Suggestion: Fabrication Kit Module - Ablative Armor

breadandcircuses

So... some of us have been noticing something: there is a lot of Shield Penetration and Shield Bypass in Ground combat these days... and soon to be a power that simply disables your shields. That's cool and all, but it basically negates the value of having an Engineer captain... shield heals accomplish nothing when your shields accomplish nothing. Unfortunately for Engineers the Perfect Shields special ability, oddly, when to Science via Medical Vanguard.

So, rather than granting additional shield hardness or protection from shield penetration, how using our portable replicators to apply Abative Armor to a target? This could use the same game mechanic seen in Quantum Absorption to apply temporary hitpoints (no shield bonus, since this is Ablative Armor) and a Damage Resistance bonus. This could be applied individually or as an AoE, comparable to Medical Tricorder or Triage, but with a reduced base amount as this can be applied prophylactically rather than in response to damage; applying additional temporary hitpoints would overwrite any previous application of temporary hitpoints. The amount of temporary hitpoints applied would be based on Repairs, and the Damage Resistance based on Modification Specialist (yes, these are more expensive than Medic and Physiology that improve Science heals and buffs, but they make sense).

Thoughts?

• Would this help balance Engineers back into Ground combat?
• Compared to Medical Tricorder or Triage, what percentage of the base healing from those powers would be balanced for Engineers to apply as temporary hitpoints?
• Would the inability to stack temporary hitpoints balance them against healing since they can be used prophylactically, or would it leave temporary hitpoints underpowered since heals can apply multiple powers consecutively and temporary hitpoints would be limited to a single layer?
• Would the higher Skillpoint investment needed to improve the ability serve as a balance against healing, or simply penalize Engineers unnecessarily? Should both the temporary hitpoints and Damage Resistance be based on Repairs?

I'd just like to see something logical available to Engineers to address the proliferation of Shield Penetration and Shield Bypass, so this was my thought... if you have alternatives, I'd welcome those as well.

woodwhity

Not that I am against your idea, but isnt the Value of having a engineer on ground being able to mob the floor with any enemy in any number?

breadandcircuses

woodwhity wrote: »

Not that I am against your idea, but isnt the Value of having a engineer on ground being able to mob the floor with any enemy in any number?

Currently, both Tactical and Science captains are better at that than our Engineers. A Tactical captain has a superior array of buffs and debuffs, hitpoint healing, stealth, and better cooldowns thanks to both Tactical Initiative and the powers themselves. A Science captain has a superior array of buffs and debuffs, lots of hitpoint healing, shield hardening via Medical Vanguard, shield bypassing incineration, and better cooldowns thanks to Geologists (3 plus the two primary Phys abilities can actually let you heal almost as fast as a pure Medic, faster if you're lucky with the procs)... and I won't mention the auto-revive :P.

For our Engineers, our offense is purely positional and our heals are applied to a defensive pool that is suffering from more and more shield penetration, shield bypass, shield disables, etc... the career is getting slowly balanced out of the Ground game (quickly, if not already done, as far as PvP). I thought this might be a means to add something to Engineers that fits the underlying concept of Engineering in STO; the positional offense isn't as big a problem since NPCs are often less than clever about "Don't Step In Stupid"...

caltair

generally speaking i love the idea! though i'm not sure if i would want the effect from a kit module. maybe it could be built into an advanced armor as a toggled affect with cooldown. similar to the dyson set with hunker down.

breadandcircuses

caltair wrote: »

generally speaking i love the idea! though i'm not sure if i would want the effect from a kit module. maybe it could be built into an advanced armor as a toggled affect with cooldown. similar to the dyson set with hunker down.

I'd like that as well, though the basic concept is intended to help the Engineering career adapt to the increasing variety of methods to ignore or negate shields in Ground combat. I just figured adding an actual hitpoint heal would be out of place on an Engineer (not that it isn't odd on a Tactical) so I figured applying a protective layer of temporary hitpoints made more sense. I'd love to see it as a set bonus in addition to the Kit Modules, just as the Jem'Hadar Armored Shroud 3-piece or Honor Guard/Adapted MACO 2-piece provide backup hitpoint healing for all classes, but Engineers should have the version at full power and reasonable cooldown.