Kicking off the thread for the 3.6 changes. Goals here will be to take a closer look at how defenses are balanced and looking into ways I can make these more interesting. Initially I'm thinking that outposts will get significant hull increase but have much lower firepower so they can handle smaller forces but will need support vs larger attacks. The extra hull making them harder to kill quickly with their new position in the center of the map. I'm thinking the reverse for planetary defenses. Higher firepower but lower HP while starting at the far edge of the map. The idea here being that a defending fleet would want to try to shield the defenses while they hammer the attackers.

Second, I'm also going to see if I can reduce the space aboard ships a bit so that the larger hulls don't require 50+ weapons on them. The goal here is to maintain similar balance but just less work needed to design a ship. I also think that high numbers of weapons is skewing the effectiveness toward cannons more than it should. This might be tricky so no promises. If the quick reductions don't work, I'll need to take a deep look into how large individual weapons are and see if I can use that to reduce the numbers.

3.6
Adjusted battlefield hazards to always have some asteroids present
Adjusted specials progression and ordering for all defenses
Outpost
decreased space 450 -> 330
increased HP 500 -> 650
reduced PD 12 -> 10
reduced specials 7 -> 6
Tweaked blueprints for better weapon type usage
Provided Orion tech weapon distribution
Advanced Outpost
decreased space 1200 -> 775
decreased HP 1200 -> 950
reduced PD 25 -> 15
Tweaked blueprints for better weapon type usage
Provided Orion tech weapon distribution
Missile Base
decreased space 350 -> 250
increased HP 400 -> 425
Advanced Missile Base
decreased space 700 -> 450
decreased HP 800 -> 700
Weapons tweaked
decreased PD 10 -> 5
Orbital Batteries
decreased space 325 -> 275
inceased HP 425 -> 450
reduced specials 7 -> 6
Tweaked blueprint for better weapon usage
Added Orion tech weapon distribution
Advanced Batteries
decreased space 600 -> 500
decreased HP 850 -> 750
decreased PD 25 -> 15
Tweaked blueprint for better weapon usage
Added Orion tech weapon distribution
Fighter Garrison
increased space 250 -> 325
increased PD 10 -> 15
fixed blueprint to include bombers
Advanced Garrison
increased space 650 -> 700
Decreased HP 900 -> 800
Decreased PD 20 -> 10
decreased specials 8 -> 7
Starbase
decreased space 400 -> 360
increased HP 450 -> 475
decreased PD 10 -> 5
reduced specials 7 -> 5
reduced weapon slots 8 -> 6
Adjusted blueprint for better weapon type usage
Added Orion tech weapon distribution
Battlestation
decreased space 800 -> 650
decreased HP 950 -> 800
increased PD 12 -> 15
reduced specials 8 -> 6
reduced weapon slots 8 -> 6
Adjusted blueprint for better weapon type usage
Added Orion tech weapon distribution
Starfortress
decreased space 1600 -> 975
decreased HP 1800 -> 1100
decreased PD 30 -> 25
Adjusted blueprint for better weapon type usage
Added Orion tech weapon distribution
Increased biological weapon hit chances in bombardment
Reduced Guardian HP slightly
Reduced small Amoeba HP slightly
Reduced amoeba damage to make it easier to attack mid game
Tweaked eel blueprint
Tweaked Squid blueprint
Tweaked armor HP bonus curve slightly to reduce some late game huge boosts to HP:
Neutronium 1.8 -> 1.6
Zortrium 2.6 -> 2.2
Adamantium 3.4 -> 2.8
Xentronium 4.4 -> 3.6
Unobtanium 5.4 -> 4.6
Tweaked Shield strength to make early armor only more viable.
Class I strength 0.6 -> 0.25
Class III strength 1.0 -> 0.5
Class V strength 1.6 -> 0.9
Class V recharge rate 0.15 -> 0.1
Class VII strength 1.8 -> 1.4
Class VII recharge rate 0.1 -> 0.05
Class X recharge rate 0.2 -> 0.05
Class XII recharge rate 0.2 -> 0.05
reduced Guardian HP and space to make Orion tech an earlier threat.
Removed CO from Plasma Beam for better weapon targeting on blueprints.
Adjusted Any facing size mod 2.25 -> 2.0
reduced Mass Driver damage 11 -> 10
Tweaked blueprints to ensure Orion Tech appears on AI ships:
Humans, Terrans, Klackon, Gnolam, Meklar, Sakkra, Mrrshan, Alkari, Elerians, Psilon, Bulrathi, Trilarians, Darlok, Silicoid
Increased front arc 65 -> 70 deg due to AI wasting shots.
Reduced PD range .35 -> .25
Increased fighter hull 4 -> 5
Increased heavy fighter hull 6 -> 7
Increased all drone bays cooldown by +5s
Adjusted Troop Transport to include bombs
Adjusted Advanced Troop Transport to include PD and a large bomb loadout
Reduced Bomb range for bombers 20 -> 15
Reduced Bomb HP 4 -> 1
Reduced Disruptor space 20 -> 15
Reduced Dark Energy Cannon space 40 -> 20
Added PD to Dark Energy Cannon
Added limited specials to drones
Increased battlecruiser turn rate 0.284 -> 0.291
Phase Cloak cooldown reduced 2.0 -> 1.5
ARU combat tick increased 2s -> 3s
PD cooldown increased .5 -> .75
Multiphased Shield boost reduced 1.75 -> 1.5
Pirate Frigate blueprint updated to include special pirate missiles to make for a bit more interesting early game challenge.