So I ran into what I assume to be the swarm. As far as I can tell, they didnt exist until I opened them up by exploring a system.
Their tech was ludicrous. they obliterated me, my allied NPR, 2 other NPRs, and though I wasnt around to see it, it appears they annihilated 2 systems worth of Invaders as well.
I KNOW they weren't always this tough. back in VB6, they were only more threatening than the precursors if you went all-missile, and even then, not always.
Now I got to see a fleet of 7 of them dismantle an NPR that had hundreds of defenders around their homeworld, while eating thousands of missiles and flying around at 25,000 km/s.
Is the swarm just that insane now? Or did they tech-up? Or something else?