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[Rojnaz]

Derelict Drones could be slightly better with access to damper field like the Vanguard, just saying
I like using the Derelict Drones but they are especially weak, only the Sentry, Warden and Rampart are somewhat useful.
The only "customizable" Derelict Drone is the Rampart, the rest don't have enough OP to play around with builds.
They rarely survive combat, but that is not that bad because of rugged construction, still they die too fast.

I hope someday they get some love!

[Offensive_Name]

I just started playing again after a year long break. Why was the heavy mauler changed?

[Brainwright]

I just started playing again after a year long break. Why was the heavy mauler changed?

Too easy to just flicker the shields and nullify it.  Though now there is no ballistic weapon with singular explosive punch except the Hellbore, and missiles don't cut it, I think.

[FreonRu]

Good day.
Will there be a continuation of the story in the upcoming update? Or secret locations?

[SpaceDrake]

Good day.
Will there be a continuation of the story in the upcoming update? Or secret locations?

Alex hasn't formally announced it, but all indications from Twitter et cetera are that yes, the next major update will have part two of the main story. Whether this will fully conclude the story, we don't know.

[msoltyspl]

While I'm a new player and I don't know first-hand how larger phase ships felt before this version - but harbingers and dooms that I've been experimenting with feel like overly expensive (cr, dp, supplies) shieldless bricks that cannot reposition themselves efficiently anymore, nor they are meant to trade blows w/o shields. I'd think that nimble positioning was essential for their general idea/role ?

The moment you turn phase you quickly slow down to a turtle speed, even with APC hullmod; Phase Coil Tuning doesn't seem to be changing/helping much (and its diminishing returns skills kick in momentarily - after 40 DP, so nominal bonuses are worth precisely 1 Doom; I'll double check if that skill works at all later) in case of AI control, it's actually amusing to watch it struggle as it tries to reposition a harbinger to hit the enemy ships from side/back and fail miserably - there's only so much you can do at speed slashed so severely.

The only option I found that somehow works with those two ships is SO, as it tends to offset the speed penalty (along with 0-flux boost always applicable in SO) long enough to let them reposition properly (and just barely). But SO cripples available ordnance, usage time, etc. ...

Anyway, "Phase cloak reduces top speed as hard flux goes up, down to 33% speed at 50% hard flux while phased" is a crazy brutal nerf. It's analogous to if some other ships felt too strong and something like "as long as your shields are up, top speed goes down to 33% speed at 50% hard flux while shielded" was introduced.

[Schwartz]

Yeah. Even all variables being positive; i.e. having the phase fleet skill, using APC and speed hullmods, using speedy officers and reducing the DP of phase ships in your fleet to maximize the use of the fleet skill, that still makes phase ships destroyer size and up "usable" at best and "bricks" at worst.

Ironically, phase frigates who were always the worst offenders in that they were basically untouchable and uncatchable, are hurt by the nerf the least. They lose their speed much slower during phase, they are already very fast & they can vent quickly too.

Although my opinion on the nerf isn't as strong as it used to be and I do use Afflictors and Harbingers in my fleet again, I still consider it not a great solution to address the problem of phase vs non-phase. Give non-phase some tools to deal with phase. Make EMP arcs hit phase space. Give us specialized missiles with a long lifetime that work vs. phase or make them emit EMP arcs. Make a high flux level influence the duration of cloak / de-cloak.

There's lots of things to try without making phase ships a total bummer to play.

[msoltyspl]

Ironically, phase frigates who were always the worst offenders in that they were basically untouchable and uncatchable, are hurt by the nerf the least. They lose their speed much slower during phase, they are already very fast & they can vent quickly too.

Hmmm, I actually love using afflictors and shades. Before I even took PCT (which did little more than symbolic boosts as I had a few phase ships in the fleet either way ...), they are so fast and maneuverable that they are already in position before this nerf's effect kicks in to be of any relevance to the situation (not sure about the slower Gremlin though...). Before I got my hands on doom/harbingers, I didn't even know there was some nerf/issue (aside comments on fandom wiki/here/etc., e.g. https://starsector.fandom.com/wiki/Doom?commentId=4400000000000029930 ). If as you say the frigates were the worst offenders, then this change indeed achieved very little if anything in that context (and I hope it stays this way, at least frigates are still fun to play). At the same time it nerfs larger ships into oblivion.

I have some simple ideas that would help to control this nerf in a more fine grained way (basically adjustments to PCT skill and APC hullmod + some non-linearity in context of the nerf), though dunno if it's better to post it here (is Alex still keeping an eye/ear on replies here ?) or in suggestions.

[Grievous69]

Alex does read the replies but imo I'd suggest a suggestion thread for clarity sake. Makes it easier to search up if someone wants to suggest the same.

[Harmful Mechanic]

Yeah. Even all variables being positive; i.e. having the phase fleet skill, using APC and speed hullmods, using speedy officers and reducing the DP of phase ships in your fleet to maximize the use of the fleet skill, that still makes phase ships destroyer size and up "usable" at best and "bricks" at worst.

Ironically, phase frigates who were always the worst offenders in that they were basically untouchable and uncatchable, are hurt by the nerf the least. They lose their speed much slower during phase, they are already very fast & they can vent quickly too.

It's not that hard to tweak the phase cloak script to use a hull-size-specific speed malus; seems to me that making larger ships suffer less would be an elegant way to handle that.

There's lots of things to try without making phase ships a total bummer to play.

Yep! I might even take a crack at it myself later, just to see if it works as well as I think it does in practice.

[Schwartz]

If you find something neat, maybe publish it as a mod? I've been looking around for phase-altering mods, or even just some that expose the variables for phase penalties to be changed.

[msoltyspl]

Well, I've compiled some ideas/reasoning in https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=25025.0 regarding phase stuff.

[Histidine]

Alex, David, a question that came up when I was working on the wiki:

Can we make "the Starfarer" be the official byname of the player character? (like the Warden in Dragon Age: Origins or the Courier in Fallout: New Vegas)
It'd certainly sound nicer/more impressive/less fourth-wall-holey than "the player character".

[David]

Alex, David, a question that came up when I was working on the wiki:

Can we make "the Starfarer" be the official byname of the player character? (like the Warden in Dragon Age: Origins or the Courier in Fallout: New Vegas)
It'd certainly sound nicer/more impressive/less fourth-wall-holey than "the player character".

"The Starfarer" does sound really cool, but it lends the player a more mythic-heroic aura than we'd ever intend. Like, you're not the Chosen One in a fantasy game, you're just some person and what happens in the Persean Sector is what you make of it.

So I'd never call the player that, but hey, the wiki can do whatever it wants. We don't make the rules there!

[SCC]

Have you seen the things players have done with Buffalos Mk II? If that isn't myth-worthy, I don't know what is. How can we ever measure up to these standards?