Mechanics & Game Changes

**IMPORTANT: THIS GUIDE IS NOT UP TO DATE AND NOT ALL INFORMATION WITHIN IS ACCURATE TO THE CURRENT GAME VERSION, If anyone has the time, please update this guide.**

If you are new to this mod, you may wish to check out the Interface & Controls page and the Space Battle Basics page.

## Game Changes

* **Corruption** - The corruption mechanic is changed slightly compared to how it functioned in the base game. The most notable change is the ability to recruit mercenaries. More information can be found on the dedicated Corruption Mechanic page.

* **Bombing Run Units** - The type of bomber used during a bombing run in a land battle depends on the best bomber in orbit. If the best bomber unit in orbit is a Y-wing for example, Y-wings will be used. But if there is also a K-wing squadron in orbit, then K-wings are used. Higher level bombers drop more bombs.

* **Capital Ship Turning Speed** - Unlike the base game and most mods, large ships in a space battle have greatly reduced turning speed. The larger the spaceship, the slower it will turn.

* **Retreat Times** - Retreat times are different for each faction. The rebels get the shortest retreat time to facilitate their hit and run tactics. For the Rebels and the Black Sun, retreat time is 10 seconds, and for the Empire it is 12 seconds.

* **Bombers and Assault Bombers** - In Awakening of the Rebellion, a distinction is made between different certain types of star-fighters. The so called assault bombers. A good example of this are the X-wing and the Y-wing. The torpedoes fired by an X-wing will do less damage than those of a Y-wing. This is to compensate for the speed and dog fighting capabilities of the X-wing, and other similar units.

* **Starfighter Flights** - Ships no longer launch full squadrons in Awakening of the Rebellion. This is to improve performance and for balancing reasons. A flight contains half the amount of fighters compared to a squadron. The only way for the player to get squadrons of fighters is by purchasing them, or as garrison from a space station. The exception to this rule are TIE-Fighters, TIE-Interceptors and TIE-Bombers. These will always spawn as squadrons, mostly because they are meant as cheap disposable units that only perform well in greater numbers. Keep in mind that squadron/flight sizes vary depending on the unit. A Skipray squadron only contains four fighters, while a TIE-Fighter squadron gets twelve. The squadron/flight size can be found on their respective unit pages, once they are all updated.
* **Ion Cannons/Energy** - The impact of ion cannon hardpoints is a lot bigger. It will drain shields quicker than turbolasers, and lower an enemy ships firerate. When a ship is hit often enough with ion cannons, it will no longer be able to retreat. Even if its engines are still intact. It's important to note that this isn't the case for starfighter ion cannons. They are effective against shields and lower fire rate like normal, but they don't prevent ships from retreating.
* **Planet specific units** - Certain space and ground units can only be build on specific planets. This feature is present in the base game, but is expanded in Awakening of the Rebellion. These may require the player to construct the associated production facilities on said planet, but this is not always needed. The N-1 Starfighter for example only needs a regular space station to be constructed of a sufficient level. Some of these planet specific units are not available to all factions. Some examples include the *Keldabe*-class Battleship for the Black Sun, Mon Cala Expeditionary Forces for the Rebel Alliance, or the Noghri Death Commandos for the Empire. These type of units are quite powerful. Because of this, they almost always have a build limit. A notable exception to this are SoroSuub vehicles for the Rebel Alliance, which are unlocked after conquering Sullust. These have no build limit and can be build on any planet with the appropriate shipyard after unlocking them. The unique shipyards are listed on the Minor Factions & Planetary Defences page.
* **Enemy Fleet Composition** - In the newest mod version, the AI will no longer send out disproportionately sized fleets to eliminate small targets. Instead, the AI will only send an amount of units it deems necessary, and use the remaining forces for other tasks. This prevents the AI from attacking the player with very large fleets, only to take out a level one starbase.
* **Assassination** - Certain heroes and special units get the ability to assassinate enemy heroes in Galactic Conquest. First on the list are purchasable special units like the Black Sun Assassins, the Passive Operations Agent and the Assassination Agent. These can only neutralize other special units such as field commanders or Alliance Envoys. After this there are hero units with the assassination ability. These are almost all reserved for the Black Sun, making hero neutralization more or less exclusive to this faction. Notable heroes with this ability include IG-88B and Guri for the Black Sun, and Agent Arliz Hadrassian for the Empire. These heroes can assassinate enemy minor heroes as well as the special units mentioned earlier.
* **Hero classes** - To further explain the assassination mechanic, the hero classes need to be explained, which are split into three categories:
	1. **Major heroes:** Heroes within this class *cannot be neutralized* via assassination, and can be rescued via a rescue mission if killed in battle. Examples include Darth Vader, Niles Ferrier and Han Solo & Chewbacca.
	2. **Minor heroes:** Heroes within this class *can be temporarily neutralized* via assassination by enemy major heroes with the assassination ability. However, they will respawn on a timer. If these heroes die in battle, *they will not respawn*, and are permanently lost. Notable examples include Captain Brandei or Admiral Adar Tallon. The Black Sun does not have heroes within this category apart from the dealer heroes, making this faction largely immune to assassination.
	3. **Heroes that don't fall in either class:** Heroes within this class *cannot be neutralized* via assassination, but will still permanently die when killed in battle. Notable heroes include Admiral Gial Ackbar, Bossk and General Rom Mohc.

## New Mechanics

### Upgrades

Certain structures and units can be upgraded. Keep in mind that upgrading a unit or structure isn't always "better". Think of upgrades as more of a specialization. A level one Imperial Light Factory produces the AT-PT, AT-DP, and the ITT. These units can only be produced at this level factory, and are not necessarily worse than the units produced by a level two Light Factory, which produces units such as the AT-ST and the AT-AA.

One of the units produced by the level three Light Factory is called the Improved AT-ST. This may lead the player to believe that this unit is somehow better or otherwise more advanced than it's lower level counterpart. In this case, this is not true. The regular AT-ST possesses grenade launchers, which makes it excellent in an anti-infantry role. The improved AT-ST trades its grenade launchers for rocket launchers, which makes it better suited for anti vehicle purposes.

However, upgrading economic structures increases income and total population cap and this doesn't have any downsides.

A number of units can also be upgraded directly, by having the unit in orbit over a planet with the right production requirements. Examples include the rebel Dreadnaught, which can be upgraded to an Alliance Light Frigate or an Alliance Assault Frigate Mark I if the unit is stationed over a planet with a Alliance Medium Shipyard. Fighter loadouts may also be changed this way in the case of carriers, or certain imperial ships. As long as stationed over a planet with the correct type of shipyard.

The player might wonder why one would upgrade units in this manner since it is more expensive to do so. One reason is that certain units cannot be build directly without the appropriate tech level. This gives the player early access to more advanced units. The Dreadnaught can be build right from the start, but the Assault Frigate can only be build with tech level two. Another reason is that certain units can only be obtained by upgrading. Notable examples include the *Neutron Star*-class Bulk Cruiser carrier upgrade and the Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer advanced fighter loadout version. These cannot be built directly.

### Shield And Armour Levels

Awakening Of The Rebellion makes use of an armour and shield level system for space units. The higher the level, the less damage the armour/shields will take from incoming fire. There are four levels in game. Do note that certain in-game descriptions may still list units with level five shields or armour. This is outdated.

**Amour**

* Level 1 (Fighter): Used for fighters and bombers.
* Level 2 (Light): Used for hero fighters, transports, very heavy fighters, corevettes and very old frigates.
* Level 3 (Medium): Used for frigates, heavily armoured corvettes and modern combat defense stations.
* Level 4 (Heavy): Used for capital ships, heavily armoured frigates and high level modern combat defense stations.

**Shields**

* Level 1 (Light): Used on ships without a targetable shield generator. (Corvettes and smaller frigates, **but no Mon Calamari ships.**)
* Level 2 (Medium): Used on ships with one targetable shield generator.
* Level 3 (Heavy): Used on ships with two targetable shield generators.
* Level 4 (Ultra): Used on ships with three or more targetable shield generators and ships with extra powerful shield technology, such as Mon Calamari ships.

One notable exception: Higher level armour will take ***increased*** damage from torpedoes. This makes bombers ideal for taking out heavily armoured units.

### Rampage

The 2.8 version introduced a new mechanic called Rampage. The AI will target a specific player planet, often one with important production facilities, and possibly one not directly adjacent to its territory, and commence an attack. First it will conquer all space en route to the target. Once the space above the target planet is conquered, it will immediately follow up with a ground assault.

The AI will initiate a rampage if it has enough forces at its disposal to do so, and if rampaging does not jeopardize any currently owned systems. The AI may pull back out of a rampage if it is attacked in a different location, and needs to divert part, or all of its forces to defend.

Rampage enables on week 30 on expert difficulty, week 50 on hard difficulty, and not at all on normal difficulty.