- Faction-controlled systems now spawn only opposing-faction hostiles (never pirates/neutrals), and local-faction fighters join the player as allies during the fight.
- Rework patrol, bounty, and escort side-quests to the faction war model: patrols are always in-system vs one seeded rival; bounties target a rival's member in a hostile neighbor gated on jump-gate access; escorts rescue a trapped transport in hostile space and deliver it back through the gate into friendly territory.
- Implement per-faction reputation standing (setFaction/changeFaction) with save persistence; faction-owned places now resolve standingFor() via the controlling faction.
- Job boards on faction worlds post only faction-context missions with generic war-voice descriptions ({enemy} placeholder); neutral boards unchanged.
- Update all dev test suites (encounters, bounty-hunts, escort, escort-flow, reputation, sidequests) to cover the new faction rules and gate locks.
- 8 new enemy types (frames 50–57) split 4/4: combo seekers fire flank-angle homing missiles with capped turn-rate; elementals throw darts that bloom into growing, damage-ticking electrified zones
- Balance follows the faction rule (2× damage, 3.5× armor vs pirate raider), documented in combat.json comments
- New `flank_barrage` and `shock_dart` abilities in EnemyAbilities.js with shared `stepShock` frame step wired into CombatSystem.update
- Generalized `_combatBootMode` to accept any id from `factionIds()` so new factions need no code change
- Painted frames 50–57 in ships-enemy.png/.psd; added capital-mindweave-surface-01 reference art
- Tests: dev/zenith.test.mjs (Node), dev/zenith-arena-browser.mjs (Playwright), updated combat.test.mjs roster and sheet-art checks, extended cdp-faction-arena.mjs with zenith tab
- Inferno (Offense, seat 2): flame arcs home on the nearest 2 hostiles
(3 from rank 4) and ignite a burn that ticks on the combat loop's clock;
scales in duration and per-tick damage with rank.
- Nanobots (Passive, no seat): mends 1% of max hull every 2s per point;
a full hull banks nothing.
- Wire flameArc + hullRegen effect handlers in SkillEffects.js and the
arc/burn/step logic in CombatSystem.js.
- Add firstPassiveOf() / hullRegen() to the skill ledger so the combat
loop can read the mend's interval and color off the ranked def.
- Update icon sheet, dev shots, and the browser/combat/data test suites for
the two new skills.
- Combat bands split at level 6 (5–7), 9–12, and 13+ (9–12 cap) with
weighted pirate rosters; compose() now draws `pirateTypes` from the band
roster and GameScene uses it when spawning one-shots.
- Patrol encounters gain tiered bands (levels 6+) with mixed rosters,
fatter rolling waves (up to 20 deep / 6 concurrent), contact-count odds
overrides, and per-tier `xpScale` dials; legacy array rosters normalize
to the weighted table.
- Bounty hunts replace the stubbed marksman band with tuned tiers
(marksman 6–10, deadeye 11–14, apex 15+): growing pickets and escorts,
escort roster mixes, elite armor/damage scales 3×–4×, and `xpScale`
trims so payout pace tracks the curve.
- Tests updated to assert the new band shapes, roster draws, XP scaling,
and tier resolution; skills-bar screenshots refreshed.
- Define both skills in data/skills.json with energy, cooldown, ranks, seats,
and per-rank stun/decoy durations
- Implement projectile flight, target intercept, capture radius, and stun in
CombatSystem (launchBoleadoras / _stepBoleadoras / _snagBola)
- Implement Blink: spawn a decoy sprite at the old position, teleport the
hull to a random visible-screen point, and let the decoy absorb aggro and
enemy bolts until its clock expires
- Add bola orb/string visuals and snag readout in Fx.js (bolaStart/Step/Stop,
snag)
- Register new combat SFX events (bola_snag, blink) in CombatSfx.js
- Extend SkillEffects with stunMs/decoyMs helpers and boleadoras/blink handlers
- Update tests: Wraith model checks, Boleadoras/Blink combat behavior, decoy
aggro/fizzle, and SFX event roster
- Drop the `rankT` text object, its draw/update logic and data spec (`rankTextPx`) so seats only show icon, veil, sweep and seconds.
- Update `_ensureSkillIcons` fallback wording to reference frame/veil/sweep instead of rank stamp.
- Adjust browser test: stop asserting on rank text, recompute seat clip from the seat box center, and remove the rank-pixel regression check.
- Refresh screenshot fixtures (`dev/shots/*`) to match the new seat layout.
- Replace per-skill rows with a scrollable tile grid (authored `node` cells or
auto-layout by dependency depth), elbow join lines, rank badges and empty sockets
- Add detail drawer at bottom third showing the selected skill's copy plus ADD A SKILL
POINT, RESET and ASSIGN/CLEAR SEAT actions
- Introduce a console session in SkillState: points spent while open are PENDING and
resettable; closing commits them; reset cascades down a branch bought this session
or refuses when it would strand a committed point
- Wire GameScene onReset/onClose doors, toast copy and passive re-roll on refund
- Move all tree geometry/palette knobs into data/skills.json (window.tree) with clamped
fallbacks in SkillModel.windowSpec()
- Add pure treeLayout()/classTreeLayout() to SkillModel for canvas-free layout tests
- Expand dev/skills-window-browser.test.mjs to verify regions, tile placement, session
lifecycle, scroller (wheel/drag/thumb), and pixel-prove the gold join line
- Update README, PROJECT_NOTES and screenshot fixtures
- New `data/skills.json` (registered in manifest) owns every number/string for the
per-class skill trees, type taxonomy, seat table, bar look, and window copy;
code only reads behavior off it so adding a third skill is a data edit.
- Pure skill model + ledger (`js/skills/SkillModel.js`, `SkillState.js`): rank
points from the class bank, spend-through-unlock edges, seat bindings, save
round-trip via `record.playerSkills` (old saves load as an empty ledger).
- Combat runtime in `CombatSystem.js`: cast pipeline with per-skill recharge
clocks, energy spend/regen (now on by default), Ramming Charge dash + arrival
blast (4x..12x weapon damage by rank), Reinforced Plating hull pool re-rolled
from base so it never compounds; charge passes through the pack and settles once.
- UI: full-screen Skill Tree console (`js/ui/SkillWindow.js`) opened from the ship
console's SKILL TREE door (lit when the class owns a tree), combat bar seats draw
icon/rank/cooldown/affordability states with click-to-assign and right-click clear,
keys 1-8 cast or place.
- Evidence: new Node + Playwright suites (`skills.test.mjs`, `skills-combat.test.mjs`,
`skills-bar-browser.test.mjs`, `skills-window-browser.test.mjs`,
`skills-devdoor-browser.test.mjs`) plus screenshots in `dev/shots/`; README and
PROJECT_NOTES document the layer and dev doors (`?skill`, `?skilltree`).
Brian Fertig