First, the quality of the work is awesome - sfx is mostly great (imo minus missiles and holy charge (the latter reminisces of WoW too much for me)), and the conceptualization of defensive and offensive abilties, as well ship systems are awesome. I like the energy weapons akin to SG's Ancients' the most, oh, those smart projectiles! With that in mind...
I am avoiding using this mod, because battles have been a bit … boring. It is NOT the mod’s fault, but
the way it is balanced, combined with the (at present) lack of player-controlled ship/weapon construction do not lend themselves to the use of anything other than player-controlled Paragon + bomber fleets. Anything else and I have to clear stations out of ships after a few engagements and then have to figure out where to get all the weapons I want to spec my ships. Again, these wouldn’t be issues if I could build my own ships/weapons (basically have my own planet), but at present I only trust the AI with holding a couple of carriers at the bottom of the map (and rarely, with a Paragon).
The bomber wings I use end up being pretty useless after the first bombing run, as they wipe out too easily against super-flak and the Priwen Bursts… so a few minutes into a fight, it’s me slugging it out against a few Paladins, rinse and repeat. And no, I’m not beam-kiting, I prefer slugfest + no flux capacitors + maxed vent + quick (frontal+accelerated), hardened shields (imo slugfest is much more fun than beam-kiting, and brings risks to the engagement). I sometimes use other capitals, like speed-focused Conquests or well-geared Onslaughts, but neither of these do very well. I have to kite too much with the Conquests (again, a bit boring), and I’ve found the onslaughts need good cover on the flanks, which I don’t have because I don’t trust the AI with ships.
So then I find myself thinking that this mod would have been awesome down the road, once Starsector matured a bit more. For now, and until then? A few suggestions:
Dealing with the unfeasibility of small-ship fleets, and with the overbearing Paragons.
• Priwen bursts could use a rework. At present they annihilate wings and frigates and do nothing against the Templar’s nemesis, the Paragon. I say a little “thank you” every time a nearby Paladin uses its Priwen, as all it does is build flux and expose itself to a shot from my Plasma Cannons. I like how the Super EMP works on the Arcade ship. If the Priwen works something like that, it would be universally useful, while being more powerful than at present against the Paragon, and would not be such a bane to wing/frigate-based fleets. Bigger ships get longer-range Priwens and ta-da, balance.
• AI ships don’t know to withdrawal far enough when a Templar ships explodes. I remember one of my Maximus and a couple of Lashers moving back a bit and dropping shields, only to get wiped out in the incoming explosion… I cried for my Maximus and stopped using Lashers.
• Holy Charge could also use a rework… into what exactly, I don’t know... one of the Paladin’s problems I’ve found is that they can’t withdrawal to vent very well. Once they’ve built up their flux, they rarely get enough time to retreat and vent before they die… which brings me to:
• Snearing those Kiters. Maybe with a missle. High-durability, high-ammo, ultra-fast, ultra-long range. Some EMP damage, but in effect, very much like an Archbishop’s drones. Something to stop those Paragons from acting like a Wolf.
Making ballistics viable.
• In my eyes, an Onslaught is in many ways an equal of the Paragon (especially in SS+). That behemoth weapon platform can mount a plethora of ultra-high-tech ballistic weapons that should make any Paragon commander think twice before engaging. Yet, the Onslaught (and the Caesar and Conquest) does much more poorly against the Templars than does the Paragon. Hopefully the changes suggested above can reduce that apparent difference by making Ballistic-based ships relatively more viable. If not, then maybe slightly boost explosive damage to Templars. I want Onslaught-Archbishop slugfests!