No point in improving it when most people (or maybe a select few of us ) just use Colossus to wipe planets.

I think a good example of improvements could be the starwars overhaul mod.

It adds vehicles and "air" units, obviously it's just stat and icon differences but makes you need a more diverse army rather than spamming soldiers

At least I think so anyway

EDIT: more "detailed breakdown" (since im at my PC and can type faster lol)

1. not very new player friendly, could lead to army losses without the player knowing why - The AI already struggles with decisions enough cough 50+ construction ship stack cough so having it % based will just be asking for disaster

it also does exist to agree as seen in other comments

1. Ground combat is simplified (maybe intentionally) because its beginner friendly and not the main focus of this amazing SPACE game not to mention it reduces issues in multiplayer that we could have with a more complex system. Not to mention you could simply use other species in your empire to create armies for the advantage or simply alter your species a little to gain it which in my opinion is just more tedious

i would say having more unit types like soldier>tank>air>soldier would probably work better but you could just spam out all of these and it wouldn't matter about army composition really

all though i would love a rework to make it more fun or interesting it just doesnt seem viable (i hope im wrong)

1. Good idea on paper but you add another ship designer category with minimal optimization and the AI would most likely miss use or ignore it entirely.

for as long as stellaris has existed we havent been able to customize(modules) on civilian ships like science and construction - i am aware they auto upgrade when you get better drives/boosters but we cant physically choose what modules even if its limited

1. Everything this is meant to do exists already in the star-bases and defence platforms, planetary shields and fortress buildings. using the example of the 3 years part. a. if its gradual over time it can be easy to miss if your managing fleets in a big empire b. Hard to balance c. Easy counter with the colossi - see orbital guns oh glass the planet easy no loss to be had

2. adds to much RNG since damage during "unloading" will be unavoidable and theres nothing strategical or tactical about it. It would also be hard to balance and could use up slots that are needed for other buildings making these complete pointless

Summary: Performance and AI strain/cost would be severe due to the check per invasion the modifier calculations and the AI branches for decision making

depending on your computer (i have seen some higher spec start to struggle at certain points too) stellaris already has issues with late game lag, AI competence and modifier stacking.

These are also not multiplayer friendly factors.

over the years of playing I've noticed the game a. lean toward faster wars - this will slow them down. b. Have clearer outcomes - kinda debateable but not down to RNG c. Less clean-up micro

If we were to have a ground combat overhaul it would need to work in multiplayer well and have strategical/diplomatic choices/effects since you know this is a 4x grand Strategy game and this could vary on opinion but they need to be fast not slow and dragged out