Today, we're releasing Structs v0.18.0, Stellarine. Stellarine is focused on significant gameplay updates that will re-balance battles across Structs, demanding new strategies and tactics from players.
Planetary Shield Updates
The centerpiece of today's update is a rework of the Planetary Shield mechanic. We feel that the ability of a raider to arrive on an enemy world—perhaps overnight—and wear down the opponent's shield without ever firing a shot isn't a particularly engaging player experience and doesn't serve the core fantasy of Structs. For this reason, we're implementing the following changes:
- Shield Vulnerability
- Starting today, the defending Command Ship must be destroyed before the defender's Planetary Shield will become vulnerable. Once vulnerable, raider forces will automatically begin hacking the Shield.
- If the defending Command Ship is rebuilt before the Planetary Shield is breached, the shield will reset to full strength.
- Shield Strength
- The base strength of the Planetary Shield has been reduced, allowing raiders to deplete it more quickly on poorly-defended worlds. Don't worry, because...
- The build limit for the T70 "Shieldwall" Orbital Shield and the HS-99 "Hardshell" Ore Bunker has been removed. This means defenders can now significantly increase the strength of their Planetary Shield by building multiple defensive Structs.
These changes will require raiders to take an active role in breaching the defenses of their target worlds, and give defenders new opportunities to protect their ore reserve and respond to raider attacks. Additionally, we're solidifying the importance of the Command Ship in both directions of the battle, similar to it's role in our early Combat Demo tests.
Planetary Struct Enhancements
Alongside the Planetary Shield rework, we're buffing Planetary Structs to support their role as the backbone of planetary defense.
- All Planetary Structs now have a minimum health of 6, up from 3.
- The health of the MG-4 "Magenta" Field Generator will have a further health increase to 8 Additionally, it now features the Ablative Armour passive ability.
- The upcoming Continental Power Plant and World Engine power-generation Structs will also feature Ablative Armour, and health totals of 10.
Planetary Structs felt too fragile for their defensive properties to be truly meaningful, with Field Generators in particular warranting extra defenses given their consumption of precious Alpha Matter. Combined with the ability the deploy multiple Orbital Shields and Ore Bunkers, these changes make base defense more viable and introduce new strategic options.
Battleship Re-Equipped
The next update is a more targeted change to address a dominant strategy we've encountered in testing. We're adjusting the weaponry on the CT-C "Catclysm" Battleship to allow it to counter the Ablative Armour of the BR-9 "Breakaway" Tank.
The Battleship will now have two equipped weapons:
- Mass Accelerator
- The Battleship's ballistic Mass Accelerator will no longer target space. It will continue to target land and sea.
- The Mass Accelerator now has the new Armour Piercing ability, which bypasses the damage-reducing effects of Ablative Armour.
- Plasma Missile
- The Battleship's new weapon is Plasma Missile, a Smart Weapon that can target space-based Structs.
The Ablative Armour passive ability of the BR-9 Tank has made it a great tool for Command Ship defense, but it has quickly become the dominant strategy for both raiders and defenders. We wanted to keep its defensive role intact, while introducing an effective counter that will allow other strategies to emerge.
Rapid Battery Charging
The final major update of Stellarine to the Battery. The Battery's role as the power source for ability usage effectively sets a speed limit on gameplay and determines the utility of high battery-requirement Structs like the Battleship. We felt the Battery was taking too long to charge, slowing down gameplay and restricting the usage of what should be high-value units.
Accordingly, we are making the following changes:
- The charge time of individual segments of the battery have been reworked, with overall faster charge times. It will now take a little under a minute for the Battery to reach it's maximum charge.
- Ability Costs have been tweaked in response to the newly fast-charging Battery.
This is a significant adjustment to the Battery and we will be observing the effects on gameplay to determine if further tweaks are needed.
Join the Fight
Structs is a work-in-progress, and we rely on our community to help guide the development of the game. Join us on Discord to jump into the testnet, break things, report bugs, and help shape the future of 5X strategy gaming by joining us on Discord.
