I was under the impression that the diplomat glitch had been fixed. Ie: that specialists captured in sub-sub combat should not be released until they land at the capturers outpost. But in my current game i watched an ally intercept an enemy ship with a pirate and the captured specialist immeaditely returned to the enemy after the pirate collided with it.

Am i misunderstanding something or is this not how its supposed to be working now?

I think you're right; this is a bug and it has not been properly fixed as yet.

My understanding of the fix was the only thing that would change is that the newly released specialist would only be controllable once it returned home. This would only affect released Navigators since all other specialists have no other way of redirecting themselves.

So before the fix, Diplomat-Navigator-General could cause near infinite damage by redirecting every 10 minutes, whereas after the fix, the Navigator must travel the distance between the attacking sub and the defending outpost each time to inflict damage. This effectively reduces the Navigator to act the same as all other specialists in this sub-to-sub situation.

therealben wrote:My understanding of the fix was the only thing that would change is that the newly released specialist would only be controllable once it returned home.

i don't know, thats certainly not what the description seems to imply:
"Releases all captive specialists you own that are being held at an outpost within Diplomat's outpost's sonar range."

There are two different issues here, both of which warrant discussion.

The first issue is this: when a specialist is released by the Diplomat, does it remain as a captured specialist on an enemy sub, or is it an active specialist on one of your own subs? With regards to this, it is clear that it's supposed to be a captured specialist on a 0-driller enemy sub. Moreover, this doesn't only affect the Navigator, because it also affects whether or not the specialists get their bonuses; for example, if a Smuggler is released it's the difference between 1x and 3x movement speed.

The second issue is this: in sub-to-sub combat, is the specialist released by the Diplomat immediately after the sub-to-sub combat, or does it have to be sent to an enemy outpost first, and released from there? The text description of the Diplomat clearly states that it releases specialists "that are being held at an outpost", so it seems clear that the latter is the way it should work.


Currently, the Diplomat does indeed work correctly when you attack an outpost---after losing combat, your specialist is immediately released back to the nearest friendly outpost on a 0-driller enemy sub. However, after sub-to-sub combat the Diplomat is currently working incorrectly according to *both* issues raised above---it is released *instantly* after combat instead of first being sent to an enemy outpost, and it is released on your own 0-driller sub rather than the enemy's.

This bug is ridiculous. A general and saboteur and diplomat can often seem invincible.

The diplomat specifically says "outpost" yet it is occurring on subs so that you can hit any attacker multiple times.

Right now the diplomat is incredibly strong. A war hero + diplomat can easily take down 100 drillers with expending nothing.

I'm not saying it's unbeatable, but it is frustrating how "non-intended" this functionality is. There is no verisimilitude in a diplomat granting the ability of a general to go out on a 0 driller suicide trip 5 times repeatedly.

The diplomat is still very effective working on outposts only. Having them work immediately allows so many ridiculous shenanigans.