I know I've said this before, but I'm really loving the lighting, shading and colour palette you guys are using for this game!
Hopefully the Commander loadouts/weapon choices get expanded closer to release. It would be great to have some variation, like a Vanguard Commander using psi abilities if we choose the Psynumbra secret tech for example.
Hmm, that's an excellent idea. Secret Tech unlocking a 2-cost(?) Loadout option that can be taken.
Examples:
Promethean = Thermal damage PyrX 'flamethrower' as primary weapon(no real ranged weapon), Thermal Resistance and a small bonus to damage to units outside your own race/faction(if that's possible at all).
Psynumbra = default primary weapon, but with an offensive psionic ability or two(with XCOM as an example, think , Null Lance and Void Rift) and some other trait or two common to Psynumbra units.
Xenoplague = Biochemical melee attack, or shooting spines, which apply a virulent toxin against Biological targets(no effect against Mechanical) as a result of induced mutations, and related traits.
On a related note, after further thought that I discussed a bit earlier with somebody(or in the discord, either way), I was hoping Loadouts would have an extra racial flair in granted traits. In general, I sorely hope Loadouts grant at least one extra thematic trait on top of the weapon(s) provided, if they have a racial/faction affinity to them, then all the better.
For example, a Kir'Ko with a Sniper specialization, might also get abilities similar to a Hidden, such as Shrouded Step or Universal Camouflage. Such that even if they change their weapon later, something of their origins remain.
Perhaps a Vanguard with Sniper would gain a form of holotargeting added to their attacks instead, making successive allied attacks against the same target have increased accuracy, similar to what the OWL appears to do. This would carry over to other weapons, and even in a mounted form.
An Amazon Sniper engineered a form of ammunition specialized against Biological foes(no effect against Mechanical), that attempts to break down their very DNA, causing severe penalties to the struck target, as their internal organs fail them. Targets lose a percentage of their maximum health every round, and suffer severe Morale penalties, for several rounds, but are immune to further applications of the effect within the same battle.
Meanwhile, a Dvar Sniper can apply an effect destabilizing targets, which lowers an enemy's Stagger Resistance by a stage(even breaking Immunity!), for synergy with the explosive attacks of their armies.
Just some ideas of radically different variations of units which would all still follow the Support-Sniper theme, although I admit with the latter two I started to come up with entirely new abilities. I could see the Amazon one being not difficult to implement as it's mostly just damage over time with a morale penalty(Ghoul Curse, for example as a case for an ability which after being tested, a target thereafter became immune to). The Dvar one might be trickier, depending on how Stagger Resistance stacks(if a Stagger Resistant unit can increase their Resistance to Immunity with a unit mod, then I could imagine a different effect could also reduce Resistance by a stage 0/1/2 being None/Resistant/Immune).
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On a side note, if it doesn't exist yet(haven't seen the scroll down, but it wasn't mentioned in the Dev Diary, either), I think there is room for a 'Support' style Loadout. It would keep the default weapon, or even have a weaker one, but would gain one or more Supporting abilities and traits. For a Vanguard, they might be similar to a Medic or Engineer, or even both at once. For a Kir'Ko, perhaps they have a Psionic Mind-Meld style ability to boost an allied unit's Accuracy, Shields, Damage, Critical chance or all of the above. Yeah, I took that one from XCOM, too.
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To expand on this further, with an idea I was discussing with Dr_K in the Discord channel, what if Loadouts also provided an extra couple of ability unlocks at higher level. Only a couple, such as levels 6/11, 6/12, or 8/15. To use the example of the Kir'Ko sniper earlier, they might start with Shrouded Step, then later get access to Universal Camouflage, then even later, if they took the Universal Camouflage upgrade at the mid-tier level, they could then select a Group version of it to apply to their entire stack. Something like 2-3 extra abilities at higher level unlocks, in addition to the normal abilities that can be chosen for a Hero of the given faction. Perhaps if the Hero-type would already get such an ability(there is only room for so many unique abilities in the game, after all), there is a way to tweak it to cost less instead, if they chose the particular Loadout that would grant it.
It's not meant to be a full hero class difference compared to a default hero of the race, it's just expanding on the specialized Loadout they selected at the start a little bit. After all, the player did choose to spend precious perk points improving a single unit(an important unit, but still), rather than getting a potentially, and likely, more useful Empire-wide bonus from a more expensive Background option instead.
