Yeah, I think that repair mechanic would help a lot, and not just because it adds another system.
One thing I noticed while playing was that the transition between waves could be a little easy to miss. I’d get really locked into scanning for tentacles and clicking quickly, then suddenly nothing else would appear. It would take me a second to realize the wave had actually ended and then look down and notice the countdown.
So having something active to do between waves could solve two problems at once. It would clearly signal that the combat phase is over, give the player a short breather from the fast reaction gameplay, and still keep them engaged instead of just waiting for the next countdown.
It could also create a nice pacing rhythm: frantic defense → short repair/decision phase → back into danger.
That sea-mine tentacle idea sounds good too, because it would force the player to stop treating every target the same way and add a little more decision-making to the clicking.
Totally understandable that they didn’t make the 96-hour cut, though. It was a fast and furious timeframe for us all 😆.