The combat preview/time-travel is so useful when learning the game that all the approachability feedback I have is rather small, but I'll fire ahead anyway.

The description of the Martyr is a little opaque. It's not at all obvious what the Martyr's "range" is until you see one in the playing field (so an enemy having a Martyr as a hire option doesn't tell you a lot if you've never seen one in action). It is also the only case that I know of where an outpost can get destroyed, and it is not necessarily obvious from the text what that means (all drillers on outpost? outpost reverted to neutral? outpost temporarily non-functional? permanently non-functional?).

The Double Agent also doesn't specify exactly what "combat ends immediately" means. Do the subs just turn around and go home? Warp home? Continue past each other with opposite ownership?

hi sublimity,

this is a good place to ask these things, so that the answers are later available to everyone. eventually, we hope there will be a wiki that deals with the details of how each specialist works, because there's clearly not enough room on the screen to describe it in full.

but to answer your questions:
1. if it's your own martyr, you can hire it, see the range, then cancel the hire. not much can be done if it's an opponent's hire at the moment, other than learn from experience . you are correct that the martyr is currently the only way to destroy an outpost. destroying an outpost means its shields drop (and don't charge) and all specialists and drillers present are destroyed. it also loses whatever bonus/function it provides, so it's effectively useless, except for visibility and as a waypoint.
2. for the double agent, it means that once its ability is applied, combat ends and subs continue on course. so specialists that act before the double agent get to apply their abilities, but specialists that apply abilities after double agent do not. also, drillers do not engage in combat, so that whole phase is skipped.

there's definitely room for improvement on the learning curve, sorry if it caused you any frustration. it's an ongoing thing for us.

ron

Thanks for the clarification. There's usually very little confusion, and when there is it's mostly about stuff that another player can do (because I can't speculatively take actions for them and then preview the future).

Hate to revive such an old post but I feel that the Double Agent is still not clear.

Here's the newest text:
When participating in sub-to-sub combat, drillers on both subs are destroyed, subs swap ownership along with any specialists aboard, and combat ends.

The double agent's ability should apply before drillers attack, so why are drillers on both subs destroyed? Does this mean that the Double Agent kills all drillers from both sides once it enters combat?

Example:
Player A sends an attack of 50 drillers to Player B. Player B sends 1 driller and 1 Double Agent to intercept the sub. What happens when they meet?

Yes, all drillers are destroyed.

In your example, player A would end up with a sub containing the double agent heading back to their outpost. Player B would be wasting their driller and should have sent the double agent on the sub solo.

I think I understand. Drillers are destroyed no matter what and the double agent would be captured by the enemy.

Thank you.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Double Agent wouldn't be 'captured' by the enemy.

The Double Agent's ownership is swapped at combat and now your enemy will have it and be able to use it without the need for a hypnotist.

Braxo wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Double Agent wouldn't be 'captured' by the enemy.

The Double Agent's ownership is swapped at combat and now your enemy will have it and be able to use it without the need for a hypnotist.

That's exactly right.