Overall this patch seems like it'd be an improvement, but I still have some issues.
> The Ruiner (Vasari minelayer) was made even worse, by removing its weapon. Granted, said weapon got it into a lot of trouble, but the fundamental problem IMO was that having such a specialized ship made it nearly useless, since the very creation and movement of one would be an exercise in micromanagement. At 7 points per it's not a huge investment, but the amount of time needed to get it into the right position would be high. Also, the fact that the ship costs less than a single 6-mine field, of which it is expected to place dozens, seems a bit ridiculous.
What I'd really like to see is the Ruiner, Ogrov, and Adjudicator turned into true heavy cruisers, something in the 20-supply range that bridges the gap between the fighting cruisers and the capships. Ships that have weapons on all sides, plus activated abilities (minelaying for the Ruiner, torpedoes for the other two, plus each should gain at least one more), and decent defenses. And a 20-cost would keep you from stacking too many of them; ideally you'd have 1-2 per fleet, no more. For the Ruiner, this'd make it a decent solitary minelayer ship while still motivating people to bring it along with the fleets; for the others, this'd prevent people from using dozens of them to overwhelm a starbase quickly (making the reduction in defenses irrelevant).
> Starbase phase gate ability (Vasari) uses antimatter to activate as originally intended: This one REALLY worries me. If the phase gate ability is activated, then what's the point? You only buy that one for neutral/enemy wells as it is, and with the recent improvement in the Kostura Cannon, it's not necessary for enemy wells. Was it really overpowered in an always-on state? (Same goes for the scout's detection ability; why was it changed from a passive to a fast-casting free ability?) A starbase doesn't have to spend antimatter to duplicate the effects of a trade port or fighter hangars, so why do they need to do so for the phase stabilizer?
> Improving the scout frigates' mine-clearing abilities is all well and good, but I really think it'd be better to add a research upgrade to the game that improves them far more. For instance, add a new tech at tier 4-5 with three ranks. Rank 1 gives scouts the mine-detection ability they currently get for free, so that early-game mines actually become a decent investment. Rank 2 adds 50% to the radius, while rank 3 doubles the base amount. This'd make scouts far more useful as mine-spotters for a fleet or as part of a small dedicated minesweeping squadron.
