Document thermal mode literacy for copied builds

Aetheria/Game Design/Aetheria Starbridge.md

@@ -550,13 +550,16 @@ skill audits, and rescue drama without becoming purchased dominance.
 
 Deep metagame knowledge will create copied "meta" builds. That is expected and
 healthy as long as the build's operating doctrine remains visible in play. A
-copied elite ship should demand understanding: heat rhythm, engagement range,
-retreat timing, support dependency, ammo and salvage appetite, target priority,
-and recovery plan. If the pilot does not understand the machine, the squad
-should be able to tell from battlefield behavior rather than from a scolding UI
-badge. They will see the pilot out of position, consuming too much coolant,
-wasting commander attention, losing rare assemblies, or using a precision tool
-like a brick with decals.
+copied elite ship should demand understanding: heat rhythm, thermal and power
+modes, cooling circuit setup, engagement range, retreat timing, support
+dependency, ammo and salvage appetite, target priority, and recovery plan. A
+player can copy the loadout and the configuration, but they still have to know
+when to be in which mode. If the pilot does not understand the machine, the
+squad should be able to tell from battlefield behavior rather than from a
+scolding UI badge. They will see the pilot out of position, consuming too much
+coolant, wasting commander attention, losing rare assemblies, frying themselves
+by firing more guns than they can cool, or using a precision tool like a brick
+with decals.
 
 The anti-pay-to-win rule is:
 

Aetheria/Game Design/Heat, Stealth, and Detection.md

@@ -14,6 +14,34 @@ Ships have hull-specific heat transfer graphs based on the schematic proximity o
 
 That gives shipbuilding a real interior logic. A component is not just installed. It is placed into a thermal neighborhood with consequences.
 
+## Thermal And Power Modes
+
+Buying or unlocking a component does not mean the ship is configured well.
+The same hull and equipment set can support many cooling circuits, power
+priorities, refrigeration targets, heat dumps, radiator behaviors, weapon group
+bindings, and emergency modes. Some configurations are ingenious. Most are
+terrible in ways that only become obvious once the pilot starts firing more
+guns than the ship can cool.
+
+Configuration can be copied. Players will share and import complete thermal and
+power setups for popular builds. That is useful, but it is not the same as
+understanding. A copied mode stack still demands operating literacy:
+
+- when to use a high-output firing mode;
+- when to coast, vent, or rotate heat into a dump;
+- when to protect a reactor, cockpit, shield, or radiator loop;
+- when to accept lower damage to preserve the ship;
+- when to switch from pursuit to recovery;
+- when to ask for coolant or stop consuming squad support;
+- when an emergency mode is saving the ship versus merely delaying the bill.
+
+Heat rhythm is therefore the core skill check for high-output builds. The
+easiest and dumbest way to die should be thermal suicide: firing more weapons,
+boosting harder, or overdriving more systems than the configured cooling
+circuits can sustain. That failure is not a cheap gotcha. It is the machine
+truthfully reporting that the pilot copied a shape without learning its
+breathing pattern.
+
 ## Stealth
 
 A ship can hide by controlling emissions. Visibility comes from reflected light, active sensor illumination, radiator output, hull temperature, thrust, and firing signatures. Radiator placement can bias emissions directionally.