Early tier Autocracy needs something more

[KingHalford]

I'm probably getting a bit geriatric but I was sure I remember Autocracy being a lot better than it actually is. But after some study I really feel that there's very little reason to choose it at the start of the game over Democracy or Meritocracy, unless there's a hidden mechanic to it that I'm missing (like Meritocracy giving better leaders, something I assume is true after a lot of time in-game).

Regime feats Strength of the Will, Submission and Martial Law are all very underwhelming choices for most Shadow Empire games. Bunker Busters are great but I think you're almost always better off choosing Democracy (Engaged Politicians) or Meritocracy (Accomplished Envoys) over those. And looking further down the line, I don't see anything that makes me want to specifically pick it. Fist has Espirit de Corps, an incredibly powerful Regime Feat to work towards, and perhaps just having something similar further up into Autocracy might make it a bit more desirable.

I am aware that Autocracy does have other effects, like reducing happiness loss on declaring war on a faction you're friendly with and the worst effects of Fear, but I just can't see these as being enough that I'd voluntarily choose Autocracy over the others.

Was it a deliberate design decision to have the autocratic feats not give any kind of empire-wide boost? While some of the Strategems that the Autocracy line gives you are very powerful (Recruit Special Ops is one notable card that is borderline overpowered with the current way spies work),the Call to Power cards are only situationally useful. Autocracy is very easy to get into and keep in most games, but doing so is painful in its own way with lots of killed population, and I feel that at the very least one of the tiers between Strength of the Will and Martial Law should include at least some kind of bonus to stop it being a no-brainer to never choose it during game-start.

[Xxzard]

Agree - I'm not aware of a hidden bonus either. The reduction of the penalties to fear is nice, but committing to the autocratic strategy of violent suppression of populations is a tough sell when many games see significant population pressure. When I've actually used Call to Power cards (obviously highly situational), they're fun, but not amazing for the cost.

[solops]

I like violent suppression.

[Vic]

The fact that I recently added the Autocracy advantage with declaring war on "friends" shows that I am aware. I will be looking into further balancing, but don't want to over do it either. I think you forgot mentioning that Politburo brings you the lowest number of Demands from your Factions (and Democracy the most).

[KingHalford]

Oh I didn't know that actually, that is interesting. The Politburo is one that I've not used for a long time, I really should try that one out again.

I do love how many of these features in Shadow Empire have subtle and not so obvious effects on gameplay, I encourage you to fill the game with more Vic! And yes, don't over-do it obviously. One of the things that keeps me playing these games is discovering subtlety and nuance that developers have hidden in there (it's a reason why I keep coming back to Illwinter's games) and Shadow Empire is no exception, but I'm always happy for there to be more!

[Uemon]

I personally still find it the best one because it allows you to deal with revolt nonsense in the simplest, easiest and most straightforward manner. Whereas the other two either require you spend money (democracy) or make rolls that you will pretty much never win (meritocracy).

[Thrake]

I actually feel like the lack of demands from the politburo is a malus.

This is because word score is powerful, but starts lower than the average I trend towards. Therefore more demands allow me to get to that average faster for happier leaders. Many demands are easy to achieve. Get more recon on hex? A few spies and it's done. More private buildings? If going commerce this one achieves on its own. More mining assets? Well, I was about to do it anyway.

On top of word score it gives powerful bonus... More PP, profile increases, that's about the best rewards around except when it increases a profile I don't want. Even declining requests to increase unwanted profiles decrease the relevant profile so turning down demands isn't too bad either.

Another issue with autocracy is the fact that the early "call for" cards are not helpful. 50 PP is too much early on, let alone 150 PP. It makes more sense to be further down the profile tree like with democracy/meritocracy so that it unlocks by the time the player has more PP income. It doesn't help that assassination is also PP expensive. If stratagems are intended to be a big selling point perhaps they could be cheaper than other profiles?

In terms of stratagem quality I wouldn't rate it very high. Democracy with cabinet retreat, recruit civilian, referendum are solid options even before considering the feat bonus. I don't like much meritocracy's but the better leader and rolls make up for that.

It's a good attitude to be cautious with balance and it is true that the previous patches went in the right direction so keep up the good work.

[KingHalford]

Another issue with autocracy is the fact that the early "call for" cards are not helpful. 50 PP is too much early on, let alone 150 PP.

With the usual caveat of "depending on planet generation settings and result", this is why I think Autocracy is better coming later in your game. If you go Democracy you're swimming in PP usually, 50 is usually trivial to afford once you've gotten that first Democracy Regime Feat and 150 isn't a big reach either.

[Thrake]

Another issue with autocracy is the fact that the early "call for" cards are not helpful. 50 PP is too much early on, let alone 150 PP.

With the usual caveat of "depending on planet generation settings and result", this is why I think Autocracy is better coming later in your game. If you go Democracy you're swimming in PP usually, 50 is usually trivial to afford once you've gotten that first Democracy Regime Feat and 150 isn't a big reach either.

If you need to mix autocracy with something else to make it worthwhile it feels like admitting that autocracy is not good. Pure democracy and pure meritocracy are both solid picks.

Sure, it's possible to afford it. However I could also go full on democracy and get, what... 120% extra PP or so? And play more calls for than with your 40% bonus.