[V7.x.0 - geoscape] - balance suggestion - fuel pods - buff range increase from +20% to say +40% ... +50% ?

[fusion-waffle]

 Inspired by Vojevoda's recent comment 

On 3/4/2026 at 9:17 PM, Vojevoda said:

Fuel tanks on crafts feels useless. I had zero cases when 20% increase changed anything. 

 

Problem Statement

Fuel pods don't seem very useful.

Fuel pods are already coded, work reliably & even have their own fancy paperdoll art added in Milestone 7. Maybe a small balance tweak could make them viable more often!
 

Suggestion

Increase the fuel pod range buff from +20% range to something much larger, say +40% or +50% (or even +100%)

 

Would this be too strong of a buff?

• There is only a limited time during a campaign where fuel pods are useful -- once a player has built 2-3 bases with full interceptor squadrons, there is little need for long range flights. In contrast, aircraft armour is always useful, particularly on harder difficulties when UFO weapon damage is increased. 
• Fuel pods are potentially very useful toward the end of phase 1 & start of phase 2 when a player is trying to defend 2 continents against UFOs from a single base
• Even if fuel pods increased range by +1000%, using them still has risks:  the player may find their interceptors out of position, on the other side of the world, and unable to shoot down a UFO that wanders near their main base. Or worse, out of position & unable to defend against a retaliation UFO. Or defeated in combat because they couldn't also equip armour.

 

Working Assumption

• The current value of +20% range was set as a rough guess. I'm assuming it hasn't been arrived at after fierce debate & expert players demonstrating that fuel pods with +30% range lets you win the campaign with your 1 starting X-25 Angel.  I searched this forum & didn't find prior discussions about fuel pods.

Edited March 5 by fusion-waffle

[Vojevoda]

Another option. Additional fuel tanks could be used to increase speed of the aircraft. Afterburner burns more fuel, so with tanks, craft can traverse a portion of distance at higher speed. Maybe a toggle, between distance and speed. 

This could be rendered obsolete after upgrade to Aelenium engines.