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[Locklave]

I've been thinking about the disparity between AI vs. Person run colonies and how it interacts with current endgame in a disappointing manner. AI should be better, but how and when they are better is problematic.

Elements of this span a wide number of smaller topics.

The basics
- Inability to assign leadership positions to run industries that are non AI.
- Player personal skills requiring many points across more then 1 skill tree being completely overshadowed.
- Player personal skills for more administrators being limited and costing points.
- Lack of goals endgame aside from farming Alpha cores for colonies.
- Non AI colony leaders rarely having more then 2 skills and costing too much, can they even level up?

All colony skills are a complete waste of points in the long term unless you plan to stop building after a handful of Planets. The skill points for more administrators being the worst outlier.

I feel like we need a way to compete with the AI core playstyle even if it's weaker, all it does mechanically is create an earlier productive cap time for non AI user end game. I don't feel like administrators should have a cap when with AI cores even gamma you could literally colonize the entire map.

When I first saw the industry skill tree I fell in love. A game where I'm a captain and can build to be a logistical genius. Then I got to end game and realized I was inferior completely to a single Alpha core and slowly I phased out all my leaders only to look at my skills and ask why I bothered.

TL;DR
Non AI core colonies and growing more colonies needs without using AI cores needs to be viable. Colony leaders need to be cheaper and better. Players who invest 9-15 points for colony skills shouldn't have that massive investment overshadowed by a farmable item. I'm not asking for crazy buffs just more viability.

edit:
Scavenging skill > All colony skills combined. Because it can get you extra AI cores.

[Locklave]

I think the administrators skill should improve them and the limits of administrators should be removed. That would be a good start.

[Megas]

I would not be surprised if Alex fixes this by making AI steal your (excess) colonies and turn them into more Remnant generators, (fix and) buff zombie Pathers to do worse things to AI colonies, or make inspections too frequent to bribe away (although that one can be fixed by wiping Hegemony off the map.)

If not for bugged Pathers, I do not know if I would abuse AI cores.  I avoided Pathers at all costs to keep zombie chasing down to barely tolerable levels instead of intolerable.  I sunk a ton of points in Industry just to have colonies and avoid Pathers (before I knew about the Pather bug).  In the end, that gutted my character's combat power, and I wished I could respec those points away (probably for armor skills and officer management).  If I play another game, I would totally ignore Industry and abuse cores.

My biggest problem with non-AI use is it is impossible to colonize the sector.  At best, you get up to seven or eight colonies with full blown colony skill investment.  If player wants to colonize hundreds of worlds and become space emperor, alpha cores is the only way.  Close runner-up is full colony skills guts combat power too much (by taking nine to twelve skill points away from combat).

P.S.  If colonizing the map is undesired, then there should be limits AI can be used safely, more than that and excess AI will turn rogue and steal your worlds or something equally sinister.

I think the administrators skill should improve them and the limits of administrators should be removed. That would be a good start.

Maybe spend story point to upgrade an admin?

[Mondaymonkey]

Alternative suggestion: Administrators and AI cores can not use they skills effectively if player does not have it. Like a half of any bonus provided.

That will definitely makes sense to personally learn those skills.

[Megas]

I would not want that to apply to combat too.  If it makes sense for colonies, it makes sense for combat as well.

[Locklave]

Zombie Pathers? I don't think people would take kindly to that solution. Zombie Pirates are already something that spawns countless complains. Keep in mind that Pathers get *** about basically everything anyways. Having the AI core turn on you would just make people stop using them, rng would for sure spark rage. Not sure if it could be done in a balanced way without ruining them.

I hadn't considered story points, they'd be a great for basically everything here.

I like the idea of Administrator skill improving other leaders. The only caveat should be it providing a bonus rather then remove a negative, even if it's the exact same numerical result. Mostly just because of how people might view the change.

I would not want that to apply to combat too.  If it makes sense for colonies, it makes sense for combat as well.

In the case of Administration skill, you get nothing personally just more colony leader cap. I believe that was in reference to that specific skill only.

I will point out that there are already many combat skills that apply to the entire fleet greatly impacting ships with captains. So I guess I'd argue it already applies to combat but not to colonies.

[Mondaymonkey]

The only caveat should be it providing a bonus rather then remove a negative, even if it's the exact same numerical result. Mostly just because of how people might view the change.

Agree.

And personally governed colonies could have even bigger bonus (reason to personally govern something instead of AI cores/administrator spam).

[Megas]

Zombie Pathers? I don't think people would take kindly to that solution. Zombie Pirates are already something that spawns countless complains. Keep in mind that Pathers get *** about basically everything anyways. Having the AI core turn on you would just make people stop using them, rng would for sure spark rage. Not sure if it could be done in a balanced way without ruining them.

I do not like zombie anything.  At least with Hegemony, I can wipe them out to make them stop.  I cannot do that with Pathers, and if they were not bugged, I might not use cores because I do not want to deal with two zombie hordes.  One (the pirates) is bad enough.  Chasing Pathers on top of chasing pirates, without a way to eliminate them permanently, is insanity.

I doubt anyone would take kindly with the solutions, but I would not be surprised if Alex did something like that.

[Vocation]

I agree, there also shouldn't be be a cap on officers or there needs to be a wider selection of them. I mostly want cautious for carriers and steady for everything else, but only having few officers spawn in worlds with millions of people isn't that practical.

[Locklave]

I agree, there also shouldn't be be a cap on officers or there needs to be a wider selection of them. I mostly want cautious for carriers and steady for everything else, but only having few officers spawn in worlds with millions of people isn't that practical.

I know what you mean about the cautious officers for carriers. I know the next patch is increasing the base captain officers, Story Points will allow their trait to be altered. They should add more officers with no experience so they are easier to customize.

This makes me think the colony leaders should have traits that effect things too.