After 30 groundhogs, I see that Yugle is the fastest way to bump your research. They don't provide any sort of secret benefits, but the pay allows you to crank your energy to extra productive levels. You can/should delay the quantum stuff to grow in other areas first.
I only started learning how to notice these things later in the gameplay, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in the early game.
Thanks Casteele! Also, do you know how to reliably get to the diplomacy screen? It's often unavailable to me. There's no button for it in the tabs right now, but occassionally comes back.
New to capturing? Don't even try until 4.2 (money and crafting is too tough), and I've found one of the best spots to practice is 4.7. You'll get plenty of gold, just turn off automove.
Hi, on Kongregate version it's not available. Sorry.