Quote Originally Posted by catswift View Post
First strike needs to go. I captured my entire galactic sector on day 3 of a server start (not colonies, just outposts), all without losing a ship.

Diplomatic status having an effect on first strike just contributes horribly to this mechanic. Set my diplomatic status with everyone to war, please. The cost otherwise is simply not worth it.
Well we're definitely discussing things internally, but I'll say one thing here: If somebody shows up with 40 cruisers and you only have 20, why shouldn't the attacker be able to one-shot the defender ? How is it fair that we say to the attacker, sorry, although you had double or triple the ATK to destroy the defenders, you have to lose 1/3 of your ships anyway.

Dummy rounds might be a possible solution. I'm also looking into some kind of early warning system that would alert the defenders when the attacker initially gives the order to fire.