I think they should add a population growth modifier to expulsion to help it synergize with wail.

Actually I'd been tinkering with that same exact Idea a week ago or, but had subsequently forgotten about it.  Thanks for reminding me , that is certainly another very viable way of giving the advent rebels the resistance to populationd amage they need.

Of course a third option would be to do something with hardened cities.  Or better yet, buff hardened cities and give the advent rebels a faction specific buff tor resisting population damage(That way all advent get a bit of a buff resisting the economic damage of novalith & the rebels get a bigger buff to resisting population damage as is needed).

I however mostly focused on Cleanse and renew as it is a high tier research which IMO is extremely boring and of rather situational benefit in it's current state.

It reduces it, this would counteract the population growth debuff.

Novaliths do not reduce the growth rate. You're thinking of heavy fallout on the siege frigates.

Either or really.  I think an orbital structure or some other per-planet investment would be appropriate if possible.  But in all honesty I doubt there would be any chance of a new model being produced at this stage in the game.

I suppose if it were deemed necessary for there to be some investment per planet, the effect could very well eb tacked onto temples of communion(would also lend it's self well tot he stated goal as the same planets we need to protect the population of for wail of the forsaken are protected by the same building which enables the ability).

I hadn't really thought about specifics as to whether it would be available by default or from an orbital structure, but you raise a good point.  That said, I think the easiest way to balance it would be to implement it initially as a benefit from researching the tech and if deemed too strong it could be moved onto an orbital structure.  In all honesty I'm not 100% convinced it would need to be, being that while the effect is very potent it is also rather niche(it defends against an economic sideeffect of bombardment which doesn't result in loss of the planet(usually by the time the opponent starts bombarding they are in position to take the planet).  it's primary use really would just be mitigating an opponent's ability to kill your population using novalith cannon, a single specific super weapon which has other effects as well.

you could tie it to the starbases "orbital government" research, which makes the most sense to me seeing as you would probably already have starbses up with this researched anyway if your geting spamed with novaliths.

I always do this

I don't think this is what we need.  Letting the opponent choose the time and place of the damage is just silly.  Why would they have their fleet anywhere nearby when they know they are likely triggering the AoE damage(after all they choose when to fire novalith).  Worst case scenario the TEC player would even be able to use the advent player as a weapon against another adjacent player(in a FFA game).

If there's one thing I'm certain of it's that the advent player needs to be in complete control of when the AoE damage happens- it is their ability after all.

When it comes down to it, Wail of the sacrificed is one of the single most defining technologies of the Advent rebels. An entire races shouldn't be essentially immune to it if they play with half a brain.

 The entire purpose of this tech is to use the threat of a massive AoE to make the opponent hesitant to commit heir entire fleet to an attack on large pop worlds. If the TEC can harmlessly discharge the AoE when they have no fleet present, the benefit of this tech is every bit as negated as the current implementation leaves it against TEC opponents.

When it comes down to it, the only way this technology will actually fufill it's purpose against TEC is if it isn't so easy for TEC to keep advent rebel key world's populations bottomed out with novalith cannons.

I'm of course not saying that novalith cannons should be utterly ineffective: they hsould cause some population loss(hnd have the -40% population penalty to boot, which alone is a substantial but reasonable penalty to Wail damage).  But they shouldn't be able to keep a planet's Wail utterly nonthreatening at all times(or at least a single cannon shouldn't be able to).

Yes those are the general tactics for dealing with novaliths.  Honestly the existence of general tactics doesn't preclude a single faction having an alternate strategy.  

Moreover you're missing the point.  My point wasn't that novaliths are utterly uncounterable- it's that they are preventing a faction from utilizing part of what is supposed to make their playstyle unique.  

Part of why we're in beta is that we're suppose to help balance the new abilities.  At present Wail of the forsaken is a bit of a flawed technology in that it's worthless against any opponent who builds a novalith canon.  Yes, in terms of macro balance you can counter novalith cannons with a rush, but that doesn't change that one of the new techs is essentially a waste once novaliths come out.

As you say the whole point is to attack eachother- this hasn't changed, in the long run the advent rebels need to attack to get anything done.  Gaining resistance to novaliths just puts the same restriction on the TEC: they have to step out from behind their fortifications if they really want to deal some damage.  having a single faction that's a bit more resistant to being shelled from accross the galaxy isn't really a problem IMO.  

You talk like I'm proposing immunity to novaliths, I'm not.  I'm suggesting what is essentially the ability to regenerate 66% of the lost population over the next 2 minutes or so- the max pop debuff is still applied, the trade penalty is still applied, the planetary damage is still applied.  You still are going to have to attack the TEC turtle, the only difference is that if they counterattack the advent rebels will actually be able to use the defensive tool they are supposed to have(albeit at reduced effectiveness as novaliths will still hurt their population even with my changes).

When it comes down to it, I see no reason a faction should be denied one of their primary defensive tools against an entire race.  

Besides, where the heck is the cash for 100 squads of bombers coming from? the enemy spent 6-8k on a novalith cannon, I find it a tad difficult to believe that it takes the same amount of time/income to fund 2 halcyons and enough carriers to field 100 squads of bombers.

And for the other 90% of players...

Good luck selling a game that has an almost entirely single player non-pro audience that's balanced around what a few pros on the forums think.

Well the AI will get fixed sometime hopefully which means less Novalith spam, and as stated by people who do Multiplayer it isn't an issue in matches, but I still think that the Advent could use something to lessen the impact of bombardment and Novaliths on planets.

I actually like the OP's idea, it sounds like it could be awesome with a lowered regen and if it has cost per planet, like the TEC Shield Generator. A suggestion I have though is that whenever it is being actively bombarded by ships in orbit, the regen should be disabled until the bombardment is stopped (or the planet is lost.)

You have to loose a planet because they expect to loose some through your culture: So 2 shots by the cannon and your kaput-dead-gone with the wind. (1 shot for an asteroid).

Its balanced.

The problem is you never know where the cannon strikes and i haven't memorized the cannons recharge time. If there was an actual indicator as to where the cannon is striking then you could setup a star-base with enduring devotion and let the cannon fire itself to exhaustion on 1 planet-but with the Devs sick sense of humor its a stealth attack unless you zoom out and watch the projectile travel across the stars. Even then you never know where it stops if there's more than 1 world in its path.You could always guess-buts that's too much of a headache therefore the  best solution is to cross your fingers and hope its your ally whose about to get whacked.