For the large majority of the game, the planets you're dealt are the planets you get. But as you approach Endless Space's endgame, terraforming options start to open up, and suddenly the formerly simple task of resource optimization gets much harder.
Sure, a basic 0/1/1/5 Arctic is obviously worse than a basic 2/1/2/5 Tundra, but the Arctic planet gets different bonuses from improvements and the like – +0/0/0/5 with a Global Tech Park compared to the Tundra's +0/0/0/3.
While resources and anomalies obviously factor into this, terraforming the planet won't affect them, so they're moot for this purpose. What are the highest yields from exploits and system improvements alone?
Best Answer
Endless Space groups the varying planet types into different groups. By default, only Class 1 Planets will be colonizable, and you unlock the ability to colonize planets in the higher tiers as you move down the tech tree.
By contrast, terraforming unlocks in the reverse order, so, as mentioned, you probably won't have favorable terraforming projects available until late game. Generally though, you have to move up in class if you want a net positive in FIDS - otherwise you're either losing them, or swapping Science and Industry, etc.
You can only have one exploit per planet, so I've listed them separately, as some planet types get increased benefit from multiple exploit types.
Category 1 Planets (11 Base FIDS)
Terran
Base: 3/2/4/2
Tier 3 Exploits: 3/0/1/0
Food:
Dust:
Total: 5/2/5/2 + Exploit
Ocean
Base: 3/2/2/4
Tier 3 Exploits: 2/0/0/2
Food:
Dust:
Total: 5/2/3/4 + Exploit
Jungle
Base: 3/4/2/2
Tier 3 Exploits: 2/2/0/0
Food:
Dust:
Total: 5/4/3/2 + Exploit
Category 2 Planets (10 Base Fids / -5 Approval)
Arid
Base: 2/2/5/1
Tier 3 Exploits: 1/0/3/0
Food:
Industry:
Dust:
Science:
Total: 4/3/6/2 + Exploit
Tundra
Base: 2/1/2/5
Tier 3 Exploits: 1/2/0/0
Food:
Industry:
Dust:
Total: 4/3/3/5 + Exploit
Category 3 Planets (7 Base FIDS / -10 Approval)
Arctic
Base: 1/0/1/5
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/0/0/2
Food:
Industry:
Science:
Total: 3/1/1/6 + Exploit
Desert
Base: 1/5/0/1
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/0/2/0
Food:
Industry:
Science:
Total: 3/7/0/2 + Exploit
Category 4 Planets (5 Base FIDS / -15 Approval)
Barren
Base: 0/1/4/0
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/0/0/3
Food:
Industry: Dust: Science:
Total: 2/1/1/4 + Exploit
Lava
Base: 0/4/1/0
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/3/0/0
Food:
Industry:
Science:
Total: 2/6/1/2 + Exploit
Category 5 Planets (12 Base FIDS / -20 Approval / Cannot Terraform)
Gas Methane
Base: 0/10/1/1
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/1/0/0
Food:
Science:
Total: 1/10/1/2 + Exploit
Gas Helium
Base: 0/1/1/10
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/0/0/1
Food:
Total: 1/1/1/10
Gas Hydrogen
Base: 0/1/10/1
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/0/1/0
Food:
Science:
Total: 1/1/10/2
Asteroid Belt
Base: 0/4/4/4
Tier 3 Exploits: 0/0/0/0
Food:
Industry:
Total: 1/5/4/4 + Exploit
Terraform priorities will come in a bit.