Manual:Game Mechanics/Breakthroughs

Breakthroughs develop suddenly when different development and technology elements combine into whole new forms of technology. Any race that reaches the appropriate ranks and level requirements of the following breakthroughs automatically gain those effects. These cannot be reverse engineered directly, and require a race to fully develop all aspects of the technology before being to able to develop it on their own.

Breakthroughs can also be created that provide special technology or abilities that cannot be duplicated by other species. These develop primarily through roleplay, but certain aspects of a race's technology/actions/etc may cause such breakthroughs to be developed. These should generally be limited to 1/era, and should be relatively balanced compared to similar traits and breakthroughs.

The following breakthroughs are available to any that meet the requirements;

Coordinated Formations
This trait is applied to each ship with at least Sensors 2 in a fleet of at least size 8, that contains at least 3 ships. These ships have +1 to their damage or may reduce the damage they take by 1 during the first wave of combat.

Requirements: Level 2 Ship Sensors, Level 2 Engines

Cost Modifier: None

Fortifications
This allows the construction of Fortifications on your worlds and stations;

Fortifications

Cost: 2 Ore and 2 Gas

Energy: 0

Infrastructure: 0

Effect: +1 Planetary Defense value (or boarding strength if a station) / Level of this structure, also reduces the strength of bombardments caused by enemy attacks by 1 / 4 Levels of this structure. The level of this structure may not exceed the higher of your total ranks in either Defense Tech or Industry.

Requirements: Level 1, Rank 2 Combat Tech and Level 1, Rank 2 Industry

Ghost Jump
This causes the equipped craft to enter a state of intangibility while it is warping, causing it to ignore asteroid fields when warping through them, although it cannot end its warp inside an asteroid field in this way.

Requirement: Level 2, Rank 2 Shields and Level 3 Warp

Cost Modifier: +2 Gas

Personal Teleporters
Your forces make use of short-range teleportation devices, allowing them to breach enemy lines easier. Your ships do not need to attach to enemy craft to board them and may initiate a boarding action from a range of up to 2 units (though still require the shields to be down). Your ships have +1 to their boarding strength and +2 planetary attack strength. In addition, when your forces win a boarding skirmish with this breakthrough, enemy forces each suffer an additional 1 boarding strength loss.

Requirement: Level 3 Warp, Level 2 Ship Sensors, Level 2 Security

Security Equipment
This breakthrough increases the strength of your security forces as they implement your technology. The bonus to strength is based on your ship and defense tech. Having level 2 of a system in both the defense and ship tech categories still only provides the single bonus, and does not stack.


 * Level 2, Rank 2 Stealth: +1 Boarding Strength and Planetary Attack/Defense Strength
 * Level 2, Rank 2 Sensors: +1 Boarding Strength and Planetary Attack/Defense Strength
 * Level 2, Rank 2 Shields: +1 Boarding Strength and Planetary Attack/Defense Strength
 * Level 2, Rank 2 Weapon System*: +1 Boarding Strength and Planetary Attack/Defense Strength
 * Level 2, Rank 2 Hull: +1 Boarding Strength and Planetary Attack/Defense Strength
 * Level 2, Rank 2 Logistics: +2 Planetary Attack/Defense Strength
 * Level 2, Rank 2 Communications: +1 Boarding Strength and Planetary Attack/Defense Strength

NOTE: This applies 1/weapon type (so once for energy, once for explosives, etc).

Requirement: Level 2 Security

Storage Facilities
You may construct storage facilities on your worlds and stations to house resources for later use or trade (these may be upgraded as normal structures).

Storage Facilities

Cost: 2 Ore and 2 Gas

Energy: 0

Infrastructure: 0

Special: Increase your resource storage capacity by 4 on a world or by 3 on a station. The level of this structure cannot exceed the value of your Economics ranks + Logistics ranks (example you have Economics 2 and Logistics 2, you can have a maximum level of 4 for Storage Facilities).

Requirement: Economics 1 and Logistics 1