So I just got this game yesterday (awesome so far, seems really promising!) and was wondering how battles work in more detail than the tutorial stated. There isn't really a detailed guide that I could find anywhere so here's my first question:



How do different ship types in a single fleet work together? I know some modules give bonuses for the entire fleet - so I don't mean that. What I mean is are there priorities that enemies will attack so you can do things like put ships into fleets for tanking and then have 'glass cannons' that can shell enemies from behind the safety of your tanking ships? Or will the enemies just attack at random so your expensive, 'no armor but high damage' ships will be just as likely to die as your 'heavily armored but low damage' ships?



I just don't really see why you would ever bother putting diversity into your fleets when you can just make all of your ships the same, ideal counter to what your enemy has (with the exception of one support ship which buffs your other ships). If this really is the case - having only two types of ship in each fleet (all ships the same except one aura buff ship) it seems a bit flawed. Again, I just got this game though so I have no idea what I'm doing, hence why I'm asking this in the first place.



My other question is relatively minor:



During the three combat phases - missile, beam, kinetic - will your ships only attack if they are outfitted with the corresponding weapon type? Or will they always attack but just be less effective if they are missing the corresponding weapon. For example, say you have a ship outfitted with kinetic and beam but no missile. During the long range phase will your ship do 0 damage (not attack at all) since it doesn't have missiles? Or will it attack but just not be as effective in this long range phase?



Thanks in advance!

All weapons fire during all three phases, however missiles seem to occasionally have their ship destroyed before firing, resulting in a loss of damage. Missiles can also only target one ship per phase, while it looks like the others can re-target if their target is destroyed. Ships cooperate very poorly, and targeting seems random. Me and many other players feel this leaves combat with a lack of depth.



My idea, which has gained considerable support, is detailed in these two following threads: /#/endless-space/forum/28-game-design/thread/11640-5th-tech-tree-military-doctrine and /#/endless-space/forum/29-archives/thread/13307-expanding-on-combat-doctrine-and-fleet-construction



I would love to hear what you have to think about them.