@Unikraken (reply didn't work)
Allowing non-capital ships to gain a one-time flat bonus after passing a threshold could still be a way to give a nod to this concept though. Something trivial from gameplay perspective can still be flavorful. Ideally, you guys could make it a random draw on which buff is given. Adding a goofy text title with it would be icing on the cake.
Random concepts:
~ +1HP/sec regen [Mechanic]
~ +1 Armor [Shipwright]
~ +1 Shield-P/sec regen [Technician]
~ +1 Shield Mitigation [Tuner]
~ -1% ability cooldown [Experienced Crew]
~ +1 Antimatter/sec regen [Overclocker]
~ +1% Phase Jump speed [Marathoner]
~ +1% Ship move speed [Sprinter]
~ +1% Weapon Range [Sniper]
~ -1% Weapon cooldown [Brawler]

Rather than using the XP system, it'd be nice if it used the kill-count system. Setting this as a game option might be best though.

As for the non-combat ships, maybe a different counter for them?
Scouts: {Gravity Wells visited}
Support Ships: {Ships Repaired},{Ships Impeded}

I've been continuing work on my simulator, and it really does seem like missile swarms tend to be pretty swingy: either you overwhelm the flak, or you don't. Since threshold comparisons are difficult to estimate and not especially fun to deal with, I maintain that something needs to be done.

After some thought, I think I've come up with a few options to make missiles more reliable against lategame flak without making flak useless. Any would need to be unlocked with tier 3 or 4 research.

• Speed Boost: just making missiles faster would make them less likely to be shot down.
  • I see this as providing a mild boost, but it wouldn't shift things much unless the missiles become much faster because point defense guns have such short cooldowns already.
• Multiple Warheads: after traveling some distance, have the missile separate into multiple missiles, meaning each has to be shot down independently.
  • This would tend to make the game such that you should assume you will never shoot down all the missiles, which means it's no longer a threshold comparison, and the game can be balanced around that.
  • We could similarly just double the number of missiles everything in the game launches in the first place, though this makes missiles trash against shields. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to note.
• Bomb-Pumped Laser On-Death: If missiles are about to be shot down, they fire a beam of energy at the nearest ship within a smallish range, maybe 2000 or so.
  • This would mean that shooting them down removes some of their damage and forces it onto a suboptimal target (which is probably a tanky frontliner), but it doesn't do nothing.
• Casaba Howitzer: when the missile closes within about 2000 units of its target, have it throw a spear of nuclear fire at it instead of exploding on impact.
  • This reduces the time flak has to shoot down the missile, similar to a speed boost, but because the battle space isn't just a 1-dimensional interaction, the closer a missile gets to the enemy fleet, the more individual point defense turrets it enters the range of, increasing the likelihood it gets shot down. By detonating well away from the enemy fleet, it will have been threatened by fewer flak turrets, making it more likely to survive long enough to deal damage.
  • I can see this being harder to balance than multiple warheads, so it might not be a good solution for everything, but I can see it as a capital ship and titan component since it feels fitting on the Marza or Ragnarov.

Overall, the best answer balance-wise is probably a bomb-pumped laser on death. It's reliable suboptimal damage to a suboptimal target that makes frontliners like heavy cruisers more important.

For the Vasari, I still think the best answer is to just let them phase jump through the flak damage, though it's probably best to say their baby phase drives are only single-use, meaning it can't dodge flak multiple times, and that then means it can't ignore shields.

That sounds more like something a mod would add, though at present, I don't think we have access to a random draw pool. We do have access to kill counts (see Warpath) though, so that's possible, at least.

@Volt, I suggested it as something fun that would benefit the game as a game option. There's been a couple convos regarding it on the discord.

That said, whether the game is closer to rts or 4x is a dev decision. As a single player only, balance isn't a priority for me either.

As for whether it's possible to mod, I'll have to wait until others release mods so I can figure out what's possible using them as templates.

Basic units do have or count kills, so while heroes - capships - take the exp from grav well, units doing the kills (missiles excluded hopefully) should be getting something.

Non-capships in general will still get destroyed. If vetting it up renders that one unit 1.1-1.2 combat effective, it is not terrible.

This is the thing that killed most rts fun - RA2, RA3 or CnC3 had rather impactful bonuses. However those were tied to value of stuff they destroyed, usually 3x-9x their own cost. (RA2 worked like that)

Rapid autoloader is not weak at all, if you want some proper overkill, do use 5 heavy slugs plus 1 autoloader. 40% passive bonus, 90% on top active one. 250 penetration on the gausses.

Repair unit is also not weak, because it has a passive bonus, that applies nonstop even during jumps. 30 or so on top, if on Kol with active armor means that you get much more effective repairs.

Games without unit exp ended up consistently bad. SIns 1 had only heroes gaining exp. Units and heroes gaining would be a novelty imo, but units themselves, depending on how veterancy is achieved and what kind of bonuses theyd get.

You could have even starbases and base structures gain exp based on their function or use /damage in combat.

There is an RTS in the making SCII-like called Zero Space (suposed to release in circa 2 years)- there are heroes like in WC3, combat and movement looks like SCII, units do get vet, just like the hero. It is a different kind of game than yours, but like in SC-2 campaign, each unit type has 2 tiers of upgrades of : 1 or 2 and 3 or 4, fixed for the rest of the game. (SCII campaign had such system - like Bunker - add 150hp (400 to 550 or hp stays, but bunker adds an MG turret, only one 1 or 2 option))

You do have a sort of more customization with capships here via the slots. There are some that result in a visible change like say on titan getting PD, missiles. But stuff like repair, autoloader, and such generic upgrades, you do not get a visual change.

I didnt play that thing, but some of the mechanics (except those 'global' abilities-sounds like a tabletop 'magic' thing per game or turn) but mechanics-wise there are things you could take a look at (that one looks pretty solid tbh) and see if there are things you like there that could perhaps introduce something more unit types reminiscent of RL (granted, this one plays like in an ocean of space with islands moving, while that one is based on static ground)

Im pretty sure I could come up with all sorts of ideas, the new trade mechanic is better because it is based on RL economy, not monetary economy that doesnt produce stuff. But that would take a few days I guess and Id have to be in a mood for it.

Fair enough, it is a dev decision, and I'm not opposed to units getting tiny little boosts. If there's ever a campaign on a small map, it would probably feel more important that way.

As for it being moddable, it's just not possible (yet). There's nothing in the existing game data files that allows for randomness except NPC rewards, and those are just resources, not buffs. Even targeting is currently deterministic (I tried that)

1. 1.1-1.2 is stronger than you'd think once Lanchester's Square Law kicks in. From my own simulation, buffing damage by 20% on any random type of unit is enough to radically alter the outcome of what were previously balanced fights.
2. I didn't say Rapid Autoloader was weak, just not great on most ships. Heavy Gauss Slugs is the one I have issue with. HGS grants +25% damage to one weapon type, while RA grants a +45% DPS baseline, with the ability to ramp up to +90%. Even with the penetration boost, it's not going to do much. Armor boosts only matter if you make substantial progress toward dropping armor to zero. Gauss cannons already have 100 penetration by default, so going up to 130 doesn't make much of a difference against anything unless, as you mention, you spam it, by why wouldn't you just get Rapid Autoloader more times? It'll give you a much better DPS increase.
3. By the time that thing comes online, capital ships are going to get swarmed pretty hard, so I expect they'll leave most battles either near full health or dead. 5 HPS is 300 HPM. That's not enough to make a difference in battle, and it's a fraction of the regen rate from repair bays or Hoshikos, so I don't think they'll alter drydock repair much either.

What do you think of my idea I posted here: Post

I don't know if something like this is already implemented. I wonder if its something that a Modder can create themselves as well?

That is beyond the scope of what modding is possible. We'd probably need full API access to do that sort of thing.

sorry for the late reply, I wrote 1.1-1.2 combat effective was HP/armor/dps movement whatever, combined compared to base. Invoking WW1 Lancaster as if I was ignorant of Numbers having quality their own ? Im no ignoramus, but I do not like it when some people expect me to be 12 and try to explain how 1+1 is not 2. Or is, because they feel like it.

So, I consider my own argumentation sound. Especially since how a single basic ship is pretty inconsequential.