Empire or Combat?
Do you research/build more heavily combat? Or do you go empire?
I build 2 empire right away so I can colonize volcanic and ice planets. I can also get my extractors researched an extra 10%.
Then I go mostly combat, to unlock new ships, improve armor/shields/weapons. This also gets you to cruisers, which I have found give you more bang for the buck than frigates or caps. I go with the Enforcer (Vasari) and it is a very tough ship.
Malone out.