However, it offers a wide selection of strategy the player can employ. The system seems to reward playing the game a certain way and focusing on a certain strategy. Each require you to do something to unlock each level and get the stronger bonuses, these are retroactively gained, so tasks done before picking up the trait still counts. Since there are many trait pairs, you can take up to five (out of six pairings) Attitudes. You can only take one of each pair as they represent opposing Attitudes. They have also added Attitudes, which is a set of several traits pairs you can unlock. However, I’ve never been a fan of tower defense or horde modes, but there are those that do and they might find this mode interesting. That said I do appreciate different game modes or scenarios, as there are those I do enjoy, it’s just this is not one of them. Personally, I am not a fan of this particular type of mode. You’re game over if you lose those systems. This mode is a little reminiscent of tower defense games as you build up your defenses and fleets, expanding deeper into your sector, while turning your forces to help defend the boundary systems. In this mode you can still expand, settle systems, and even be a jerk in diplomacy. The first is the invasion game mode which is a cooperative mode where the players fight off waves of ever increasing attackers. The expansion does also try to throw even more unique additions to the game. This expansion gives the player even more choices to manage and create the ships they want or achieve even more powerful plays in the diplomacy and influence system. As mentioned in my review, a lot of the game is built around a sandbox experience allowing the player to do many crazy things one sees or reads about in science-fiction. Overall, all these new additions are welcomed. Along with this, capital ships can now gain veterancy in combat, making it valuable to retreat your ships as they can come back to fight another day stronger. Similar to Hyperdrives, the drive makes ships instantly teleport to their destination but there is a safe max distance you can jump to. There is also a new FTL drive system, the Jumpdrive. This effectively adds another victory condition to the game. The largest addition is becoming the Senate Leader which allows the player to gain and use special cards, build a special station, and even play two powerful cards which when both are played triggers an eventual victory.
The nature of the diplomacy is still a miniature card game where you collect cards that are spawned randomly, spending the influence you gather. First there is way more card options, a lot more. More noteworthy is the additions to the diplomacy system. There is even a template to maximise the concept of a super spinal-mount weapon. Players can now build dedicated carriers that only use support ships, or build specialised vessels that have no support but are better at being standalone worships. More technologies with new ship modules and templates to further customise your ships more. However, I don’t think the content will change someone’s opinion of the game unless it was on a knife’s edge.Īs mentioned before, the game adds a lot of content to the existing systems. There is enough to make someone who took a hiatus from the game to give it another go. The expansions gives a lot of extra content in many of the existing systems with a few unique additions, along with the two new races which have more distinct mechanics than the initial races. Overall, the expansion is pretty meaty for fans of the game. There are more options and cards in diplomacy, a mechanic to win the game via the influence system, the addition of Attitudes to further specialise your faction, more techs for more ship design options, and two new races along with a new invasion game mode. The expansion itself brings extra content and fleshes out many of the existing mechanics.
#Star ruler 2 infulence Patch#
The expansion also comes with a patch which offers many little fixes and tweaks that all owners of the core game will also get.Ĭhanges that are available without the expansion is the improved AI settings, improvements to the AI’s behaviours, graphical improvements, and planet biomes will better match their resources visually, which was one of my immersion breaking criticisms for original game. Blind Mind Studios released their expansion Wake of the Heralds for Star Ruler 2 on April 22, 2016, a pausable real-time space 4X strategy game.