1. Ship spinning
Done for shield capacity and regen rate optimisation. Shields are generally still OP, and this method still works especially for small ship and larger ones if they lack mounts with forward fire archs (Tinker ships)
Workaround: there is a mod for regen fix from Harpy Eagle which helps
Possible Solution: Common shield segment, more restricted firing arcs on ships, shield capacity nerf, more weapons with Env mod (could be for all Ion cannons like in the rebalance mod)
2. Tinker Ships
Rocker/Torpedo regen rate is so strong that these ships practically never run out of munition even when stacked only with rockets which makes them OP as well as a bit boring to play as no other weapon can be more effectively mounted on them
Workaround: PD ships with no armor can combat these easily but does not make Tinkers more fun to play
Possible Solution: Reduce regen rate of rockets by the Tinker Forge so that they run out of munition after 2-3 salvos and can only fire with around 50% capacity afterwards + accordingly teach the AI to not only use rocket type weapons
3. Yoral Topedo Destroyer
On the subject of Glass Canons, takes the medal: Outfitted even with rockets, this design can be deployed alreadytill the end of the early game (100 Turns) and can wipe clean any map of most other designs (especially Arda units as these lack PD capacity). The later is important also as it gives them Plasma torpedo which when combined with the destroyer of the Yoral is an unstoppable killing machine and crazy cost-effective.
Possible Solution: No idea. I love this ship design and the amount of torps is lounched is anchored within the art. It already bugs me when the ship designer shows two torps but the ship can only fire a single on in combat (all the other Yoral ships ironically). Nerfing of torps also does not seem wise. What migt work is to slightly increase PD and Figher efficiency against torps and maybe against missiles so that firing these from a disntance is almost a non-option but not against small crafts as the later are already nerfed
4. Planetary Defenses redesigning
When changing the design of these buildings, the change is automatically applied to all existing buildings which allows an exploit which is very tempting: changing the design whenever an attack is imminent to suit that scenario. The initial building cost of the building does not change with the loadout (contrary to what the designer is showing)
Possible Solution: This migth actually be a bug (though doupfull): If changes would not take immidiate effect but the building would need to be refitted like ships that might work though also lead to much more micro and distract from the main game loop. A modification of this concept might work though: having the refitting take place automatically for free but only with a 4-5 turns delay would effectively prevent effective usage of this exploit as well as be thematically and game-design-wise correct: the planets cannot adopt new technology and adopt againts incoming fleets instantly. Technology could also be offered up to reduce the refit time of these buuldings by 1 turn bringing it eventually down to 3 turns in endgame
5. Scorched Planet Tactic
I have already written abouth this a couple of times and wiping enemy planets clear of pops does still largely work as the AI is having difficulties setting up outposts fast enough to make up for its lost range and then protecting them. Whole attacking fleets can be bounced back this way by wiping out the colonies they rely on reaching their destiantion and having to impotently head back to the nearest (now much furhter away located) colony. Resettling now empty planets is also somewhat easier then having to deal with rebelious elements.
Possible Solution: Pop moral penalty somewhat helps with this and I assume that race opinion in deiplomacy menu is derived from this as well but it is not clear and the effect could be somewhat stronger to deter this kind of behaviour. The concept of
6. Heavy Weapon Sieging
Starbases and Planetary Defenses are sitting ducks against any heavy weapon mount and some minimal PD capacity if they happen to be quipped with rocket type weapons.
Workaround: I usually switch to the enemy faction while CTRL selecting their planet and destroy the Plantary Defense and Starbase to forego the long siege process. The AI cannot be trusted to do this as it will move the attackng ships within tange of the defenses.
Possible Solution: Heavy Weapons mount on starbases, using heavy weapons on Planetary Defenses by the AI and increasing the range of all weapons mounted on bases and planetary defenses would resolve this problem. If unique art would be given to these weapons that would also go a long way of making the preapration of defenses enjoyable and signaling to the player that these have considerably more range then their ship mounted equivalents. It would also make sense to only allow a portion of the weapons to be mounted to reduce the workload of creating new art and leaving out less effective options to help the AI. New art here would also spice up the reasearch menu and could be assigned to tech that does not currently have any art assigned to it yet.
To round it up, here are some of the loving exploits we had to say goodby last year
:1. Diplomacy Mechanic
The update is not live yet, but hte chnages so far on the DEV branch effectively nullify this mechanic as an exploit. Even when playing as Yoral, the diplomatic aspect can no longer be ignored and playing as the Phidi (sho should rely on this mechnic) it becomes obvious how deep and important this system has become
2. Mercanaries Buying
Thoug the AI still does not buy these ships, both purchase and upkeep cost have been increased considerably preventing this mechanic to be an instant win when utilized
3. Missile Bating
The AI updates have effectively nullified the tactic to draw in all incoming rocket and small craft type salvos into a concentrated PD box
4. Railgun Sniping
Railgun has been nerfed but is stil la decent option to be had
...They will not be missed
