Balance & Fixes
- Void Rift #2 fixed: the second rift now stays quiet through its 5-minute defence window after tearing open, just like the first. (It used to attack instantly — apologies to everyone crushed by that. Its army is still 2× stronger; it just plays by the rules now.)
- Bots wised up to the "zero-and-steal" trap: before missile-zeroing a planet, bots can now run the claim race — if a rival (including you!) has ready fleets close enough to snipe the zeroed world, they hold and build up instead. Every bot has its own level of caution that changes match to match. Bots can finally build real empires, offline and online.
- Campaign runs — bot economy fixed: bots' per-level production scaling only applied to their home planet; it now covers their entire empire, just like yours. Capturing a bot's home no longer hands you a pre-scaled super planet.
- Mercenary fleet missiles now deal damage as each missile visibly hits, not in one lump.
- Mercenary auction reveal: bids stay sealed during the auction, but the moment the fleet fires, the winner and their target are announced to everyone. Bid amounts stay secret until the end-of-match screen.
Small Additions
- Solo Deathmatch = Roguelite campaign: if quick Deathmatch finds no real opponents, you now get a full roguelite run — draft cards, stack upgrades, snowball your empire — instead of a flat bot match.
Account & UI
- One loadout everywhere: your selected commander and planet skins are now identical across online and offline.
- IN MATCH status: friends in a match show a gold IN MATCH tag and can't be invited until it ends.
- Offline mode clarified: friends and lobbies are closed while offline — with a clear notice and a one-click way back online.
- Player profile card fixed: broken layout resolved; a clear message replaces the infinite "Loading…" when there's no connection.
- Your home planet's unit counter now always wears your faction's colour.
- Top-bar commander portraits: frames unified, frozen animations fixed.
Protections
- The leave-match confirmation arms after a short delay — a stray mid-battle click can no longer forfeit your match.
- A stale "ELIMINATED" screen can no longer make you leave a match you're still alive in.
- Strengthened diagnostics so we can resolve connection issues faster.
Thanks to our very first players for the reports that shaped this hotfix. o7