Balance · 7
A Phase Echo can no longer become a Phase Echo again and one death can no longer trigger more than one echo across all specified sources.
phase echo trigger limitationAutocannon Defense Platform's Flechette Blast now hits the 30-degree cone and requires the platform to face within 10 degrees before firing.
targeting cone and facing angleAnrakhazh Scion's Continuity Field cooldown was raised from 90 to 120 seconds at every level.
cooldownShips in the field now convert at most their own maximum corruption into overflow shield per cast, with the limit resetting on recasting.
overflow shield conversion limitAnrakhazh Scion's Phasic Wave now hits the 15-degree cone and requires the Scion to face within 5 degrees before firing.
targeting cone and facing angleAnrakhazh Scion's Continuity Field Phase Echo chance was lowered from 35/40/45/50/75% to 20/25/30/40/50% by level.
phase echo chancePirate Incursions are bigger, with a single wave now reaching up to 150 supply and new waves continuing until raiders total 500 supply.
wave size and supply limit
Content · 1
In games hosted by a player who doesn't own Reinforcements, the Reinforcements super capitals and their upgrades can no longer be researched or built by AI players.
research and build availability
System · 43
AI players no longer try to buy a Cloak Generator for the Thalkerin Revenant or non-Eidolon items for specific other units.
ai item purchase logicWith Override Start Position on, players now start where the lobby's map preview shows them.
starting positionARES upgrades the mining track on its planets as well as commerce.
ai planet track upgradeA fleet with a planet bomber on its way somewhere else stops to take an enemy planet when it's at least twice as strong as its defences.
planet capture detour logicAI players no longer send the Eradica Titan home as crippled while Unyielding Will is keeping it in the fight.
ai recall logicAdded new ARES keys including combat_fleet_cap, derelict_collection, reinforcement_hold, and bounty_focus.
modding ares keyARES plans its staging and capture runs along the routes its fleet will actually take, avoiding unreachable attacks.
ai route planningThe arc action's angle key is now arc_half_angle_value, with arc_angle_value retained as an alias.
modding arc action angle keyARES no longer reserves money for a titan it can't build yet when it is still a research tier away.
titan money reservationA fleet defending a world goes back to work once only a trivial threat is left, counting only enemies in the home well or heading for it.
defending fleet return logicAI players no longer send a Revenant home while Persistence is keeping it in the fight.
ai recall logicARES now refuses a ceasefire only from the player it's currently trying to conquer, and the alliance offer window shows 0% odds when it will refuse.
ceasefire refusal logicAdded new unit modifier max_overflow_shield_points_per_max_corruption and unit operator reset_overflow_shield_points_budget.
modding unit modifiers and operatorARES now installs the artifacts, auction rewards, and reputation rewards it is holding on any ship or planet with a free slot.
ai artifact and reward installationAn ARES fleet winning a battle by at least 1.2 times enemy strength now stays until the battle is won instead of being pulled away.
battle persistence logicplayer_ai_diplomacy gained an optional deal_tuning block.
modding diplomacy blockAI players playing Vasari rebels no longer try to buy loyalist-only items for their capital ships.
capital ship purchase logicRaids pull an ARES fleet away only when they can actually hurt a planet based on specific supply and composition thresholds.
raid pull logicARES victory doctrines now accept a styles list and can set their own planet_health_to_defence_supply.
modding victory doctrineConquest targets are weighed by direct distance and connectivity, and ARES no longer starts a conquest against a target 7 or more jumps away.
conquest target valuationAn ARES fleet that has started a retreat is no longer ordered straight back out to clear planets for expansion.
fleet movement logicIn games with home-planet victory on, only ARES players with the Rush style rush enemy home worlds.
ai rush targetARES runs fewer, larger roaming fleets early on, scaling with gravity wells where it owns planets.
roaming fleet sizingrequired_product on a research subject now also blocks every build that depends on it, including factory, garrison, and exotic factory builds.
modding research gating ruleA fleet passing through a gravity well holding enemy forces stops and fights them if it's at least 1.1 times as strong.
gravity well combat logicAdded new AI keys including held_items scheduler doctrine, planet_track on commerce income, and enemy_neighbours_only on frontier starbases.
modding ai keyARES researches the ability to colonise a valuable nearby planet type before its expansion stalls during the first 45 minutes of a game.
ai research timingWhen the AI casts the Radiance Battleship's Detonate Antimatter, it now prefers a Scion channeling the Stellar Shrouding Beam or a starbase channeling a component.
ai skill targeting preferenceJSON schemas were regenerated.
json schemaA player definition can now set priority_scheduler_overrides for its ARES players.
modding priority scheduler overrideThe Equip Ship Artifacts and Equip Planet Artifacts achievements now unlock with 3 artifacts on one ship or one planet again, matching their descriptions.
unlock requirementARES sends ships to fetch derelicts up to one jump away when no enemy warships are beside them and values wells with derelicts more.
loot collection and target valuationIn team games, ARES allies join each other's attacks on enemy home worlds and leave better-connected neutral worlds for their allies.
team game alliance coordinationARES bids higher in pirate auctions with bid ceilings about 1.5 times what they were.
ai auction bid ceilingARES builds frontier starbases only at worlds that border an enemy.
ai starbase constructionARES builds research labs only when research is holding it back, building one lab per domain at a time without a fixed quota.
research lab construction logicARES goes after enemy armies instead of always attacking the emptiest world it can take.
ai target priorityARES holds off starting a new conquest while its lead fleet can take a neutral planet worth at least as much as the target.
neutral planet conquest holdA new ship no longer crosses gravity wells with enemy warships alone to reach its fleet, waiting instead until the way is clear.
ship movement waiting logicAdded new conquest target rules army_first and home_as_finishing_blow.
modding conquest target ruleARES no longer counts a planet's own hull and armor as defending forces when sizing an attack.
ai attack sizingresearch_needs gained locked_neighbour_value_ratio, locked_neighbour_until_seconds, and locked_neighbour_skips_hostile keys.
modding research needs keyA fleet ARES has pulled back to recover is no longer held at its refuge indefinitely, with the hold lifting after 5 minutes.
fleet recovery hold duration
UI · 5
Factory tooltips no longer list Reinforcements super capitals as buildable in games hosted by a player who doesn't own the content.
tooltip informationThe tooltip on a lobby AI slot's behavior icon now shows the selected ARES feature and its mode by name with control hints.
lobby tooltip displayThe lobby's Change Map list no longer shows unique scenarios such as Last Stand.
map list filteringThe lobby AI behavior button now takes ares_feature_names, ares_feature_mode_names, and tooltip labels.
modding lobby ai button labelAdded a new Show AI Personalities setting which is off by default.
ai personality setting
Fix · 5
Fixed the Ankylon Titan build list having the Ankylon Planetary Shield Array under the wrong name so AI players can buy it.
build list namingFixed the Thalkerin Revenant's weapons going offline when crippled with Persistence active so it auto-attacks, auto-casts, and takes attack orders.
weapon functionality while crippledFixed a typo in the Kalev Gauss Frigate's Coil Shock description.
text typoFixed the Eradica Titan going idle when crippled with Unyielding Will active so that it now auto-attacks, auto-casts, takes attack orders, and handles strikecraft.
behavior while crippledA stray move or attack order no longer breaks the Anrakhazh Scion's Stellar Shrouding Beam channel and other component channels.
channel protection
General · 1
Japanese and Hungarian translations were updated.
general