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[JaronK]

Currently, there's a lot of skill upgrades that may not apply to you, which you need to take to get to another, unrelated skill (like having to take derlict contingent to get to a second colony skill).  So here's a way to change things around.

Instead of one experience track, you have a few, and the experience you get is sorted into categories: exploration, combat, command, and governance.  Get each of these doing relevant things, and you can choose skills based on those categories.

Exploration:
Gain Exp- Finding new systems, finding things in those systems, salvaging fancy items, surveying planets, etc
Skills- Covers salvage, efficient travel, burn speed, sensors, surveying, etc

Combat:
Gain Exp- Destroying enemy ships with your ship, surviving battles without losing your ship, etc
Skills- Combat skills for your personal ship

Command:
Gain Exp- Giving orders in combat, having your other ships defeat enemies, surviving battles without losing ships, etc
Skills- Officer improvements, fleetwide combat skills

Governance:
Gain Exp- Founding colonies, hiring administrators, surveying valuable planets, building industries, arranging trade deals
Skills- Anything to improve colonies

This also allows for more granularity, as you've got four skill trees to play with instead of just one.  You no longer have a character level, you just have a level in each tree.  You can now have things like skills that just boost one industry, or even part of one industry (like +1 mining, or +1 mining organics) without that being too much of an issue (and that also means you can have far more specific administrators that are ideal for certain planets but not others).  You don't have to choose between "my ship is cool" and "my fleet does well", it's just a question of how you focus your playstyle.

[Phenir]

Currently, there's a lot of skill upgrades that may not apply to you, which you need to take to get to another, unrelated skill (like having to take derlict contingent to get to a second colony skill).  So here's a way to change things around.

Luckily, the next update will change the skill system to a new one. Instead of being forced to choose between two skills and having to loop around to get multiple high tier skills, skills are instead grouped into tiers. You choose a certain number of skills from a tier to move on to the next tier (or continue to take skills from the previous tier). For example, almost all of the combat skills are in the first tier while systems expertise and missile spec are by themselves in the second tier. You can read more about it in the blogpost here: https://fractalsoftworks.com/2021/07/02/skill-changes-part-1/

[SCC]

Not being able to get all the skills in a single game is what Alex wants. He said if you could get everything, it would make playthroughs similar to one another.

[LinWasTaken]

command sounds like it would be a pain to level.

[JaronK]

You'd definitely still have meaningful choices with this.  However, the choices would be between things like Frigate based combat skills vs Capitol based combat skills, closed ranged vs long range combat skills, shields vs armor skills, etc... not "better shields vs colony management" which is basically just two different phases of the game entirely.

I don't see why command is tough, it's just about using your fleet effectively.  If your fleet can get any kills, you should be fine.  And giving orders in combat shouldn't be a problem either, should it?

[SCC]

You'd definitely still have meaningful choices with this.  However, the choices would be between things like Frigate based combat skills vs Capitol based combat skills, closed ranged vs long range combat skills, shields vs armor skills, etc... not "better shields vs colony management" which is basically just two different phases of the game entirely.

But there would no longer be the choice of "do I play more like an ace pilot in this playthrough, or more like an industrialist that just throws the bodies at the enemy until they run out of bullets" and instead you could be an ace pilot and an industrialist every time you start a new run (or respec).

And giving orders in combat shouldn't be a problem either, should it?

It's possible to play without using the tactical map much.

[JaronK]

Instead your choices are things like "In combat, do I play a hit and run small ship specialist, a heavy capital tank specialist, a phase ship master, or something else?" and "Do I specialize in a smaller group of elite vessels, a pile of salvaged rust buckets, etc?" and similar.

Basically, everyone can play with colonies, but you choose how you play with them.  Everyone fights in space battles, but you choose how you play in them.

[JUDGE! slowpersun]

Governance:
Gain Exp- Founding colonies, hiring administrators, surveying valuable planets, building industries, arranging trade deals
Skills- Anything to improve colonies

Also, Alex is dropping all player colony skills in next update (at least, last I checked he was).  Although colony admins apparently still get to keep at least one colony skill (hopefully all, seems silly to not have colony admins keep all skills, they would basically just become placeholders).  AI alpha core admins will I guess also get a single skill that basically makes AI core always better than a person.  But it's probable Alex is planning an overhaul to the colony system for the next REAL update (in 2023?), and is taking stuff out in the interim in order to better balance game.

[SCC]

From what has been written in the blog post, it seems both player and NPC admins will have only a single colony skill, and alpha cores will get their own colony skill.

[Amoebka]

Having separate XP bars for fleetwide and personal skills would be very nice. Choosing between being an "ace pilot" and "competent admiral" is indeed, a choice. A one where no matter what you choose it feels terrible. "Do you want your fleet to have the same bonuses all AI admirals have by default, or do you want your flagship not to be the weakest ship on the battlefield?"