<Modifier TargetProperty="HullPlatingAbsorption"  Operation="Percent"  Value="0.3"  Path="ClassGroup//ClassShip"/>

That should do it. Tooltip's a bit ugly.

What it does is multiply the value listed on plating modules by 1.5. So Damagereduction = 1.3 * absoption / (hullweakness + 1.3 * absorption).

Doing this to hero skill could be great too.

Edit :

Vanilla files :

        <Modifier TargetProperty="HullPlatingAbsorptionPercent"  Operation="Percent"   Value="0.55"  Path="ClassGroup//ClassShip"/>

Your file :
        <Modifier TargetProperty="HullPlatingAbsorptionPercent"  Operation="Percent"   Value="0.5"  Path="ClassGroup//ClassShip"/>

That doesn't increase by 50% of the existing value, it gives a +50% flat absorption. I think you should work on the HullPlatingAbsorption values instead.

Thanks for the feedback, will look at that and compare. I have noticed that the Endless level AI I was playing in my latest test match are far more capable of deploying decent ships, which has provided a welcome increase in challenge while still being quite comfortable.

There were many situations before where AI at high difficulty was easily caught out by it simply forgetting to research CP, or by it catching you out by taking Universal Aerodynamics - the +2 CP per hull unlock - before you did, essentially providing them fleets of double the size. The aim of this change is to make the unlock more gradual and to avoid the circumstances you ended up in - it's also true that the CP techs are must-have, so the decision making there was inhibited. 

What CP did you have at the time compared to that of the AI?

If you were against Cravers, I would not attribute this match to the mod. They are currently way overtuned and there is little that can be done to hold them back on higher difficulties if you don't start ASAP. I disable them for this reason to avoid playing 'Endless Cravers 2'.

Hi, great mod! thank you very much for sharing it with the community.

But I have seen you reduced the defense bonus provided by some battle cards, if you increase the defense of modules but you decresease the bonus of the battle cards, isn´t the result the same as not improving the defense of the modules? (except for the critical tweaks)

One thing else, maybe it just happened to me, I have to play more with your mod, but in the first game I have played (turn 70 right now, impossible difficulty, normal speed) the IA is only making fleets with full projectile weapons and full projectile defense, I have to play more to see if this happens in more games...but I would like to ask if it is also happening in your games.

Thanks again for your mod! I think combat need some balance and you nailed it.

Thanks for the feedback. You're welcome, I'm glad it's proving of use.

As for the battle cards, the issue is that Turtle for example providing a flat +55% hull absorption, which is fully additive and meant that with just a few hull plating modules you could get high or complete projectile mitigation, countering an opponent fleet entirely. This felt like too much, so it had to be tuned down. The main concern with regards to offense vs. defense surrounds energy weapons and shields, since plating has 'always-on' mitigation, it is the more reliable defensive and combined4 with Turtle it can hold off projectiles well. 

It cannot do the same vs. energy, which makes energy the better choice if such high projectile defenses exist. So, it had to be brought down.

On the other hand, Power to Shields was providing 75% shield absorption which is not actually that useful, as the higher your shield absorption the faster your shields deplete and the sooner you are left with no defenses. I replaced it with 50% shield capacity so they remain active longer.

That is an interesting report, as I had some issues also with the AI not retrofitting its designs. What design ships were you using? The AI is meant to - and usually does - retrofit to counter the fleets the player is using.

Railgun wrote:

That's a good catch. Thanks, will push an update for it.

That actually hadn't come to mind, and would be a better way of handling both. 

Done and uploaded latest update 0.21:

• Moved 2CP per hull down to Stage 2 for more gradual upscaling
• Rearranged a few tactics
• Reduced the free movement speed provided by Science and Explo techs (0.3 each, down from 0.4)

Integrated G2G Balance Mod:

• Modifiers for Blast Effect Battery, and restored its original production cost. Increased base damage
• Cooldown increase for EMP, and restored original duration

Reworked:

• Critical Hit modifier to be multiplicative. They will now halve mitigation values, rather than subtract a set amount
• Turtle to also be a 50% increase of existing projectile absorption
• Get Lucky to provide x1.5 existing Critical Chance

Are you on the Amplitude Community Discord? It'd be more convenient to discuss the mod regularly there.

Edit: I see now your proposed approach to this. You're right, Railgun.

On further investigation and a clarification, it appears that both have the same result. 

I ran 0.5 Percent on HullPlatingAbsorptionValue through the interpreter formula and then compared it against the one with HullPlatingAbsorptionValuePercent and they are identical. It does not appear to be additive, after all, nor are the Hero Skills since they are ran through similar interpreters - and the ones that add penetration do not, as I had first thought, add it directly, but through a 'Factor' intermediary property. I'll restore a number of these accordingly.

This is good news, more than anything, as it means only the ship enhancer modules were directly additive.

Aitarus wrote:

Thank you, I am glad that you enjoyed it and I hope you do with the other mods also. Any feedback is always great. :)

Regarding the siege, it was inspired by Rogue One's 'single reactor ignition' where they have the Death Star precision target a location on the planet without destroying it. Mostly it is to try and make the cracker more useful than it is currently without reducing the charge up timer.

I hadn't yet tried your mod but I am inclined to suspect that +500 siege damage for the core cracker is quite excessive and also contradicts its purpose. Core crackers are used to demolish an enemy system with no intention of capturing it so there's no point adding siege boni to it if you don't plan to turn it into an oversized titanium A2S slug. (You already get something like 450/turn siege damage if you stack maximum number of A2S slugs on a carrier/Ark... you get the point.)

Please consider reducing the charge up timer instead.

The charge up timer has already been reduced by devs according to game speed. On Fast, it is only 2 turns. As it stands, the core cracker has no worthy use so I wanted to provide an alternative incentive. Considering the construction cost and the fact that it cannot equip weapons, I am not convinced that it's always a desirable alternative to slugs.

I will have a think about it. Thank you for the feedback.