The enemy is hitting back harder than ever. The Total War update is officially live, bringing a massive wave of new threats
Tactical Events & Objectives
Distress Beacon Operations: Starting Year 4, secure distant wrecks with a Vanguard or Archangel for KIA credit. Accumulating 50 KIA authorizes Archangel deployments.
Loot & High-Value Targets: Midas/Jackpot runners drop physical Stardust that must be collected by an Ark Magnet. Contraband runners demand specific God Powers to stop.
Aegis Couriers: Escort friendly ships for Stardust and Stability; hostile ambush apertures can fire on the convoy.
Hazards: Stop Inertial Husks with kinetic strikes, intercept Ion Disable Drones before they jam the Defense Grid, block Breach Screamers from warping cruisers, and destroy Rogue Moons.
Boss & Combat Updates
New Boss (Gemini Regents): A dual-entity boss sharing one health pool across two widely separated royal warships, alternating damage windows.
Boss Countermeasures: Bosses now actively punish unsupported Vanguards. Existing bosses receive new attacks: Gravity Wound (relocates, projects armor drain/gravity pulses), Aegis Dreadnought (twin point-defense mounts), and Hyperion Carrier (interceptor wings). Solar Eater, Void Serpent, Fractal Overseer, and Eclipse Core also feature new fleet-damaging mechanics.
Plasma Wraith Rework: Defeatable via normal combat (no longer requires Flood); updated with a denser silhouette, firmer movement, and homing mines.
Pulsar Update: Instantly seals escort ambush apertures caught in the blast.
Enemy AI Tweaks: Phase Shifters fire before charging, Splinter Drones use varied attack paths, and Vanguards can prioritize Ion Disablers.
Orbital Factions: M.A.C. Carriage and Hyperion Array now acquire targets via the spatial grid and engage bosses. Jericho artillery scales into later years.
Specialist Fliers & Fleet Additions
New Specialists: Stability Raiders (drain Stability and retreat), War Chanters (buff nearby capitals), and Vanguard Captors (suspend Vanguards until the station is destroyed).
Siegebreaker Dreadnought: A new Vanguard configuration that converts absorbed enemy fire into siege damage.
Cosmetics: New Orbital Track variants and heavily plated Vanguard Dreadnought visuals.
Stardust Forge & UI
Forge Enhancements: Bespoke animated previews for upgrade cards, unique capstones for Genesis Protocol/Aegis Core, and clearer UI navigation/feedback.
Run Archives: Multiple numbered save slots, 60-second autosaves, and persistent Year 2 faction choices.
Battlefield UI: Cleaner encounter prompts, crisis effects, and compact combat health displays.
Audio & Performance
Sound Design: Distinct attack audio for bosses, dedicated weapon sounds for fleet units, separate impact feedback for shields/armor, and tighter voice limits during large battles.
Performance: Capped 1920x1080 internal rendering budget, cached gradients/baked sprites for frequently redrawn elements, and optimized Loot Runner/Resonance Beacon effects.
Infrastructure: Deploy new Repair Drones (trade Stability for Population) and Space Scrubbers (resource probes). Active Protocols (Austerity, Chronos, etc.) now live in the Defense Grid infrastructure area.