First off, love the game.  Yes it is heading in the right direction.  Plenty of other 4x games for those that want hands on combat.

Combat improvements, see my other posts on this.  For now I wish to propose what could be an interesting solution for spicing up combat in ES2.

Proposal:

Pre curser technologies.  These are special techs that are acquired through exploration or quest rewards and are added to the pre combat screen.  They are limited and can only be used so many times, therefore you have to pick and choose your battles.  They are combat buffs or penalties that effect battle outcomes and by there nature unpredictable.   They would include something like:  Special weapons,  EMP, Temporary shield boost, Laser focus etc.

They are consumable tech advantages that the player must activate before combat begins.  You select your battle plan and then chose Pre curser tech if you want to use them in this battle.   During combat the chosen tech is activated probably half way through the battle.  Say you have something like EMP supercharge coils.  You only have 3 of them in your arsenal.  Do you use them or save them?  They might have adverse effects.  These techs have been acquired from older civs and your understanding of these techs is limited to your science ability.  The higher your science level the better they work.  You could even have an era  tech that grants you full understanding of all pre curser techs you have discovered.  Not all players will have acquired the same techs so battles will be more unexpected.

With variable battle plans and augmented techs  I think this concept would spice up battle mechanics and make exploration and quests more meaningful and add to the replay value.

What do you think.  Suggestions welcome.