So, I've decided to let my Escalation Compendium die, trading it in for this new thread.

A sad day, to be sure.

Here is a list of some of the advice I've most often doled out, concerning how this unique system works.

Feel free to add more in the comments if you can think of any, or just post builds that you'd like growth potential on.

1:) Some Upgrades/Abilities/Builds are better at different times of the game.

• Howlrunner, as an example, requires a certain number of fellow ships to be worth the 6 points investment for her over an Academy Tie, and therefore is unlikely to be good in Round 1.
  
• Assault Missiles/Ruthlessness scale better when your opponent has many ships, and so are better investments in Rounds 3-4 than they would be earlier, unless you're certain you're facing a Swarm.
  
• Control options work best when there aren't many ships to control, and so are very effective in early rounds, and become less viable as rounds continue.
  
• Ships with high survivability fare better in early rounds than they do in later ones, as your opponent will simply have fewer guns with which to take you out.

2:) Initiative buys are not equivalent through the rounds.

• Any fleet that is intending to use a Large Ship is likely to have an initiative bid of 5-9 points in Round 1, and can even go up to 11 points without being able to afford a TIE/Headhunter.
  
• Similarly, any fleet that wants to squeeze in multiple powerhouses in Round 2 will go with a large initiative bid in Round 1, to fascilitate that.
  
• Most players will play the 90- and 150-point rounds with an initiative curve similar to the 100 point standard matches, as those numbers are easy to aim for.
  
• The 120-point round is fairly likely to have initiative bids of 3-6, so that it can add a heavy-hitter in the 150-round.
  
• Similarly, the 120-point round may suffer from hitting the cap of 8 for small-based ships, or 4 for large-based ships, and finishing the fleet may require an awkward transition here.
  
• The 150-point round almost always comes out full in theory-crafting, even moreso than in the 100 point standard fleets.
  If your list benefits from choosing initiative, 1 point is almost always good enough to secure it.

3:) Upgrades that are non-essential are quite often good for filling out the curve.

• These are things like Engine Upgrades on a Falcon, or the Gunner/FCS Combo on a Phantom. Not technically required for the ship to be viable in the way you intend it, but quite useful, and give you flexibility in deployment.
  
• Similarly, upgrades intended for Counterbuilding should be purchased in the round that the fleet you're counterbuilding takes off, and not before. Assault Missiles/Ruthlessness against Swarm, for instance, isn't needed until the 120-point round.

4:) Throwing in a 30 point ship for filler is not going to win you games.

• You have a growth curve, but so do your opponents. Those that think the most about their curve will have a decided advantage against those who don't.

5:) Related to number 1: Different archetypes spike in effectiveness. Innovate to improve your odds.

• I've posted a build elsewhere, in which you can have a swarm of 11 ships, one of whom is Howlrunner.
  However, in Round 1, 5 Academy Pilots will struggle against, Fat Han, SuperWhisper, or anything else that concentrates on survivability. You'll do quite well against the Control ships that would defeat those lists, however.