2 suggestions:

1. This pact could also make shields more resistant to phase missiles (like the Kol's shield ability).  This helps the Advent defensively, and the others offensively and defensively (but not against advent).

2.  Apply the buff to beam weapons as well, since that's what Advent use in place of missiles and phase-modulating the rotating frequency of an energy beam is really quite simple.  The danger here is that the TEC has beam weapons on the Kol and starbase. 

I'd put that with the shield pact...it's a level 8 tech and needs the boost...

Beam pact already does this...it affects advent beam weapons, TEC beams (which is marginal), and Vasari pulse beams (which is also marginal)...however, I think it'd be safe to say that sentinels and Vasari fighters are likely not going to have PMs in this mod...pulse beams are a good candidate for their replacement...not only would this make the missile pact weaker, but it would make the beam pact stronger...maybe not the balance we are looking for, but it would be an improvement.....

Zombie, I'm confused...are you saying you have an envoy bonus that increases max allegiance?  How exactly did you do that?  As far as I know, ship abilities can only increase the spread of culture, as max allegiance can only be affected by research...I suppose the starbase induced reverence increases max allegiance in a way different than research...is that how you did it?

I'm kind of confused on what exactly you were saying...if I understand you correctly, the culture pact raises max allegiance by 10% while the cultural envoy bonus is the same (+50%)...if the culture pact raises max allegiance, that is awesome...if the envoy bonus is raising max allegiance, I'd highly recommend putting that bonus on the culture pact instead...

The Envoy only facilitates the increase in normal Allegiance (+10%) by outputing a very small amount of culture with Cultural Assistance. This allows an ally to start the Allegiance increase much earlier on planets with Envoys versus waiting until they built a culture center of their own (which they may not be in a position to do). I think this is a fair trade off considering the power of Mutual Threat and Arbitrate Tariff.

The actual increase in max Allegiance is done in the Culture Pact, along with the current CultureSpread increase.

So basically, An ally could have a max of 120% allegiance on their home world with an Advent Envoy and the Culture Pact without building a single Culture Center. Advent can now go to 130% on home planet by combining the Culture Pact with Allure of Unity. Besides being fun, It does add a nice economic boom to the Advent diplomacy tree that fits completely with the culture theme and scales better with larger empires.

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a research modifier that would do this. (http://code.google.com/p/soaseplugin/wiki/modifierType).

It does sound cool though. Maybe have the Kol's new passive ability extend the shield bypass resistence to nearby ships for fleet support and have the Iconus Guardian do the same. (Doesn't fit in this thread though).

Alright...the culture pact increasing max allegiance is good...I like it a lot...I still think mutual threat is too powerful though...+10% allegiance may compare to a metal pact or resource pact, but cultural assistance doesn't come even close to comparing to mutual threat...even for planets with +35% allegiance, a one third increase in resources and tax income doesn't compare to a 300% increase in resources for 1/3 of the time and ship/structure build rate increases...if your ally already has culture of their own, cultural assistance won't provide any economic bonus while Mutual threat always will...

Nevertheless, I think you have made excellent changes...+10% allegiance with the culture pact and cultural assistance actually providing culture of its own (I assume for the owner of the gravity well)...I'm looking forward to a download!

Ok, time for an initial release:

Version 0.1 (here)

Release Notes:

MISSILE PACT: Adds Advent SPIRITBLADE (Psionic Surge)

SUPPLY PACT: ShipMaxSlots Decreased from 800 to 400

RESEARCH PACT: ResearchCost Increased from 10% to 15%

CULTURE PACT: Adds AllegianceFromCultureMaxPerc 10%

SHIELD PACT: ShieldPointsMaxAdjustment Increased from 15% to 25%, ShieldPointsRegenAdjustment Increased from 15% to 25%

Hearald Envoy: Cultural Assistance: Cooldown Decreased from 180 to 60, CultureSpreadRateForOwner Decreased from 50% to 25%, Adds CultureSpread 0.5 (Only on allied planets).

Hearald Envoy: Sacrifice: Adds CultureSpread 5.0 on destruction (Only on allied planets).

Voruntak Envoy: Mutual Threat: ResourceExtractionRate decreased from 2 to 1

Voruntak Envoy: Nanomedicen Outreach: Cooldown decreased from 180 to 60

Yes, that was a major downside to the Advent Envoy's abilities and the culture pact. Atleast this way your ally does not have to build culture centers initially and will only have to if threatened by enemy culture. And adding the allegiance increase to the culture pact just makes too much sense to leave out.

So far I like all those changes...will look forward to trying it out!

Was just taking a look at some of the files...what changes were made to the Cultural assistance ability file and beam Pact?

Also, the missile pact currently increases the damage of TEC missiles and Advent psionic surges...but PMs get an increased chance to bypass shields (which is much more powerful)...perhaps changing this to a pure damage increase instead of shield bypass may be best...PMs are borderline overpowered as is...

Since the weekend is here and I'm sure a lot of people would like to do some testing, there is now a compilation of all 4 min-mods currently in progress...my apologies if it is not complete or the change log is not perfect...I tried to compile different string files and entity manifests as accurately as possible, but I will admit it was a bit rushed so that there would be a compilation for testing this weekend...

The changes in the current version are by no means permanent or complete...it is simply the best effort to have something available that allows all changes to be tested...

You can download the compilation here...

I've been reviewing the Pact changes...haven't had a chance to test them, but here are some thoughts I've had...

First, I think the Missile Pact needs to affect phase missiles differently...currently it increases their chance to bypass shields by 15% (which is a huge boost)...I think that bonus should be changed to only increase their damage by 15%...

Second, I think the new changes to sacrifice may be too powerful...this is essentially the same cultural impact as a deliverance engine, yet it is done by a simple cruiser....now, understandably, the player does have to sacrifice a ship (and the time it takes to replace the envoy) and the "culture bomb" affect can't be used on enemy planets and the ability doesn't stack and it prioritizes old buffs (so it is harder to keep it going continuously without constant micro)...so, those are a lot of restrictions...but I really don't think a player should be able to continuously produce 5 culture (the same as 5 culture centers) on a planet by just building a simple envoy once every 150s...

You could use the envoy on one of your own planets (a border world) and essentially culture flip the enemy planet with little sacrifice at all...in fact, all it would require is the cost of the envoy cruiser once every 150s...since the ship is destroyed you wouldn't even constantly be needing the 12 fleet supply, and even if you did, that's a small price to pay...your enemy is losing a planet while you are doing virtually nothing...

I like the shock effect of this, so I think the culture bonus of 5 is good...but the duration of 150s, that seems a little too long...I can see this ability being abused, and I don't think any envoy bonus should be even close to that level...I'd recommend reducing the cooldown time to 90s...

So, to sum it up, I'd make the missile pact increase PM damage instead of % chance for shield bypass...I'd also reduce the duration of sacrifice from 150s to 90s...

Honestly, this will very quickly add up to far surpass the cost of putting up a starbase upgrade to bombard a nearby world with culture.  And the moment you stop, the culture recedes.

Culture is a fairly passive effect, I don't think this is too strong at all.

Perhaps, except you can build the starbase anyway...a culture SB will force the enemy to scrap trade/factories for culture, but it by no means guarantees the planet will fall...this could, and if you're turtling (which Advent do very well) the cost would be irrelevant...

From an economic perspective though you have a point, it is certainly doable but it is more expensive than the culture upgrades...I think I'm going to have to see it really tested before I'm convinced either way....

Been thinking about the culture pact...I really like the max allegiance bonus, but I was contemplating whether +10% was too high...max allegiance increases resource and tax income, while the Vasari pact increases just resource income (and TEC just metal income)...since the culture pact is also increasing the culture rate, perhaps the max allegiance bonus should be only 5%?  Just wondering what other people's thoughts on this are...

I agree with Darvin, Culture is far to passive to have a real impact, this only helps to start the culture spread on an Ally's planets with additional Envoy's present. It's possible but not likely.

I disagree on decreasingthe culture allegiance bonus to 5%. Both TEC and Vasari have economic impacts in their Envoy's and Pacts which still outweigh what Advent provides with an Allegiance bonus in culture and Research cost reduction. The Advent Envoy still becomes a one trick pony with culture assistance mid to late game when culture becomes more prevalent.

Okay that's a good point...I didn't really look at it that way, but it does make sense and justifies 10%...

What about the change to the missile pact regarding phase missiles?  I really don't think we want to increase their chance to bypass shields, just increase the damage...

Agreed, this needs to be the next change. It doesn't make sense for a Tech pact to increase Vasari shield bypass.

So, you halved the effect of the supply pact, and yet the TEC haven't gotten anything else buffed either? At least improve the siege pact or something, that one is pretty weak.

The siege pact I think is weak only because it's higher level than it should be...

The TEC envoy bonuses were pretty good (other than settlers) and their early pacts pretty solid...other than the siege pacts, I'd say their late game pacts (even with supply pact nerfed) are pretty strong...

Vasari's Mutual threat was too powerful while Advent pacts/envoy bonuses were rather weak all around...so, the Vasari and TEC have both been brought down a bit while the Advent have been brought up (hopefully to the same level)...I don't know if any more changes are necessary for the TEC since they were pretty much balanced before...

I could see arguments for a slight buff the siege pact and/or armor pact...did you have something in mind other than just increasing the bombing damage? 

I would like to suggest that the aim for envoys be to make them balanced & worthwhile even if diplomatic victory is turned off and you're not aiming for pacts. Not that envoys should be essential, the point of them is mainly pacts & d-victory, but it shouldnt be uncommon for them to be found in those situations.

How many games actually research the highest diplomatech and have enough relationship to actually implement that max pact without having essentially already won? I might be biased because of my affinity for single player, but I can't get there. Its my opinion that the pacts have relationship requirements set to high. maybe drop the requirements and nerf them a bit. You'd see them more often, sooner, but they wouldnt impact the late game to such a high degree as others have implied.

as for the siege pact, seige frigates seem to suck, maybe it makes them tougher, maybe it makes them cost less fleet supply.

Hmmm...I'm not sure how to implement either of those...making them tougher could be done in the same way Civilian Ship Safety Act buffs TEC trade ships...but that would require making a new ability, adding it to all 3 siege frigates...it might be possible...