It’s not even been six months since Sins of a Solar Empire 2 hit Steam, but the strategy game has already rolled out a couple of big updates to help keep things fresh and, most importantly, challenging. In its next content update, the 4X is adding a new planet and a new gravity well to shake up the galactic battlefield. It’s also making tweaks to its AI which should make things a bit tougher and unpredictable for those on higher difficulties.
Sure, Sins of a Solar Empire 2 had a classic strategy game predecessor to springboard off of, but as we’ve seen many times over the years, that doesn’t guarantee you popularity or success. However, Sins 2 has done a pretty good job since its August launch, making improvements, adding new content, and racking up enough positive reviews to give it a solid 85% user rating on Steam.
In its new update, titled Picturesque Planets, the tools in your arsenal and the vast void of space that you battle in are getting a shakeup. For a start, a new planet is being added called the Icy Asteroid. This variant of standard asteroids not only brings a new aesthetic to the battlefield, but it’s also a great option for those looking to mine resources.
“This icy celestial body supports an additional Commerce level, enabling players to extract more resources,” the game’s developer says. “It also allows for the construction of additional Crystal Extractors, significantly increasing the Crystal Mining rate. However, players should note that Ice Asteroids do not provide a Metal Mining rate, which may require adjustments in resource management strategies.”
Sticking with the theme, there is now also an Ice Field gravity well. While this gravity well can’t be colonized, it does provide different conditions for ship battles. Any units inside the Ice Field will be dealt a small amount of reflective damage every time they fire their weapons, so you may want to be more cautious with engagements – or simply get them done as fast and efficiently as possible so that you don’t inflict too much damage on yourself.
Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is also welcoming two new ship artifacts that will give different bonuses to your vessels. The Mass Negation Core gives a ship (and any other allies that are in the same gravity well as it) a huge, instant speed boost that can see it quickly flee from an engagement. The Weapon Symbiote, meanwhile, increases the rate of fire for all of a ship’s weapons.
To throw another new element into the mix, a fresh planet artifact is also arriving. The Tachyon Comms Relay “increases the maximum supply for the empire that controls it, potentially allowing for larger fleets and more sustained military operations.”
Aside from new content, this update also makes adjustments to Sins 2’s AI. A new system called Chaos Factor allows the opposing AI to shake up the size of each fleet, making things less predictable than before. At higher difficulties, this will more regularly result in fleets that “overmatch” your own, providing a much tougher challenge. The AI can also now “follow preset item loadouts tailored specifically for each class of ship” to stop opposing vessels from feeling too generic and readable.
The Picturesque Planets update for Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is out right now. You can check out the full patch notes here.
If you want to add some more challenging titles to your library, take a look at our guides to the best 4X games and the best grand strategy games.
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