Q: So to clarify, can I still bring in say 3 different maxed fleets into one battle and have them all fight a super battle if needed?
A: Yes, there isn't a limit on how many ships/fleets can be engaged in battle, just on how big any one fleet can be.
Q: I would have preferred to see armour reworked in a way that would give larger weapons a bigger advantage on more heavily armoured targets to make them more worthwhile, but other than that the changes are looking good.
A: Larger weapons have had their damage scaling changed so they are more DPS-effective than smaller ones (a medium turret does 2.5x the damage of a small turret for 2x the power cost), but at the cost of low tracking and thus inability to deal with evasive ships.
Q: So how will this work for empires starting with missile weapons? Does that automatically give them a torpedo boat design instead of interceptor? And will they then have to research another weapon type in order to fill the Small slot?
A: All empires start with all basic weapons in Cherryh. More on this next DD.
Q: Maybe there could a limit per system depending on system size (like combat width and province modifiers in EU4)? 🙂 You may have various things like some systems may be too small or have celestial objects (eg black holes) or even have some base buildings that set limits on ships that can be there?
A: We discussed this but didn't really find it to be a good solution. Supply limits and attrition ala EU4/CK2 do not prevent doomstack battles, they just force armies to spread out when not engaged in combat.
Q: I don't like doomstack changes, I think they will greatly increase micromanagement. Being able to win the war in a single decisive battle is a good thing, not a bad one. I agree that there should be alternative strategies, but I'd rather see a system when weaker opponent could cut of enemy fleet supply and force enemy fleet to go back home, other option could be some kind of 'fortifications' giving defensive bonuses.
A: If you believe that having to use strategy besides 'I throw my fleet at yours in one battle' in a war is 'micromanagement', then I'm sorry, but we fundamentally and utterly disagree with you about how wars should be fought in Stellaris. Honestly, it feels like 'micromanagement' has become a term for 'having to make any sort of decisions at all' among a certain subset of forum users. This is incredibly silly.
Q: I'm worried now that the need for admirals might be too big for you to be able to fill all your important fleets with them, especially with every system now costing influence. Also there's a leader hard-cap to think about. How will this be addressed? I also want to know what the missile change means for starting weapons? Will we now start with lasers, mass drivers and missiles?
A: The ambition is not that you should have lots and lots of fleets, just more than one. We aim for Command Limit to be about 50-33% of your Naval Capacity, and really, everyone should be able to have a couple Admirals.
Wiz: Also worth noting, something I forgot: There is a cap to the Force Disparity Combat Bonus (caps out at roughly 'outnumbered by 100%'), so a force that is utterly and completely outnumbered will still be appropriately crushed. Your solo corvette won't be putting a dent in Fallen Empire Fleets.
Q: Any word on the massively increased ship (mineral) upkeep we saw in this screenshot? This is very intrigueing 😉
A: We're experimenting with having minerals be the main cost in ship upkeep, but that's just an internal experiment and nothing we're ready to announce as actually being in the update at this stage. The numbers in that screenshot were inflated by being massively over naval cap though (dev hax).
Q: Not so sure. The "target rich environment" bonus means that if you have even fleets with an opponent you can split off, say, a quarter of your fleet and use it to hit their starbases whilst 75% of your fleet pins their whole fleet if they still doomstack. Because your ships are overperforming you will get a reasonably neutral result in the "big fight" whilst you achieve a strategic objective elsewhere (which if you hit the right place in their empire might make it difficult for them to rebuild the damage).
A: Yes, a big part of the changes are to actually allow for tactics that involve splitting fleets. Another important effect is that because you can now cause casualties on a larger foe, you can drive up their war exhaustion and force them to pay with ships for every system they take, potentially forcing a status quo peace (though at high cost to yourself). It gives an outnumbered side options to at least mitigate their loss, even if it doesn't mean they can actually win the war.
Q: Whats the thought behind having a bonus to the smaller fleet rather than a malus to the lager?
A: Bonuses scale better than maluses (-80% to -90% is a much more significant change than +80% to +90%), and having the smaller fleet deal more damage directly addresses the problem of the larger fleet not taking losses.
