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TLDR
*****
To make battleships useful again, I have buffed the Large X-ray and Gamma Ray lasers to match Kinetic Artillery, given all three a damage bonus based on 75% of target hull size (similar to torpedo bonuses), and given X-slot weapons a bonus based on 50% of hull size (25% for Arc Emitters). They should now be your weapon of choice against heavily defended starbases, other battleships, titans and juggernauts.
*****
Stellaris was in a pretty great place after Toxoids came out. There were some issues, particularly vassal and habitat spam (ugh), that needed fixing, but for the most part, it was a great game. Then 3.6 happened.
Someone at Paradox watched one too many Montu videos on YouTube and decided to take his weapon and ship tier lists as a checklist for things to nerf. If it was good, it got nerfed. If it was bad, it became overpowered. Thus, we went from neutron launcher battleship monofleets in the late game to missile/torpedo cruiser monofleets that appear just as the mid game is getting started and last the whole rest of the game. And somehow this is better.
Yeah, okay.
This left battleships with no real reason to exist. They have no purpose after 3.6. Why even build a battleship when you can build two cruisers, both of which can do it better than a battleship anyway? Granted, you can make a pretty mean missile battleship now, but you can just build two cruisers for the same price that aren't as vulnerable to torpedoes.
This never sat well with me. Battleships should be the kings of fleet combat, not a little cruiser that you can start building as early as Year 30. They are capital ships and, before the nerf, they dominated the late game because that's what they were supposed to do.
The nerf to Proton/Neutron Launchers was also ridiculously ham-handed. They did definitely need to be nerfed, no question. They did not need to be rendered useless, but here we are. This left us without an energy weapon to match the Kinetic Artillery weapons.
The one (possibly the only) thing 3.6 did right was introduce the mechanic of Do-More-Damage-To-Larger-Hulls, which they added to torpedoes. I have appropriated that mechanic to undo some of the damage done in this patch.
So what have I done?
Large X-ray and Gamma Lasers have been buffed significantly, to match the damage of Kinetic Artillery. I would have preferred to create a whole new weapon, but that's above my pay grade. Large X-ray and Gamma Lasers, Kinetic Artillery, and all x-slot weapons have been given a bonus to damage based on hull size.
X-ray/Gamma Lasers and Artillery bonus is based on 75% of target size
Energy and Kinetic X-Slot bonuses are based on 50% of target size
Arc Emitter X-Slot bonuses are based on 25% of target size
My idea here is to give battleships a purpose again.
1) You can raid and skirmish all you want on the borders with little destroyers and cruisers, but if you want to invade the enemy and take core territory, you need to take down starbases. Cruisers and frigates can take down most starbases, but they'll take losses against and might even lose to heavily fortified bastion citadels. With a 75% bonus to damage against starbases, a fleet of sniper battleships can rip through a citadel like a tank through a line of trenches and barbed wire.
2) If you want to protect your starbases from battleships coming to kill them, you need to kill them first. You can bring torpedo cruisers if you want, and they will probably get a few battleships, but it will absolutely be a one-way mission. Sorry, but cruisers should be a threat to each other and everything smaller than themselves, but not to capital ships. To kill battleships, bring your own battleships.
But, I have not just replaced one monofleet with another monofleet, the way Paradox did in 3.6. You do still need to bring escorts to protect your battleships from fighters, missiles and torpedoes. I'd recommend 2 or 3 battleships in each fleet with three hangar sections each to deal with enemy fighters and frigates, and destroyers with maxed anti-missile slots to deal with missiles and torpedoes. You could do cruiser-sized carriers instead, but they'll be vulnerable to extra damage if the enemy has battleships without the size to really take the abuse.
What this does to balance, I can't say with authority. I've played several games where large lasers were buffed, but without the damage bonus and it was fine. I played two full games where lasers were not buffed, but where they, artillery and x-slot weapons did have hull-size bonuses and it went pretty well. Play it and see and if something seems significantly unbalanced, make a comment and explain it.
*****
To make battleships useful again, I have buffed the Large X-ray and Gamma Ray lasers to match Kinetic Artillery, given all three a damage bonus based on 75% of target hull size (similar to torpedo bonuses), and given X-slot weapons a bonus based on 50% of hull size (25% for Arc Emitters). They should now be your weapon of choice against heavily defended starbases, other battleships, titans and juggernauts.
*****
Stellaris was in a pretty great place after Toxoids came out. There were some issues, particularly vassal and habitat spam (ugh), that needed fixing, but for the most part, it was a great game. Then 3.6 happened.
Someone at Paradox watched one too many Montu videos on YouTube and decided to take his weapon and ship tier lists as a checklist for things to nerf. If it was good, it got nerfed. If it was bad, it became overpowered. Thus, we went from neutron launcher battleship monofleets in the late game to missile/torpedo cruiser monofleets that appear just as the mid game is getting started and last the whole rest of the game. And somehow this is better.
Yeah, okay.
This left battleships with no real reason to exist. They have no purpose after 3.6. Why even build a battleship when you can build two cruisers, both of which can do it better than a battleship anyway? Granted, you can make a pretty mean missile battleship now, but you can just build two cruisers for the same price that aren't as vulnerable to torpedoes.
This never sat well with me. Battleships should be the kings of fleet combat, not a little cruiser that you can start building as early as Year 30. They are capital ships and, before the nerf, they dominated the late game because that's what they were supposed to do.
The nerf to Proton/Neutron Launchers was also ridiculously ham-handed. They did definitely need to be nerfed, no question. They did not need to be rendered useless, but here we are. This left us without an energy weapon to match the Kinetic Artillery weapons.
The one (possibly the only) thing 3.6 did right was introduce the mechanic of Do-More-Damage-To-Larger-Hulls, which they added to torpedoes. I have appropriated that mechanic to undo some of the damage done in this patch.
So what have I done?
Large X-ray and Gamma Lasers have been buffed significantly, to match the damage of Kinetic Artillery. I would have preferred to create a whole new weapon, but that's above my pay grade. Large X-ray and Gamma Lasers, Kinetic Artillery, and all x-slot weapons have been given a bonus to damage based on hull size.
X-ray/Gamma Lasers and Artillery bonus is based on 75% of target size
Energy and Kinetic X-Slot bonuses are based on 50% of target size
Arc Emitter X-Slot bonuses are based on 25% of target size
My idea here is to give battleships a purpose again.
1) You can raid and skirmish all you want on the borders with little destroyers and cruisers, but if you want to invade the enemy and take core territory, you need to take down starbases. Cruisers and frigates can take down most starbases, but they'll take losses against and might even lose to heavily fortified bastion citadels. With a 75% bonus to damage against starbases, a fleet of sniper battleships can rip through a citadel like a tank through a line of trenches and barbed wire.
2) If you want to protect your starbases from battleships coming to kill them, you need to kill them first. You can bring torpedo cruisers if you want, and they will probably get a few battleships, but it will absolutely be a one-way mission. Sorry, but cruisers should be a threat to each other and everything smaller than themselves, but not to capital ships. To kill battleships, bring your own battleships.
But, I have not just replaced one monofleet with another monofleet, the way Paradox did in 3.6. You do still need to bring escorts to protect your battleships from fighters, missiles and torpedoes. I'd recommend 2 or 3 battleships in each fleet with three hangar sections each to deal with enemy fighters and frigates, and destroyers with maxed anti-missile slots to deal with missiles and torpedoes. You could do cruiser-sized carriers instead, but they'll be vulnerable to extra damage if the enemy has battleships without the size to really take the abuse.
What this does to balance, I can't say with authority. I've played several games where large lasers were buffed, but without the damage bonus and it was fine. I played two full games where lasers were not buffed, but where they, artillery and x-slot weapons did have hull-size bonuses and it went pretty well. Play it and see and if something seems significantly unbalanced, make a comment and explain it.