Bombers are pretty bad.

Very expensive industry wise and there is only a very brief window of them being useable because advanced fighters are on universal aerodynamics which is key tech you get not long after the bombers themselves. So your normal bombers are gonna going be up vs advanced fighters almost immediately. Advanced bombers are T5 and might as well not exist since the game will end before you get them.

What was the final decision?  Fighters and bombers based off of ship health or manpower?  Giving this a go right now



Ok, after a moment or two, I agree with Gzar, there window is worse than a tier 1 hunter.  (Bombers)  Because you get advanced fighters so close it almost negates there existance completely.  Gzar has a really good point.

We have just released a preview build for the Target Locked update! If you want to give it a try, please follow these instructions:

• Right click on the game in your Steam Library
• Select Properties
• Select the Betas tab
• Enter the following password: TargetLocked
• Select the target-locked build in the drop down list
• Click OK
• Give us your feedback after playing!

NOTE: In the final build, fighters & bombers will only be slottable on Carriers and Medium Support ships (as opposed to this build where they can be slotted on small and medium attack ships), to encourage specific fleet compositions.

[ADDED]

• Fighters and bombers
• Dedicated Battle tactics
• Dedicated Squadron support modules
• Dedicated Fighters & Bombers quest
• Pirate hero Jennifer Rach
• Unfallen OutgameView, added ships to Cravers & Sophons OutgameView
• Implemented better explosions
• Added the Force Free Movement input (CTRL + Mouse2) to the controls in the options
• Mac compatibility mode: if you are still encountering issues with the Diplomacy screen, try adding the “-compat” command line to your game’s starting options in Steam. If it works, let us know so we can add your graphics card to the list of cards triggering this mode by default!

[FIXES]

• Planetary destruction cinematics can now be disabled
• The notification title is no longer noted as a “successful expedition” when encountering a trap in a curiosity
• The industrialists "New colony" law's description now scales correctly on different game speeds
• Fixed law upkeep not being properly displayed when it is modified by faction traits
• Fixed an issue causing the rebellion notification to not be triggered
• Pirate fleets now auto-merge at the end of every turn if possible
• Unified luxury resources tooltips in order to have luxury effects on all locations
• Fixed an issue where the retreat feature did not function properly on the vineship hulls
• Fixed "zoom in" sound being played on repeat when zooming with scrollwheel on a system when already zoomed in
• Alliance notifications are no longer displayed when created by unknown empires during gameplay
• It is no longer possible to leech the same system several times at once with the same fleet
• Counter-offer does not cause the price of diplomacy contracts to be paid again
• The quick start and beginner tutorial options are now properly displayed when hovering the cursor over the New Game button after the player exits the advanced/expert tutorial
• Teleporting probes (due to lag) now update the fog of war as intended
• Fixed an issue preventing players from making actions while another player is joining the game in multiplayer
• The mouse cursor now uses a proper pointer after the end of the turn when the player was dragging a construction during the end of the turn
• Notifications are no longer popping up when a planet destruction is launched (cf. Vodyani's Quest Hope In Heresy)
• It is no longer possible to load a save when in loading/saving screen, to avoid loading a save that's being deleted
• Fixed ready feedback of the notification battle setup
• Fixed a rare desync on hotjoining a game
• Added the possibility to rename trade companies
• Riftborn population construction is now automatically upgraded instead of blocking the system construction queues when an upgraded version is available
• Fixed tooltips of battle tactics unlocks from the technology screen displaying false information
• Fixed deed "Prospector of destruction" not tracking resources correctly
• Curiosities now display the correct regular curiosity icon greyed out instead of the padlock when no probes are currently available
• The player is no longer automatically reassigned to the first slot when changing the session mode from multiplayer to singleplayer
• The player no longer stays stuck in the "Connecting to lobby" loading screen if the host exits the lobby
• The player is now assigned to the previously occupied lobby slot when re-joining
• System approval is now correctly displayed on Riftborn outposts
• Description of the planets are now displayed properly after quick loading while watching the cinematic of the same system
• The "Isyander's Gambit" quest side indicator is now correctly displayed for fleets which orbit systems
• A character input limit for the player name in the New Game screen has been added to prevent the player from remaining stuck upon ending their turn if their name comprises a large amount of characters
• The System Scan View button is now correctly displayed in the Outpost Management screen
• The player can now only ask for one political survey per turn
• The player can no longer interact with the Galaxy screen from the Senate screen
• Battle tactics description no longer overlaps the range indicator in the battle tactics unlock tooltips
• Added information in the System List that a system is under siege
• Players creating custom factions will now have informations as to why they can't add certains traits
• Decaying roots no longer remove other empires' colonies
• Added information about which population will be enrolled by the Chain Gang Program improvement
• Ship Design screen no longer displays default/placeholder Industry cost when designing Arks
• Color palette changes (colorblind settings) are now correctly applied
• Fixed an issue where the planetary destruction audio track continued to be played after the cinematic is skipped
• There are now tooltips on the relation gauge to inform the player regarding the effects of the minor factions diplomacy thresholds
• Users can no longer assign skills to heroes available in the market without purchasing them
• Fixed an error when the player is trying to change the video quality level
• Accepting an invite during a single player session will no longer cause the player to be immediately removed from the lobby after joining it
• The empire banner tooltips of dust/manpower/influence now cover the whole section, not just the stock
• Effects of the "Military Spine" skill from the Imperials and Primitives hero classes are now correctly displayed
• Added available stock of resources in the negotiation screen + changed default value of the quantity field for resource terms (from max stock to 1)
• Highlights which surround the Fleet ID no longer blink multiple times when the player clicks on a lane
• Skippable assert is no longer generated after using the Quick Load function and immediately quitting the current game session. Removed the possibility to quick load when a Confirmation Message Box is visible to avoid these kinds of strange behaviors
• Fixed the description of the notification when a ship discovers a fleet and is destroyed in the same turn
• Added a scrollbar that allows to see all the luxury resources in the Marketplace screen
• Luxury resources and trade lane freighters are no longer overlapping and are now correctly displayed
• Added information about the starting situation (planet, government, politics) of a faction in the faction choice
• Added more detailed tooltips for planets in the custom creation screen
• Fixed an issue where the player could create custom factions while the "Allow Custom Faction" setting was disabled
• The Systems Management list can now correctly be sorted by "Resources" and "Automation Policy"
• "Starting Planet" faction trait is no longer displayed in the Empire Panel for Custom Factions
• Fixed an issue where Multiple levels of a planetary specialization of the same type were displayed in the specialization list if a specialization level was skipped
• The beginner tutorial no longer loses functionality after the player changes game options
• Debug text is no longer displayed in the Hero Ship Design screen when inspecting a hero on the Marketplace
• The player can no longer access the technology screen before it becomes available in the beginner tutorial
• The Virtual Dustylizer now displays which population is going to be sacrificed, like the Chain gang program does
• Fixed systems failing to update Riftborn manpower infinite improvement when a quest unlocks a new version of the said improvement
• Curiosity expedition is now considered as failed if the fleet is destroyed during the expedition
• It is no longer possible to invade a system several times in the same turn by using the retreat option after an invasion
• Fixed an issue where Advanced Report Damage Gauges were glitching when total damage done was 0
• Fixed systems sending growth to themselves
• Fixed random technology quest reward sometimes giving a technology that should not be available
• Fixed GUI displaying incorrect information when Cravers try to change government
• Fixed an issue where Planets disappeared from System View if the player clicked on System Management View and then clicked the left mouse button again
• Fixed player being unable to decolonize home systems of other empires after capturing them
• Fixed an issue where the Lumeris’ faction-specific Infinite Improvement, Political Theater, did not replace Public 3D Printing after being researched
• Alliance victory conditions are not taken into account anymore when a player leaves an alliance
• Fixed an issue where the notification of the "A Swarm of Locusts" quest displayed improper information when only one empire completed the quest
• "Righteous fury" religious law now allows to go through closed borders
• Fixed privateers not crossing closed borders when in auto-explore
• Fixed automated ships not delivering their content when arriving (instead, waiting for the system to refresh or the end of turn)
• Fixed automated ships tooltip displaying erroneous information
• Fixed an issue where fighters that chased bombers drifted when their target was updating its trajectory
• Fixed some saves with corrupted systems not being able to load
• Fixed a situation where leech sometimes stops at end of turn
• Fixed battle rewatch not working
• Fixed colonization sometimes causing issues
• Fixed multiplayer saves being loadable with modding tools enabled

[BALANCE]

• Minor Faction quest action accessibility reduced from 75 to 50 relation points
• Added Dust cost for minor faction quest action
• Ocean, Jungle and Atoll Planet cost for Custom faction increased from 10 to 15
• Perfect Genes cost reduced from 15 to 10 (level 1) and from 30 to 20 (level 2)
• Pathfinder cost reduced from 40 to 25
• Guardians cost increased from 25 to 40
• Crowded Planets I & II disabled for Ship Bound factions
• Social Chameleons cost reduced from 20 to 15
• Increased custom faction cost for Democracy and Republic governments from 5 to 10
• Reduced effect for Skillful Traders from +20% to +15% Star System Trade Value on Star System
• Added "Fast" bonus to Civilians, and changed to "Very Fast" for Explorers
• Added bonuses "Squadron Technicians" (+10% Health on Squadrons) & "Veteran Pilots" (+10% Damage on Squadrons) for Carriers
• Balanced values for Trade Companies’ gains in Dust, Science and Luxury
• Reduced XP needed to level up Trade Companies
• Reduced Science gains from Trade Companies
• Reduced maximum number of Trade Companies to 3 (4 with faction trait Extended Consortium")
• Changed the formula for the Length modifier of Trading Company so it starts having diminishing returns once there's more than 10 Nodes in a Route
• Added faction trait "Extended Consortium", costing 15 points
• Reduced steepness of the nerf for Trade Companies research gain and Trade Companies level impact
• Decreased from 8% to 3% XP gained from improvements built for governors
• Increased XP gains of admirals from battle by x10
• 3 new empire improvements linked to stage to increase civilian ship movement points
• Increased costs of Faction Trait "Mutual Understanding I" from 5 to 10 and "Mutual Understanding II" from 10 to 15
• Reduced Lumeris Hero Senator Skill "Lucky Windfall" effect on Star Systems Trade Value from +50% to +10%
• Reduced Luxury Resource "Drift Buds" effect on Star Systems Trade Value when used in a Star System Upgrade from +70% to +20%
• Reduced "Solar Security Operations Base" effect on Star System Trade Value +100% to +25%
• Reduced "Xhuyin Cartel" effect on Star System Trade Value +50% to +25%
• Reduced "Borer's Guild Bourse" effect on Star System Trade Value +50% to +25%
• Fixed luxury Resources deposits not applying their Approval bonus per Population
• Reduced the Approval bonus per Population of Transvine deposits from +4 to +3
• Fixed "Spoils of War" law applying its effects twice
• The player will now receive resources instead of an outpost in chapter 1 of the United Empire quest if they selected the 2nd choice, if they are playing with a custom faction with Shipbound or Vines affinity
• The reward for completing the final chapter of the Riftborn questline is now functional for custom factions
• Dust election actions are now tied to Dust inflation
• Approval bonus from the "Destroy" option of the "Mind Matters" event is now functional
• The "Church on High" Vodyani tutorial now progresses past the second step when the player selects a system as instructed
• Added a Medium range to beam weapons (with a x2 cooldown between shots)
• Flotilla Ranges now do the correct accuracy adjustments for beams
• Evasion now has max value of 0.95 instead of minValue of -0.95
• Fixed flaks bringing their DPS to feedback in the detailed view of DPS in ship overview
• The Metaplot quest can no longer erase the ENFER star system to turn it into the Metaplot system
• Rejuvenation Haze now increases regen ratio on Docked Fleets, not just Fleets in Hangar
• Promoter of Diversity's laws counter now works
• Reduced the necessary quantity of T1 Luxury Resources for Star System Upgrades
• Increased the necessary quantity of T3 Luxury Resources for Star System Upgrades
• Reduced over colonization penalty per system over the threshold (-15 --> -10)
• Reduced Custom Faction cost of starting on a Jungle from 15 to 10
• Increased XP required for hero ships to level up
• Reworked hero XP computation (added passive gains to Governors and Admirals)
• Renegade Master now applies its bonuses correctly
• It is no longer possible for factions with the Riftborn visual affinity to find star system improvements they cannot use through curiosity exploration
• Mount Zelevas (Quest United Empire, United Empire ending) can now be built
• Nerfed all Kinetic weapons’ damage by 10%
• Fixed Industrialist "Fortitude" law not applying its health bonus corre

Played a few hundred turns and can see the improvements apart from the strategic war A.I.Time and time again they send 1 or 2 ship fleets against my full CP fleets along with drips of unarmed invasion ships.This is free lunch and not very enjoyable to see such an obvious issue they hurts the A.I ability to fight war..This is back to the dark days of EndlessLegend release version.

Not sure this is gonna be fixed from the official release so I'm putting it back on the shelf until the A.I can play the game.

So far the trade routes are clearly not as OP as they were before, but may be a bit too weak. Too early to say as the match I've had has been more contentious than usual. It's not clear yet whether you can physically keep up with an Endless AI's economic modifiers for the victory any more.

I'm not actually sure if the trespass change is functional - my exploration ships esp. any with a seeker attached are treated as being military and accordingly attacked/result in diplomatic malus. No way to treat exploration/colony hull types as 'civilian' for this purpose?

Some bugs:

1. Can't progress past Vodyani first stage of quest if another empire kills any of the pirates
2. Stuck on the new(?) Swarm of Locusts first stage, having taken out 4/8 the location indicator no longer detects any pirates, but it won't progress. Linked to 1.?
3. AI forgets to research Commercial Frameworks. This is the second match where I've noticed and had to gift an empire the tech so they actually use trade.
4. AI in one match didn't bother deploying any strike craft at all, but may be due to it being started before the preview(?)
5. May not be a bug, but the AI developed a tendency to put all its ships in one flotilla over and over
6. Vodyani custom w/o Ship Bound still starts with the Nayium-class leecher hull, which is just a duplicate of the Maium-class colony hull.

I also noticed that pacific conversion is not negated by the religious pinned law - intended? That is to say it took me a while to realise the reason the AI was able to instantly buy back my conquests was because I hadn't had to declare war before invading; in one case the Riftborn repeatedly converted their last system back after losing it. :O

Shouldn't empires be elimated on holding no territory, or is the grace period intentional?