Race skills in Dark Avatar

Is this to say that the Arceans get a free shot at the start, a la pre 1.2, and any ships destroyed in the opening salvo don't get to shoot back?

Basically, yes, so long as that remains unchanged it would mean that Arceans get the pre-1.2 behavior (only for the first round), while everyone else gets the post-1.2 behavior.

Sounds very overpowered...

Basically, yes, so long as that remains unchanged it would mean that Arceans get the pre-1.2 behavior, while everyone else gets the post-1.2 behavior.

Yikes! It may be a good idea not to activate them for my games. LOL What about the custom race? I always use them, what special ability are they going to get?

For custom races, you get to choose what super ability you want to use.

Custom races can pick from any of the super-abilities as you can see in the screenshots of the race customizing screen.

And obviously all the super-abilities are subject to change based on balancing.

Well, I remember seeing a post list all the various super abilities. The Thalan build any factory in one week if I remember correctly.

I didn't read that post and it seems to have been removed now. Does anyone have a working link to it or a copy?

The first shot would not be overpowered if it applies to the first round of combat only. If it applies to the whole battle, then it is very powerful.

I agree, that if it is only a first round shot, it wouldn't be overpowered. But I say that not having seen any of the other super-abilities. Thanks kryo!

Here are the super-abilities. Be warned: They may change at any time until the game is out.

Terran Alliance: Super-Diplomat. Super-Diplomats have the ability to get other civilizations to go to war with each other and are better at getting other civilizations to stop being at war with them. They also are much better at getting hard bargains and their culture is much stronger. Drengin Empire: Super-Dominator. When the Drengin asks for money from an alien civilization, they tend to get it. And if they decide to attack, they may also have some minions to help. Altarian Republic. Super-Organizer. If you attack the Altarians, odds are, you're going to have others going after you as well. Korath: Super-Annihilator. The Koranth have access to the Germ Warfare technology. Once researched, they can build a Spore ship that eliminates all life on the planet and turns it into a toxic world. The Yor: Super-Isolationist. Ships traveling through the Yor sphere of influence (other than theirs) cannot travel at greater than 3 parsecs per week no matter what. Yor can also colonize Barren worlds by default. Thalan: Super-Hive. The Super-Hive is an immense power. First, they are no like other life forms. They can literally shut down for long flights which means they have no range limitations. Secondly, all factory-related construction is done in a single week regardless of cost. Arcean: Super-Warrior. Arceans get first-strike in battles. ONLY if the defender survives an attack do they get to fire back AFTER the first round (both sides get to fight back one round). Korx: Super-Traders. They start out with all trade technologies. Drath: Super-Manipulators. Similar to the Super-Diplomat, Super-Manipulators can get other people to go to war with each other. They're better at it than Super-Diplomats but lack the other benefits. Iconians: Super-Adaptable. Iconians can automatically colonize Toxic Worlds and Aquatic Worlds. Torian Confederation: Super-Breeders. The Torians can build up a population like nothing. IF a population is less than 1 billion and approval rating is at 100% they will multiply at a rate of 500%. The Krynn: Super-Spies. They start out with an agent and their worlds are immune from agents.

From which thread is this quote?

Korath: Super-Annihilator. The Koranth have access to the Germ Warfare technology. Once researched, they can build a Spore ship that eliminates all life on the planet and turns it into a toxic world.

I don't know where you've quoted this from or how official it is, but I have my doubts about the above at least. It sounds like a planetary bombardment skill, and the devs have said on a number of occasions that planetary bombardment is something they're avoiding.

and the devs have said on a number of occasions that planetary bombardment is something they're avoiding.

True, but it is a special ability, meaning that not every race can use it. And since worlds have requirements in DA to be colonized ...

And it was in a post made by Draginol/Frogboy if I remember correctly. Sadly, I am unable to locate that post

I found this qoute here, in the Galactic Core:

The Galactic Core

Originally, this information was on this forum as well, but that journal was deleted for some reason. Perhaps they have changed some of these for balance reasons. I do not know.

Mmmmmmmmm ... sounds REALLY juicy!

So if I understand this correctly, you can set a Super Ability for a race as WELL as the normal choice perks (Research +10, Diplomacy +10 etc). Is this correct?

Not that I am not grateful for this super-awesome ability, but how difficult would it be to mod NEW super abilities? The only reason I ask is because it would make custom races Really, REALLY unique rather than "Similar to the Drath, but with economic bonuses", since the new super abilities seem to really define what a race is all about. I know there are other ways to modify a custom enemy (such as aggressive rates etc), but the general feeling will be that it is the super ability that will definie the race.

I suspect that making it easy to mod new super abilities will be really, REALLY hard - but if not I think this would be a dream come true.

Sure, you could have balancing issues if people can mod their own abilities, and it could give people an unfair advantage if they make a super ability such as (Win every ship battle) or something ridiculous. In which case you just make such games unsubmittable to the metaverse (I never submit games to the metaverse, so I would happily tinker with races and their super abilities).

Just my 2 BC

Dano

Games using mods are already unsubmittable to the metaverse. Least, that's the last I heard, and I haven't played a MV game in awhile.

Hi!

Thalan: Super-Hive. The Super-Hive is an immense power. First, they are no like other life forms. They can literally shut down for long flights which means they have no range limitations. Secondly, all factory-related construction is done in a single week regardless of cost.

Wow! Err, I mean WOW. That would mean Thalans can send colonizers to ANY spot in the universe and have the newly settled planet at max production in next few turns. I only hope they will still pay full price for the building or upgrade, else that ability will be overpowering.

Humm, but paying full price and forgetting to turn off the AutoUpgrade could easily bring treasure in deep negative. Quite some testing will be needed.

What about paying only half the price for all factory-related construction?

BR, Iztok

I have been thinking about easily created super abilities, but I can't think it would be easy to do, since the AI would have to know how to handle these new user created abilities.

What about this idea - In order to prevent user created opponents to be Super Ability Race 1, Super Ability Race 2 etc, what if there was an option to FORGO a super ability? Doing this would give you a truck load of extra points for ability points and/or starting tech. Because you would get so many points, there would have to be more levels of ability picks (i.e. not just Soldiering, or Research +10 and +20, but +30, +40, +50 etc etc).

It would also be great if you could get even more points if you could pick NEGATIVE abilities, i.e. Research -10, Economy -20 etc, etc. That would really give the ability for the user to create distinct and flavourful opponents.

Dano

i personnaly think that they way the abilities were initially decided, that they would make the game extremely unbalanced. the super abilities are well a bit too super for my liking.

i personnaly think that they way the abilities were initially decided, that they would make the game extremely unbalanced. the super abilities are well a bit too super for my liking.

That is my opinion as well. They are certainly going to rebalance these traits.

I don't know where you've quoted this from or how official it is, but I have my doubts about the above at least. It sounds like a planetary bombardment skill, and the devs have said on a number of occasions that planetary bombardment is something they're avoiding.

TOV posted the descriptions right from Brad's dev journal.

They are subject to change.  One change has already been made. The Thalans will only be able to build factories in 1 turn.  Not ships or other improvements.

The Spore ship feature has not been finalized yet.  Currently, it resembles planetary bombardment in that you don't need troops.  However, I don't know if there will be a screen like the Invasion screen to defend against it, or if the ship will be destroyed after it kills everyone on the planet.  Also, note that it doesn't destroy improvements, which planetary bombardment would.

Could the Yor colonize one of the toxic worlds created by the spore ship? Basically, does toxic = barren?

Doubt it. Barren planets would be like the moon. Toxic would be more like Venus.

No. Toxic and barren are two different types of environments, which is why they have different names.

I hope it is okay if I ask a stupid question? What constitutes Trade Techs? Obviously trade, but what else?

Btw, as I always play human, I am always good (saintly). Is the Terrans as an AI Good or Neutral?

TIP