Anyone that can help a newbie out with suggestions on the first few research choices. I used my initial points on scanning.

Do you want to rank fast, do missions or kick ass in combat?

When you say points I hope you didn't mean rank points. Don't use rank points for scientists.

Scanning is a good choice because getting good planets is important. Focus on acquiring good research planets early on. Mining isn't that important.

Thunderbolta's right about choosing what you want to get out of the game. I think planet structures and energy are essential though. I usually research up to the research tier of each stage before moving on but my game strategy was to focus on high research.

Weapons are important if you want to PvP and it's easier to get those red badges at low ranks. You may want to put a little into hull too.

Make sure you get yourself in a good legion with decent RP output. It makes a big difference early on in the game.

When you first start, it's best to decide what strategy you want to play. A list of strategies can be found here:
http://galaxylegion.com/wiki/index.php/Ship_Strategy
That ^ is the galaxy legion wiki, and has alot of information on it.

If you decide to go for combat, put most of your rank points into weapons, hull, defense, scanners and planetary buildings. Let your cloak and energy techs fall behind. Shields are a must for planetary production, but you should probably leave that until later, and skip to mass shields.

By rank 50 for PvP you should have:
Graviton Shearers/Disruptor Cannons
Quantum Capacitors/Antimatter Reactors
Magnetic Deflectors
EM Absorbant Panels
Durtainium/Microgel Armor
Inertial Dampening/Spacial Thrusters
Multiwave Sensors
Nano Assembly/Deep Extraction
Advanced Logistics

Your shield, cloak, and base trees can catch up later on. By rank 50 you should have a fair idea of what works and you'll be able to judge it yourself.

If you need more help, PM me here.

~StrmAvenger
Rank 85
Top 50 PvPers.