Today's Battlestar Galactica Online update attempts to "improve the balance between the different ship sizes and roles, and to improve the balance between offensive and defensive Systems as they are upgraded." Ships now have Armor values and weapons now have Armor Piercing values. Also, several ship and weapon system stats have been revised.

You can read the full patch notes after the jump. So say we all!

Battlestar Galactica Online Patch Notes - August 31

Hello Pilots,

Here are the patch notes for todays update.

COMBAT, SHIPS & SYSTEMS

This Update includes several balance revisions and changes. The main goal of these changes is to improve the balance between the different ship sizes and roles, and to improve the balance between offensive and defensive Systems as they are upgraded.

Armor and Armor Piercing

Ships now have Armor values, and weapons now have Armor Piercing values:

• A ship’s Armor value reduces incoming damage by a percentage equal to its value

For example, a ship with an Armor value of 35 is hit for 80 damage. The ship’s Armor absorbs 35% of the damage (28 points). The remaining 52 damage is subtracted from the ship’s Hull Points.

• A weapon’s Armor Piercing value is subtracted from the target’s Armor value before the Armor is applied

For example, a ship with an Armor value of 35 is hit for 80 damage by a weapon with an Armor Piercing value of 20. The ship’s Armor is treated as being 35 - 20 = 15 against the attack, and absorbs 15% of the damage (12 points). The remaining 68 damage is subtracted from the ship’s Hull Points.

• Note that a weapon with an Armor Piercing value higher than its target’s Armor value will completely ignore the target’s Armor, but will not do any additional or bonus damage

For example, a ship with an Armor value of 35 is hit for 80 damage by a weapon with an Armor Piercing value of 50. As the Armor Piercing value is higher than the Armor value the ship is treated as having 0 Armor against the attack, and all 80 damage is subtracted from the ship’s Hull Points.

• Armor values are displayed in the ship stats that can be seen in the Ship Hangar at each faction’s abandoned base and on the Ship tab of the Pilot Log
• Armor Piercing values are displayed in the System Details window that can be seen in the Store window and on the Ship tab of the Pilot Log

Firewall and Emitters

Electronic Warfare (debuff) effects now automatically ‘hit’ their target:

• A ship’s Firewall value now reduces the duration of any Electronic Warfare (debuff) effect applied to it
• A ship’s Emitter value now increases the duration of any Electronic Warfare (debuff) effect it applies to a target
• If the Emitter value of the attacker and the Firewall value of the target are the same, Electronic Warfare effects will apply for their normal duration
• If the Emitter value of the attacker is higher than the Firewall value of the target, the duration of the Electronic Warfare effects will be extended
• If the Firewall value of the target is higher than the Emitter value of the attacker, the duration of the Electronic Warfare effects will be reduced

Player Ships

In addition to gaining Armor values, several other ship stats have been revised:

• The increase in Hull Points from upgrading a ship from the Standard version to the Advanced version has been increased (from +20% to +30%)

Note that the Hull Points of Cubit-only ships like the Rhino, Marauder, Glaive, Spectre, Aesir and Fenrir have also increased, as these ships are already ‘upgraded’ versions

• The Speed and Boost Speed of Interceptor, Command and Assault Strike ships have been increased (by 5)
• The Avoidance values of Interceptor and Multi-role Strike ships have been slightly reduced (from 525 to 510)
• The Avoidance values of Assault Strike ships have been slightly increased (from 475 to 490)
• The Avoidance values of all Escort ships have been increased (by 45-55 depending on role)
• The Avoidance values of Interceptor Line ships have been increased (from 55 to 70)
• The Avoidance values of Assault Line ships have been reduced (from 45 to 30)
• The Firewall and Emitter values of Command ships of all sizes have been increased to 200
• The Firewall and Emitter values of Assault ships of all sizes and Multi-role Escort and Line ships have been increased to 150
• The Firewall and Emitter values of Interceptor ships of all sizes have been increased to 100
• The Firewall and Emitter values of Multi-role Strike ships have been increased to 50

Weapon Systems

In addition to gaining Armor Piercing values, several other Weapon System stats have been revised:

• The Accuracy of all Escort cannon systems has been increased (from 300 to 350)
• The Accuracy of all Line cannon systems (except Flak and Point Defense systems) has been slightly reduced (from 150 to 125)

Hull Systems

• The Hull Point bonus from Hull Plating systems of all sizes have been increased

Engine Systems

• The Avoidance bonus from RCS Ducting systems of all sizes have been increased

Computer Systems

• Escort Electronic Warfare systems now only affect the currently selected target, but have had their ranges increased to 1500
• Line Electronic Warfare systems now only affect the currently selected target, but have had their ranges increased to 2000
• The Avoidance bonuses from ‘Hermes’ and ‘Charybdis’ Electronic Support systems has been reduced.
• The Avoidance penalties from ‘Iapetus’ and ‘Scylla’ Electronic Support systems has been reduced

WEB SITE

• Removed game frame
• Adjusted login flow to open the game in a separate tab/window

FRIEND INVITES

• Friend invite button added to HUD
• Starter assignment to encourage friend invites
• Improved friend invite incentives – including rewards given at level 10 instead of level 12

INTERFACE

• Improved readability of system & ability icons on ship loadout UI
• Updated localization for all territories

BUG FIXES

• Issues loading game on Macs in Firefox while in Full Browser mode
• Game will not launch on OSX 10.7 (Lion)
• Daily Triad/Prophecy is not free
• Sector lag in asteroid-heavy systems
• User will not have to play through tutorial multiple times if they log out before character creation is complete.
• Chat downtime changed to avoid peak hours
• Inaccurate repair cost displayed in Repair Ship UI
• Added missing characters in Romanian character set

Known Issues

Using OSX 10.7 (Lion) some graphical issues can come up while logging into the game, this shouldn’t affect the gaming experience