I used latinum to buy the common materials required for an upgrade.  Why does it still say I have insufficient materials to upgrade?

This if a complex answer.  It has to do with rounding adjustments in the server and on the client.

First, the latinum conversion is done at the server which rounds up/down to the nearest number.  e.g. 2.4 = 1, 2.5 = 2 and 2.6 = 3.

Secondly, during the upgrade, the material sufficiency check is done at the client side(the game app on your device) first before proceeding to the server.  Unfortunately, the client is simply rounding up.  e.g. 2.5 = 3 instead of 2.

As a result, there is a discrepancy on occasions (when the requirement is around x.1 - x.5) such that even after conversion, the client still insists you don't have enough.

Work around: get 1 more of the same type of material that you just converted your latinum for.

I used a 70% exocomp.  Why is the cost/duration not reduced by 70% or anything near it? 

1.  The speed and cost of any upgrade (building/ship) or research is affected by the efficiency researches. See  research  page for details of the formulae. The formulae is impacted as such when you trigger an exocomp : base line requirement / (1+sum of efficiency researches + exocomp). As a result, the higher your efficiency researches, the less the exocomps help. e.g. 1000 days / (1+300% efficiency research) = 250 days which becomes 1000 days/ (1+300% +70%) = 212 days 18hours when a 70% exocomp is applied. whereas a low research equals 1000 days / (1+100%) = 500 days which becomes 1000 days (1+100%+70%) = 370 days 8 hours when the dame 70% exocomp is applied.

2.   The duration or cost of the upgrade/research that you see in the game client is already discounted from base.  So you cannot simply deduct 70% from there.

How much power do we need to defeat an armada?  Why did we lose even though we had 50% power?   

There is no hard and fast rule on how much power is needed to defeat an armada.  50% or higher does not guarantee a win.  The higher level the armada is the higher the power ratio is needed to win.  The factors that influence the armada win chance includes the following: 

1) launcher's armada control center.  The higher the ACC the better the group will fare.

2) individual researches.  A player with low ship and armada research will likely blow up faster than one whose researches are higher even if he has more power.

3) ship crew.  Sending in the wrong crew means you will deal less damage to the armada and receive tons more damage from the armada.

4) ship type.  G4 ship will definitely do better than a G3 and requires less power ratio to kill an armada.  Similarly, an epic can kill an armada even though a rare or uncommon of similar power cannot.

5) battle triangle advantage.  Each of the armadas has a designated type assigned (explorer/interceptor/battleship).  Running an all explorer team vs a Romulan (battleship) armada means you need more power than going up against the same Klingon armada (interceptor)

Click here for details about armadas                   

How do I get faction credits?

Faction credits can be obtained by

1) completing and collecting daily faction goals

2) completing daily faction reputation events

3) exchange using scout messages via the faction store

4) opening armada chests

5) completing the faction hunt events

6) refine charged nanoprobes in the Borg Tech section of the refinery 

7) event stores (again not recommended as other items in the event store are usually more important)

Mining in hostile territory or Augments space.  There are various methods to send your miner without getting killed.  Following are options that you can employ depending on if you have a spare ship available to allow your miner to mine without being killed by the bounty hunters or other faction hostiles like a Klingon fighter: