Hello! This post outlines a potential approach to better managing incoming ship damage and the role of engineering in the short term, without introducing new technologies. To start, let's look at how combat currently plays out, using the most popular large ship right now: the Perseus. This ship has around 400k hull HP and about 50k armor HP. When taking fire, you often take no damage at all until a ship like the Vanguard hits you three or four times; at that point, the armor—and its ability to deflect small-caliber rounds—collapses rapidly. From then on, any ship—even an Aurora—can damage the hull. Once hull HP hits zero, the power plant's HP magically drops to zero, and the ship shuts down. To actually blow up the Perseus, you have to deplete a hidden "explosion threshold" HP pool; however, if an engineer repairs the power plant to 20% or higher, the ship restarts—leaving you unsure of when it might finally explode. Here is my alternative proposal: Instead of separate armor and hull HP pools, use a single "hull armor HP" pool. This would make the reduction of the deflection stat feel less abrupt. When the ship's HP hits zero, it wouldn't shut down; instead, projectiles would pass straight through the ship, significantly increasing damage to internal components. To completely destroy the ship, a specific amount of "alpha damage" would be required based on the ship's size—let's say, the equivalent of a Size 9 torpedo for the Perseus. This would foster combat that is more progressive and easier to understand, give engineers a more significant role, make cross-section missiles or torpedoes more valuable for finishing off targets, and pave the way for the return of boarding mechanics. A few additional ideas: - Make underutilized ballistic weapons—like the Tarantula or others—incendiary. - Move away from having just one critical HP zone on certain ships, such as the Constellation or Hammerhead. - Similar to energy weapon capacitors, give certain ships an ammo boost for ballistic weapons—BUT pair it with a nerf to weapon spread (you want Star Wars-style combat, but right now you don't need the Force to hit an Arrow with a Medusa cannon). - A module for salvage heads that reverses the process to repair a ship. If ships didn't just explode after 10 seconds, it would open up immense gameplay possibilities (including for fighters); an explosion should be spectacular, not commonplace. - An engineering screen for co-pilot seats that shows power profiles without the 3D view. - I know this is already planned, but I'll mention it anyway: the ability to select targets for Point Defense Cannons (PDCs). - Reduce RMC consumption for ship repairs in Idris hangars (or similar). I don't have the exact figures in mind, but I believe repairing a Gladius costs over 50k. - An MFD indicator showing the entity limit within your ship to prevent items or internal vessels from suddenly disappearing. I have other ideas, but listing them all would take hours. Thanks for reading, and have a great day! P.S. Sorry for my English; it's not my native language.