What: Gear like the Borg, MACO, KHG, etc sets that are obtained exclusively via PvP. This set(s?) should be superior or equal to the currently available STF gear.
Why: A multitude of reasons:
- Cryptic has continually and consistently said that PWE is comitted to PvP and wants to make it better. A gear set is an excellent way to do entice more people to PvP.
- PvP is an excellent way to improve the overall skill level of players and will help the community become more knowledgeable of gameplay mechanics and tactics.
- Despite the protest from the community, Cryptic seems intent on bringing out more P2W ships and consoles. There's no better place to utilize these than PvP. By getting more people to PvP via gear sets, you'd be giving people more a reason to use the C-Store ships and equipment.
- PvP has been ignored for far too long. At this point, a few maps and a new game type isn't enough.
- STFs aren't challenging at all*. PvP is far more challenging, giving you a true sense of 'earning' the gear instead of just mashing spacebar.
- With MACO/KHG/Omega, you're grinding the same 3 STFs over and over again. The same 3 that we've had forever now. PvP is a constantly changing environment; there are no two identical matches. By having PvP gear sets, you eliminate the grind and sheer boredom that you get from doing the same thing over and over again. PvP experiences are always fresh.
- It's unfair for those of us that exclusively PvP to have to grind PvE to remain competitive since these sets are so much better than the 'standard' stuff.
How: This part is a bit more challenging. How should you earn these sets? Wins? Losses? Score? DPS? Heals? Number of matches played? There are advantages and disadvantages to each of those possibilities. Personally, I'd suggest having to complete X number of matches with more kills (and assists) than deaths.
When: Preferably, ASAP. Though Cryptic has said that PvP will finally be getting some attention (I'll believe it when I see it) during Season 6, so more gear would be an awesome addition for that Season.
What about it be like?: Nothing insane, obviously, as balance as key. Maybe more procs and such that are catered towards PvP. Lowering Shield Damage Resistance, Defense, etc etc.
*STFs aren't challenging. Seriously. On Elite, all you have to do is have the slightest bit of coordination. "Hey guys, I'm about to drop the Tac Cubes shields. Get ready to give it your all in 5 seconds." "Hey guys, let's all blow the Generators at the same time so we don't have to worry about Nanite Shields." Or, my favorite, just sit 9.5KM away from the Gateways, set weapons to autofire, and go AFK. People from the OPvP channel did STFs in T2 ships. We blaze through Elite STFs with our PvP set ups (a lot of us don't even use torps) in < 10 minutes.
Comments
so you want an win Button only gear for pvp. so much for balance
Why would it have to be an iWin?
Cryptic's own statements show that the reason MACO and such are so much better than normal stuff is because of the difficulty involved in getting them. As PvP is harder than STFs, these gear sets should be better.
I'm talking about things that have procs to lower Shield Damage Resistance, Defense, etc etc.
Far from anything 'iWin' though.
you want gear to only able to get via pvp to be better then anything else. How do you expect people to take part when they first start out?
Know had you said gear equal to STF I say go for but not this I win stuff you want.
It wouldn't provide a massive advantage over people using other gear. Like now, if you're just casually pugging or whatever, you'll do fine with Borg or Aegis. But when you step up to premades and pugmades, having 3 piece Borg + MACO really helps out.
But, you're right - maybe it does make sense to have it on an equivalent level to STF gear. I thought it would go along with Cryptic's state philosophy to make it better, but I suppose there are complications with that. I've editted the OP. People in STFs with Aegis/standard gear aren't directly competing against those with fully Mk XII'd people like they would in PvP
Bumping is a no no *smacks MVS*
That said, I'm actually in total agreement that PvP needs a set. If Season 6 is the pvp love season, a set just seems logical (maybe throw in some visuals
Look at what PvP gear did to TOR. And the gear now in STO is plenty sufficient for PvP, all Cryptic has to do is make a PvP value and a PvE value so things are easier to balance.
Sets for Firepower: Beam/Cannon. Torpedo. Mine.
Sets for abilities boosts.
lets see it happen.
I suppose acquiring it could borrow from existing methods a bit; say, each PvP map has a particular piece of gear attached to it. Maybe X number of kills on that map to get the gear; with deaths on that map counting against you (e.g. if it's 100 kills, but you've died 20 times, then you need 120 kills total).
I'd say there has to be more than one set (even more than one set per faction), simply because certain builds and ship types benefit more from certain types of shields. At the very least there should be one space set for each basic shield type.
I don't play TOR so I don't know what's happened there
My issue with the gear now is that you're forced to PvE to get it. And in order to be competitive in PvP, you have to PvE. That makes no sense. Further, the grind to get said gear is just so boring. This'll provide a more fun way to get gear.
That's my thinking. For example, something that reduce Shield Damage Resistance would be quite useful in PvP, but useless in PvE. NPCs don't even balance their shields, let alone stack crazy resistances.
Join OrganizedPvP or check out some of the builds/tactics in the PvP forum. We're always happy to have more people in Arenas - especially people that know what they're doing and don't pop in 2 seconds
Actually I'm in OrganizedPvP
The same level of quality, but with new and interesting powers and something tailored to the needs of the PVP players.
I agree that this would really, really entice people into playing more PVP, which is right now all stick and no carrot
Put it simply with TOR, PVP gear caused severe imbalances. Along with their PvP-centric boosting skills.
But I don't understand why you say you need PvP only gear when it's extremely easy to get Sets in this game, short of the STF sets. Thought he opposite would not be true for a PvEr trying to get PvP gear because they obviously would need time in PvP gain points to earn such sets.
Now i understand that you want PVP to do better in the long and that's fine, I like to pvp my self and wish to see it get more love. Tho doing it this way is not the right way. Yes STF's are easy with a pvp team and yes you can blaze them down one after the other with a good team. Forcing people into a pvp match for better gear is not the right way tho. More people then you know play this game just do to the fact it's Star Trek and don't like pvp so they don't play it.
Keep in mind all of that but you're going to be opening the door's for mass nerfing as well. When you force someone into pvp when they don't want to do it they don't know what to do and they don't want to learn what to do and all the know is they are killed in flash vs a good team and then they come on the site and try X is broken and Y is OP and so on.
Now before you say you'r forced to play STFs when you don't want to to get better gear keep in the pvp player base is much much much smaller then pve base and like Spock said "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" so the pvp player base is going to have suck it up and deal with STFs. No its not 100% fair but again smaller player base.
Because right now, there's no reason to PvP other than for the pew pew and lulz.
Further, PvP is the most challenging aspect of the game, no contest. There should be some sort of reward for excelling at it.
If people don't want to PvP for the gear, then they don't have to. Simply as that. They've already got Aegis, Borg, Breen, KHG, MACO, Omega, and now the Jem'Hadar sets that they can get. They don't need to have the PvP gear.
You answer your own question when it comes to being 'fair'
But, you're right, it is problematic to design a way to obtain the sets. Pugs v Premade will always end poorly for the pugs. That's why I suggested having a positive K/D ratio in X number of matches, not necessarily wins.
It would be better to give something on the lines of a EDC. say you get 1 if you lose the match and 2-3 if you win the match. Splitting gear into PvP and PvE is not something I was never big on.
What should be done is have zone with pvp and whatever said side owns the zone then they they can buy stuff cheaper. Say a MACO MK XII shield for 20 ECD and not 40. Give them something REALLY worth fighting over and not just gear sets alone.
Speaking of... I could see them doing something like that with the territory control system (if it ever comes to be). Maybe even new sets that are awarded for capturing key systems.
Take at little more and make in the game ships cheaper as well. right now a T5 ship goes for i think 120,000 D that would be knocked down to say 60,000 for the owning side. The zone would have its own star base as well for thing kind of thing.
Having the best gear exclusive to a specific task devalues all of the other high end gear that's available for DIlithium and crafting (which, oh yeah, uses DIlithium). This in turn devalues Dilithium, which isn't a great idea since the Dilithium Exchange is supposed to be our method of attaining CStore stuff in-game, thus the idea should be to avoid doing things which compromise the worth of DIlithium.
STFs already offer repeatable avenues for Dilithium which Explores and the like don't offer, and the same could be applied to PvP (beyond the few avenues it already has). Those rewards could even be increased. Might even make sense to have some kind of rare token drop in Elite STFs and to regularly high performing PvPers which might, when used, allow for added Dilithium to be refined per day to further increase the associated benefits. Thus the more difficult content has a "leg up" in collecting Dilithium, and would be rewarded with greater purchasing power which could go toward the top gear via Dilithium vendors, or into the Dilithium Exchange allowing them to take greater advantage of the CStore.
That would give adequate compensation for the task without compromising the value of Dilithium, thus harming the DIlithium/CPoint exchange rate.
This would also help alleviate the rather nasty feedback concerning the salvage drop rate.
Another thing I would like to see is the PUG que where you can only que up solo to fight against other people who have qued up solo.
but sets arent going anywhere, and pvp deserves attention, so their should be sets associated with it. as far a sets go, 3 sets total, 1 focusing on attacking, tanking and debuffing might be good. mixed and matched with ship and captain type could create some interesting combinations.
unique bonus could include attack pattern debuffs effecting shields too, and any other number of things that slightly boost station powers. nothing needs to be over the top, and it would be best if the bonuses specifically boost you in ways only useful in pvp.
Say there were are selection of engines, deflectors, and consoles, which could be used in pretty much any combination; and then 'blank' shields, which have no special traits of their own, but which gain qualities depending on what other PvP gear you have equipped. Some of these qualities could be pretty generic, while others would be specifically designed with PvP in mind.
You want something that just has cap, regen, and resists equivalent to PvE sets? You can do that. You want something that'll give you a resistance to more exotic things like sub-nuc, or theta? You can do that too. Want something that'll do a bit of both? Sure, why not.
Kinda like the custom kits the devs have talked about from time to time.
That's an interesting idea, never thought of that before.
It'd be awesome to be able to swap out your shields depending on what you're facing, but not lose your set bonuses. Regeneratives vs heavy shield drain, Resilients vs sustained DPS, etc etc.
Dude, balance went out the airlock a long time ago. I second the ops idea.