ourplayhubOne of the quieter things that makes a strategy game feel alive is variety in your opponents. Until now, every AI in STARCLAIM fielded the same starter hero, the procedural Flagship. This update changes that: each AI now rolls its own hero, skin and ability kit at the start of a match — and how often you face the tougher heroes scales with difficulty.
What changed
- AI heroes by difficulty — each AI independently rolls a hero. On Easy they always field the starter Flagship; on Normal there's a ~30% chance of the advanced Hornet; on Hard it's ~50%. With 1–3 opponents, every rival rolls separately, so a Hard 3-AI match can throw several Hornets at you.
- Random skins — AI heroes pick a random skin from that hero's set, so opponents don't all look identical.
- Full ability kits — AI heroes now use their hero's complete kit. A Hornet AI will pilot Disruptor and Warhead, not just the basics — so the harder you play, the more varied the threats.
- Cast effects — when an AI uses an ability, you now see and hear the same effect you would: an Overdrive flare, an EMP pulse, a Disruptor field, a Warhead streak. No more invisible abilities.
Why we built it to be future-proof
The interesting part wasn't "give the AI Hornet" — it was making sure we'd never have to hand-edit this again. So none of it is hardcoded to specific heroes. The system simply treats every free hero as a "starter" and every purchasable one as "advanced," and the difficulty knob is just a probability of fielding any advanced hero (then picking uniformly among them). When we add a brand-new hero to the catalog later, it automatically joins the AI's pool — no changes to the selection logic, the renderer, or the AI's piloting.
Ability piloting is handled the same way: instead of "if hero is Hornet, use Warhead," the AI evaluates whatever abilities its hero actually owns against the situation — defend a heavy incoming wave, apply pressure when an enemy planet is in range, or amplify a push with Overdrive. Any hero, current or future, gets piloted correctly for free.
What it means for you
Practically: Normal and Hard now feel more varied and a bit more dangerous, especially in multi-opponent free-for-alls. If you're climbing the difficulties, our how to beat Hard mode guide covers countering the Hornet AI's Disruptor and Warhead, and the heroes & abilities guide breaks down every ability and when to use it.
Go see it in action: ▶ Play STARCLAIM — free, in your browser. Try a Hard match with 3 rivals and watch the Hornets show up.