I'm in love with Endless Space; however, after over a hundred hours of gameplay, I'm trouncing the computer on Endless difficulty. This is Endless Space Version Master Disharmony 1.1.58.



The problem is with fleet combat. I've figured out most (all?) of the little ways to gain an advantage over the artificial intelligence. The end result is that I rarely lose a battle. It doesn't matter how much the computer cheats economically; I'm destroying many ships for every ship I lose. I don't mean for this to be a strategy spoiler post, but for anyone who's curious, I'll put an explanation in pale text at the bottom of this post (so highlight the "blank" space below to see it).



I have some ideas for how combat could be made more challenging, but first I want to float the question-- has someone already done this? Is there a setting or game mod I should be aware of?



I would appreciate any help with this. I realize I probably sound ridiculous; "Oh, no, I ONLY got a hundred hours of enjoyment for my money!" The thing is, I've seen that Endless Space is incredibly well-designed in most respects. I'd gladly buy another expansion if it meant the computer players didn't have an Achilles' heel in fleet combat.



***Spoiler***

The first key is long range kinetics. A dead enemy can't shoot you, and long range kinetics are the best option for killing enemies quickly. Get your max fleet size a little bit higher than your opponent's, and fill a fleet with 1CP long-range kinetics (no other modules). Sure, you'll likely lose ships each fight, but you'll tend to cripple or destroy the enemy fleet in the long range phase.



The second key is attack and defense bonuses. The computer will try to counter you by building ships with deflectors. Attack bonuses are what enable your cheap 1CP long-range kinetics ships to overwhelm those deflectors. Eventually, you'll want to put 3 defense ships in the front of your fleet; a high defense bonus makes the difference between those ships surviving versus needing to be replaced after every fight.



ALWAYS fight with a hero assigned to your fleet. Your hero needs to level, AND your hero is your main source of attack and defense bonuses. Also, if your hero is an Adventurer or a Pilot, he can eventually earn you dust for every enemy CP destroyed.



Try to get the luxury resources Jadonyx and Meta-Entactogen. They provide huge empire-wide bonuses to attack and defense, especially if you can get monopolies.



The third key is using smart tactics. Learn the combat mechanics. Watch how battles go. Learn which targeting priorities and battle actions work well in various situations.

***End of Spoiler***

The hours of gameplay are of no importance if you manage to understand underlying mechanics and see the whole picture. I have more then you and probably understand less you see hehe.



Your description basically shows the fundamental problem when encountering the AI. Its an "adaptive and learning" system (your brain) versus a "fixed" intellect with no development potential. The outcome is only a matter of time and always the same.



Unfortunately the game itself only offers you difficulty levels to up the challenge and if you are already dominating on endless then you pretty much reached the end of the flagpole. Check the Mod list for Endless Space, some mods claim to "increase" the AI capabilities and make it smarter. Personally I dont think so tho. They change some factors around forcing you to change your strategy in return but it always results in another "best way" to handle the AI which ultimately is a limitation in the AI.



I d love to see more updates, content and communication on Endless Space, possibly a sequel but so far the Developers focused on other aspects of the gaming market and apart from bug fixes and technical patches I guess we got everything there is to get with the current version of ES.



Either way, if Endless Space managed to keep you entertained for 100 hours then I say "Mission accomplished". Its true the game "stops" being a challenge past a certain point but you can still enjoy it if you want Game on!