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Reroute Power from Life Support underpowered

riccardo171riccardo171 Member Posts: 1,802 Arc User
I love command boffs; the abilities are not OP, but Reroute Power from Life Support at all ranks is a joke. The power gain/drawback is too negative, especially when compared to Override from Intel.
Override I, II, III
+30/+40/+50 current and maximum subsystem power (breaks the cap)
doesn't restore damaged subsystems
random subsystem offline for 6/4/2 seconds.

- Countered with Engineering Team, reduced through subsystem repair skill. -
Reroute Power from Life Support I, II, III
+20/+30/+40 current subsystem power (does not break the cap)
immunity to subsystem offline status
crew gradually disabled (lower and lower passive hull repair), increased cooldowns to all abilities.

- Cannot be countered in any way. -
RPLS loses in everything except disabled status. The power gain doesn't even break subsystem cap, making it somewhat meaningful for the other 3 that are not maxed, at best. The cooldown debuff is comparable to subnucleonic beam: what's the point of having more power, if the ability you want to use just went up to 2 min recharge?

Way too little gain for way too many drawbacks. At this point it's better to run Enhanced Plasma Manifold and be immune to subsys disable, power is applied instantly and can be kept running for longer periods by skilling Starship Batteries.

My proposed change would be to remove the cooldown debuff, it's too much and makes the ship potentially useless while RPLS is active. Cut in half the rate at which the crew gets disabled, give at every rank +20 power bonus to compensate the fact that it won't break the hardcap on the maxed subsystem.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • bobtheskull99bobtheskull99 Member Posts: 706 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    while I agree as is its useless removing the CD de-buff entirely is removing its only real drawback making it OP

    slowly losing crew has virtually no real effect at all

    if they tweeked the CD debuff so it could be countered like OSS, like you said, then it would at least have some value
  • riccardo171riccardo171 Member Posts: 1,802 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    while I agree as is its useless removing the CD de-buff entirely is removing its only real drawback making it OP

    slowly losing crew has virtually no real effect at all

    if they tweeked the CD debuff so it could be countered like OSS, like you said, then it would at least have some value

    OP? It would still stay behind Override, as you won't push a subsystem up to 160/170/180. Weapons will not overcap with damage, shield won't increase in regeneration, engines won't give more throttle and auxiliary-based abilities won't go beyond their usual effect.

    I can even accept the CD thing if it was counterable with Science Team, which even clears Overwhelm Emitters or the EPTX cleanse doff. The current ability cooldown increase is extreme and impossible to deal with.
  • adamkafeiadamkafei Member Posts: 6,539 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    I'm waiting for the next wave of ships that will undoubtedly be hybrid Intel/Command ships so players will use OSS in conjunction with RRLS to maximise power and ignore the system offline, obviously turning RRLS off just after OSS runs out to conserve crew and save on cd timers. That's a worrying idea.
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  • millimidgetmillimidget Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    Looks like Override needs a nerf. I'm surprised it can break the power cap, and that it's penalty can be ignored through the use of another ability. Remove both mechanics and it can be better balanced according to its opportunity cost of not using another ability.

    Sounds like RPfLS needs to have the crew disable mechanic removed. For starters, there's plenty of crew disabling going on, and the opportunity cost of protecting your crew is extremely high.

    But, even worse is that the developers have already said crew is a broken mechanic, and here they went and added more functionality to it without touching the underlying broken mechanic.
    "Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society." - Aristotle
  • lucho80lucho80 Member Posts: 6,600 Bug Hunter
    edited February 2015
    On the first one, I'm surprised the drawback has a counter that can be easily achieved with a full human crew. I do have to say, a drawback has to stick, not be a joke much like viral matrix is.

    The second one is a power boost no one would want to ever use over energy siphon. I wonder if the space nurse and Jem Hadar shields would counter the crew disable somehow. But again, a drawback should always stick, even if it was a badly designed ability all around.
  • praxi5praxi5 Member Posts: 1,562 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    While slotting things like Boarding Party or Mask Energy Signature certainly don't help, Reroute Power from Life Support has the distinct (dis)honor of being the only ability in this DPS-focused game to lower your DPS.
  • riccardo171riccardo171 Member Posts: 1,802 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    lucho80 wrote: »
    On the first one, I'm surprised the drawback has a counter that can be easily achieved with a full human crew. I do have to say, a drawback has to stick, not be a joke much like viral matrix is.

    The second one is a power boost no one would want to ever use over energy siphon. I wonder if the space nurse and Jem Hadar shields would counter the crew disable somehow. But again, a drawback should always stick, even if it was a badly designed ability all around.

    exactly. Underpowered enough that running it is debilitating for you, useless gimp of the ship. I can deal with the crew thing, it makes sense, but not the cooldowns.
  • shadowwraith77shadowwraith77 Member Posts: 6,395 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    I do believe that a Dev responded, by saying they will keep an eye out for player(s) comments regarding this power and, will make adjustments accordingly or, make a completely different ability out of it altogether.

    borticuscryptic
    Cryptic Studios Team
    Join Date: Jun 2012
    Posts: 1,529# 22
    02-16-2015, 03:23 PMReply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message
    Reroute Power From Life Support causes you to suffer a temporary Cooldown Penalty - it's definitely not a buff. As to whether or not that trade-off is currently worth the cost... well, that's matter we're open to hearing more feedback on. We can definitely consider improving the ability if it's seen as unanimously inferior to other Bridge Officer Ability choices.

    On a more generic "FYI" sort of note, I figured I'd pop into this thread and tell all concerned parties about some upcoming changes we're making to Command Bridge Officer Abilities. Hopefully all of these will end up appearing in a patch either this week or next.
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  • seriousdaveseriousdave Member Posts: 2,777 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    There was something about command powers in the last tribble notes but nothing about RPLS specifically, mostly some general cooldown adjustments.

    Just don't hold your breath for it, chances are you're going to suffocate.
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