This episode was the first with Ira Steven Behr as Executive Producer. One of the major changes he made to the series was in action sequences, specifically space battles, had to be shown on-screen more often and not just referred to, as TNG had repeatedly done. As the episode budget of DS9 shows could now accommodate more extensive battle sequences than TNG could do during its series run, starship fights became more commonplace in later seasons - especially during major Dominion War episodes. This particular episode marks the first signs of this change, as it features the biggest on-screen battle in Star Trek history up to that point (the Battle of the Omarion Nebula).
As with Garak's quick, almost reflexive killing of Entek and Tekeny Ghemor's warning to Kira not to trust him in "Second Skin", the writers saw this episode as another chance to remind viewers that Garak wasn't a typical good-guy, that he was in fact capable of committing knowingly nefarious actions. According to Ira Steven Behr, "We wanted to show what he's capable of, even if he doesn't want to do it. Could you torture someone, if you had to? Garak can do it."
Hutzel was instructed to come up with a way to do the battle scene without going over-budget. His solution was to create transparencies of the models of the Romulan warbirds and the Cardassian ships, and to use those transparencies in the background. Coupled with the fact that they were in the background, Hutzel ensured that the camera never lingered on one of them too long, so as to ensure viewers didn't spot the effect.
The shot where the USS Defiant destroys a Jem'Hadar fighter and then flies through the debris took 4 days to film.
This is the last episode of the series to depict Sisko clean shaven, although he was later seen without facial hair in his photo as Gabriel Bell on Nog's PADD in the fourth season episode "Little Green Men".