Also how about an alternative to the Quantum for the Klingons?
It could be an incredibly Straight-forward alternative like a Heavy Photon with an even more reddish colour effect and the exact same Stats as the Quantum but it would fit the Klingon style much better.
This is of course an alternative to the Heavy Torpedo Buff from one of my previous posts in this thread.:)
The idea of a new torpedo for the KDF got me thinking, and I realize pulling from other games is blasphemy in some circles but it was an idea that struck me. In Armada, Vor'cha's had the ability to launch Polaron Torpedoes. These torpedoes had the ability to pierce shields and disable subsystems. Now for this game that would be too OPd, and it'd be a bit too non Klingon, a bit to 'clean' as someone mentioned earlier about target sub-systems.
So here's an idea. A torpedo, roughly equal in damage to quantums, with a 10 second cool down that only looses half its effectiveness on shields. Making them very good at busting down shields for other torpedoes. Hitting hard is very klingon, so I think this idea would fit in with their philosophy. It could be a heavy photon torpedo like Mister_dee suggested.
I don't think "target bridge" must mean that the ship is totally fried by it.
It could be a temporary stun until Auxilliary Control or Engineering take over command functions.
So the effect would be more inline with skills like "Photonic Shockwave"
Target Warpcore could mean that it has to be set to emergency shutdown, which could simply mean
a temporary loss of power to all systems, like -20 to all systms for a couple of seconds before
emergency repairs are complete.
Think "Wrath of Khan": in the mean time the ship has to run on Impulse and Duracell.:p
What if targeting the bridge could slow down skill recharge timers for a short duration,like SNB does? Or that the temporary disruption of bridge functions opens up a window for an increased crit hit chance?
How many times did we see the bridge crew getting shaken up, with consoles blowing out all over? I agree with either one of these effects for a "Target Bridge" skill.
And what about a "Target Crew Casualties"? The effect would be to disable part of the ship's crew and slow down repairs, perhaps with a tac debuff. That would be a very Klingon thing to do.
How many times did we see the bridge crew getting shaken up, with consoles blowing out all over? I agree with either one of these effects for a "Target Bridge" skill.
And what about a "Target Crew Casualties"? The effect would be to disable part of the ship's crew and slow down repairs, perhaps with a tac debuff. That would be a very Klingon thing to do.
Nice one.....I think" Target Life Support" is a more fitting name for that skill,and I really like the effect it has of slowing down repair rate.I could see it also affecting skills like Miracle Worker and Engineering Team,reducing the heal from those skills.Such a skill could break up the OP heal spamming of a healing cruiser.
Nice one.....I think" Target Life Support" is a more fitting name for that skill,and I really like the effect it has of slowing down repair rate.I could see it also affecting skills like Miracle Worker and Engineering Team,reducing the heal from those skills.Such a skill could break up the OP heal spamming of a healing cruiser.
How many times did we see the bridge crew getting shaken up, with consoles blowing out all over? I agree with either one of these effects for a "Target Bridge" skill.
And what about a "Target Crew Casualties"? The effect would be to disable part of the ship's crew and slow down repairs, perhaps with a tac debuff. That would be a very Klingon thing to do.
... like a Klingon version of Assimilate Ship. You could activate the power as soon as one shield is under 15% and you are under 4.9 KM. Klinks cold beam over in all the critical areas including the bridge. They could start loosing BOff powers and only tactical team could clear it.
Nice one.....I think" Target Life Support" is a more fitting name for that skill,and I really like the effect it has of slowing down repair rate.I could see it also affecting skills like Miracle Worker and Engineering Team,reducing the heal from those skills.Such a skill could break up the OP heal spamming of a healing cruiser.
I really like the idea of making it a debuff against Engineering skills/abilities as well as repair. (Even though my Fed is likely to be on the receiving end...) Nice touch, Sharkforce!
I really like the idea of making it a debuff against Engineering skills/abilities as well as repair. (Even though my Fed is likely to be on the receiving end...) Nice touch, Sharkforce!
I like it of itself but also like the pointing individual unique faction abilities.
It would not be hard to realize that some technique of war would be similiar regardless of racial biases, but at the same time each races culture would've developed thier own signature tactics as well.
Klingon-specific attack pattern skills optimized for KDF starships with Klingon names. Unfortunately my non-existant understanding of the tlhIngan language prevents me from making any realistic suggestions as to the names.
Whether that would turn out to be worthwhile or more than a cosmetic difference, I couldn't say. Any suggestions on how those would be any different from the normal Tactical Attack Patterns?
Klingon-specific attack pattern skills optimized for KDF starships with Klingon names. Unfortunately my non-existant understanding of the tlhIngan language prevents me from making any realistic suggestions as to the names.
Whether that would turn out to be worthwhile or more than a cosmetic difference, I couldn't say. Any suggestions on how those would be any different from the normal Tactical Attack Patterns?
Ok,crazy idea......how about a 'formation' Attack Pattern?An Attack Pattern that not only gives the user of the Attack Pattern a buff,but also teammates within 5 or 7.5km.Or we take it one step further: a formation Attack Pattern where the kind of buff depends on the type of ship.....lets say...Attack Pattern Theta gives BoP a damage resist buff,but cruisers a DPS bonus?(no idea of what the real buffs should be though)
The idea behind this is that a formation is set up in such a way that it maximizes the strengths of a ship,and minimizes its weaknesses.
Klingon-specific attack pattern skills optimized for KDF starships with Klingon names. Unfortunately my non-existant understanding of the tlhIngan language prevents me from making any realistic suggestions as to the names.
Whether that would turn out to be worthwhile or more than a cosmetic difference, I couldn't say. Any suggestions on how those would be any different from the normal Tactical Attack Patterns?
Ok,crazy idea......how about a 'formation' Attack Pattern?An Attack Pattern that not only gives the user of the Attack Pattern a buff,but also teammates within 5 or 7.5km.Or we take it one step further: a formation Attack Pattern where the kind of buff depends on the type of ship.....lets say...Attack Pattern Theta gives BoP a damage resist buff,but cruisers a DPS bonus?(no idea of what the real buffs should be though)
The idea behind this is that a formation is set up in such a way that it maximizes the strengths of a ship,and minimizes its weaknesses.
I say yes to both, but doubt it will ever see the light of day against the need for the Devs to milk the fed RP playerbase for more money.
The Faction-specific patterns could be for more than one side.
The Romulans could have their own as well and there would be a greater seperation between the factions.
So it would actually benefit the Feds as well.
For the Formation Patterns, I'd like to reference a few tabletop games I know and add to that idea.
In several warship games there are specific versions of larger ships that have the unique ability to provide
a bonus to their fleet.
In most cases those are "Command Cruiser" that have either an enlarged bridge or an additionl flag bridge, or a command center similar to the ones real-life carriers usualy have in their hull.
Larger ships are usually employed because they have enough computer and communications facilites to handle the higher comm traffic the results from a command staff giving oders to ships in an entire theatre of war.
Here's a picture of the saucer of a Constitution command version (called Lexington class) from
Star Fleet Battles not the enlarged bridge module.
Sometimes Command Cruisers have a slightly enhanced hull to properly protect the important staff and equipment on them.
Dreadnoughts and Carriers in that game have that ability already built into them since they are expected to be the cornerstone of a fleet anyway.
There are also smaller ships that may add bonuses to a limited number of ships in their immediate vicinity, usualy designated "Leader".
The bonuses those "Command" and "Leader" ships provide cannot bo directly translated over to an MMO since "initiative" like on a game board does not exist.
However they can provide other bonuses.
The Klignon carrier can repair allied ships for example.
The Star Cruiser is also referred to as a command ship in its description in the shipyard, probably because its "Science Slots" allow more support to others than the Tactical Slots of an Assault Cruiser can....
Anyway in "Babylon 5 Wars" the first Babylon 5 tabletop (not to be confused with "A Call to Arms" which was incredbly oversimplified) one of the races, the Dilgar, had an unusual system.
They organized their ships into small groups called "Pentacans" usually lead by a "Leader" version of a ship of their class.
So a group of destoryers was lead by a destroyer leader for example.
When the ships were within a certain distance, they followed that ship in a specific formation and therefore gained an initiative bonus.
The leader had a different weapons layout, usually more firepower directed forward with less to the sides and rear.
This was acceptable since the leader was protected to the sides and the rear by the ships that followed it.
So my idea: make specific variants of certain ships, specifically ships with a destroyer-like role (Raptors, Escorts) that can provide "Formation Patters" as you guys proposed.
Those "Leader Variants" would probably have to sacrifice something for this specific skill which woul make them less powerful 1 on 1 but really useful in a group.
So either a typical console or, depending on how powerful the Pattern is supposed to be, a rear weapon slot.
Then they'd really have to rely or their teammates to cover that angle.
As a compensation Leaders could have either enhanced shielding or hull.
They should be visibly different from regular models, perhaps by an enlarged boom and neck on the Klingon side.
This would represent the changes to the ship, the space required for the new equipment, a justufucation for the increase in hull or shields and to make them easier to make out for other to form up with them (good) and of course a target of greater priority fo the enemy (not so good).
If nothing else, such a system which would give more depth to gameplay, could be considered for Tier 6 which is supposed to included som kind fo "Fleet" feel anyway.
I find it interesting that very ofte we discuss matters that don't exclusively relate to the Klingons but to general gameplay.
And it feels that a lot of our ideas will never be noticed be either the other ofrum posters or the moderators (beyond content to be edited) because we, as the evil Klingons, would never come up with anything productive would we?;)
Another one I would like to see is better team coordination. Heals and buffs could be spread among the team. So if I have a 1000 healing points it will divide and apply it to the ships that need it. Also a team control for target selection. and optionn for the whole team to always target the same item. Kind of a "Y" key for space.
Attack Patterns - like Beta and Omega
Defensive Patterns - like Delta
Tactical Patterns - this would be the Formation Attack/Defensive Patterns
Subsystem Targeting - KDF appropriate skills like Target Bridge,Target Warp Core,Target Life Support,etc.
Raider/Raptor style science vessels,with a buff to offense instead of defense.
Faction specific (special) weapons with different procs - like a Klingon Disruptor with an added proc,a torpedo that does more damage to shields,etc.
We haven't discussed ground skills yet,any thoughts on that?
Yesterday I discussed this matter with an old friend of mine who's also an STO player.
We agreed that, particularly in the area of Science and Engineering the Klingons and the Feds should be fare more different than they are now.
In space KDF Science should be far more into stealth, while the Feds and their various Holo stuff is quite fitting.
Engineer in Star Trek and STO seems to be very much like an engineer in the sense of a person who fixes stuff, or perhaps Engineer Officer like in the RN.
In a regular miitary they are more into building defensible positions and also blowing them up.
Depending on their functions, they are also called Pioneers, Assault Pioneers, Combat Engineer or Sappers.
Since the KDF is far more akin to a conventional military like we have them today, their Engineers should work more like them.
rather off topic:
I've been working on some odd stuff in this regard actually.
When I read one of the IKS Gorkon novels, there is a "scene" where a Klingon Commando Group enters an Alien command center.
One of the soldiers does not wear a knife but instead has in its place a bag with various tools in it and he disables the alarm and the locking mechanism.
However there is no indication he actually knows what he's doing.
I mean when you're tinkering with an Alien circuitry, would you know what does what, what in that circuit or in which direction whatever's in there would flow?
Also the "The Left Hand of Destiny" novels show that Starfleet Padds are prized among younger Klingon soldiers who find them extremely useful.
So they actually use them instead of domestic equipment at times.
That struck me as odd and something that Martok would probably be interested in changing just like he changes the limited approach of Klignons to medicine in the Gorkon novels, particularly because he was impressed by Starfleet's medical abilites after expericening them firsthand.
Anyway that got me thinking and since I was annoyed by the fact that the Klingons have been using the same old Tricorder since Star trek 3, which I think is a useless block with altogether four bottuns and a 3 by 4 centimeter screen that blinksm I designed two Klingon tricorders of my own.
One is rather conventional with a screen that is retracted when the tricorder is not in use, much like the old one but is based in aestetics on the KDF Padd from DS9.
The other is to some degree based on the larger tricorder we saw in Star Trek 2, the one employed on Regula.
But with an entirely different shape.
It has a screen big enough to display circuitry to prevent overeager KDF soldiers with a bad of tools from accidentally elecrocuting themselves while tinkering with alien equipment.
It also has a "drawer" with a keypad so the use in question could for example write an interface protocol to interact with a previously unknown computer system.
This one is overall a bit bulkier and would be work on the outside of one thigh, pretty much like some Klingons wear their D'k tahg.
I'm still working on some minor details like the proper colour, but right now the problem is that I don't have the proper colour pencils for the dark reddish brown the Klingons use on their devices.
So they look a bit odd I'm afraid.
Klingon Science in combat could focus on detecting weakennses and disrupting enemy movements.
Problem is that this is pretty much what they do now.
I'm not sure in what way their skills should be changed except for graphics, which I think would be pointless.
Attack Patterns - like Beta and Omega
Defensive Patterns - like Delta
Tactical Patterns - this would be the Formation Attack/Defensive Patterns
Subsystem Targeting - KDF appropriate skills like Target Bridge,Target Warp Core,Target Life Support,etc.
Raider/Raptor style science vessels,with a buff to offense instead of defense.
Faction specific (special) weapons with different procs - like a Klingon Disruptor with an added proc,a torpedo that does more damage to shields,etc.
We haven't discussed ground skills yet,any thoughts on that?
I think the whole premise is awesome and would help define the differences between the use of Science and Engineering in the KDF versus how the feds do it.
Part of the problem with the KDF being upset is that some of us feel the mechanics of STO are still too similiar for both factions in all areas. There is a lack of factional individuality in the feel of playing a Fed or Klingon.
So a small recap.....
We haven't discussed ground skills yet,any thoughts on that?
Ok, well, Targ Handling has been covered in other posts so I won't babble on about that. I think that would be both a skill and an ability.
Close Combat Weapon skills/abilities would be appropriate, since Klingons are more into armed hand-to-hand combat than the Feds are. Call it "Weapon Technique" and give skill bonuses for crits and damage. Another useful ability would be "Disarm Technique" that works similar to Weapon Malfunction but can be used by Tactical officers.
We are also totally missing something that any true Klingon warrior would love: Intimidation. It could have the effect of causing a foe to ignore all other threats for a short period of time, with a small debuff to the target's Accuracy and/or Damage. Kind of similar to the Challenge or Taunt ability from City of Heroes. It could be countered by a character with Traits such as Logical, Mental Discipline, or Stubborn.
Which in turn leads to the suggestion of some other skills that would provide passive bonuses in Ground combat.
Combat Awareness - The Klingon Warrior is attuned to the flow of battle. This skill would provide bonuses to the character's perception, chance to expose, and chance to dodge or parry an attack.
Warrior's Discipline - The Klingon Warrior does not fight aimlessly, and is not easily deterred. This skill would provide extra resistance against Placate and Confuse effects. It will also reduce Expose duration.
That's all I have time to brainstorm at the moment...
EDIT: On second thought, let's change my idea for an Intimidation ability into a debuff on Accuracy and Damage with a small chance of a fragile hold (cowering animation). Then let's have Warrior's Challenge and make it work like the Scrapper Challenge ability from City of Heroes.
I would like to see melee klingons get some more bonuses and abilities that would aid in overcoming ranged combatants, such as a dampening field emmiter that lasts 5 seconds disabling ranged weapons for those 5 seconds.
targ handling is a must, i would love to use targs in conjunction with security escorts!
More melee weapons is a must, especialy the ones promised over a year ago(mek'leth and D'ktang)
more faction based abilities!
unfortunately as much as i love all of the ideas posted, the Devs will never put them in game. We all know why, we are the redheaded step child... WE ARE KLINGONS!
I read through the May "Ask Cryptic" and they mentioned possibly putting in other alien vessels tier 2-5 for the KDF only if the Klingon population grew. But wouldn't it make more sense to add in those ships anyways, especially if they were designed completely different from fed ships to make them more enticing to fly.
After thinking about it for awhile, and seeing the various posts about putting a captain of a certain class into a ship they might not be spec'd for (IE a Science Captain flying an escort), I developed some loose ideas that could be implented into Gorn, Orion, And Nausicaan designed vessels, making them not only unique to play, but vastly different from the current KDF line up.
Gorn Support Cruisers- simple idea that takes the concept that the Gorn are on par with starfleet in terms of technology, giving them Cruisers but having their focus in consoles gearing towards science and a boost of +15 to aux instead of +5 to all systems.
Nausicaan Destroyers- After seeing the unique Siphon pods of their frigates, and the Siege destroyers mode changing abilities, its evident that the Nausicaans have a keen engineering mind. Their Destroyers that they bring to the KDF would act like escorts in terms of maneuverability, hull strength and crew size, but their consoles would focus more on engineering, and of course that +5 to all systems fed cruisers enjoy so much.
Orion Galleons- going with the concept that Orions are pirates, giving them a ship thats smaller then cruiser but big enough to haul a decent amount of cargo (like a science ship, and very much acting like one in terms of hull strength, weapon slots, and maneuverability) would be an insidious addition to the KDF fleet, and letting them have a focus in tactical with +15 to weapons, falls in line with taking a ship out quickly, snatching its cargo remnants and then getting out matches well with their pirate mentality.
With those new additions cryptic could then sell off additional bridge costumes and ship costumes on the C-store. Good idea or not, at least its something that could entice more people to give the KDF a try, even if its only to play as unconventional ships for awhile.
I apologize if my grammar and sentence structure isn't the best :P I'm not much of a writer.
I really really like this idea. It's creative, clever, and uses things that already exist (making it easy to implement). I'd love to see it happen. I give you major kudos for coming up with something so simple yet elegant. It gives the KDF flavor but stays within the boundaries of the gameplay mechanics we currently have.
One of the best posts I've read on here in awhile. Thank you for that. The only way I can respond to this post is to be positive. Because that's the response it deserves. I hope the devs read this and take it to heart. It's a great idea.
I would like to see melee klingons get some more bonuses and abilities that would aid in overcoming ranged combatants, such as a dampening field emmiter that lasts 5 seconds disabling ranged weapons for those 5 seconds.
targ handling is a must, i would love to use targs in conjunction with security escorts!
More melee weapons is a must, especialy the ones promised over a year ago(mek'leth and D'ktang)
more faction based abilities!
unfortunately as much as i love all of the ideas posted, the Devs will never put them in game. We all know why, we are the redheaded step child... WE ARE KLINGONS!
That sounds awesome...as of now, my KDF toon is more of a blunt instrument.... Hacking, slashing, dicing and chopping anything in his path...lol...yeah, I play on the ta when I really need to vent...heheheheheh.
Close Combat Weapon skills/abilities would be appropriate, since Klingons are more into armed hand-to-hand combat than the Feds are. Call it "Weapon Technique" and give skill bonuses for crits and damage. Another useful ability would be "Disarm Technique" that works similar to Weapon Malfunction but can be used by Tactical officers.
We are also totally missing something that any true Klingon warrior would love: Intimidation. It could have the effect of causing a foe to ignore all other threats for a short period of time, with a small debuff to the target's Accuracy and/or Damage. Kind of similar to the Challenge or Taunt ability from City of Heroes. It could be countered by a character with Traits such as Logical, Mental Discipline, or Stubborn.
Warrior's Discipline - The Klingon Warrior does not fight aimlessly, and is not easily deterred. This skill would provide extra resistance against Placate and Confuse effects. It will also reduce Expose duration.
EDIT: On second thought, let's change my idea for an Intimidation ability into a debuff on Accuracy and Damage with a small chance of a fragile hold (cowering animation). Then let's have Warrior's Challenge and make it work like the Scrapper Challenge ability from City of Heroes.
I really like this idea!:)
I have no idea what the Scrapper Challenge ability is though.....
Isn't Challenge just a single target taunt instead of an AOE taunt like Tanks and Brutes, or did they change it?
THIS. Yes. I would see Warrior's Challenge working something like that.
In City of Heroes, a "taunt" has the effect of dramatically increasing the player's "threat level" in such a way that they draw NPC attacks away from other characters. Against players, the taunt has the effect of temporarily not allowing the affected player to target anyone else. Sort of the reverse of a placate or "jam sensors". You can imagine how useful that might be in PvP... and how annoying, potentially. I would not like to see this as an AOE, but single target with a reasonable cooldown might work.
With the Feds having quite a few ships at level cap that have special abilities (like the Nebula's Sensor Grid and the Intrepid's Ablative Armor)....what abilities would we like to see on a non-Klingon Raptor,Carrier or Battle Cruiser?
With the Feds having quite a few ships at level cap that have special abilities (like the Nebula's Sensor Grid and the Intrepid's Ablative Armor)....what abilities would we like to see on a non-Klingon Raptor,Carrier or Battle Cruiser?
They would actually have to make the ships first...I dunno if they would be doing this without taking 6-9 months...lol...someone quick, get a list started so we know what we want.
They would actually have to make the ships first...I dunno if they would be doing this without taking 6-9 months...lol...someone quick, get a list started so we know what we want.
If that's what it takes to keep this thread alive......why not?Besides,theory crafting is healthy,and it would be a real shame if good ideas on how to improve the KDF (and the game as a whole) go to waste if this thread dies,gets necroed and closed for being a zombie.
If that's what it takes to keep this thread alive......why not?Besides,theory crafting is healthy,and it would be a real shame if good ideas on how to improve the KDF (and the game as a whole) go to waste if this thread dies,gets necroed and closed for being a zombie.
Well, zombies do eat people's brains...right? We wouldn't want any of that.
What I would love would be some form of cloak that can remain undetectable to the sensor grid of the Nebula. Kinda like a stealth fighter absorbs radar waves and such, perhaps there is a way to make it feasible to press a button and rotate your cloak's frequency to absorb the tachyon detection grid so instead of being detected, you might be considered or viewed as cosmic dust or something, or nothing of interest...or nothing at all..
Don't get me wrong, it's a good idea, it would restore a bit of balance taken away by that ship, not that I see it much in PVP mind you.... but it would be a start... Just input that power on every cruiser you see or every tac ship you see on the KDF side that is able to cloak.
Comments
The idea of a new torpedo for the KDF got me thinking, and I realize pulling from other games is blasphemy in some circles but it was an idea that struck me. In Armada, Vor'cha's had the ability to launch Polaron Torpedoes. These torpedoes had the ability to pierce shields and disable subsystems. Now for this game that would be too OPd, and it'd be a bit too non Klingon, a bit to 'clean' as someone mentioned earlier about target sub-systems.
So here's an idea. A torpedo, roughly equal in damage to quantums, with a 10 second cool down that only looses half its effectiveness on shields. Making them very good at busting down shields for other torpedoes. Hitting hard is very klingon, so I think this idea would fit in with their philosophy. It could be a heavy photon torpedo like Mister_dee suggested.
Because you seem to be very logical for a Klingon...LOL...jk...
Your most welcome.:)
How many times did we see the bridge crew getting shaken up, with consoles blowing out all over? I agree with either one of these effects for a "Target Bridge" skill.
And what about a "Target Crew Casualties"? The effect would be to disable part of the ship's crew and slow down repairs, perhaps with a tac debuff. That would be a very Klingon thing to do.
Nice one.....I think" Target Life Support" is a more fitting name for that skill,and I really like the effect it has of slowing down repair rate.I could see it also affecting skills like Miracle Worker and Engineering Team,reducing the heal from those skills.Such a skill could break up the OP heal spamming of a healing cruiser.
That would also be most...fascinating...lol
I like where this idea is going.
Supported...
Me too.
I really like the idea of making it a debuff against Engineering skills/abilities as well as repair. (Even though my Fed is likely to be on the receiving end...) Nice touch, Sharkforce!
I like it of itself but also like the pointing individual unique faction abilities.
It would not be hard to realize that some technique of war would be similiar regardless of racial biases, but at the same time each races culture would've developed thier own signature tactics as well.
Klingon-specific attack pattern skills optimized for KDF starships with Klingon names. Unfortunately my non-existant understanding of the tlhIngan language prevents me from making any realistic suggestions as to the names.
Whether that would turn out to be worthwhile or more than a cosmetic difference, I couldn't say. Any suggestions on how those would be any different from the normal Tactical Attack Patterns?
Ok,crazy idea......how about a 'formation' Attack Pattern?An Attack Pattern that not only gives the user of the Attack Pattern a buff,but also teammates within 5 or 7.5km.Or we take it one step further: a formation Attack Pattern where the kind of buff depends on the type of ship.....lets say...Attack Pattern Theta gives BoP a damage resist buff,but cruisers a DPS bonus?(no idea of what the real buffs should be though)
The idea behind this is that a formation is set up in such a way that it maximizes the strengths of a ship,and minimizes its weaknesses.
I say yes to both, but doubt it will ever see the light of day against the need for the Devs to milk the fed RP playerbase for more money.
The Romulans could have their own as well and there would be a greater seperation between the factions.
So it would actually benefit the Feds as well.
For the Formation Patterns, I'd like to reference a few tabletop games I know and add to that idea.
In several warship games there are specific versions of larger ships that have the unique ability to provide
a bonus to their fleet.
In most cases those are "Command Cruiser" that have either an enlarged bridge or an additionl flag bridge, or a command center similar to the ones real-life carriers usualy have in their hull.
Larger ships are usually employed because they have enough computer and communications facilites to handle the higher comm traffic the results from a command staff giving oders to ships in an entire theatre of war.
Here's a picture of the saucer of a Constitution command version (called Lexington class) from
Star Fleet Battles not the enlarged bridge module.
Sometimes Command Cruisers have a slightly enhanced hull to properly protect the important staff and equipment on them.
Dreadnoughts and Carriers in that game have that ability already built into them since they are expected to be the cornerstone of a fleet anyway.
There are also smaller ships that may add bonuses to a limited number of ships in their immediate vicinity, usualy designated "Leader".
The bonuses those "Command" and "Leader" ships provide cannot bo directly translated over to an MMO since "initiative" like on a game board does not exist.
However they can provide other bonuses.
The Klignon carrier can repair allied ships for example.
The Star Cruiser is also referred to as a command ship in its description in the shipyard, probably because its "Science Slots" allow more support to others than the Tactical Slots of an Assault Cruiser can....
Anyway in "Babylon 5 Wars" the first Babylon 5 tabletop (not to be confused with "A Call to Arms" which was incredbly oversimplified) one of the races, the Dilgar, had an unusual system.
They organized their ships into small groups called "Pentacans" usually lead by a "Leader" version of a ship of their class.
So a group of destoryers was lead by a destroyer leader for example.
When the ships were within a certain distance, they followed that ship in a specific formation and therefore gained an initiative bonus.
The leader had a different weapons layout, usually more firepower directed forward with less to the sides and rear.
This was acceptable since the leader was protected to the sides and the rear by the ships that followed it.
So my idea: make specific variants of certain ships, specifically ships with a destroyer-like role (Raptors, Escorts) that can provide "Formation Patters" as you guys proposed.
Those "Leader Variants" would probably have to sacrifice something for this specific skill which woul make them less powerful 1 on 1 but really useful in a group.
So either a typical console or, depending on how powerful the Pattern is supposed to be, a rear weapon slot.
Then they'd really have to rely or their teammates to cover that angle.
As a compensation Leaders could have either enhanced shielding or hull.
They should be visibly different from regular models, perhaps by an enlarged boom and neck on the Klingon side.
This would represent the changes to the ship, the space required for the new equipment, a justufucation for the increase in hull or shields and to make them easier to make out for other to form up with them (good) and of course a target of greater priority fo the enemy (not so good).
If nothing else, such a system which would give more depth to gameplay, could be considered for Tier 6 which is supposed to included som kind fo "Fleet" feel anyway.
I find it interesting that very ofte we discuss matters that don't exclusively relate to the Klingons but to general gameplay.
And it feels that a lot of our ideas will never be noticed be either the other ofrum posters or the moderators (beyond content to be edited) because we, as the evil Klingons, would never come up with anything productive would we?;)
Faction specific skills:
Attack Patterns - like Beta and Omega
Defensive Patterns - like Delta
Tactical Patterns - this would be the Formation Attack/Defensive Patterns
Subsystem Targeting - KDF appropriate skills like Target Bridge,Target Warp Core,Target Life Support,etc.
Raider/Raptor style science vessels,with a buff to offense instead of defense.
Faction specific (special) weapons with different procs - like a Klingon Disruptor with an added proc,a torpedo that does more damage to shields,etc.
We haven't discussed ground skills yet,any thoughts on that?
We agreed that, particularly in the area of Science and Engineering the Klingons and the Feds should be fare more different than they are now.
In space KDF Science should be far more into stealth, while the Feds and their various Holo stuff is quite fitting.
Engineer in Star Trek and STO seems to be very much like an engineer in the sense of a person who fixes stuff, or perhaps Engineer Officer like in the RN.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer_Officer_%28Royal_Navy%29
In a regular miitary they are more into building defensible positions and also blowing them up.
Depending on their functions, they are also called Pioneers, Assault Pioneers, Combat Engineer or Sappers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_engineer
I think the Assault Pioneer should be more of an example of what a Klingon "Engineer" should be like.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_pioneer
Since the KDF is far more akin to a conventional military like we have them today, their Engineers should work more like them.
rather off topic:
I've been working on some odd stuff in this regard actually.
When I read one of the IKS Gorkon novels, there is a "scene" where a Klingon Commando Group enters an Alien command center.
One of the soldiers does not wear a knife but instead has in its place a bag with various tools in it and he disables the alarm and the locking mechanism.
However there is no indication he actually knows what he's doing.
I mean when you're tinkering with an Alien circuitry, would you know what does what, what in that circuit or in which direction whatever's in there would flow?
Also the "The Left Hand of Destiny" novels show that Starfleet Padds are prized among younger Klingon soldiers who find them extremely useful.
So they actually use them instead of domestic equipment at times.
That struck me as odd and something that Martok would probably be interested in changing just like he changes the limited approach of Klignons to medicine in the Gorkon novels, particularly because he was impressed by Starfleet's medical abilites after expericening them firsthand.
Anyway that got me thinking and since I was annoyed by the fact that the Klingons have been using the same old Tricorder since Star trek 3, which I think is a useless block with altogether four bottuns and a 3 by 4 centimeter screen that blinksm I designed two Klingon tricorders of my own.
One is rather conventional with a screen that is retracted when the tricorder is not in use, much like the old one but is based in aestetics on the KDF Padd from DS9.
The other is to some degree based on the larger tricorder we saw in Star Trek 2, the one employed on Regula.
http://offworldgirl.home.comcast.net/~offworldgirl/costumes/Tricorder/history/TWOK_Tricorder.jpg
But with an entirely different shape.
It has a screen big enough to display circuitry to prevent overeager KDF soldiers with a bad of tools from accidentally elecrocuting themselves while tinkering with alien equipment.
It also has a "drawer" with a keypad so the use in question could for example write an interface protocol to interact with a previously unknown computer system.
This one is overall a bit bulkier and would be work on the outside of one thigh, pretty much like some Klingons wear their D'k tahg.
I'm still working on some minor details like the proper colour, but right now the problem is that I don't have the proper colour pencils for the dark reddish brown the Klingons use on their devices.
So they look a bit odd I'm afraid.
Klingon Science in combat could focus on detecting weakennses and disrupting enemy movements.
Problem is that this is pretty much what they do now.
I'm not sure in what way their skills should be changed except for graphics, which I think would be pointless.
I think the whole premise is awesome and would help define the differences between the use of Science and Engineering in the KDF versus how the feds do it.
Part of the problem with the KDF being upset is that some of us feel the mechanics of STO are still too similiar for both factions in all areas. There is a lack of factional individuality in the feel of playing a Fed or Klingon.
Ok, well, Targ Handling has been covered in other posts so I won't babble on about that. I think that would be both a skill and an ability.
Close Combat Weapon skills/abilities would be appropriate, since Klingons are more into armed hand-to-hand combat than the Feds are. Call it "Weapon Technique" and give skill bonuses for crits and damage. Another useful ability would be "Disarm Technique" that works similar to Weapon Malfunction but can be used by Tactical officers.
We are also totally missing something that any true Klingon warrior would love: Intimidation. It could have the effect of causing a foe to ignore all other threats for a short period of time, with a small debuff to the target's Accuracy and/or Damage. Kind of similar to the Challenge or Taunt ability from City of Heroes. It could be countered by a character with Traits such as Logical, Mental Discipline, or Stubborn.
Which in turn leads to the suggestion of some other skills that would provide passive bonuses in Ground combat.
Combat Awareness - The Klingon Warrior is attuned to the flow of battle. This skill would provide bonuses to the character's perception, chance to expose, and chance to dodge or parry an attack.
Warrior's Discipline - The Klingon Warrior does not fight aimlessly, and is not easily deterred. This skill would provide extra resistance against Placate and Confuse effects. It will also reduce Expose duration.
That's all I have time to brainstorm at the moment...
EDIT: On second thought, let's change my idea for an Intimidation ability into a debuff on Accuracy and Damage with a small chance of a fragile hold (cowering animation). Then let's have Warrior's Challenge and make it work like the Scrapper Challenge ability from City of Heroes.
targ handling is a must, i would love to use targs in conjunction with security escorts!
More melee weapons is a must, especialy the ones promised over a year ago(mek'leth and D'ktang)
more faction based abilities!
unfortunately as much as i love all of the ideas posted, the Devs will never put them in game. We all know why, we are the redheaded step child... WE ARE KLINGONS!
I really really like this idea. It's creative, clever, and uses things that already exist (making it easy to implement). I'd love to see it happen. I give you major kudos for coming up with something so simple yet elegant. It gives the KDF flavor but stays within the boundaries of the gameplay mechanics we currently have.
One of the best posts I've read on here in awhile. Thank you for that. The only way I can respond to this post is to be positive. Because that's the response it deserves. I hope the devs read this and take it to heart. It's a great idea.
/salute
That sounds awesome...as of now, my KDF toon is more of a blunt instrument.... Hacking, slashing, dicing and chopping anything in his path...lol...yeah, I play on the ta when I really need to vent...heheheheheh.
I really like this idea!:)
I have no idea what the Scrapper Challenge ability is though.....
THIS. Yes. I would see Warrior's Challenge working something like that.
In City of Heroes, a "taunt" has the effect of dramatically increasing the player's "threat level" in such a way that they draw NPC attacks away from other characters. Against players, the taunt has the effect of temporarily not allowing the affected player to target anyone else. Sort of the reverse of a placate or "jam sensors". You can imagine how useful that might be in PvP... and how annoying, potentially. I would not like to see this as an AOE, but single target with a reasonable cooldown might work.
I do not believe that it has changed...I'd have to ask to make certain though.
They would actually have to make the ships first...I dunno if they would be doing this without taking 6-9 months...lol...someone quick, get a list started so we know what we want.
If that's what it takes to keep this thread alive......why not?Besides,theory crafting is healthy,and it would be a real shame if good ideas on how to improve the KDF (and the game as a whole) go to waste if this thread dies,gets necroed and closed for being a zombie.
Well, zombies do eat people's brains...right? We wouldn't want any of that.
What I would love would be some form of cloak that can remain undetectable to the sensor grid of the Nebula. Kinda like a stealth fighter absorbs radar waves and such, perhaps there is a way to make it feasible to press a button and rotate your cloak's frequency to absorb the tachyon detection grid so instead of being detected, you might be considered or viewed as cosmic dust or something, or nothing of interest...or nothing at all..
Don't get me wrong, it's a good idea, it would restore a bit of balance taken away by that ship, not that I see it much in PVP mind you.... but it would be a start... Just input that power on every cruiser you see or every tac ship you see on the KDF side that is able to cloak.
Thoughts?