We're happy to announce that the expansion, Star Ruler 2: Wake of the Heralds will be releasing this April 22nd! We'll be posting feature highlights posts every few days until the release, starting with this very one!
The Heralds
For as long as the records recount, the Heralds have been on the run. Chased by an unknown entity, the Heralds jump from galaxy to galaxy as entire star systems vanish in their wake, as if consumed by the blackness of space itself.
Each new galaxy saves their species from extinction for a short time more. While impermanent, the people of the heralds learn to appreciate each new planet they settle, and live in hope of one day finding a place where they can end their journey.
Guide the evacuation from the previous galaxy as rickety refugee ships dare the perilous intergalactic jumps to one of your jump stabilization beacons. Send resources back home to gain benefits from the last vestiges of your crumbling civilization as you prepare to deal with your new neighbours.
Entering the Galaxy
Unlike all the other races, the Heralds don't have a designated home system. Instead, your three starting Beacons are scattered across three different systems in the galaxy, each marking the start of a Heralds beachhead.
Although the Beacons themselves connect your separate territories for resource trade, being spread out across the galaxy means you'll have to be mindful of your many neighbours!
Intergalactic Refugees
Playing the Heralds, you do not grow population or colonize planets yourself. Instead, Refugee Ships will automatically jump into the galaxy and land on nearby planets, bringing them under your control.
You will still need to make use of and distribute the resources that your refugees land on, so be sure to be on the lookout when a ship jumps in.
Aid from Home
Certain types of resources can be sent back to your home galaxy by exporting them to one of your Beacons. The pressures from those resources will then slowly build up Support points on your beacon, and you can spend this Support on a number of useful benefits for your beacons and empire.
Jumpdrives
The Heralds make use of a new type of FTL called Jumpdrives. Like Hyperdrives, they require a subsystem on a ship to be used.
Jumpdrives have a short charge time, after which the jump to their destination is instantaneous. There is, however, a maximum safe distance a ship can jump, determined by the size of the jumpdrive subsystem on its design.
Jumping beyond the red line pictured here is quite possible, but risks doing catastrophic damage to the ships in the process. Jump too far past it and your ship will make it to the destination only to explode in a giant ball of plasma.
Since the Heralds' Beacons are jump stabilizers, jumping to a system where you have a Beacon is always completely safe, regardless of the distance of the jump.