I have been watching the youtube videos I could find about this game releasing on steam and had some feedback/suggestions about it. 

 

While I like the changes for research and more uniques from factions compared to Sins 1, the fleets and planets feel more like a rehash. A possible system for both that would add more character and help flesh out more faction uniqueness is something like a simple talent system with scaling bonuses for more levels.

 

I will use Vasari for my examples since it is my favorite faction:

 

For example, a fleet would get experience from combat (and a small passive gain when out) which would level up and first allow a specific combat path (beam weapons, disruptors, missiles, fighters/bombers) to be chosen for that specific fleet. For example, level 2, 5, 8 for picking one path (combat, defense, special) with a maximum level of 15 or so. 

 

After picking a path, it would gain scaling bonuses such as damage based on the level of that fleet for combat path. The Defense path would be a focus on hull points, armor, hull regen or reduced mass. The special for Vasari would be something like: special heavy bombers, increasing the fleet upkeep for a boost to base stats (more elite focus), beam barrage fleet wide ability, phase jumping from that planet to a nearby planet with a small windup but long cooldown (with resources to reduce this cooldown), or something like a capital ship only fleet like a golden armada. 

 

There would have to be a limit on the number of such special fleets similar to capital ship cap with research for more. Additionally a flagship would be the center of the fleet with a bonus to exp gain the higher its level but when destroyed  the fleet would have a big penalty to exp gain and the flagship would take longer to rebuild. Lastly, to prevent quick swapping between fleets, you could have an acclimation period for new ships that would take time to get access to the bonuses.

 

In a similar way, planets could be specialized for different resources but also a way to add fleet or capital ship capacity outside of research, or even bonuses to a specific weapon type. The exp would be more of a gradual gain with more for highly developed planets and possibly sinking resources to increase this exp gain. The primary paths could be populace focus, special facilities, empire connection (empire wide bonuses). This could be a way to introduce planetwide structure projects like a planetary ring, space elevator, ect.

 

Overall, this would add more depth and value to using fleets for a specific purpose early on and feel a little more personal. It would also also for more tall empire building through greater planet specializations in the late game, especially if megastructure projects would be introduced for planets (limit of 1 per planet).

 

Just some suggestions to help add more uniqueness to the player experience. If it was helpful, feel free to send me a steam code for Sins of an Empire 2 haha.