Combat v3: random targeting, a new loss table and the battle simulator

What changed

Three things changed in how battles resolve. First, targeting: every shot now picks any living armed enemy at random and hits it with that class’s matchup multiplier. Previously ships fired at their counter class first, which let a smaller, carefully mixed line out-trade a larger fleet.

Second, the stronger side’s losses. The outmatched side manoeuvres, so each of the stronger side’s hits does less the wider its advantage is, up to 4×. That handicap was redrawn so that the stronger side always loses less than the weaker one, and the game now publishes the average result at each power ratio: about 54% of the stronger side lost at 1.2 : 1, 30% at 1.6 : 1, 13% at 2 : 1 and 3% at 3 : 1.

Third, a battle simulator. You can open it from Help in the menu, or press “Try in simulator” on any battle report to load the forces that actually fought.

Why we changed it

A battle should reward the commander who brought more and better-matched force, while still making every victory cost something. Counter-first targeting made results hard to predict and sometimes inverted them. Random targeting with class multipliers keeps classes decisive without letting a clever mix beat a much bigger fleet, and publishing the loss table turns “will I win?” into the more useful question “what will this win cost?”.

What it means for you

Plan with averages, not exact matchups. Against a mixed defence, estimate the average multiplier your classes will get, not their best case. Use the published table as a price list before you launch, and use the simulator after a surprising report to see which part of the battle went differently. The battle guide walks through the whole model, and the fleet guide shows how to build for mixed defences. Your existing ships and research carry over unchanged; only the way they fight was redrawn.