Similar to other deep dives I've done, I wanted to take an in-depth look at leader abilities and traits from a balance discussion. In general, the vast majority of skills and traits I think are pretty good, they are at least close enough that I never feel "cheated" if I don't get XYZ. That said, there are a few I think are still a bit underpowered compared to the others. 1) Initiative: While the extra speed boost provided a few patches ago was nice, it hasn't really saved this stat for me. In general, I find that the ships I need speed for (like my mid to late game frigates), I already get enough speed through my engine upgrades that the extra boost doesn't give me much. Meanwhile my heavy mount ships can already fire starting on round 1, so more speed is again not a major issue. Or if I want a big ship to really move somewhere, I give it a combat jump displacer....which make it more mobile than any amount of initiative could hope to replicate. It has a bit of use in the early mid game, but never enough that I put points into this skill. Further, I never find the actual initiative bonus comes up very much.... in general when I attack I go first, and when I defend I don't. 2) Pirate / Trader / Star Guide/ Smuggler: These all work around a similar theme, generating more income for your civ. Of these, I feel that Star Guide is consistently the worse performing.... sometimes my trade deals get large enough late game that I can see real money coming through on Pirate and Trader....by Star Guide is always paltry by comparison. In my current late game I am making 6 BC off of my Advanced Starguide, while I'm making 36 from my smugglers (Basic + Advanced), and my strategic resources in this game are actually poor in comparison to normal. I also think Smuggler is the best of this lot. Not only is the bonus "meaty", but its consistent. I know exactly what it will give me, and I know exactly how to make more. It incentives me to do things I already want to do (get strategic resources), and shows me exactly what I will be gaining for that acquisition. In context, the other ones are "vague", I know there working...but unless I really stop and stare at the numbers I never know if they are good or not. 3) Trailblazer. In general this one is good, though its benefits tend to go away by the mid to late game. That said, I wouldn't mind if the pop number was raised by 1....I find that I go through those early pop numbers very quickly, so by the time I fly this leader in to do its work...I'm not gaining a huge benefit.
An idea I thought of for Trailblazer (finally remember the name!): Have it reduce the time to reposition a leader (1 for each level). This works well within its theme (your expected to hop these leaders around), and it gives them a benefit that may be more generally useful.
