partial sacu rebalance iteration 2

[lL1l1]

Description of the proposed changes

Applying a variety of changes to the partial sacu rebalance (#7141) based on feedback and experience of fafdevelop games.
Specific changes and their explanations can be found in the commit history.

Testing done on the proposed changes

To be tested in fafdevelop/fafbeta.

Checklist

- [ ] Changes are annotated, including comments where useful

• Changes are documented in a changelog snippet according to the guidelines.
• Request 2-3 reviewers from the list of reviewers and their areas of knowledge.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Balance Changes
  • SACU build speed and upgrade costs have been rebalanced across multiple factions.
  • Several support and combat upgrades now cost more or build more slowly, especially stronger options.
  • Some shield and repair-related upgrades have been adjusted for better overall balance.
  • SACUs no longer prioritize enemy command units, making overcharge counterplay more reliable.
  • Seraphim SACU loadouts and shield placement have been updated, including a revised preset option.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 6ee55166-995f-429a-ac8c-a1037f8ae77f

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 7b9f49c and 96bfa33.

📒 Files selected for processing (6)

• changelog/snippets/balance.7141.md
• loc/US/strings_db.lua
• units/UAL0301/UAL0301_unit.bp
• units/UEL0301/UEL0301_unit.bp
• units/URL0301/URL0301_unit.bp
• units/XSL0301/XSL0301_unit.bp

---

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR rebalances Support Armored Command Units (SACUs) across all four factions (UEF, Aeon, Cybran, Seraphim). Changes include removed SNIPEMODE categories, removed COMMAND target priorities, adjusted BuildRate/buildpower values, revised enhancement build costs, shield/upgrade retuning, updated changelog documentation, and localized "+56 Buildpower" description strings.

Changes

SACU Rebalance

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Changelog rebalance notes changelog/snippets/balance.7141.md	Documents SACU-wide rebalance theme, Seraphim shield/RAS changes, removal of "prioritize ACUs" ability, and per-faction cost/stat adjustments (Quantum Gateways, UEF bubble shield, engineering upgrades, Cybran/Seraphim upgrades).
Localized buildpower string updates loc/US/strings_db.lua	Updates Cybran, Aeon, and Seraphim SACU build-speed description strings from +42 to +56 Buildpower.
Aeon UAL0301 blueprint changes units/UAL0301/UAL0301_unit.bp	Removes SNIPEMODE category and COMMAND target priority, lowers BuildRate from 56 to 42, and raises Shield and SystemIntegrityCompensator enhancement energy costs.
UEF UEL0301 blueprint changes units/UEL0301/UEL0301_unit.bp	Removes SNIPEMODE category and COMMAND target priority, raises AdvancedCoolingUpgrade/HighExplosiveOrdnance/Shield enhancement energy costs, and reduces ShieldGeneratorField recharge time.
Cybran URL0301 blueprint changes units/URL0301/URL0301_unit.bp	Removes SNIPEMODE category and COMMAND target priority, lowers BuildRate from 56 to 42, and raises EMPCharge, FocusConvertor, and SelfRepairSystem enhancement energy costs.
Seraphim XSL0301 blueprint changes units/XSL0301/XSL0301_unit.bp	Removes SNIPEMODE category and COMMAND target priority across three weapon blocks, lowers BuildRate from 56 to 42, and raises DamageStabilization and Overcharge enhancement cost/build time.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~15 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• FAForever/fa#7142: Removes "SNIPEMODE" category and "COMMAND" from TargetPriorities across similar unit blueprints.
• FAForever/fa#7158: Also modifies "SNIPEMODE"/"COMMAND" target priority entries in unit blueprint files.

Suggested labels: area: balance

Suggested reviewers: Rhaelya

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly matches the PR's main focus on a second SACU rebalance iteration.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description includes the required sections and is mostly complete, with a clear summary, testing note, and checklist.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

📝 Generate docstrings

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch balance/partial-sacu-rebalance-iteration-2

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}