I did three respecs. The first one I tried to do a balance of ground and space, and just failed epicly at both. The second, I tried to spec by ship for a balance of defense and dps, and that still failed. The third respec, I went all survivability, and my raptor could take a better beating, but the dps was just miserable. In no situation was I able to put any points specializing in bridge officer abilities.
I finally paid 150k in dilithium to get the vorcha refit and did a balance of defense and offense for my ship, and now i can take a punch and give a punch. Still no points in ground or on bridge officer abilities. I am doing poorly in ground combat, but so so ok in space.
For my fed engineer, I respeced him out and he is an invincible flying slingshot. No dps worth a damn but then again neither did anyone else flying against me it seems.
I did not get a chance to try out my sci captain, but from an initial inspection of the skill tree, I don't think I want to.
Does this sound like anyone else. I kept asking "what the hell am I not getting". Sorry at work on lunch and cant give out my builds.
I don't know what to tell you. I have my Holodeck main copied over, and I didn't see too much of a difference after the skill change. I lost a couple Aux power points (since tier 5 is so expensive), but I didn't see too much change in effectiveness overall.
If anything I am finding I am more powerful after this change.
I am a Sci flying a MVAE
I also am at work so can't give all the detail but I just prioritized my systems;
weapons > Power levels (focusing on weapons and shields) > Shield heals > Abilites > Other goodies.
Basic I ignored hull an other things that are nice but really if I am flying correctly they shouldn't be a consern.
I did my tests in STFs and RAs, heck in one RA I almost completed the first stage alone...
After specing out your skills but before accepting the changes, did you go back and shave any points from those skills you do not need at high values?
This is a very vaild point, I don't think I went 100% on any skill. Seems that for some skills rather then leaving them at 7 points (like perviously) I found a number of them were worth it up to 8 but almost NEVER a Full 9 points.
After specing out your skills but before accepting the changes, did you go back and shave any points from those skills you do not need at high values?
Someone else mentioned this too. They just had 5's in everything and was able to spread the points around much more easily and hit more and more values. Still could not fly an escort, but they are about where they were at for the old skill tree. I am just out of respecs
Here is a science build I slapped together and avoided doing ground until I see what the ground skill tree is like or if we get seperate pools for ground
Tier 1
SS Weapons training: 9
SS Batteries: 9
SS Hull Repair: 9
SS Flow Capacitor: 9
SS Shield Emitters: 9
Assualt Training: 0
Close Combat training: 0
Away Team Leader: Engineer: 0
Away team Leader: Science: 0
Away team Leader: Tactical: 0
Might as well max the space skills becuase otherwise one can not reach the Tier One cap to move on the Tier two.
Tier 2
SS Energy Weapons: 9
SS Projectile Weapons: 9
Structual Integrity: 5
SS Subsystem Repair: 0
SS Warp Core efficiency: 9
SS Power Insulator: 0
SS Shield systems: 8
Security: 0
Soldier: 0
Special Forces: 0
Tier 3
SS Maneuavers: 5
SS Target systems: 5
SS Electro-Plasma systems: 5
SS Impulse Thrusters: 6
SS Warp Core Potential: 9
SS Graviton Generators: 6
SS Particle Generators: 6
FireArms: 0
Grenades: 0
Martial Arts: 0
Tier 4
SS Attack Patterns: 0
SS Stealth: 0
SS Engine Performance: 9
SS Hull Plating: 9
SS Shield Performance: 9
SS Intertial Dampeners: 0
SS Sensors: 0
Stealth: 0
Tactics: 0
Threat Control: 0
Tier 5
SS Energy Weapon Specialization: 4
SS Projectile Weapon Specialization: 4
SS Armor Reinforcments: 0
SS Auxullary Performance: 5
SS Weapons Performance: 4
SS Counter Measure Systems: 4
SS Subspace Decompiler: 4
Advanced Warfare: 0
Close combat Protection: 0
Squad Command: 0
as I moved up the tiers I was able to spread points around a little more.
But my entire spending does just go to space skills.
Here is a science build I slapped together and avoided doing ground until I see what the ground skill tree is like or if we get seperate pools for ground
Tier 1
SS Weapons training: 9
SS Batteries: 9
SS Hull Repair: 9
SS Flow Capacitor: 9
SS Shield Emitters: 9
Assualt Training: 0
Close Combat training: 0
Away Team Leader: Engineer: 0
Away team Leader: Science: 0
Away team Leader: Tactical: 0
Might as well max the space skills becuase otherwise one can not reach the Tier One cap to move on the Tier two.
Tier 2
SS Energy Weapons: 9
SS Projectile Weapons: 9
Structual Integrity: 5
SS Subsystem Repair: 0
SS Warp Core efficiency: 9
SS Power Insulator: 0
SS Shield systems: 8
Security: 0
Soldier: 0
Special Forces: 0
Tier 3
SS Maneuavers: 5
SS Target systems: 5
SS Electro-Plasma systems: 5
SS Impulse Thrusters: 6
SS Warp Core Potential: 9
SS Graviton Generators: 6
SS Particle Generators: 6
FireArms: 0
Grenades: 0
Martial Arts: 0
Tier 4
SS Attack Patterns: 0
SS Stealth: 0
SS Engine Performance: 9
SS Hull Plating: 9
SS Shield Performance: 9
SS Intertial Dampeners: 0
SS Sensors: 0
Stealth: 0
Tactics: 0
Threat Control: 0
Tier 5
SS Energy Weapon Specialization: 4
SS Projectile Weapon Specialization: 4
SS Armor Reinforcments: 0
SS Auxullary Performance: 5
SS Weapons Performance: 4
SS Counter Measure Systems: 4
SS Subspace Decompiler: 4
Advanced Warfare: 0
Close combat Protection: 0
Squad Command: 0
as I moved up the tiers I was able to spread points around a little more.
But my entire spending does just go to space skills.
That's just it .. we can not assume that we will or will NOT be able to get stuff for ground. Sooo yeah .. the tree needs a little more refinning. BUT... perjhaps as has been suggested for a long time by other player: one tree for Space ... one for ground would be a good idea.
That's just it .. we can not assume that we will or will NOT be able to get stuff for ground. Sooo yeah .. the tree needs a little more refinning. BUT... perjhaps as has been suggested for a long time by other player: one tree for Space ... one for ground would be a good idea.
Two skill tress would be nice.
Since I enjoy space combat more I spend to space only.
My fear is they will not make the Ground seperate and make it manditory.
I would also like to state to the devs that I do not HATE what they are trying to do. I like the idea of carrying over my builds to different ships... I just hate this current satanic manifestation:cool:
The way this Skill Tree Revamp seems to work is we end up pigeon holed into a very specific build if we want to play. Any Deviation from a somewhat common build and you loose playability.
The game would be much better if each class just got their own special, unique tree like in any good RPG, like Mass Effect or Diablo for instance.
Thats the only way each class will be fun to play and each class will be unique even amongst others of the same class.
Like mentioned before, do NOT put 9 into a skill, unless you intend to be able to train the associated mk III skills. Cost effectively its not worth it. 8 is about the highest you should go in a skill otherwise. Five's and six's are good solid numbers to have in skills, but you run the risk of actually over hybrid'ing. This doesn't matter much in normal PvE, but in STFs and PvP it is a risk.
If you're not concerned which BO skills you have, go with ones that are supported by tier 3 skills, and resisted by tier 4 skills. Bang for the buck, you're much more efficient this way, and better equipped in case someone couldn't build that tier 4 resistance into their build. if you absolutely must have a skill that's supported by a tier 5 skill you're actually loosing effectiveness since every tier 5 skill is resisted by a tier 4 skill, meaning that its more likely someone will actually have the resistance at a higher level compared to your level. Choose wisely.
Also, as of right now, unless you don't care about the effectiveness of your BO skills, do not plan on switching between different classes of ships and being just as effective. Even as Roach has pointed out, its more effective to move between similar ships (BoP and Raptor, Intrepid and Nebula) and much less effective to move between ships of different classes (Science to Cruiser). Galaxy class ships hold a problem all their own, simply because of the different variants currently in play.
Also remember everything is subject to change from patch to patch. By the time this all goes live, the build you've worked out now, may be less or more effective.
The way this Skill Tree Revamp seems to work is we end up pigeon holed into a very specific build if we want to play. Any Deviation from a somewhat common build and you loose playability.
The game would be much better if each class just got their own special, unique tree like in any good RPG, like Mass Effect or Diablo for instance.
Thats the only way each class will be fun to play and each class will be unique even amongst others of the same class.
Good idea. Some basic skills everybody gets to lay a base for damage dealer, tank, supporter.
And then some class specific skills for further specialization: energy weapons or kinetic, aggro magnet or healer, controler or debuffer.
Each of these classes could be enhanced or broadened by the ship class you fly.
The way this Skill Tree Revamp seems to work is we end up pigeon holed into a very specific build if we want to play. Any Deviation from a somewhat common build and you loose playability.
The game would be much better if each class just got their own special, unique tree like in any good RPG, like Mass Effect or Diablo for instance.
Thats the only way each class will be fun to play and each class will be unique even amongst others of the same class.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea. At least Cryptic should look at how each class can be individual.
But that would be hard to do in space... there are science abilites that are desirable for an engy build and vice versa...
Im finding my Tac to be more deadly in space, and a little less in ground (again Im assuming thats because ground is still a mess as the devs havent played with it yet).
I'm a tac officer in a Star Cruiser. I mostly solo in PvE, so I spent my points in a way that made as much sense to me as possible - I maxed out accuracy, power transfer, basic damage (both energy and kinetic), put a lot of points into shield healing and some into hull/subsystem healing, then put most of the rest of my points into boosting individual system power levels. I used about a third of the total points for ground skills.
Overall, I didn't notice much of a difference, though most differences have been effective nerfs. For example, I have less shield power than I do currently on Holodeck. My damage, speed, accuracy, and defense all seem pretty much identical to Holodeck. The only thing I have noticed as a plus to the new system so far is that when I do Combat Pattern Alpha, my ship becomes much faster and more maneuverable than it does on Holodeck.
My biggest suggestion for the devs: increase the buff per skill point for things like damage, accuracy, maneuverability, power transfer rate, and shield/hull defense. Some of these are things we couldn't affect with skillpoints before, and I think I should get a pretty big bonus if I max them out (power transfer, for example - I have it at 9 and my rate is equal to my rate on Holodeck, which means I have to spend a ton of points just to break even - NOT cool). In general, I think we should only have to get 7 ranks in a skill to equal performance on Holodeck. Ranking up to 9 should carry noticeable bonuses above Holodeck performance.
The way this Skill Tree Revamp seems to work is we end up pigeon holed into a very specific build if we want to play. Any Deviation from a somewhat common build and you loose playability.
The game would be much better if each class just got their own special, unique tree like in any good RPG, like Mass Effect or Diablo for instance.
Thats the only way each class will be fun to play and each class will be unique even amongst others of the same class.
Well really, the whole point of skill should involve: real life player skill (how well you actually fly your ship and can smash the buttons), your ship type, your weapon/console loadout, and your BO abilities. For those of you who remember the alpha/beta days, the game was originally not designed with a SP cap which is what caused all the problems with the original skill tree in the first place - so that a more senior RA 5 would be better trained than a player that had just hit RA 5. But since SP is now tightly tied to your level, well time to change the skill tree. At the risk of getting flamed "go back to Eve" or something, I'd like to mention that not every MMO has the alt-a-holic "issue" where you can't train for different mission roles on the same character. In fact, the base career system in STO already incurs a difference between different careers, so an engy flying a science ship will have a diff role than a tac flying a cruiser or whatever (whereas in Eve you don't even have *that* difference, anyone can train anything, provided they put the time in). So really there won't be any cookie cutter build in STO even if every skill could be trained, because a tac flying a lrsv is going to be different than a sci flying mvae which will be different than an engy flying defiant-r.
That being said, at this point there are not enough SP to go around to be able to fly more than 1 to 2 ship classes - if you put your SP into sci and cruiser skills you will not be able to use the cmdr tac bo skills effectively (attack patterns) - even if you totally gimp your ground (as in 0 ground points, except for the ones you need at T1 to move to T2). Captains flying sci ships seem to have the worst skill balance atm because they need to train both sci and cruiser tank skills...and if you are reporting an aux power nerf, that has potential to affect the sci BO skills heavily... Of course, with some of the other reports of overpowered sci bo abilities (grav rift and friends? tractor doffs enabling 228 kinetic per pulse?) this might be on purpose to avoid creating an uber-sci ship build.
I'm a tac officer in a Star Cruiser. I mostly solo in PvE, so I spent my points in a way that made as much sense to me as possible - I maxed out accuracy, power transfer, basic damage (both energy and kinetic), put a lot of points into shield healing and some into hull/subsystem healing, then put most of the rest of my points into boosting individual system power levels. I used about a third of the total points for ground skills.
Overall, I didn't notice much of a difference, though most differences have been effective nerfs. For example, I have less shield power than I do currently on Holodeck. My damage, speed, accuracy, and defense all seem pretty much identical to Holodeck. The only thing I have noticed as a plus to the new system so far is that when I do Combat Pattern Alpha, my ship becomes much faster and more maneuverable than it does on Holodeck.
My biggest suggestion for the devs: increase the buff per skill point for things like damage, accuracy, maneuverability, power transfer rate, and shield/hull defense. Some of these are things we couldn't affect with skillpoints before, and I think I should get a pretty big bonus if I max them out (power transfer, for example - I have it at 9 and my rate is equal to my rate on Holodeck, which means I have to spend a ton of points just to break even - NOT cool). In general, I think we should only have to get 7 ranks in a skill to equal performance on Holodeck. Ranking up to 9 should carry noticeable bonuses above Holodeck performance.
How do you manage to tank the borg without hull skills? (not being facetious, just being a noob). My main specialty is engineering+cruiser but a cube can collapse my shields in 15s and I have to hull tank it for the rest of the fight...I cannot imagine the case is that much more optimistic in a sci ship or a tac ship...
How do you manage to tank the borg without hull skills? (not being facetious, just being a noob). My main specialty is engineering but a cube can collapse my shields in 15s and I have to hull tank them for the rest of the fight...
Having at least 3 of the borg set is a _huge_ help (i.e. Console, Engines, Deflector) -- The autonomous hull heals from the set bonuses can keep you alive. Even the autonomous shield regen can keep your shields popping back up every once in a while to take a hit or two.
Other shield heals can still be helpful, if only for a few seconds. Timing (and spamming) them is critical.
Other hull defenses, like polarize hull, can fill in the gaps.
Consoles do a lot more than they did earlier.. they got an effective buff which counters the skill nerf.
Consider checking out the Breen set (via mission rewards) they give a flat 30% dmg bonus to Kinetic dmg now...
This change allows you to fly more ships well with more points spent in space, points spent = versatility...you just need the gear/consoles to make them work properly.
I Tested a bunch today with a Fed Adv Escort and also on a KDF using the Varanus, one thing i noticed a lot was i needed to dial back on the shield skills and take a few more hull heals...
I died a few times on elite with FULL shields and 0% hull
The other huge thing is Consoles//Equipement make a very very significant difference.
TBH i switched my escort over to the "Resilient" shield types to reduce bleedthrough, took Eng team 1, and the survivability is significantly better.
My K-side TAC was able to keep a full team healed vs elite STF borg when he flew a Varanus.... maybe not the best role for a Tac... but it showed the sheer power of the new changes.
After an initial reaction of omg a nerf, after testing im seeing more of a buff in effectiveness *if you specialise consoles to match the task*
Having at least 3 of the borg set is a _huge_ help (i.e. Console, Engines, Deflector) -- The autonomous hull heals from the set bonuses can keep you alive. Even the autonomous shield regen can keep your shields popping back up every once in a while to take a hit or two.
Other shield heals can still be helpful, if only for a few seconds. Timing (and spamming) them is critical.
Other hull defenses, like polarize hull, can fill in the gaps.
Disclaimer: I haven't fought Borg on Tribble since the skill tree changes, so everything I am about to say could be out of date.
TonyEx is basically right. I have Polarize Hull, Engineering Team, and Hazard Emitters. Anything a cube can do to me, I can counter. Course, counters don't help a ton when cubes can spam shield neutralizer, but if you're lucky, they won't, they'll just pop it once and you clear it with HE. I also have Emergency Power to Shields I and II as well as Sci Team for shield heals. The Borg regen shields are extremely helpful, and if you have three items in the set, when the borg shield regen buff kicks in, you're pretty much invincible for a few seconds (it even takes shield neutralizer noticeably longer to drain your shields).
Also, as of right now, unless you don't care about the effectiveness of your BO skills, do not plan on switching between different classes of ships and being just as effective. Even as Roach has pointed out, its more effective to move between similar ships (BoP and Raptor, Intrepid and Nebula) and much less effective to move between ships of different classes (Science to Cruiser). .
True, though it was pointed out to me last night by a fleet mate that he had no issues moving between vessel of different classes (escort to cruiser) so the trick may also lie in what you are designing your vessel towards (PvE or PvP), as some players are having no issues with switching ships.
I could see where the difference in playstyle of PvE versus PvP will cuase some difficulties in swapping between ship classes.
I frankly use my PvP build for everything, so that explains my first impression of changing ship classes being difficult.
The way this Skill Tree Revamp seems to work is we end up pigeon holed into a very specific build if we want to play. Any Deviation from a somewhat common build and you loose playability.
The game would be much better if each class just got their own special, unique tree like in any good RPG, like Mass Effect or Diablo for instance.
Thats the only way each class will be fun to play and each class will be unique even amongst others of the same class.
I can not argue that it sounds intriguing, though how would it work in relation to BOff skills and the Captain skills that buff them?
True, though it was pointed out to me last night by a fleet mate that he had no issues moving between vessel of different classes (escort to cruiser) so the trick may also lie in what you are designing your vessel towards (PvE or PvP), as some players are having no issues with switching ships.
I could see where the difference in playstyle of PvE versus PvP will cuase some difficulties in swapping between ship classes.
I frankly use my PvP build for everything, so that explains my first impression of changing ship classes being difficult.
I think a lot of it may also have to do with the builds between the ships too. If you do a build based around tier 3 shills on one ship, it'll allow you to make a build to use tier 5 effected skills. So I suppose its possible, but again we're back to my same point, of effectively rewarding certain builds, while penalizing others.
But will the points from Ground come from same pool that we used to redo our Space ones - ie. do we have 72750 to spend between space and ground?
hopefully there will be enough points available to develope both. IMHO an easy way to do that would be to give points for ground development at the end of missions that are GROUND RELATED. That way a player can develope their toon as needed.
I think a lot of it may also have to do with the builds between the ships too. If you do a build based around tier 3 shills on one ship, it'll allow you to make a build to use tier 5 effected skills. So I suppose its possible, but again we're back to my same point, of effectively rewarding certain builds, while penalizing others.
Still depends on the build I think.
General designed builds will most likely find it easier to swap around ships than say a specialized designed build.
In my opinion thats the inherent choice of being specialized over generalized in a build.
If one makes a PvP Tac buiild designed for escorts and maximized damage through skills and specific BOff abilities then the it makes sense that if I jump into a Cruiser with different BOff lay-out I will suffer due to a change of what BOff abilities I would be using in said cruiser.
And the same can be said for a player specialized to pilot Cruisers trying to move escort.
For instance:
A BoP
Commander: TT1 ApB1 BO3 CRF3
LTC: HE1 TSS2 TSS3
LT: EptS1 EptS2
LT: ST1 PO1
will work fine for my tac as I have spec'ed my skills to this build and powers
but I will be at a disadvantage in say a Vor'cha refit battle cruiser
Commander: EptS1 EptS2 A2Damp A2Sif3
LTC: ET1 ExtS1 ET3
LT: TSS1 TSS2
LT: BO1 CRF1
Ens: TT1
I'm only gonna be skilled for some of those BOff slots becuase I specialized to a particular build, thus my performance with those unskilled abilities will suffer.
That make sense to me based on the choice of specializing and I could choose to make a general build instead if I dislike it.
Comments
(engineer w/ the excelsior refit)
Tested by running the new STFs.
I am a Sci flying a MVAE
I also am at work so can't give all the detail but I just prioritized my systems;
weapons > Power levels (focusing on weapons and shields) > Shield heals > Abilites > Other goodies.
Basic I ignored hull an other things that are nice but really if I am flying correctly they shouldn't be a consern.
I did my tests in STFs and RAs, heck in one RA I almost completed the first stage alone...
Edit:
This is a very vaild point, I don't think I went 100% on any skill. Seems that for some skills rather then leaving them at 7 points (like perviously) I found a number of them were worth it up to 8 but almost NEVER a Full 9 points.
Someone else mentioned this too. They just had 5's in everything and was able to spread the points around much more easily and hit more and more values. Still could not fly an escort, but they are about where they were at for the old skill tree. I am just out of respecs
Tier 1
SS Weapons training: 9
SS Batteries: 9
SS Hull Repair: 9
SS Flow Capacitor: 9
SS Shield Emitters: 9
Assualt Training: 0
Close Combat training: 0
Away Team Leader: Engineer: 0
Away team Leader: Science: 0
Away team Leader: Tactical: 0
Might as well max the space skills becuase otherwise one can not reach the Tier One cap to move on the Tier two.
Tier 2
SS Energy Weapons: 9
SS Projectile Weapons: 9
Structual Integrity: 5
SS Subsystem Repair: 0
SS Warp Core efficiency: 9
SS Power Insulator: 0
SS Shield systems: 8
Security: 0
Soldier: 0
Special Forces: 0
Tier 3
SS Maneuavers: 5
SS Target systems: 5
SS Electro-Plasma systems: 5
SS Impulse Thrusters: 6
SS Warp Core Potential: 9
SS Graviton Generators: 6
SS Particle Generators: 6
FireArms: 0
Grenades: 0
Martial Arts: 0
Tier 4
SS Attack Patterns: 0
SS Stealth: 0
SS Engine Performance: 9
SS Hull Plating: 9
SS Shield Performance: 9
SS Intertial Dampeners: 0
SS Sensors: 0
Stealth: 0
Tactics: 0
Threat Control: 0
Tier 5
SS Energy Weapon Specialization: 4
SS Projectile Weapon Specialization: 4
SS Armor Reinforcments: 0
SS Auxullary Performance: 5
SS Weapons Performance: 4
SS Counter Measure Systems: 4
SS Subspace Decompiler: 4
Advanced Warfare: 0
Close combat Protection: 0
Squad Command: 0
as I moved up the tiers I was able to spread points around a little more.
But my entire spending does just go to space skills.
That's just it .. we can not assume that we will or will NOT be able to get stuff for ground. Sooo yeah .. the tree needs a little more refinning. BUT... perjhaps as has been suggested for a long time by other player: one tree for Space ... one for ground would be a good idea.
When I find a way to get a new respec I will take all this advice to heart. Thanks guys!
Two skill tress would be nice.
Since I enjoy space combat more I spend to space only.
My fear is they will not make the Ground seperate and make it manditory.
hmmm BUT if they want to keep with their own "customization" theme .. IMHO it is in everyones best interest .... a win/win for everyone !
If you read Geko's original post, the plan is to take the ground tree out and make it a separate pool from Space.
The game would be much better if each class just got their own special, unique tree like in any good RPG, like Mass Effect or Diablo for instance.
Thats the only way each class will be fun to play and each class will be unique even amongst others of the same class.
Like mentioned before, do NOT put 9 into a skill, unless you intend to be able to train the associated mk III skills. Cost effectively its not worth it. 8 is about the highest you should go in a skill otherwise. Five's and six's are good solid numbers to have in skills, but you run the risk of actually over hybrid'ing. This doesn't matter much in normal PvE, but in STFs and PvP it is a risk.
If you're not concerned which BO skills you have, go with ones that are supported by tier 3 skills, and resisted by tier 4 skills. Bang for the buck, you're much more efficient this way, and better equipped in case someone couldn't build that tier 4 resistance into their build. if you absolutely must have a skill that's supported by a tier 5 skill you're actually loosing effectiveness since every tier 5 skill is resisted by a tier 4 skill, meaning that its more likely someone will actually have the resistance at a higher level compared to your level. Choose wisely.
Also, as of right now, unless you don't care about the effectiveness of your BO skills, do not plan on switching between different classes of ships and being just as effective. Even as Roach has pointed out, its more effective to move between similar ships (BoP and Raptor, Intrepid and Nebula) and much less effective to move between ships of different classes (Science to Cruiser). Galaxy class ships hold a problem all their own, simply because of the different variants currently in play.
Also remember everything is subject to change from patch to patch. By the time this all goes live, the build you've worked out now, may be less or more effective.
Good idea. Some basic skills everybody gets to lay a base for damage dealer, tank, supporter.
And then some class specific skills for further specialization: energy weapons or kinetic, aggro magnet or healer, controler or debuffer.
Each of these classes could be enhanced or broadened by the ship class you fly.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea. At least Cryptic should look at how each class can be individual.
But that would be hard to do in space... there are science abilites that are desirable for an engy build and vice versa...
Im finding my Tac to be more deadly in space, and a little less in ground (again Im assuming thats because ground is still a mess as the devs havent played with it yet).
Overall, I didn't notice much of a difference, though most differences have been effective nerfs. For example, I have less shield power than I do currently on Holodeck. My damage, speed, accuracy, and defense all seem pretty much identical to Holodeck. The only thing I have noticed as a plus to the new system so far is that when I do Combat Pattern Alpha, my ship becomes much faster and more maneuverable than it does on Holodeck.
My biggest suggestion for the devs: increase the buff per skill point for things like damage, accuracy, maneuverability, power transfer rate, and shield/hull defense. Some of these are things we couldn't affect with skillpoints before, and I think I should get a pretty big bonus if I max them out (power transfer, for example - I have it at 9 and my rate is equal to my rate on Holodeck, which means I have to spend a ton of points just to break even - NOT cool). In general, I think we should only have to get 7 ranks in a skill to equal performance on Holodeck. Ranking up to 9 should carry noticeable bonuses above Holodeck performance.
Well really, the whole point of skill should involve: real life player skill (how well you actually fly your ship and can smash the buttons), your ship type, your weapon/console loadout, and your BO abilities. For those of you who remember the alpha/beta days, the game was originally not designed with a SP cap which is what caused all the problems with the original skill tree in the first place - so that a more senior RA 5 would be better trained than a player that had just hit RA 5. But since SP is now tightly tied to your level, well time to change the skill tree. At the risk of getting flamed "go back to Eve" or something, I'd like to mention that not every MMO has the alt-a-holic "issue" where you can't train for different mission roles on the same character. In fact, the base career system in STO already incurs a difference between different careers, so an engy flying a science ship will have a diff role than a tac flying a cruiser or whatever (whereas in Eve you don't even have *that* difference, anyone can train anything, provided they put the time in). So really there won't be any cookie cutter build in STO even if every skill could be trained, because a tac flying a lrsv is going to be different than a sci flying mvae which will be different than an engy flying defiant-r.
That being said, at this point there are not enough SP to go around to be able to fly more than 1 to 2 ship classes - if you put your SP into sci and cruiser skills you will not be able to use the cmdr tac bo skills effectively (attack patterns) - even if you totally gimp your ground (as in 0 ground points, except for the ones you need at T1 to move to T2). Captains flying sci ships seem to have the worst skill balance atm because they need to train both sci and cruiser tank skills...and if you are reporting an aux power nerf, that has potential to affect the sci BO skills heavily... Of course, with some of the other reports of overpowered sci bo abilities (grav rift and friends? tractor doffs enabling 228 kinetic per pulse?) this might be on purpose to avoid creating an uber-sci ship build.
How do you manage to tank the borg without hull skills? (not being facetious, just being a noob). My main specialty is engineering+cruiser but a cube can collapse my shields in 15s and I have to hull tank it for the rest of the fight...I cannot imagine the case is that much more optimistic in a sci ship or a tac ship...
Having at least 3 of the borg set is a _huge_ help (i.e. Console, Engines, Deflector) -- The autonomous hull heals from the set bonuses can keep you alive. Even the autonomous shield regen can keep your shields popping back up every once in a while to take a hit or two.
Other shield heals can still be helpful, if only for a few seconds. Timing (and spamming) them is critical.
Other hull defenses, like polarize hull, can fill in the gaps.
Consider checking out the Breen set (via mission rewards) they give a flat 30% dmg bonus to Kinetic dmg now...
This change allows you to fly more ships well with more points spent in space, points spent = versatility...you just need the gear/consoles to make them work properly.
I Tested a bunch today with a Fed Adv Escort and also on a KDF using the Varanus, one thing i noticed a lot was i needed to dial back on the shield skills and take a few more hull heals...
I died a few times on elite with FULL shields and 0% hull
The other huge thing is Consoles//Equipement make a very very significant difference.
TBH i switched my escort over to the "Resilient" shield types to reduce bleedthrough, took Eng team 1, and the survivability is significantly better.
My K-side TAC was able to keep a full team healed vs elite STF borg when he flew a Varanus.... maybe not the best role for a Tac... but it showed the sheer power of the new changes.
After an initial reaction of omg a nerf, after testing im seeing more of a buff in effectiveness *if you specialise consoles to match the task*
Disclaimer: I haven't fought Borg on Tribble since the skill tree changes, so everything I am about to say could be out of date.
TonyEx is basically right. I have Polarize Hull, Engineering Team, and Hazard Emitters. Anything a cube can do to me, I can counter. Course, counters don't help a ton when cubes can spam shield neutralizer, but if you're lucky, they won't, they'll just pop it once and you clear it with HE. I also have Emergency Power to Shields I and II as well as Sci Team for shield heals. The Borg regen shields are extremely helpful, and if you have three items in the set, when the borg shield regen buff kicks in, you're pretty much invincible for a few seconds (it even takes shield neutralizer noticeably longer to drain your shields).
True, though it was pointed out to me last night by a fleet mate that he had no issues moving between vessel of different classes (escort to cruiser) so the trick may also lie in what you are designing your vessel towards (PvE or PvP), as some players are having no issues with switching ships.
I could see where the difference in playstyle of PvE versus PvP will cuase some difficulties in swapping between ship classes.
I frankly use my PvP build for everything, so that explains my first impression of changing ship classes being difficult.
I can not argue that it sounds intriguing, though how would it work in relation to BOff skills and the Captain skills that buff them?
I think a lot of it may also have to do with the builds between the ships too. If you do a build based around tier 3 shills on one ship, it'll allow you to make a build to use tier 5 effected skills. So I suppose its possible, but again we're back to my same point, of effectively rewarding certain builds, while penalizing others.
TYVM ... good to hear !
hopefully there will be enough points available to develope both. IMHO an easy way to do that would be to give points for ground development at the end of missions that are GROUND RELATED. That way a player can develope their toon as needed.
Still depends on the build I think.
General designed builds will most likely find it easier to swap around ships than say a specialized designed build.
In my opinion thats the inherent choice of being specialized over generalized in a build.
If one makes a PvP Tac buiild designed for escorts and maximized damage through skills and specific BOff abilities then the it makes sense that if I jump into a Cruiser with different BOff lay-out I will suffer due to a change of what BOff abilities I would be using in said cruiser.
And the same can be said for a player specialized to pilot Cruisers trying to move escort.
For instance:
A BoP
Commander: TT1 ApB1 BO3 CRF3
LTC: HE1 TSS2 TSS3
LT: EptS1 EptS2
LT: ST1 PO1
will work fine for my tac as I have spec'ed my skills to this build and powers
but I will be at a disadvantage in say a Vor'cha refit battle cruiser
Commander: EptS1 EptS2 A2Damp A2Sif3
LTC: ET1 ExtS1 ET3
LT: TSS1 TSS2
LT: BO1 CRF1
Ens: TT1
I'm only gonna be skilled for some of those BOff slots becuase I specialized to a particular build, thus my performance with those unskilled abilities will suffer.
That make sense to me based on the choice of specializing and I could choose to make a general build instead if I dislike it.