Great patch with lot of cool stuff Alex!
But I just want to say, I think combat side of the game received enough development time for now. Sure, it can get better with more effort put into it, but I think the game could use more meta-game related contents to put this excellent combat system in context. Not saying that combat is perfect nor it doesn't need any tweaks, since anything can be improved... rather, I think the meta game aspect of economy/systems needs more attention now that combat has been refined far ahead of the game's overall status.
It's like we have this awesome sports car (the combat system) but just an empty parking lot (the single bare bone system we have now) to drive it around in!