The 'impenetrable defense' strategies listed below in other comments are counterintuitive but correct. You can dive to the bottom in 1 run if you make def and resistances high enough. Get a little mana and hp regen. Ignore crit, dodge, and instakill. You may need to swap gear for some opponents for specific resistances. Kill everything, and always choose defense boosts when given an option. Complete the 'defense/attack' skills section first. Why worry about transmute when you only come up after you win? I like the extra turns of potion effectiveness, but that definitely is secondary to filling the defence/attack/crit tree
I'm having a lot of fun with the game. However, I have encountered 3 major bugs in the past month, each of which has kept me from playing for multiple days:
1) Kong userid apparently did not forward on correctly, and was unable to post requests for help via the forums or PM.
2) Corrupted map file. I spent several days worth of turns scouting potential opponents, all of it was wiped out. Also, I was unable to play for 3+ days while waiting for a fix
3) locked in combat with myself after accidentally targeting a planet I owned instead of the enemy ship. Cannot break combat.
 "The Enchanted Cave 2"){kind=icon}
 "Dynetzzle"){kind=icon}
 "TradeWars Rising"){kind=icon}