all of my ship blueprints.
Turn 46: captured Bellatrix and refused the forced peace from Lumeris by paying 500 Influence. I get 75 Hyperium for being the first to explore 50% of the galaxy. The hack on the pirates is finished and I get 15 Transvine and 7 Gossamer; I use 3 Transvine to boost the Z'Vali pop and I hack Arcturus again. The population on Vyrak has finally stopped decreasing and I have 3 Lumeris pop. I send my 2 Darts to Justium, in order to slow down their outpost.
https://i.imgur.com/CiWO6As.jpg - Bellatrix
Turn 47: destroyed 3 small Lumeris ships on Xenis and begin siege. I choose 75 Dustcidious Trees and 113 Hyperium as my Level 3 Modernization, and I start building it on Nusakan.
Turn 48: started moving one of my Hunters towards Justium.
Turn 49: captured Xenis and I plan on abandoning this system because it has no resources; I'd rather have Mira than this. My empire approval is 88% and I have 6/5 systems. I got Magnate's Council (unique, +20% Industry on Happy and +20% Industry) because I was the first to get Level 3 Modernization, and I will build it on Hydrus. My 3 Hunters are on Justium.
Turn 50: Hydrus got hacked by pirates. I choose to arrest spies for +10 Influence for 20 turns.
Turn 51: Lumeris shouldn't have any more systems, they have only 450 Dust (not sure if it's enough to buy a colony), and I only have 87 Influence, so I accept their truce for 21 Hyperium. I get a choice between 3 heroes and I pick the Eusocial Overseer; the Counselor had much better science skills, but I want the resource increase. I assign the Eusocial to Nusakan, where I have 2 deposits of +2 Hydromiel. I upgrade my Hunters and hero ship with Scavenged Ramscoop and head to Arcturus.
https://i.imgur.com/housVHN.jpg - second hero choice
Turn 52: I blockade Sophon's colony on Niss.
Turn 53: started invading Arcturus and colonized the Jungle on Spica. The Vaulters are at war with the Cravers and send me an alliance offer for a few resources; I reject it because they're far from me and the Cravers would get an Approval boost if I declared war on them. I'm going to continue ignoring the Riftborn, because their score and their Hunters are very strong, and I'd like to declare war on the Sophons, who are already at war with Horatio. My Hunters are moving to defend the systems in the center of the galaxy. I move one Z'Vali from Isso to Spica.
https://i.imgur.com/Fd6G8h4.jpg - Spica
Turn 54: Lumeris is eliminated. The pirate lair is destroyed and I get 30 Hyperium and 30 Bluecap Mold. Horatio makes an alliance with the Vaulters but I refuse to join it. Intensive Cultivation (Food) is done on Vyrak, and I'm building Intergalactic Supermarket (Dust) on Nusakan, a Hunter and National Museum (Influence) on Isso, and Intergalactic Technology wonder on Hydrus. I start a hack from Bellatrix to Dyl (Sophon home system), which should finish in 12 turns.
Turn 55: my Hunters arrive on Niss, so the Sophon outpost will die in 2 turns. Justium has +2 Eden Incense, +2 Adamantian, and +2 Antimatter on 2 hot planets. Niss has +2 Titanium and +1 Hyperium on 5 planets. But Oiad has +3 Eden Incense, +2 Hyperium, +2 Antimatter, and +5 Adamantian so I'm going to colonize it next, and I don't have to get Mira anymore.
Turn 56: used 5 Transvine to boost Z'Vali. Spica has +1 Hyperium on the Jungle, and +3 Eden Incense and +2 Hydromiel on the Boreal. The Sophons are about the complete their outpost on Oaid, so I move my Hunters there, and kill 2 small pirate ships.
Turn 57: Isso got hacked. Graviton-Shielded Laboratories (+30 Science and +2 Science per pop) is researched and I start building it on Nusakan, Isso, and Vyrak. I upgrade my Argosy, to make it faster, and move it towards Oiad.
Turn 58: colonized the Lava on Nusakan, so I filled it with pops and queued AI Labor after Graviton Labs.
Turn 59: my Hunter is finished on Isso, and I move it to Bellatrix. I queue Research Cities (Science) on Nusakan, Isso, and Vyrak. A pirate mark is placed on Isso, but there are no lairs near me.
Turn 60: unlocked an additional law slot and I get Brains over Bucks (+20% Science, -20% Dust). Denarque University (+10 Approval, +2 FIDSI per pop) is queued on Hydrus after Magnate's Council and Intergalactic Center. I discovered that Isso has +2 Orichalcix, Bellatrix has +2 Quadrinix, Oiad has +3 Orichalcix, and Xenis has +2 Orichalcix and +1 Quadrinix, so I'm researching Cultural Invertics (+2 system limit) in 8 turns, and I don't want to decolonize Xenis anymore, so I queue Level 2 Modernization on it.
Turn 61: Scientists win the election.
Turn 62: Cravers demand Dust and I refuse. Auriga is on a system controlled by the UE, so I make peace with them. I get Geological Vault (+10% Science and +20 Science per strategic) from my quest and I queue it after Intergalactic Center on Hydrus, because it has 3 strategics.
https://i.imgur.com/GZdsFnc.jpg - made peace with UE
Turn 64: Intergalactic Center is finished. My Golden Age ended, so I colonized Oiad for 8 539 Dust, 53 Titanium, and 53 Hyperium.
https://i.imgur.com/12jGwDL.jpg - Oiad
https://i.imgur.com/U4qUExS.jpg - galaxy turn 64 Sophons
https://i.imgur.com/9Ty4wBW.jpg - galaxy turn 64 Horatio
Turn 65: Isso got hacked and has a Dilution Singularity (-25% FIDSI).
Turn 67: big Riftborn fleet arrives at Isso, but I need 3 more turns to finish some military research. I queue a Hunter on Nusakan and on Hydrus.
Turn 68: Riftborn siege Isso but I think I can keep my system as long as I continue drafting.
https://i.imgur.com/9p6lvoJ.jpg - invading Isso
Turn 69: Riftborn offers truce, I refuse, but then he forces truce and I accept, even though I could have payed the 800 Influece. His Hunters do twice the damage compared to mine, and I'm not sure I had enough luxury resources to sell off so I can retrofit my Hunters. The hack on Dyl is finished and I choose Crust Engineering (Industry specialization, Orichalcix) because that's the most expensive tech that I could steal. I start a hack from Oiad to Dyl for 11 turns.
Turn 72: Spica got hacked.
Turn 73: Nusakan got hacked. Denarque University finished on Hydrus.
Turn 74: started building Microwave Pipes (+2 FIDSI per pop) on Nusakan and Vyrak.
Turn 75: Isso got hacked. Sophons are exerting a lot of border friction on Oiad and Xenis, and they might make a diplomatic demand, so I give them a Bureaucratic Imbroglio for 500 Influence because I don't plan on declaring war on them anytime soon.
Turn 76: Bellatrix got hacked.
Turn 77: Hydrus has +3 Benthic Gems.
Turn 78: updated my Hunter blueprint.
https://i.imgur.com/vxA8URh.jpg - upgraded Hunter
Turn 79: the truce with Riftborn ends, but he hasn't moved his fleet from Isso, so I attack it. He had 2 Hunters, 1 Coordinator, and 3 Attackers with no shields and both damage types with a preference for short range. By looking at the battle tactics he previously used, it made sense for him to put most of his ships in the middle or top lane, so I did the same.
https://i.imgur.com/dcXYCN6.jpg - big battle
Turn 80: finished sieging Riftborn's outpost on Justium, and I colonize it for free. Riftborn demands 440 Dust but I refuse at the cost of 35% of my Influence. The hack on Dyl is finished and I change their government to Religious because he only had a few good techs that I wanted, but I could research them in 1 turn anyway. I hack Dyl again. Magnate's Council is finished on Hydrus. Riftborn has an outpost on Altair, but I blockade it with my Hunters so that it dies in 3 turns. I forgot to mention that, a few turns ago, the Sophons made an alliance with the UE so they're both at war with the Riftborn.
https://i.imgur.com/Nipkjjh.jpg - Justium
https://i.imgur.com/sPPchFe.jpg - galaxy turn 80
Turn 81: Scientists win the election. I choose 30 Benthic Gems, 60 Hydromiel, and 188 Titanium as my Level 4 Modernization (-50% overcolonization penalty, +4 Food per pop, +40 Food, +40 Industry) and add Fabrication License (+4 Industry per pop, +10% Industry) to the queue of various systems.
Turn 82: accepted the Overseer hero, for the Approval and luxury resource boost, amd assigned him on Vyrak. I discovered that Mira has +2 Mercurite. I buy 1 Benthic Gem and start Level 4 Modernization on Nusakan. I move my Hunters on Ingris, declare war on Riftborn, and invade Ingris; I just want to raze some of their systems for now.
https://i.imgur.com/CY1wQHt.jpg - third hero choice
https://i.imgur.com/vacAWIo.jpg - invading Ingris
Turn 83: Riftborn attacks my Hunters with a Hunter, Coordinator, and Explorer, but then retreats. He offers a truce and I refuse.
Turn 84: added Pulvis Production (+2 Dust per pop) on various systems. I sold a lot of luxuries in order to afford 4 Overseer heroes.
Turn 85: I accept a demand from Sophons for 2590 Science per turn, for 10 turns, because I don't want to get -30% FIDS on all systems; I also can't declare war on Sophons for 10 turns. My Science production has been reduced by half and I could have avoided this by declaring war on Sophons but I didn't have enough fleets for 2 wars. I upgrade my Armor troops and invade Birius.
Turn 87: all pirate lairs have been destroyed. A Dilation Singularity is placed on Isso. I finished my invasion on Ingris and choose to raze it, since I'm a Dictatorship andd won't get an Approval penalty. I start building Carriers on Hydrus and, since I reached 50 Vaulter pop, I build manpower improvements on various systems. I also build Punctuated Evolution (+4 Science per pop on Fertile, +2 Science per pop on Cold) on many systems.
Turn 88: Riftborn offers truce and I refuse. I move my Hunters towards the pirate fleet.
Turn 90: finished invading Birius, which will be gone in 7 turns. I built a Trade Company on Hydrus and will make the Subsidiary on Xenis, for the Benthic Gems. I declare war on Sophons so I can attack the pirates and his systems.
Turn 91: the hack on Dyl is finished so I take Advanced Game Theory (Lasers that cost Hyperium). I start a hack from Isso to Ghykra (9 turns), because I plan to invade Dyl, and I started building Autonomous Administration (+1 system limit) on Nusakan and Vyrak.
Turn 92: defeated the pirate fleet and got a level 7 Guardian hero, which I assigned on Justium, and I will definitely move him later. I invade Dyl.
https://i.imgur.com/OBmGcja.jpg - invading Dyl
Turn 94: researched Air troops, bought the first 2 upgrades, and split my troops as 50% Armor and 50% Air.
Turn 95: captured Dyl and colonized Niss. I bought a level 4 Seeker hero for my Carrier fleet, which is on Altair, to prevent the Riftborn from expanding.
https://i.imgur.com/0ynR0DT.jpg - Dyl
https://i.imgur.com/R7IGPaa.jpg - Niss
https://i.imgur.com/tzyRNsu.jpg - hero ship design
https://i.imgur.com/BfKnbMj.jpg - Carrier blueprint
Turn 96: finished researching Cosmetic Genetics (+1 pop on fertile and sterile). Riftborn force truce and I pay 1.1k Influence to refuse.
Turn 97: I was the first to unlock 40 techs and I get +5 Dust per Science improvement.
Turn 98: Riftborn puts a Dilation Singularity on Isso.
Turn 99: I attacked the Riftborn fleet on Bellatrix, who had 7 Hunters, 2 Coordinators, and 3 Attackers, who had a mix of Missiles and Kinetics, but only the Coordinators, the Attackers, and 1 Hunter had shields. Most Hunters had 4k attack and 1.5k defense, but I only lost 1 Carrier while 2 Carriers were heavily damaged and 1 Carrier still had full health.
https://i.imgur.com/9dCxQyN.jpg - big battle
https://i.imgur.com/FzCkIUW.jpg - galaxy turn 99
I think I'll end it here, since it's obvious I'm going to win. I would like to point out that I made a mistake in choosing to research level 3 cloaking; instead, I should have gotten level 2 anti-cloaking and put it on my hero ships instead of the module that gives +1 fleet movement.
I also made a playthrough with the Umbral Choir and the Vodyani.
Let me know if this was useful or entertaining, and feel free to nitpick anything that I did. Any questions or comments are welcome.
Edit: I replayed starting from turn 95 and I got 22 systems on turn 115, which is enough for a Conquest victory. I also got level 2 anti-cloaking and I put one module of Kinetic Slugs on my Carriers.
https://i.imgur.com/xUC4470.jpg
By the way, I should have chosen the Turtle battle card instead of Take Trophies. This way, I suffered no losses:
https://i.imgur.com/EwEtqhD.jpg
I would have started researching the Genius of the Endless tech in 4 turns, and then I would need the other 3 endless techs, so the Conquest victory came much sooner than the Science victory. Also, in case anyone is curious, the Vaulters were eliminated by the Cravers on turn 104 and I eliminated the Sophons on turn 114.
I removed all mentions of events and quests, except for the quests that I got from minor factions.

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Hi everyone,
This is my first post so bare with me. It may be long so don’t feel compelled to read it.
I am 26 years old and in the midst of the Pandemic, I have been working from home since March. Before September, I would never have thought of myself having a gambling addiction. I remember being on a cruise when I turned 21 and put $20 in a slot machine and lost it and was so angry and disappointed in myself.
Then in September I kept seeing this ad on Instagram for an online casino. One day I succumbed and decided to sign-up because they had a $30 signup offer. I thought, ‘Hey what’s the harm?’ I wish I could go back and slap myself and say don’t do it.
I play through the free $30 and won $500. My whole body felt electrified. That went away when I realized there were wagering requirements (I have never been in/involved with casinos so I had no idea). By the time I met the wagering requirement, I had $75 of withdrawalable money. Still excited I made $75 for free I went to withdrawal, but found out the minimum withdrawal amount is $100. So I kept playing and eventually lost it. I wish I learned my lesson that this will be the reality most of the time.
For a bit of background, before this I was in a decent financial state. Pretty good job for someone my age, lived alone in a nice apartment, had some credit card debt, but overall manageable. I have some mental health problems (Bipolar and anxiety disorders) but received treatment and relatively stable compared to my early 20s.
As the days went on I couldn’t stop thinking about seeing that ‘big win’ flashing on my screen and kept thinking to myself, ‘that $500 could have been mine if I didn’t have that $30 bonus’. So, I decided to deposit $20 and bet low on the same game and won nothing. I felt sick like I did on the cruise.
This particular online casino gives you $1 every day, so for the next week I just played but $1 and won some, but not enough to withdrawal. About a week later, I got an email from the casino saying if I deposit $50, I’ll get an extra $50 with no wagering requirement. The thought of depositing $50 was crazy to me so I just deleted the email and continued with my free $1 a day. After about a week of that, I get another email, deposit $50 play with $200. I scoured the fine print and I only had to play through the extra $150 once, then any winnings I can withdrawal. I still hesitated until Friday night where I had a couple drinks and decided to go for it. Back then, I would say this was one of the most fun nights of my life. I kept landing the ‘fireshot’ feature and winning mini and minor jackpots. At the end of the night I won $1200 USD (I’m from Canada so it would be about $1500 CAD).
My body was so full of excitement I could barely hit the withdrawal button. When I did, I found out they had to verify my account and I had to send in the required documents. After I researched if this was standard for online casinos and researching this casino, I sent in my documents. I went to bed happy, and already had plans on what I was going to buy/pay off with this win. Unfortunately I was too excited to sleep. So I log back in and miraculously (at least to me back then), my $1200 was still there, and playable. So I thought why not play a few more rounds with a higher bet to get an even bigger win? Big mistake. By 3:00am, I was down to $100. I forced myself to stop so I could still withdrawal something. After about a week or two, I resisted playing/betting more and when I logged into my online banking and saw the $120 deposited, I think that’s when my addiction started.
I was no longer satisfied with my free $1 everyday. I started just depositing $20 here and there. On my lunch break or in the evening when I was bored. Then $20 turned into $50 and $50 to $100. After maxing my credit card with no significant wins, I decided enough was enough. And stopped for the rest of September.
Most likely because I had researched so much about online casinos, I had more ads than ever tempting me. One night again after a few drinks, I joined a different online casino. This one was completely different, with better games, a level up feature where you get to spin a wheel after each level and win free spins, cash back or free money, I was hooked again. I put in $50 and lost and was completely broke. So I patiently counted down the days until I got paid. I also sold about $500 worth of video games/consoles I didn’t want to sell, but did to have more money to gamble with.
On payday, I set an alarm for 4:00am when my pay is deposited. This was the first real sign to myself I may be becoming obsessed, but brushed it off. I deposited $100 and won $200. Same story, I had to verify my account but this was done within hours, and I got my money in two days VS a week and a half with my first casino. Stupidly, I put the $200 back in and lost it. I was back to being broke after only two days of getting paid. By the weekend, my credit card payment posted and in my eyes, I had money again.
That night I won most of what I lost back and learned my lesson and withdrew it. When I saw that sum deposited into my bank account, I was ecstatic. I first paid off my credit card I was using to make the deposits, and went out and bought AirPods Pro. I felt rich (even though the win was less than $1000). That evening I wanted to play again, but I had no money. This was the night I learned I could cancel a bill payment within 24 hours. Which I did. And played through all my winnings. Words can’t describe how disappointed I was in myself. I was broke. Credit card maxed. And the only thing I had to show for it were the AirPods. The next day I tried returning them but they wouldn’t accept the return because of their return policy on headphones. I vowed to myself to never gamble again, wrote a note in my phone describing what I was feeling so I could read it if I was ever tempted. That week I fell into a depressive episode. I couldn’t afford groceries, lied to friends and family for not spending time with them because I feared they would want to order food, I didn’t want to admit what happened, so I isolated myself.
That week was what I thought was the hardest. I just stayed in bed signing up to every casino out there for free spins no deposit sign ups to try to fill the void but you never actually win anything on no deposit spins. Finally, my good friend asked what is going on and I immediately bursted into tears and told her I was broke, and my credit card maxed. We work at the same job, and long story short, are both getting $5000 in retro pay because of a expired union contract. She told me she would lend me $5000 now, and I would give her my retro money when we get it in February. This was one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me. Reluctantly, I decided to accept this kindness and we worked out a budget on how I would not let this happen again. Here’s the thing, and I will never forgive myself for, I didn’t tell her all this happened because of gambling. I was too ashamed and embarrassed.
Life was somewhat normal again for a couple weeks until one night I decide to just put in $100 and see if I can win some of what I now owed my friend back. After $500 lost, those same feelings came back, but worse since I felt I betrayed my friend’s kindness, and that this isn’t the first time this happened.
Fast forward to November - I won again (not nearly enough to recover my losses), paid my credit card and cancelled the payment, lost it all again. Then towards the end of November, my $1000 for rent sitting in my savings account kept calling my name. I have never ever been in a position where I would risk not affording rent, but my addiction was stronger and I lost $500 of it. I had about a week until my rent was due, I had nowhere to turn, I couldn’t ask my friend for a loan because in her mind, and from the few times she asked, I was sticking to my budget. My new way of handling stress was gambling, so I put another $100 in and won $600. I was saved and again vowed myself to never put myself into this position again and ‘quit’.
Now it is December, I guess this is my rock bottom. Not nearly as bad as some people’s, but here it is. I took out another credit card for ‘emergencies’ since my main one is maxed. I was good, and didn’t use it except to buy a few groceries which I swore I would pay off on payday. My mental health declined, and I deposited $100 and lost it. Then another $100. Lost it. Made another ‘promise’ to myself to stop and I did until last night. I now owe $1,000 on the new credit card, and my main one is now in a negative balance because of a subscription.
I am a liar, I take advantage of people’s kindness that I didn’t deserve in the first place, and now in more credit card debt than I know how to deal with. All I can wish for is I’ve learned my lesson. That the money I lost I will never get back, and to find some way to fill the void gambling has left in my life. After only the first day, I don’t know what will give me that feeling of excitement, the feeling of being alive. I had all my casino accounts deleted this morning, but I know there are more out there, I just really hope I can stop myself from ever going back on this path.
If you made it this far thank you for reading. If you have any suggestions on what I can do to not relapse, and any hobbies or activities that can fill the void please let me know.