So far... Im NOT enjoying Entrenchment and how overpowered mines are (specially the ones the Vasari can create outside their own gravity well). It's really out of hand how powerless you feel when they attack your world and in less than a minute you have mine spam all around you
It's also retarded how you bring your fleet in with scouts, and they just SIT in the edge of the gravity well, while the rest of your fleet rush to attack BLIND and through the mine field. They better fix all these issues before release, or i'll most likely stop playing Sins
Seriously folks, you do understand the concept of beta testing, right? We're trying to see what works, what doesn't, and figure out how to make it work. Ultimatums and doomsaying is not very helpful here.
As mines go, I think it's widely accepted that changes need to be made, particularly with Vasari mining enemy wells and Ruiners being used basically as suicide bombers.
I think that they need to be made more tactical in nature. As a primarily TEC player, I think that the "blob of mines" method is very inneffective. Mines should be used as barriers, so we need to be able to define those barriers more accurately. This would help eliminate some of the micromanaging involved as well.
Next, the AI needs to be modified to make ships take all necessary measures to avoid minefields unless they are specifically ordered to enter them. No more ships making wide turns right through a minefield. That's just dumb.
For TEC, mines are fairly expensive, but there should still be some sort of cap to prevent you from filling the entire well with them, but that cap should still be pretty high, otherwise you won't be able to build effective barriers either.
For mine-clearing, I think that using the scout as a spotter is still a useful approach, but the problem is in the micromanagement currently needed to get anything done. Currently I can see that scouts do spot the mines, and they do seem to convey that information to the fleet, as I've seen the fighters start attacking and clearing the mines. I've seen Cobalts attack the mines as well, so some of this is working. We may need more AI adjustments to maybe make mines more of a high priority target, and scouts may need a larger detection range, but I think the current system is fundamentally sound. Mines might need lower HP as well. I don't think it should take so many shots to destroy one.
That doesn't address the problems with Vasari or Advent mines. I'm about to start a new game now, so I'll have to experiment with those as well. Remember that the solutions may be different for each side. We don't necessarily need blanket changes to all mines.