Well Super Dominator is cool and Super Hive cool also.

I think Altarians are getting SHAFTED with super organizer.

Super Warrior. Neato. Always fire first. Gotta try that next.

Yor just became the State Troopers of the galaxy. Watch that speed mister. Only 3.

Korath - also gimped like Altarians. Their ability can be stolen pretty much since you can invade and take their tech or use spies.

Korx- All the trades plus 2X trading revenues. This suits them. Money is good. Money can buy what you need if you have enough.

Super Adapter- agreed. You are gimpy if there's few or none worlds that you are adapted too.

From a roleplay (RP) perspective each ability is well thought out and goes in character with each race/story. In practicality some ARE worse than others.


What I am judging this is comparing apples to apples or trying to. In order to say one 'sux' I say it has to not provide the race with enough advantages compared to race x and race x's super ability.

Super hive... hands down.

I'm a nester/builder, so this is perfect for me.

One question about the super-organizer (I think... the one that supposedly makes it easier to get others to aid you).

I'm playing all custom races -- and my "good" race, the Asgard, were given this super-ability.

Now - whenever someone DOW on them, I get the pop-up about intervention (like them, I'm ethically aligned 'good', too).

I almost always select 'NO' -- but I end up DOW on the other race anyway.

Is this a bug -- or is it actually the super-ability at work?

I.e., does another AI having this super-ability mean I have no or limited control over whether I DOW in such circumstances?

I certainly hope it's a bug - and not intended, otherwise... this super-ability goes right in the garbage.... Morale or influence hit if I don't go to war.. heck, even an odd planet rebelling in protest -- fine, but I should never be forced into a DOW as often as this ability seems to be causing me.

The strongest complaint I've seen so far is about the Super Adapter--others should not be able to simply research away your "Super" Ability.

I've gotten perhaps too fond of the 1-turn factory part of Super Hive, but I'm guessing it will still make a worthwhile difference when we see the change to percentage bonus in the next public build.

Overall, the Super Abilities are steadily growing in my affections b/c I'm starting to think they might help me out of my strategy rut. Keeping your "normal" settings the same but switching Super Abilities with each game should help keep you challenged.

Least favorite abilities:

Super Spy is the lamest, IMNSHO, but the Krynn still kick butt with their +50 Morale, +25 Diplomacy, +10 Econ, and +50 Defense natural abilities (plus loyalty and espionage bonuses, but who cares about those?) and 9 points more to use as you please; plus they are Neutral, my favorite alignment. I consider the Krynn to really not have a super ability at all, and I enjoy playing them for that challenge.

Super Breeder only kicks in at 100% morale - fine for some, but I don't play the early happy planets game, I'd rather extort as much cash as possible.

Super Adapter - Whoopty doo, a couple of techs you can research or buy off anyone in the first year of the game; no guarantee at all they will even help you colonize your nearby planets; and the Iconian natural abilities are now nonexistant.

Favorites:

I love the Super Hive ability, now that I've figured out how to use it without completely wrecking my economy. Super Diplomat is great if you want to play a more peaceful game or if you like to tech trade. First Strike seems nice; I haven't tried it yet, but fighting the Arceans has gotten a lot harder. I like the Super Organizer, too, as it helped me survive at early Korath attack but didn't convulse the entire galaxy like the Drath ability did in beta 2a. Did they fix that yet?

My thoughts...

Super Hive: Hugely overpowered and is too be changed according to one of the journal entries.

Super Diplomat: Very cheesy I turn off tech trading it's too easy to abuse the AI's.

Super Breeder: As I understand it you need 100 morale. In effect you have to cripple your economy to get it to work. Perhaps worst ability.

Super Warrior: Arguably the best long term working abilty. Arcean stats are rubbish though best to create your own race with it.

Super Organiser: Rubbish I haven't had the AI declare war on me in 40 games. Nice for AI though declare war on Altarians at your peril.

Super Dominator: Corvettes are crap I don't think there improved depending on what tech you have ethier.

Super Adapter/Isolationist/Anihalator: Most people are going to use ctrl+n and tech trading so this takes away the value of these abilties (colonisation of planets). In a multiplayer game thses would be much more powerful. The Yor and Korath have great abilities though.

Super Trader: Great long term ability great in a single player enviroment. Korx abilities are poor though.

Super Manipulator: Adds flavour to AI but is crap for personal use.

Super Spy: A long term ability but not great. Krynn have great stats though.


The greatest thing about the super abilities the races now seem to have a personality. Stardock needs to refine some of them though they are far from balanced.

Fav: Super Hive. Means i can get my infrastructure going on worlds with only 50% manu ability. Without it building a factory can take months and be a huge drag on my empires resources.

Worst: Super Spy. One word for it at present... LAME

It seems a reasonable way to balance the custom races is to confer regular Ability Points based on the Super Ability. So if you get Super Spy you get a boatwad of AP, and if you choose spore, well...at least you get to choose your political party. And if you disable super abilities you get the generic AP.

That seems like an easier (and cooler) way to do it than trying to balance all the Super Abilities.

I think the best thing is that there are 12 of them, although I admit I'm pretty confident that the Stardock devs will feel compelled to so several rounds of serious balancing and tweaking after DA 1.0 ships.

Regardless of how they end up working individually, the new Super Abilities, especially when combined with custom opponents, will extend the lifespan of GCII for many players.