Version 1.4.6

A store-and-sustain patch on top of Version 1.4.5: the Imperial Access Pass and Founder thanks ahead of launch, Support Vessel field repairs capped to one hull per vessel per round, stun reduction hard-capped at 50%, softer late shield-dome quantity growth, richer early-realm pirate stockpiles, and alliance rank by empire score so Access spending never pads the board.

Access details: Imperial Access. Field repairs: Support Vessel / Damage and Shields. Stun: Fleet Stun. Domes: Defense Yard. Or open Settings → Quick Guides in-game.

New Features

Imperial Access Pass

Three subscription tiers in the Store: Monthly, 3 Months (best everyday value), and Yearly (best long-term rate).
While active, the Pass grants Imperial Access, Quantum Shards for the period, ad-free play when ads are offered, 15% off common / rare / epic cosmetics (legendary and mythical stay full price), and the ability to buy building skins with Imperial Credits (common 300 / rare 350 / epic 400).
Imperial Access remains optional comfort — extra queues, overview, shortcuts, automation. It does not buy combat power, resources, or rankings.
Lifetime Imperial Access owners keep Access forever (and ad-free). They can still subscribe to the Pass for Pass-only perks (cosmetic discount, Imperial Credit building skins, period shards).
Store cutover 2 October: timed Access packages bought with Quantum Shards cost more (about 3–4×); Imperial Credit prices stay the same. Older monthly Quantum Shard–only subscriptions leave the Store for new buyers; existing subscribers keep their period until they cancel in the App Store or Google Play.
Example: A commander who wants comfort without grinding Credits can take the 3-month Pass for Access + shards + the cosmetic discount; a Lifetime owner who already has Access can still take that Pass only for the discount and Credit building skins.

Founders

Commanders who joined before ads start (3 October) are Founders and receive a permanent lifetime ad-free bonus as thanks for early play.
From 4 October onward, new commanders join as regular players (ads-eligible unless they hold Access Pass or Lifetime Access).

Improvements

Support Vessel field repairs

Each surviving Support Vessel restores at most one friendly combat ship per combat round after damage.
Field-repair hull budget still applies — a vessel cannot revive a ship whose hull exceeds its repair capacity.
When slots are tight, repairs prefer heavier friendly hulls first (priority is only a tiebreak), so spare capacity no longer mass-revives light swarms while capitals stay down.
Example: Ten Support Vessels can bring back at most ten combat ships in a round, even if their combined hull budget could cover dozens of Fighters.

Stun reduction

Fleet Hangar Protocols, monument stun reduction, and expedition safety still shorten stun, but the combined cut is capped at 50%.
Reductions apply to the full stun timer (base and loss-scaled time), including PvE / expedition stun. Stun never drops below 1 minute on expeditions (or the combat floor in hangar recovery).
Example: ~1 hour base stun with Fleet Hangar Protocols 20 → about 48 minutes. At the ~24 hour maximum with −25% → about 18 hours. Research + monuments cannot cut more than half the timer. See Fleet Stun / Expeditions.

Pirate stockpiles

Early-realm pirate ore stockpiles and outpost shares are richer so Realm 1–3 clears pay better for the fleets that farm them.
Realm 4 stockpile scale is unchanged. Fresh rolls after despawn use the new tables. See Pirates.

Balance

Shield dome capacity

Per-type shield-dome build limit (Small Shield Dome, Large Shield Dome, Planetary Dome) grows about ×1.6 per Defense Yard level (was ×2).
Shield Technology and Fortress Doctrine still each add roughly +5% of that base per level.
Example: Yard 10 base ≈ 110; Yard 20 ≈ 12,000; Yard 40 ≈ 146 million (before research) — late yards no longer land near trillion-scale dome caps. Defense tonnage usually bites first on mid-game colonies.

Alliance rank

Global alliance ranking uses combined member empire score (not Imperial Credits spent).
Buying Access, the Pass, or other comfort no longer inflates alliance place on the board.