I've seen it work - but yeah, it's expensive, late tier tech for a 5% chance of taking over a ship. Not essential imo - maybe if you're winning and floating resources. I could see it being useful in an entrenched situation where a large enemy fleet is warping in, retreating, coming back, etc. The 5% could snag a few ships each time if you're lucky.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like there are going to be a higher percentage of assaulting ships retreating in the early game than later ones, so it seems like it would be more helpful at a lower tier.  That said, it's still the ability to completely dominate another ship.  Maybe have it be 5% chance at a lower tier and have that as a prerequisite for a Loyalist specific researchable in the seventh or so that increases it to 10%/15%.  Might work better...

Having the odds increase in culture would be pretty neat

@Volt: Nice idea, the main issue with most of the new advent techs is just like advent were before, all the good stuff comes right at the end. There is almost nothing helpful at the lower tech levels...

Someone compared the new TEC Loyalist tech (+armor and damage at own planets) with the comparable stuff advent get and noticed that the same kinds of tech just are further up in the techtrees....

And well, I feel like 5% is really low no matter when in the game. You may be getting permanent control of the ship(s) but there's 5% you get and 95% still enemy ships right next to them. It's not really like you get to have these ships... They'll more likely just be killed by the fleet they were part of.

So either the %chance should be upped

or the ships could be set to self destruct short after arriving with an area damage, which would make fleeing from grav wells with a starbase hurt even more .

I think it can be buggy. I was playing earlier and one of my Kodiaks was mind controlled as it jumped TO the advent planet not AWAY from it.