Is Awakening really that bad?

[GabeTC]

So many negative reviews I've been debating on finally getting all the DLC for this game but idk if this is one I would be better of without.

[utilityguy]

People mainly don't like Awakening because they spawn near the Academy and also have to deal with a lucky playing winning the 10k/20k strength Academy fleet before turn 30. So if you're okay with that, then Getting the Awakening DLC wouldn't hurt.

[Sloan]

Originally posted by ProgramRAM:

So many negative reviews I've been debating on finally getting all the DLC for this game but idk if this is one I would be better of without.

There was a negative review because of the ships similar to "staplers",
DLC Awakening is a challenge for an experienced player.
"strength Academy fleet"? there are fan mods that make the game easier.
this DLC is probably suitable for fast games.

Originally posted by author:

However, here's the cool thing about the DLC: You don't need to own the DLC to play the DLC. If you know someone who has the DLC and hosts a multiplayer match, you can use whatever DLC they have during that game, including playing the factions. So you can dip your toes in the water

[DMA64]

On my third game with the DLC and it`s not that, bad. I only play single player so and never had to deal with the "bad part" the Spear of Ilysander, I make sure to make peace with who ever has it or to go out of it`s way - I think its adds another strategic layer to the game. I don`t like lore wise that the academy now is able to colonise systems - how do they do that with so few people? So if you want some new content I would give it a go.

[Sloan]

Originally posted by DuMichAuch64:

I don`t like lore wise that the academy now is able to colonise systems - how do they do that with so few people?

This is a gift from the faction Nakalim

[GabeTC]

Interesting

[Hobo Misanthropus]

It's horrible. It makes the game worse, even though the Nakalim are a cool faction (And more factions in your game is nice)

They need to give an Academy faction toggle like they did for Behemoth super weapons, so you can play with Nakalim but not the Endless version of Joe Biden forgetting that you were his master of coin 10 turns ago, showing up to kill you.

There's also the Spear of Isyander quest reward, which is a grossly imbalanced Mid-high tier fleet you can get by turn 30 or so, and the only defense against it is to have it, or hope it isn't used on you. If I could describe it, imagine spawning next to Cravers, but they started with 6 Carriers.

[Groo the one]

Originally posted by Hobo Misanthropus:

It's horrible. It makes the game worse, even though the Nakalim are a cool faction (And more factions in your game is nice)

They need to give an Academy faction toggle like they did for Behemoth super weapons, so you can play with Nakalim but not the Endless version of Joe Biden forgetting that you were his master of coin 10 turns ago, showing up to kill you.

There's also the Spear of Isyander quest reward, which is a grossly imbalanced Mid-high tier fleet you can get by turn 30 or so, and the only defense against it is to have it, or hope it isn't used on you. If I could describe it, imagine spawning next to Cravers, but they started with 6 Carriers.

You could check out these two mods:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2216068650

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2221570415

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by Groo the one:

Originally posted by Hobo Misanthropus:

It's horrible. It makes the game worse, even though the Nakalim are a cool faction (And more factions in your game is nice)

They need to give an Academy faction toggle like they did for Behemoth super weapons, so you can play with Nakalim but not the Endless version of Joe Biden forgetting that you were his master of coin 10 turns ago, showing up to kill you.

There's also the Spear of Isyander quest reward, which is a grossly imbalanced Mid-high tier fleet you can get by turn 30 or so, and the only defense against it is to have it, or hope it isn't used on you. If I could describe it, imagine spawning next to Cravers, but they started with 6 Carriers.

You could check out these two mods:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2216068650

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2221570415

Did. They help but don't solve the spear problem. Its still a fleet with tens of thousands of power far too early. From the comments I've seen they can't change the fleet composition as its hard coded where modders can't touch it. So you will always be dealing with carriers in the spear when you are barely starting to access mediums. This is such an extreme and obvious balance problem I really don't get why the devs refuse to patch it.

[GabeTC]

I feel like theres a reason why the bundles include all but awakening XD

[Scheneighnay]

It makes the game more interesting for sure, but it's pretty terrible balance-wise.
Whoever gets the Spear of Isyander is going to dominate until the late game when organic fleets can actually match it.

[Keith Preston]

Originally posted by ProgramRAM:

So many negative reviews I've been debating on finally getting all the DLC for this game but idk if this is one I would be better of without.

Im speaking for single player only here. The academy taking so many star systems is starving out the AI and leads into much weaker oponents until midgame when everyone starts taking those planets away from the academy. But playing without academy gives the AI a more compact terrirory with a better economy. On a personal Level i find this begging for favors or ressources every couple rounds very tiresome and the nakalim are boring to play. Im very dissapointed with how hacking was implemented and the full awakening dlc.

[Veritas]

In single player:

The Academy starves the AI out of systems and growth, making them even worse at early and mid game than before.

In multiplayer:

Whoever gets the Spear role just wins the game in vanilla. There's nothing you can do to compete with those fleets in early game.

There are mods that try to tackle these problems but we're talking about paying for a DLC, then having to use mods to make it tolerable. It isn't even made by Amplitude. Talk about a really bad deal.

[Groo the one]

Originally posted by Keith Preston:

Im speaking for single player only here. The academy taking so many star systems is starving out the AI and leads into much weaker oponents until midgame...

Did you try to lower academy difficulty level in new game settings, yet?

[Hobo Misanthropus]

The Academy probably should have worked on a similar mechanic to the Umbral Choir. They colonize "Underneath" the other factions. You get benefits but also some responsibilities/penalties. Etc.

[JH]

I'm glad there are some mods to fix these dlc, but do mods still disable achievements? Cos I'm only likely to get the dlc if I feel like going for 100%.