+1 Great idea to show the game isn't just about DPS
Erm? That weapons one is ALL about DPS.
But it's nice to see cruisers finally get a use that escorts can't do, maybe my Galaxy X will finally be able to do the damage it was always intended to do. It's also nice to see ways for tanks to be able to draw fire, maybe it will help my jem dreadnought (aka damage magnet) survive if we have someone drawing fire.
Now all we need to break the tyranny of Escorts is an upgraded sci-vessel (although they seem incredibly hard to save, with minimal weapons and hull and relying solely on their shields and slowly recharging abilities).
If you can't solve it logically, solve it like a moron.
51 + 1 Foundry Character Slots is NOT enough. Some of us love our characters. If I want to buy more character slots, why can't I? I couldn't experience the entire Delta Recruitment event without deleting a character.
The Iconians themselves can't time travel because their memories revert, but there is nothing to say an Iconian couldn't write everything she needed to do on a PADD, pin it to herself, travel back, read the PADD, do the tasks and return. Or just get one of her Non-Herald underlings to go back in time for her.
Oh yeah, I do Foundry missions for both KDFs and Feds. Just search KSTF (Short for Kinas Special Task Force, where Kinas is the name of the Admiral you will be serving under). The earlier ones are less story based and more combat based, while the later ones have a much heavier story element, but keep the large battles.
The thing I'm really worried about is that this is going to lead to further power creep.
There needs to be some kind of balancing mechanic that adds a negative factor at the same time you are using these positive features.
Trust me, you won't get people away from their precious escorts that easily, Making the cruiser a viable weapon won't stop the blight of escorts, although it will make the random odyssey horde a bit more useful for tanking (the oddy has some of the best tanking abilities without fleet ships).
If you can't solve it logically, solve it like a moron.
51 + 1 Foundry Character Slots is NOT enough. Some of us love our characters. If I want to buy more character slots, why can't I? I couldn't experience the entire Delta Recruitment event without deleting a character.
The Iconians themselves can't time travel because their memories revert, but there is nothing to say an Iconian couldn't write everything she needed to do on a PADD, pin it to herself, travel back, read the PADD, do the tasks and return. Or just get one of her Non-Herald underlings to go back in time for her.
Oh yeah, I do Foundry missions for both KDFs and Feds. Just search KSTF (Short for Kinas Special Task Force, where Kinas is the name of the Admiral you will be serving under). The earlier ones are less story based and more combat based, while the later ones have a much heavier story element, but keep the large battles.
Trust me, you won't get people away from their precious escorts that easily, Making the cruiser a viable weapon won't stop the blight of escorts, although it will make the random odyssey horde a bit more useful for tanking (the oddy has some of the best tanking abilities without fleet ships).
They'll flock to the "Battle Cruiser" escort now. More durable, tougher, more damage potential with 5 fore weapons... Yeah, they jump to that if they can.
Trust me, you won't get people away from their precious escorts that easily, Making the cruiser a viable weapon won't stop the blight of escorts, although it will make the random odyssey horde a bit more useful for tanking (the oddy has some of the best tanking abilities without fleet ships).
Um, that isn't what I posted about. I was talking about how Comm Arrays would increase the effectiveness of Escorts.
Really they dont, drain mechanics arent a issue for Escorts to the degree they are to Cruisers and the only thing that escorts might get is some shield resistance as long they stay near a cruiser, this mean in PvP Cruisers get their role back in, the other 2 powers arent much because maneuverability isnt a escort problem and being shoot at is nothing Escorts want to be at (I would say its useless in PvP and just helps for Cruisers to gain and hold aggro in PvE).
Your position is pretty much anything "increase the effectiveness of Escorts" regardless of actual use, for a Escort this isnt much and its not going to change tactics outside PvP were team play within 5km is now encouraged, Cryptic doesnt want to turn Cruisers into Uber Escorts and this is a solution, still not something that solves everything but at least its something that improves Cruisers.
Plus, how can this increase the effectiveness of Escorts when someone have to fly a Cruiser? after all if everyone is flying Escorts because this "increases the effectiveness of Escorts" who the hell is flying the Cruiser?
Me. I will fly the cruiser. It will be amazing. I will only turn on the good stuff once the escorts have taken off out of range.
*steeples fingers* mwahahahahahaha
Inertia just means you can do Powerslides in you carrier!
I am Il Shadow and i approve these Shennanigans!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Really they dont, drain mechanics arent a issue for Escorts to the degree they are to Cruisers and the only thing that escorts might get is some shield resistance as long they stay near a cruiser, this mean in PvP Cruisers get their role back in, the other 2 powers arent much because maneuverability isnt a escort problem and being shoot at is nothing Escorts want to be at (I would say its useless in PvP and just helps for Cruisers to gain and hold aggro in PvE).
Your position is pretty much anything "increase the effectiveness of Escorts" regardless of actual use, for a Escort this isnt much and its not going to change tactics outside PvP were team play within 5km is now encouraged, Cryptic doesnt want to turn Cruisers into Uber Escorts and this is a solution, still not something that solves everything but at least its something that improves Cruisers.
Plus, how can this increase the effectiveness of Escorts when someone have to fly a Cruiser? after all if everyone is flying Escorts because this "increases the effectiveness of Escorts" who the hell is flying the Cruiser?
The Best PvP Teams, always had a strong Cruiser captain providing heal support. And 5km is still a very effective team when you need to stay close for heals and Extend Shield support.
In PvE, this new Cruiser support is easily going to make CE Elite, ESTFs and even NWS a bit easier with since you can easily stay within 5km during these events.
So my assessment stands, it will lead to further power creep.
Ok I was not over excited by the new Avenger - but now you just got another sale:P
However, please to prevent any tears from me - give her a 9+ turn to put her into the range of KDF battle crusiers and the new Monbash.
I mean 5 forward guns - really needs a 10 turn - similar to the Vor'cha
Or for my case since I will get the C-store and the fleet
10 turn on the c-store and 11 turn on the fleet would be a really nice incentive for me to buy about 6 mods to outfit all relevant toons with the fleet version.
I really think the 10% booster should apply to turn and not just hull and shield mod.
I didn't think much of the Avenger class either but it looks like what's on the inside does count for something after all. Cryptic defo made another sale here too.
As for the turn rate buff on cruisers I think all ships with a 10 or under turn rate should be able to use this new skill in order to stay competitive.
Players lead to power creep who doesn't want the next shiny thing in the store/lock box?
If high end gear never sold then they wouldn't bother to produce it, especially where players are looking for that edge that will help them kill the opposition that much faster. New ships don't automatically make your ships obsolete that is just a perception and some people will buy it just because it is new and different. I have a couple ships with just Mk X common weapons and they perform fine in elite stfs runs, I have the gear in the bank to upgrade them if I choose to but they work fine as is so why buy the newest shiny object?
Frankly, its because it is new and different and players love to tinker and see how much we can improve on the original design. We can't change boff layouts, but we can switch out weapon/consoles, etc thus satisfying our need to make it the best it can be to our satisfaction.
Let's just hope the Cruiser Commands will have enough magnitude to really make a difference.
But i still don't trust Cryptic when they boost Crusiers, something bad is coming... i can smell it...
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
Question, is the difference between a hanger of fighters and a battlecruiser with weapons efficiency and DHCs the same?
I'm a little sad/concerned that flight deck cruisers are being shoe horned into tanking only duties.
Adding either strategic manoeuvres or weapons efficiency to FDCs would at least allow for some role variability. I could see manoeuvres making a FDC that could keep up to a degree with faster moving escorts providing fighter support. They've got better turn rates than the average cruiser so would be conducive to that.
Weapons efficiency would help make up for the lack of tac boff slots (only 2!), hanger certainly helps but compared to dropping something like APB2 with DHCs for a hanger and beams with FAW it doesn't compare.
Please consider including either for a 3rd option!
Also why don't cruiser commands effect fighter class crafts? imo they don't last long enough to activate their special powers more than once or twice in battle most of the time. Having a cruiser around buffing them would be nice.
We have numbers on weapons efficiency, 25%, any numbers on shield regen boost or turn rate speed boost amounts?
Command ? Shield Frequency Modulation: This Command boosts the shield regeneration rate and shield hardness of the cruiser and nearby allies.
So shield regen is basically irrelevant unless its like 200% boosts imo, but what does "hardness mean"? Resiliency? Because THAT I would like very much!
And possibly to proc the beam hits with a small tractor beam repulsor effect to simulate the size of the hit. The smaller the ship the more it would be jarred by the beam, especially when the hull is hit directly possibly debuffing the target's accuracy rating slightly.
I do like that idea, however 8 beams jarring constantly could maybe turn it into an always on quasi TBR effect. A tad exploity.
Would certainly be fun to test such an idea out though!
Let's just hope the Cruiser Commands will have enough magnitude to really make a difference.
But i still don't trust Cryptic when they boost Crusiers, something bad is coming... i can smell it...
Well, you shouldn't ask about the magnitude (some of the abilities are discribed in the blog), ask about the range. What is "nearby" in this context?
25% reduced Powerdrain from directed Energy-Attacks, they just killed the torpedo-boats completly.
I understand that they want these new abilities to bring a little more balance into the game, since Romulan ships were a little overpowered with their singularity-abilities. Now they don't get anything (just like the Jem'Hadar Dreadnaught), at least they do not plan to give the Warbirds any bonuses.
But the singularity-abilities are just applied to yourself, those are not team-buffs.
Let's take "Shield Frequency Modulation" as an example: If it gives you about 10% shield damage resistance (so 10% more capacity and 10% higher regeneration in the end), FED and KDF Cruisers are almost unkillable now.
What's about SCI-ships like the Vesta? It doesn't get the new bonusses. Is annoying the enemies in PvP everything they are designed for? Do you plan anything like boosting sensor-analysis (well, don't forget that the Tal Shiar Battlecruiser has got Sensor-Analysis, too) to compensate these new boosts to cruisers?
What's about Escorts? How are they supposed to kill a good Cruiser-Captain now? Some Cruisers are able to hold back 3 or 4 Escorts, with these new boosts, they could maybe hold back a full team of 5 escorts.
So, if all these new Cruiser-Buffs are worth more then a Tribble-Buff, then you've done a lot for the balance in the game... SCI-ships are a waste of cruisers now, Escorts don't buff your whole team, Romulans are (selfish) outsiders again.
You saw a new kind of balance? Where?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
If Star Trek Online was an Open-Source (GPL) Game, we would have a low-grind fork.
Escorts and Sci Ships do get a bonus, by staying in formation with the Cruisers they can get a shield resistance buff from Shield Frequency Modulation. If you operate an Escort or Sci Ship with a Cruiser the Escort or Sci Ship gets a buff!
With these new Cruiser abilities having a small 5 km Radius but the possibility of overlapping AOE buffs we are going to have to see tactics other than the normal Fed Ball. Players are going to have to start using some real formation tactics.
This might be the best thing in STO in a long time, now we got Carriers to provide fighter support, Cruisers to provide C2 systems, Science ships for the EW systems, and escorts to be the shooters for the task force. We got an actual battlegroup forming up here!
Does this mean we are going to have people screaming, "get close to me because I am team leader" in the chat box?
- visual FX:
omg is there an OFF button for those?
because red circles around Star Trek Starships were seen so often in Star Trek.
Seriously FX team step up your game. I want a friggen 3D satellite dish on my Ships and not more annoying neon blinky FX that no one can distinguish anymore in this FX mess you created.
- team buffs for cruisers?
this game is all about who has the most DPS or Tankiness and my Cruiser buffs my teammates who, in most of the maps, are either too far away (Vault Ensnared), or are competing with me (CE). Why would i want to buff my teammates in Crystaline Entity if that increases THEIR numbers instead of just mine?
From an egoistical perspective i'd rather take the extra slots for Armor that were talked about earlier... those are out of the window now of course.
Also why would Escorts CARE enough about a bit more dps or shields to wait for that slow Cruiser? They can already steamroll and tank everything the game throws at them anyway. Why slow down to wait and actually "escort" a cruiser? NO ONE WILL DO THIS!
Very situational and obsolete power creep and instead of making Cruisers better, it makes everyone else better too, including the OP Escorts.
- UI:
why does this stuff always have to go in the weapons tray? ...ugh this thing keeps getting fatter and fatter...
- in-universe realism:
HOW do "Advanced Com Arrays" increase Shield strength?
DON'T CARE! MORE BIGGER NUMBERS = AWESOME!!!!! *derp*
- hooray for PvP Space Ship Balls:
ever played Arena PvP? awesome, you just ADDED a reason to stay piled up in one big ball of DPS, i had hoped at some point these Space Balls would be given a reason to split up instead of just sitting there and steamrolling everyone who comes into range.
but: lol PvP!... right?
- exclusive on the new C-Store ship...
yepp right, we need at least *some* Pay 2 Win carrot to sell the new ugly Lego Boat so slap a default new mechanic on it first that will be given away later at an undisclosed date (nothing happening before Season 8 anyway), so everyone who buys it will get nothing out of it after all.
- will there at least be a Com Array ITEM to slot on the Ship that increases power levels? You know... like the Singularity Cores make Warbirds special powers a little better?
Oh i know, it will come in form of more Pay 2 Win LockBox DOffs and Traits... right?!
- visual FX:
omg is there an OFF button for those?
because red circles around Star Trek Starships were seen so often in Star Trek.
Seriously FX team step up your game. I want a friggen 3D satellite dish on my Ships and not more annoying neon blinky FX that no one can distinguish anymore in this FX mess you created.
Circles only appear in the first few seconds of activation. Been dev-confirmed like twice now.
- team buffs for cruisers?
this game is all about who has the most DPS or Tankiness and my Cruiser buffs my teammates who, in most of the maps, are either too far away (Vault Ensnared), or are competing with me (CE). Why would i want to buff my teammates in Crystaline Entity if that increases THEIR numbers instead of just mine?
From an egoistical perspective i'd rather take the extra slots for Armor that were talked about earlier... those are out of the window now of course.
Also why would Escorts CARE enough about a bit more dps or shields to wait for that slow Cruiser? They can already steamroll and tank everything the game throws at them anyway. Why slow down to wait and actually "escort" a cruiser? NO ONE WILL DO THIS!
Very situational and obsolete power creep and instead of making Cruisers better, it makes everyone else better too, including the OP Escorts.
Can't have you cake and eat it. Either the escorts will care about the buff or they won't. But complaining about eogistically hogging a buff nobody cares about doesn't make sense.
- UI:
why does this stuff always have to go in the weapons tray? ...ugh this thing keeps getting fatter and fatter...
Set all weapons to auto, draw one of them to the skill tray, add the comm skills to the skill tray. Turn weapons tray off. There you go, freed up some space. Or use one of the other great ways of adjusting the HUD the game throws at you.
- hooray for PvP Space Ship Balls:
ever played Arena PvP? awesome, you just ADDED a reason to stay piled up in one big ball of DPS, i had hoped at some point these Space Balls would be given a reason to split up instead of just sitting there and steamrolling everyone who comes into range.
but: lol PvP!... right?
Stay in formation and get a buff, break formation in case of an AoE attack. If the grav well eats you, its your own fault for not having Polarize Hull.
- exclusive on the new C-Store ship...
yepp right, we need at least *some* Pay 2 Win carrot to sell the new ugly Lego Boat so slap a default new mechanic on it first that will be given away later at an undisclosed date (nothing happening before Season 8 anyway), so everyone who buys it will get nothing out of it after all.
You don't even care about it. Might aswell wait the 2 weeks it takes to spread.
- will there at least be a Com Array ITEM to slot on the Ship that increases power levels? You know... like the Singularity Cores make Warbirds special powers a little better?
Oh i know, it will come in form of more Pay 2 Win LockBox DOffs and Traits...
Do science ships slot a special sensor array for their stuff to work? Do escorts slot anything for their inherent speed def bonus or their ability to mount cannons?
The Cruiser Commands will affect non-small craft allies. This excludes things like torpedoes, mines and hangar pets. It includes things like saucer separation and pet toggles like those on the Bortasqu and Monbosh Battleship.
Regards,
Phil "Gorngonzolla" Zeleski
What about Birds of Prey or Fer'Jai frigates? Or JHAS pets? :P
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
[A] Currently the cruiser commands have a 5km radius.
Sorry...
That is WAY to small and makes all this beautiful flashy stuff absolutely useless in Teamplay...
Sure, the cruiser itself gets all the stuff but NO OTHER SHIP EVER will be near enough in actual combat to receive the Bonus...
The only times I am that near another ship is when my Cam is focused on the enemy and I simply don't see that other Ship and that lasts around... 2-3 Seconds until I'm at min. 10km again...
I guess that is deliberate... Give the Cruiser Captains something flashy but absolutely inconsequential to gameplay so they just shut the hell up and you don't need to design new stuff,. so you can keep it all on the "Only Escorts matter!" track...
Edit: But I guess that was as much as we could have hoped for we get after that aweful interview and all this "There's nothing wrong with Cruisers, Science Ships and Escorts... I see plenty of all at ESD!" as I have foretold in that thread...
What about Birds of Prey or Fer'Jai frigates? Or JHAS pets? :P
Those are hangar-pets, so no bonus for those.
Well, a buff to cruisers... But cruisers are designed for Engineers, so an Engineer can get the most out of their large hull (both can be called tanks).
Now the "Shield Frequency Modulation" is clearly something I'd call "SCI-Magic". Cruisers shouldn't get access to such an ability, at least it shouldn't work that way. Think about the "Science Fleet" - the ability of Science-Players - , it reduced the damage that shields take, so the first Player-Ability that you converted into an AoE-Cruiser thingy.
You can still get Shield-Resistance through the Powerlevel your Shields have got and the Powerlevel also increases the regeneration. So this Cruiser-Ability could be explained this way or as an AoE-Extend-Shields.
This way the "Shield Frequency Modulation" could be the ability you are adding to SCI-Ships next week.
The problem is still: Romulans are excluded from all this stuff. If they would get a nerfed (maybe 50%) Version of all these abilities, it would be balanced a bit better. Romulans have got still reduced Powerlevels (160 in total, instead of 200 for FED/KDF), if they don't get these abilities, you could at least think about giving them a little compensation.
You should also think about the Marion-Doff: Those Cruisers that get the Weapon System Efficency will be able to have high Weapons-Power all the time.
As an Engineer - at least as a Romulan Engineer - you would still need Nadeon Inversion for that effect.
So both - the Marion-Doff and the Captains-Power - can be replaced by this AoE Buff...
"Attract Fire", this is just a copy of Attack-Pattern Delta with the Threat increasing Doff, except for the AoE Damage-Resistance Buff. Now think about "Engineering Fleet", that ability gives your whole team a Damage-Resistance Buff.
Again, you converted a Doff-Boff-Combination or a Player-Ability into a Cruiser-only AoE-Ability.
I don't see anything that would replace the "Tactical Fleet", that +30% All-Damage Buff to your whole team, so all this is designed to replace Science- and Engineer-Players, you want to see Tactical Captains in Cruisers.
Now we can see the reason for not giving the Jem'Hadar Dreadnaught any of these Buffs, the itemized Console Attack-Pattern combined with these Cruiser Abilities would be too strong.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
If Star Trek Online was an Open-Source (GPL) Game, we would have a low-grind fork.
Stay in formation and get a buff, break formation in case of an AoE attack. If the grav well eats you, its your own fault for not having Polarize Hull.
Actually, Polarize Hull only helps with tractor beams. It doesn't do anything for Grav Well.
In PvE, this new Cruiser support is easily going to make CE Elite, ESTFs and even NWS a bit easier with since you can easily stay within 5km during these events.
You can't stay within 5 km of each other in NWS. Unless the transport does the aura...
I completely agree. An MMO is about teamwork, and about cooperation. Admittedly since another MMO came out I have been over there being a fantasy little self, but with this I am certain to get back on STO for more than just dailies to really enjoy the aspect of what I do best - support.
wtf is with that shield stat and I agree... it should be a max 1.15, also should have lower hull then regent, while higher then excelsior, hell both ships are broken with those stats. Heck I'd even go as far to say a lot of fed cruisers are shafted.
Give it a com tac,and lt com engi, ensign sci, lt tac and lt engi. less shields 1.1 fleet, less hull then regent... Along with the 5 fore and 3 back. It would be different enough.
Don't worry over figures. The fleet Armitage has a bugger hull and shield rating than a jemmy attack ship.
But in practice my attack ships stands up to the battering a lot better than my fleet Armitage.
Sorry...
That is WAY to small and makes all this beautiful flashy stuff absolutely useless in Teamplay...
Sure, the cruiser itself gets all the stuff but NO OTHER SHIP EVER will be near enough in actual combat to receive the Bonus...
The only times I am that near another ship is when my Cam is focused on the enemy and I simply don't see that other Ship and that lasts around... 2-3 Seconds until I'm at min. 10km again...
I guess that is deliberate... Give the Cruiser Captains something flashy but absolutely inconsequential to gameplay so they just shut the hell up and you don't need to design new stuff,. so you can keep it all on the "Only Escorts matter!" track...
Edit: But I guess that was as much as we could have hoped for we get after that aweful interview and all this "There's nothing wrong with Cruisers, Science Ships and Escorts... I see plenty of all at ESD!" as I have foretold in that thread...
Ok, some people read a few other Threads in this Forums, too. Let me give you one link: Improving Beam Arrays and Cruisers.
This link is the last post of the Thread, the linked videos show you how a Scimitar can act, but most other cruisers can act the same way.
Now if that Scimitar would have got one of those AoE-Buffs, too, it would be almost unstopable :P
The new Avenger Class will be almost a copy of the Scimitar (if the Screenshot shows really the Avengers Weapons-Tray, it won't have a Hangar), but it gets those nice AoE-Buffs (that at least apply to the own ship).
What are you thinking about "underpowered Cruisers" now? Feel free to read a little more of that Thread, there are links to Threads "Cruisers are so overpowered" in it.
Cryptic/Perfect World might think that last weeks patch helped Science-Captains a lot, but they changed Boff-Abilities, that can be used on Escorts/Cruisers, too. But other Science-Boff abilities are still (almost) useless. Does anybody here use Photonic Officer or maybe Tachyon-Beam (outside Crystalline Cataclysm)?
With these changes to Cruisers, more changes are needed, but changes to SCI-ships and Escorts.
One possibility would be to alter the Damage Control Engineer (I think most Cruisers are using Aux2Bat at the moment): If the purple Damage Control Engineer had a 100% chance to reduce the recharge-time of Emergency Power Abilities by 7.5 seconds (let's say 8 seconds to give you a little overlap), you could use 2 different of these abilities the whole time on an Escort/Science-Ship (at the cost of 1 Doff-Slot).
So (short version): Aux2Bat remains unchanged and not nerfed (you still need 2 copies of Aux2Bat and 3 Technician-Doffs), all other ships can use 2 different Emergency-Power Abilities the whole time (and need just a single Doff for that).
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
If Star Trek Online was an Open-Source (GPL) Game, we would have a low-grind fork.
The post I quoted first said "will affect non-small craft allies", then said it excludes "hangar pets". One does not equate to the other for the following reasons:
There are non-hangar pets that are still small craft - Scorpions.
Furthermore, there are hangar pets that are not small craft, as outlined in my post.
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
- visual FX:
omg is there an OFF button for those?
because red circles around Star Trek Starships were seen so often in Star Trek.
Seriously FX team step up your game. I want a friggen 3D satellite dish on my Ships and not more annoying neon blinky FX that no one can distinguish anymore in this FX mess you created.
- team buffs for cruisers?
this game is all about who has the most DPS or Tankiness and my Cruiser buffs my teammates who, in most of the maps, are either too far away (Vault Ensnared), or are competing with me (CE). Why would i want to buff my teammates in Crystaline Entity if that increases THEIR numbers instead of just mine?
From an egoistical perspective i'd rather take the extra slots for Armor that were talked about earlier... those are out of the window now of course.
Also why would Escorts CARE enough about a bit more dps or shields to wait for that slow Cruiser? They can already steamroll and tank everything the game throws at them anyway. Why slow down to wait and actually "escort" a cruiser? NO ONE WILL DO THIS!
Very situational and obsolete power creep and instead of making Cruisers better, it makes everyone else better too, including the OP Escorts.
- UI:
why does this stuff always have to go in the weapons tray? ...ugh this thing keeps getting fatter and fatter...
- in-universe realism:
HOW do "Advanced Com Arrays" increase Shield strength?
DON'T CARE! MORE BIGGER NUMBERS = AWESOME!!!!! *derp*
- hooray for PvP Space Ship Balls:
ever played Arena PvP? awesome, you just ADDED a reason to stay piled up in one big ball of DPS, i had hoped at some point these Space Balls would be given a reason to split up instead of just sitting there and steamrolling everyone who comes into range.
but: lol PvP!... right?
- exclusive on the new C-Store ship...
yepp right, we need at least *some* Pay 2 Win carrot to sell the new ugly Lego Boat so slap a default new mechanic on it first that will be given away later at an undisclosed date (nothing happening before Season 8 anyway), so everyone who buys it will get nothing out of it after all.
- will there at least be a Com Array ITEM to slot on the Ship that increases power levels? You know... like the Singularity Cores make Warbirds special powers a little better?
Oh i know, it will come in form of more Pay 2 Win LockBox DOffs and Traits... right?!
... *sigh*
it was said the fx is just on activation by Brandon in teh dev blog
team buff doesn't have to be activated so you are find for CE, really if you heal a lot in CE there is no way to lose first place, look for the other 5 that are not on your team, find the guys that take a lot of damage.
Also teh armor slots are likely still happening because they want to add a second deflector to sci ships and other stuff.
Brandon also said the cruiser commands can be put in your power tray like anything else.
PvE Jem'Hadar motto:Participation Ribbonsare life.
With these changes to Cruisers, more changes are needed, but changes to SCI-ships and Escorts.
One possibility would be to alter the Damage Control Engineer (I think most Cruisers are using Aux2Bat at the moment): If the purple Damage Control Engineer had a 100% chance to reduce the recharge-time of Emergency Power Abilities by 7.5 seconds (let's say 8 seconds to give you a little overlap), you could use 2 different of these abilities the whole time on an Escort/Science-Ship (at the cost of 1 Doff-Slot).
So (short version): Aux2Bat remains unchanged and not nerfed (you still need 2 copies of Aux2Bat and 3 Technician-Doffs), all other ships can use 2 different Emergency-Power Abilities the whole time (and need just a single Doff for that).
I use 2 blue damage control engineers on most of my ships to swap between 2 different emergency powers. It works perfectly fine. Each power lasts 30 seconds so every time you run one 2 doffs give you 2 30% chances to reduce all emergency power CD's 15 1/3 or 15 seconds. Thats all you need. If by chance it didn't work the first time you get 2 more chances when you run the second power. Very, very rarely have I had an issue with this at all. Now if I was only using one emergency power I might need 3 purple doffs. But alternating between two powers 2 blue doffs is all you need.
Your your suggestion doesn't really add anything that can't already be done
It's actually really really simple and you guys seem to keep blowing the fact out of your mind.
This is an ability for CRUISERS Warbirds are not cruisers guys so get that out of your head. Destroyers, raptors and other stuff aren't getting it either. So learn to deal.
Yes & No. Not all warbirds are Cruisers, but some are. Romulan warbirds have two distinct features, the singularity core (vs warp core) and the battle cloak. The term "warbird" would be better understood as "vessel" or "starship" which have these two abilities.
However, within the Romulan warbird category there are all the classes the other two factions have. Science ships, escorts, and, yes, "cruisers." Reread the following two posts and you will see this:
Notice that the wording in LoR Dev Blog #16. "D?deridex Warbird Battle Cruiser Retrofit" this vessel, which is both a warbird as in Romulan "vessel," is also a "cruiser."
Further, if you look at LoR Dev post #29, you will notice the posting of "Romulan Dreadnought Warbirds" This is because they they are warbirds, having the two above mentioned abilities, as well as being in the "dreadnought class.
So, I maintain my argument, if the singularity has a -40 power to offset the warp cores, then why does the Romulan cruisers not get this ability?
Comments
There needs to be some kind of balancing mechanic that adds a negative factor at the same time you are using these positive features.
Erm? That weapons one is ALL about DPS.
But it's nice to see cruisers finally get a use that escorts can't do, maybe my Galaxy X will finally be able to do the damage it was always intended to do. It's also nice to see ways for tanks to be able to draw fire, maybe it will help my jem dreadnought (aka damage magnet) survive if we have someone drawing fire.
Now all we need to break the tyranny of Escorts is an upgraded sci-vessel (although they seem incredibly hard to save, with minimal weapons and hull and relying solely on their shields and slowly recharging abilities).
Trust me, you won't get people away from their precious escorts that easily, Making the cruiser a viable weapon won't stop the blight of escorts, although it will make the random odyssey horde a bit more useful for tanking (the oddy has some of the best tanking abilities without fleet ships).
They'll flock to the "Battle Cruiser" escort now. More durable, tougher, more damage potential with 5 fore weapons... Yeah, they jump to that if they can.
Um, that isn't what I posted about. I was talking about how Comm Arrays would increase the effectiveness of Escorts.
Me. I will fly the cruiser. It will be amazing. I will only turn on the good stuff once the escorts have taken off out of range.
*steeples fingers* mwahahahahahaha
I am Il Shadow and i approve these Shennanigans!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The Best PvP Teams, always had a strong Cruiser captain providing heal support. And 5km is still a very effective team when you need to stay close for heals and Extend Shield support.
In PvE, this new Cruiser support is easily going to make CE Elite, ESTFs and even NWS a bit easier with since you can easily stay within 5km during these events.
So my assessment stands, it will lead to further power creep.
I didn't think much of the Avenger class either but it looks like what's on the inside does count for something after all. Cryptic defo made another sale here too.
As for the turn rate buff on cruisers I think all ships with a 10 or under turn rate should be able to use this new skill in order to stay competitive.
If high end gear never sold then they wouldn't bother to produce it, especially where players are looking for that edge that will help them kill the opposition that much faster. New ships don't automatically make your ships obsolete that is just a perception and some people will buy it just because it is new and different. I have a couple ships with just Mk X common weapons and they perform fine in elite stfs runs, I have the gear in the bank to upgrade them if I choose to but they work fine as is so why buy the newest shiny object?
Frankly, its because it is new and different and players love to tinker and see how much we can improve on the original design. We can't change boff layouts, but we can switch out weapon/consoles, etc thus satisfying our need to make it the best it can be to our satisfaction.
But i still don't trust Cryptic when they boost Crusiers, something bad is coming... i can smell it...
Question, is the difference between a hanger of fighters and a battlecruiser with weapons efficiency and DHCs the same?
I'm a little sad/concerned that flight deck cruisers are being shoe horned into tanking only duties.
Adding either strategic manoeuvres or weapons efficiency to FDCs would at least allow for some role variability. I could see manoeuvres making a FDC that could keep up to a degree with faster moving escorts providing fighter support. They've got better turn rates than the average cruiser so would be conducive to that.
Weapons efficiency would help make up for the lack of tac boff slots (only 2!), hanger certainly helps but compared to dropping something like APB2 with DHCs for a hanger and beams with FAW it doesn't compare.
Please consider including either for a 3rd option!
Also why don't cruiser commands effect fighter class crafts? imo they don't last long enough to activate their special powers more than once or twice in battle most of the time. Having a cruiser around buffing them would be nice.
We have numbers on weapons efficiency, 25%, any numbers on shield regen boost or turn rate speed boost amounts?
So shield regen is basically irrelevant unless its like 200% boosts imo, but what does "hardness mean"? Resiliency? Because THAT I would like very much!
I do like that idea, however 8 beams jarring constantly could maybe turn it into an always on quasi TBR effect. A tad exploity.
Would certainly be fun to test such an idea out though!
Well, you shouldn't ask about the magnitude (some of the abilities are discribed in the blog), ask about the range. What is "nearby" in this context?
25% reduced Powerdrain from directed Energy-Attacks, they just killed the torpedo-boats completly.
I understand that they want these new abilities to bring a little more balance into the game, since Romulan ships were a little overpowered with their singularity-abilities. Now they don't get anything (just like the Jem'Hadar Dreadnaught), at least they do not plan to give the Warbirds any bonuses.
But the singularity-abilities are just applied to yourself, those are not team-buffs.
Let's take "Shield Frequency Modulation" as an example: If it gives you about 10% shield damage resistance (so 10% more capacity and 10% higher regeneration in the end), FED and KDF Cruisers are almost unkillable now.
What's about SCI-ships like the Vesta? It doesn't get the new bonusses. Is annoying the enemies in PvP everything they are designed for? Do you plan anything like boosting sensor-analysis (well, don't forget that the Tal Shiar Battlecruiser has got Sensor-Analysis, too) to compensate these new boosts to cruisers?
What's about Escorts? How are they supposed to kill a good Cruiser-Captain now? Some Cruisers are able to hold back 3 or 4 Escorts, with these new boosts, they could maybe hold back a full team of 5 escorts.
So, if all these new Cruiser-Buffs are worth more then a Tribble-Buff, then you've done a lot for the balance in the game... SCI-ships are a waste of cruisers now, Escorts don't buff your whole team, Romulans are (selfish) outsiders again.
You saw a new kind of balance? Where?
If Star Trek Online was an Open-Source (GPL) Game, we would have a low-grind fork.
No thanks.
- visual FX:
omg is there an OFF button for those?
because red circles around Star Trek Starships were seen so often in Star Trek.
Seriously FX team step up your game. I want a friggen 3D satellite dish on my Ships and not more annoying neon blinky FX that no one can distinguish anymore in this FX mess you created.
- team buffs for cruisers?
this game is all about who has the most DPS or Tankiness and my Cruiser buffs my teammates who, in most of the maps, are either too far away (Vault Ensnared), or are competing with me (CE). Why would i want to buff my teammates in Crystaline Entity if that increases THEIR numbers instead of just mine?
From an egoistical perspective i'd rather take the extra slots for Armor that were talked about earlier... those are out of the window now of course.
Also why would Escorts CARE enough about a bit more dps or shields to wait for that slow Cruiser? They can already steamroll and tank everything the game throws at them anyway. Why slow down to wait and actually "escort" a cruiser? NO ONE WILL DO THIS!
Very situational and obsolete power creep and instead of making Cruisers better, it makes everyone else better too, including the OP Escorts.
- UI:
why does this stuff always have to go in the weapons tray? ...ugh this thing keeps getting fatter and fatter...
- in-universe realism:
HOW do "Advanced Com Arrays" increase Shield strength?
DON'T CARE! MORE BIGGER NUMBERS = AWESOME!!!!! *derp*
- hooray for PvP Space Ship Balls:
ever played Arena PvP? awesome, you just ADDED a reason to stay piled up in one big ball of DPS, i had hoped at some point these Space Balls would be given a reason to split up instead of just sitting there and steamrolling everyone who comes into range.
but: lol PvP!... right?
- exclusive on the new C-Store ship...
yepp right, we need at least *some* Pay 2 Win carrot to sell the new ugly Lego Boat so slap a default new mechanic on it first that will be given away later at an undisclosed date (nothing happening before Season 8 anyway), so everyone who buys it will get nothing out of it after all.
- will there at least be a Com Array ITEM to slot on the Ship that increases power levels? You know... like the Singularity Cores make Warbirds special powers a little better?
Oh i know, it will come in form of more Pay 2 Win LockBox DOffs and Traits... right?!
... *sigh*
Circles only appear in the first few seconds of activation. Been dev-confirmed like twice now.
Can't have you cake and eat it. Either the escorts will care about the buff or they won't. But complaining about eogistically hogging a buff nobody cares about doesn't make sense.
Set all weapons to auto, draw one of them to the skill tray, add the comm skills to the skill tray. Turn weapons tray off. There you go, freed up some space. Or use one of the other great ways of adjusting the HUD the game throws at you.
"Fleet, set your channels to this frequency, we wil broadcast the enemy's weapon frequency. Cycle your shields accordingly."
Stay in formation and get a buff, break formation in case of an AoE attack. If the grav well eats you, its your own fault for not having Polarize Hull.
You don't even care about it. Might aswell wait the 2 weeks it takes to spread.
Do science ships slot a special sensor array for their stuff to work? Do escorts slot anything for their inherent speed def bonus or their ability to mount cannons?
What about Birds of Prey or Fer'Jai frigates? Or JHAS pets? :P
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
Read: HANGAR pets. o.O
"Last Engage! Magical Girl Origami-san" is in print! Now with three times more rainbows.
Support the "Armored Unicorn" vehicle initiative today!
Thanks for Harajuku. Now let's get a real "Magical Girl" costume!
Sorry...
That is WAY to small and makes all this beautiful flashy stuff absolutely useless in Teamplay...
Sure, the cruiser itself gets all the stuff but NO OTHER SHIP EVER will be near enough in actual combat to receive the Bonus...
The only times I am that near another ship is when my Cam is focused on the enemy and I simply don't see that other Ship and that lasts around... 2-3 Seconds until I'm at min. 10km again...
I guess that is deliberate...
Give the Cruiser Captains something flashy but absolutely inconsequential to gameplay so they just shut the hell up and you don't need to design new stuff,. so you can keep it all on the "Only Escorts matter!" track...
Edit: But I guess that was as much as we could have hoped for we get after that aweful interview and all this "There's nothing wrong with Cruisers, Science Ships and Escorts... I see plenty of all at ESD!" as I have foretold in that thread...
Those are hangar-pets, so no bonus for those.
Well, a buff to cruisers... But cruisers are designed for Engineers, so an Engineer can get the most out of their large hull (both can be called tanks).
Now the "Shield Frequency Modulation" is clearly something I'd call "SCI-Magic". Cruisers shouldn't get access to such an ability, at least it shouldn't work that way. Think about the "Science Fleet" - the ability of Science-Players - , it reduced the damage that shields take, so the first Player-Ability that you converted into an AoE-Cruiser thingy.
You can still get Shield-Resistance through the Powerlevel your Shields have got and the Powerlevel also increases the regeneration. So this Cruiser-Ability could be explained this way or as an AoE-Extend-Shields.
This way the "Shield Frequency Modulation" could be the ability you are adding to SCI-Ships next week.
The problem is still: Romulans are excluded from all this stuff. If they would get a nerfed (maybe 50%) Version of all these abilities, it would be balanced a bit better. Romulans have got still reduced Powerlevels (160 in total, instead of 200 for FED/KDF), if they don't get these abilities, you could at least think about giving them a little compensation.
You should also think about the Marion-Doff: Those Cruisers that get the Weapon System Efficency will be able to have high Weapons-Power all the time.
As an Engineer - at least as a Romulan Engineer - you would still need Nadeon Inversion for that effect.
So both - the Marion-Doff and the Captains-Power - can be replaced by this AoE Buff...
"Attract Fire", this is just a copy of Attack-Pattern Delta with the Threat increasing Doff, except for the AoE Damage-Resistance Buff. Now think about "Engineering Fleet", that ability gives your whole team a Damage-Resistance Buff.
Again, you converted a Doff-Boff-Combination or a Player-Ability into a Cruiser-only AoE-Ability.
I don't see anything that would replace the "Tactical Fleet", that +30% All-Damage Buff to your whole team, so all this is designed to replace Science- and Engineer-Players, you want to see Tactical Captains in Cruisers.
Now we can see the reason for not giving the Jem'Hadar Dreadnaught any of these Buffs, the itemized Console Attack-Pattern combined with these Cruiser Abilities would be too strong.
If Star Trek Online was an Open-Source (GPL) Game, we would have a low-grind fork.
Actually, Polarize Hull only helps with tractor beams. It doesn't do anything for Grav Well.
You can't stay within 5 km of each other in NWS. Unless the transport does the aura...
Don't worry over figures. The fleet Armitage has a bugger hull and shield rating than a jemmy attack ship.
But in practice my attack ships stands up to the battering a lot better than my fleet Armitage.
Ok, some people read a few other Threads in this Forums, too. Let me give you one link: Improving Beam Arrays and Cruisers.
This link is the last post of the Thread, the linked videos show you how a Scimitar can act, but most other cruisers can act the same way.
Now if that Scimitar would have got one of those AoE-Buffs, too, it would be almost unstopable :P
The new Avenger Class will be almost a copy of the Scimitar (if the Screenshot shows really the Avengers Weapons-Tray, it won't have a Hangar), but it gets those nice AoE-Buffs (that at least apply to the own ship).
What are you thinking about "underpowered Cruisers" now? Feel free to read a little more of that Thread, there are links to Threads "Cruisers are so overpowered" in it.
Cryptic/Perfect World might think that last weeks patch helped Science-Captains a lot, but they changed Boff-Abilities, that can be used on Escorts/Cruisers, too. But other Science-Boff abilities are still (almost) useless. Does anybody here use Photonic Officer or maybe Tachyon-Beam (outside Crystalline Cataclysm)?
With these changes to Cruisers, more changes are needed, but changes to SCI-ships and Escorts.
One possibility would be to alter the Damage Control Engineer (I think most Cruisers are using Aux2Bat at the moment): If the purple Damage Control Engineer had a 100% chance to reduce the recharge-time of Emergency Power Abilities by 7.5 seconds (let's say 8 seconds to give you a little overlap), you could use 2 different of these abilities the whole time on an Escort/Science-Ship (at the cost of 1 Doff-Slot).
So (short version): Aux2Bat remains unchanged and not nerfed (you still need 2 copies of Aux2Bat and 3 Technician-Doffs), all other ships can use 2 different Emergency-Power Abilities the whole time (and need just a single Doff for that).
If Star Trek Online was an Open-Source (GPL) Game, we would have a low-grind fork.
The post I quoted first said "will affect non-small craft allies", then said it excludes "hangar pets". One does not equate to the other for the following reasons:
There are non-hangar pets that are still small craft - Scorpions.
Furthermore, there are hangar pets that are not small craft, as outlined in my post.
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
it was said the fx is just on activation by Brandon in teh dev blog
team buff doesn't have to be activated so you are find for CE, really if you heal a lot in CE there is no way to lose first place, look for the other 5 that are not on your team, find the guys that take a lot of damage.
Also teh armor slots are likely still happening because they want to add a second deflector to sci ships and other stuff.
Brandon also said the cruiser commands can be put in your power tray like anything else.
Please give me a link/source for that.
If Star Trek Online was an Open-Source (GPL) Game, we would have a low-grind fork.
I use 2 blue damage control engineers on most of my ships to swap between 2 different emergency powers. It works perfectly fine. Each power lasts 30 seconds so every time you run one 2 doffs give you 2 30% chances to reduce all emergency power CD's 15 1/3 or 15 seconds. Thats all you need. If by chance it didn't work the first time you get 2 more chances when you run the second power. Very, very rarely have I had an issue with this at all. Now if I was only using one emergency power I might need 3 purple doffs. But alternating between two powers 2 blue doffs is all you need.
Your your suggestion doesn't really add anything that can't already be done
Yes & No. Not all warbirds are Cruisers, but some are. Romulan warbirds have two distinct features, the singularity core (vs warp core) and the battle cloak. The term "warbird" would be better understood as "vessel" or "starship" which have these two abilities.
However, within the Romulan warbird category there are all the classes the other two factions have. Science ships, escorts, and, yes, "cruisers." Reread the following two posts and you will see this:
LoR Dev Blog #3 - http://sto.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=858671
LoR Dev Blog #16 - http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=883911
LoR Dev Blog #29 - http://sto.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=930741
Notice that the wording in LoR Dev Blog #16. "D?deridex Warbird Battle Cruiser Retrofit" this vessel, which is both a warbird as in Romulan "vessel," is also a "cruiser."
Further, if you look at LoR Dev post #29, you will notice the posting of "Romulan Dreadnought Warbirds" This is because they they are warbirds, having the two above mentioned abilities, as well as being in the "dreadnought class.
So, I maintain my argument, if the singularity has a -40 power to offset the warp cores, then why does the Romulan cruisers not get this ability?