First 2 Rounds

Primary early objective is to construct 2-3 ships in each of the first 2 rounds. The extra actions will enable you to get a lot done in the second half of the game. It's even worth running short on food and losing some points to construct more ships.

Secondary objective in early rounds is to watch the council for powerful characters to acquire. You don't necessarily need to play (invite) them right away, but you'll want to grab the good ones when you have a chance. What's good?

1. All "lightning bolt" characters (they all net more resources than you spend)
2. Many "hand" characters. There are many ways to activate these multiple times per turn.
3. Many endgame scoring characters, especially the ones that are easy to max, like ships, lighthouses, and characters.
4. Certain "infinite" characters, especially ones that let you navigate after acquiring certain cards, or provide discounts.

Tertiary objectives, roughly in order of priority:

1. Acquire 1-3 private destinations
2. Try to score some points off the first 2 decrees (top left of main board)
3. Start preparing for the titles (bottom right of main board)
4. Build 1-2 lighthouses

You should aim to finish the second round with something like this:

1. 8-9 ships
2. 2-3 private destinations
3. 1-2 lighthouses
4. 2-5 characters, mostly instant "lightning bolt" navigation effects

Don't worry if you don't have any art or "infinite" characters yet. You should have lots of resources to work with in the last 2 rounds.

Note that when you have 2 ships left in your bay, you can move them to port to generate 6 resources, so you can always construct a ship with your last 2 ships in the round.

Last 2 Rounds

Now is your time to shine! Time to build an engine, and convert lots of resources into points.

Rough order of late-game objectives:

1. Keep looking out of OP characters in the council, especially endgame scoring at this point
2. Race to achieve the decrees before other players
3. Play important "hand" and "infinite" characters to build an engine
4. Acquire art for VP and effects
5. Acquire endgame scoring characters
6. Maximize the current round's decree scoring
7. Maximize scoring objectives of your endgame characters
8. Acquire more private destinations
9. Finish constructing any remaining boats and lighthouses