I usually go for a "generalist" skill build. A jack of all trades and master of none. I'll never set DPS records or out-tank an Aggronaut, but I'm also not bad at anything.
My main concern with any skill revamp is that I still be able to play this way. A system that tries to force roles on the player by making you choose between A/B is a throwback to the skill system STO launched with, and that's not a good thing.
This pretty much sums up my playstyle, and my fears.
I'm cautiously optimistic. The current system is a mess. Some skills somehow cost way more to invest into than others, but their importance doesn't live up to the cost.
This new system could work, it certainly looks better (to me).
One good thing I caught was that energy damage dropoff over distance is now the same (50% for both cannons and beams) and that attack patterns will perform fully now without investment.
Upon logging in for the first time after this update, player’s skills will automatically be reset and it will not cost a token to reapply skills in this new system for the first time only.
Future skill retrains will cost a standard Retrain Token.
So we are still going to need to pay 500 zen for respec tokens from the c-store. Since we get 1 free respec when the system goes live, make it count (unless you still have veteran respec tokens you can spare). Tip: Use the STOAcademy skill planner, when it's updated for the new system, to plan your new builds out http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/ (Disclaimer: not a paid for advertisement; I don't run the site)
I'd also really like to see this heavily tested before it goes live. I'm quite tired of content being rushed on to the live server before it's actually ready and working correctly. Just once, it'd be nice for something new to actually work properly and not require emergency maintenance. Surely this isn't an unrealistic goal, eh?
We're proud to announce our new Skill System Revamp! We have set out to create a more streamlined experience that makes gaining levels and skills more enjoyable and impactful.
IMO go back to original idea in beta, be able to eventually get every skill, and then with each update you can give us more skills to pursue, that way the customer never feels like he is missing out and never stops playing (and potentially making purchases from the cstore).
Ugg... why are they wrecking an already decent system? Have you ever heard of "If it isn't broken, don't fix it"? Just leave the system alone. Time would be better spent fixing current bugs.
You couldn't max out every category with the current system as it us, so I have no idea what some of these people are complaining about.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
So all I have read here... is we are deleting a bunch of bad options and just naturally maxing them for you... and adding more Shileds more hull more more more. More Creep... fantastic its what the game needed to help sell some more ships.
The system needed an over haul sure... but does it really need more creep. You guys could act like game designers for once and actually program in some negative choices. Instead of just boosting things so no one feels like they are "loosing" something... way to be jokers.
I have a feeling this will be ok for new players but seasoned players will have to start from scratch as if they were new, any skill setups you have will be lost with zero “Experience Points” awarded in compensation.
basically very similar to when they introduced lv60 and specializations, seasoned players had to start at lv50 with no specialization points where they would have earned enough points after actually reaching lv50 to not only bump them up to lv60 but also to have probably completely filled the spec trees if the system had been in place at that time in many cases.
As experience points for the tree are tied to your level you cant have lost any
that will be good I guess, I cant make hardly any sense of the news blog.
its a pity they did not do a similar thing with reputation and award spec points based on how much exp you had earned since playing.
they know exactly how much exp you needed to gain to reach lv50 together with your total exp earned, it would not take much effort to extrapolate approximately how much rep points you would have earned since you hit lv50.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
We're proud to announce our new Skill System Revamp! We have set out to create a more streamlined experience that makes gaining levels and skills more enjoyable and impactful.
IMO go back to original idea in beta, be able to eventually get every skill, and then with each update you can give us more skills to pursue, that way the customer never feels like he is missing out and never stops playing (and potentially making purchases from the cstore).
Ugg... why are they wrecking an already decent system? Have you ever heard of "If it isn't broken, don't fix it"? Just leave the system alone. Time would be better spent fixing current bugs.
Except it is broke, its not a good system and in the survey was very complained about.. hence the change.
So all I have read here... is we are deleting a bunch of bad options and just naturally maxing them for you... and adding more Shileds more hull more more more. More Creep... fantastic its what the game needed to help sell some more ships.
The system needed an over haul sure... but does it really need more creep. You guys could act like game designers for once and actually program in some negative choices. Instead of just boosting things so no one feels like they are "loosing" something... way to be jokers.
Yeah cause that's a great way to keep a player base... as a general group of people imagine, they are already bitching this heavily here when all the builds people have posted they currently have in the test thread people have been able to duplicate (usually with spare points) and they Still complain... so imagine if they actually made anything worse ... it would be horrendous.
(and attack plans which we now get automatically was a bad option !? errr hardly)
Personally I think the the new skill tree should be handled like the ship loadout slots are, give 2 "skill loadouts" with the option to buy more... I change ships a lot, some days I like to fly a carrier and some an escort, The way I'm reading it (and forgive me if I'm wrong) is If I pick the skill to enhance hanger pets and I switch to the escort those are totally wasted points and I'll have to buy a respec token each time I want to change to a different type of ship if I want to play to its full potential?
I think that will pigeon-hole people into playing one type of ship and ultimately kill ship sales because most people will not be willing to spend cash on a ship and then more cash to be able to play it effectively.
(apologies if this has been brought up and addressed, I didn't read all 20 pages of this thread )
Thanks. I never really did like the old system. It was nice and allowed a good deal of flexability but without a good understanding of game mechanics, left you with alot of guessing.
That brings me to the point I would like to make. There are a lot of good guesses at how the current system works but no one really knows for sure and i think this would be a great time to share a little bit of that with the player base.
I'll used Crit H for an example.
When you roll for Crit H, does a % chance go through each roll individually ( e.g. 2% for weapon, 2% for space console, 2% for space console, 2% for space console, 5% for specialization, 1% for space trait, 4 % for space reputation etc.) with each roll being independant of the first.
or
is there an additive effect as in the total for the above example is 18%
or
something akin to a logarithm scale where continued investment still offers a return but there is a maximum upper limit. <most player's guess>
Having a bit more knowledge would be great for the playerbase and helpful in future decisions.
BTW props for upfront communication.
I'd also really like to see this heavily tested before it goes live. I'm quite tired of content being rushed on to the live server before it's actually ready and working correctly. Just once, it'd be nice for something new to actually work properly and not require emergency maintenance. Surely this isn't an unrealistic goal, eh?
^
So this. The last time they tested something for a month before actually putting the change in Holodeck was when they fixed the gravity well and tyken's rift. Everything else gets mad rushed into Holodeck.
Sounds very interesting. A revamp of the skill system is very much welcome. But with yet another set of new abilities coming in, would you please consider expanding the UI so we have enough room to slot them all? A fourth or even fifth row of possible abilities would be very much appreciated.
I'm not sure if anyone has already answered this for you or not....you weren't aware that there ARE more rows already available? Go into Option, rearrange HUD, and there in your Tray Window is a marker, labeled (I believe) "New Tray". Click on that, and it opens another vertical tray in the lower right, which offers you up to 3 rows, the same as the Main power tray.
Sounds very interesting. A revamp of the skill system is very much welcome. But with yet another set of new abilities coming in, would you please consider expanding the UI so we have enough room to slot them all? A fourth or even fifth row of possible abilities would be very much appreciated.
I'm not sure if anyone has already answered this for you or not....you weren't aware that there ARE more rows already available? Go into Option, rearrange HUD, and there in your Tray Window is a marker, labeled (I believe) "New Tray". Click on that, and it opens another vertical tray in the lower right, which offers you up to 3 rows, the same as the Main power tray.
Three rows aren't enough for some builds.
He's talking about opening an additional three rows vertically, for a total of 6 rows. 3 vertical and 3 horizontal.
Is there any chance that this skill and item revamp will change it so that our warp speed maximum is dictated by warp cores instead of impulse engines? I am really tired of having to switch to my over to my borg impulse engines every time I go to sector space to hit warp 14.
It just seems like now would be a good time to make a change since the driver coil skill is getting reworked and so are almost all skill giving items.
Is there any chance that this skill and item revamp will change it so that our warp speed maximum is dictated by warp cores instead of impulse engines? I am really tired of having to switch to my over to my borg impulse engines every time I go to sector space to hit warp 14.
It just seems like now would be a good time to make a change since the driver coil skill is getting reworked and so are almost all skill giving items.
Warp cores have been influencing warp speeds for a while now Check their tooltips to see the max warp factor that each particular core allows.
Speeds above warp ~9.97 are considered "unconventional" drive methods. The Borg subtranswarp engine is just one example.
But to stay on topic, yeah, I'm curious how this revamp will affect Driver Coil as well. It helps me out a lot during Tour the Galaxy and I like zooming around in sector space in general.
Post edited by kelettes on
"Ad astra audacter eamus in alis fidelium."
-
"To boldly go to the stars on the wings of the faithful."
Mouse-over text is no more acceptable than trying to read a book with hidden text that only pops up when you point at the empty space with your finger or mouse pointer.
Edited my questions since I did a little more reading. Thanks everyone.
1. Since hull regen has been set to max levels are we talking both in and out of combat?
Does this mean that if we spend hull regen points we'll exceed what our maxes were before and if we don't our numbers will be as are now?
2. Since shield power benefits have been lowered about how many points will one have to put in shield regen to gain previous levels if shield power setting is kept at same levels?
Also is this new Hull Pen skill the same and tied to the [Pen] modifier of crafted weapons?
Post edited by grayfoxjames on
Fleet Admiral Thomas Winston James a.k.a. The Grayfox Fleet Leader of:
Liberty Task Force/Liberty Honor Guard
Pride of the Federation/Pride of the Empire
Liberty Guardians U.S.S. Liberty, NX-42813-L, T-6 Legendary Odyssey Class
The "Crew" Part of the game has been removed with this Skill Tree upgrade.
(the little crew gauge isn't even on the UI anymore)
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
The "Crew" Part of the game has been removed with this Skill Tree upgrade.
(the little crew gauge isn't even on the UI anymore)
*gasp*
So from now on, only players and their bridge crews will be flying the ships from now on? Wonders of future technology and automation ^^
Aww Hell, my Borg Princess TAC can fly the ship all by herself with a few button clicks.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Ugg... why are they wrecking an already decent system? Have you ever heard of "If it isn't broken, don't fix it"? Just leave the system alone. Time would be better spent fixing current bugs.
Wouldn't go so far as to say they are wrecking it. And some of the changes are something that should have been done a long time ago.
But I question the claim of flexibility being added to builds.
Is there any chance that this skill and item revamp will change it so that our warp speed maximum is dictated by warp cores instead of impulse engines? I am really tired of having to switch to my over to my borg impulse engines every time I go to sector space to hit warp 14.
It just seems like now would be a good time to make a change since the driver coil skill is getting reworked and so are almost all skill giving items.
Warp cores have been influencing warp speeds for a while now Check their tooltips to see the max warp factor that each particular core allows.
Speeds above warp ~9.97 are considered "unconventional" drive methods. The Borg subtranswarp engine is just one example.
But to stay on topic, yeah, I'm curious how this revamp will affect Driver Coil as well. It helps me out a lot during Tour the Galaxy and I like zooming around in sector space in general.
Yeah I know that lol, it's the unconventional warp drive speeds I am interested in. Since sector space got merged into giants zones I want to be able to exceed warp 10 with special warp drives not special impulse drives.
"Drain Expertise combines the mechanical benefits of what used to be Flow Capacitors, Power Insulators and Subsystem Repair. In other words, this single Skill now oversees both the offensive potential, and the player’s resistances to, all Shield Drains, Energy Drains, and Subsystem Offline effects."
Ok here is my question lets say I have deflector with
+8.5 flow capacitors
+8.5 Power insulators
+24.4 subsytem repair
What is my new Drain Expertise skill?
This is what I mean about items and set items. Do we only get the highest, or an average, or lowest, or all 3 added. This could mean many of the items normal, upgraded, fleet, rep. may all be majorly changed. Are they going to change all the texts on these items too? I wonder if the developres thought on this issue, as this would be a lot of work.
Comments
This pretty much sums up my playstyle, and my fears.
This new system could work, it certainly looks better (to me).
One good thing I caught was that energy damage dropoff over distance is now the same (50% for both cannons and beams) and that attack patterns will perform fully now without investment.
I shall wait and see.
"Let them eat static!"
IMO go back to original idea in beta, be able to eventually get every skill, and then with each update you can give us more skills to pursue, that way the customer never feels like he is missing out and never stops playing (and potentially making purchases from the cstore).
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
The system needed an over haul sure... but does it really need more creep. You guys could act like game designers for once and actually program in some negative choices. Instead of just boosting things so no one feels like they are "loosing" something... way to be jokers.
that will be good I guess, I cant make hardly any sense of the news blog.
its a pity they did not do a similar thing with reputation and award spec points based on how much exp you had earned since playing.
they know exactly how much exp you needed to gain to reach lv50 together with your total exp earned, it would not take much effort to extrapolate approximately how much rep points you would have earned since you hit lv50.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Thank you, Cryptic, for Star Trek Online!
Jolan'tru & cheers... RRF Captain Cybyl
Except it is broke, its not a good system and in the survey was very complained about.. hence the change.
Yeah cause that's a great way to keep a player base... as a general group of people imagine, they are already bitching this heavily here when all the builds people have posted they currently have in the test thread people have been able to duplicate (usually with spare points) and they Still complain... so imagine if they actually made anything worse ... it would be horrendous.
(and attack plans which we now get automatically was a bad option !? errr hardly)
I think that will pigeon-hole people into playing one type of ship and ultimately kill ship sales because most people will not be willing to spend cash on a ship and then more cash to be able to play it effectively.
(apologies if this has been brought up and addressed, I didn't read all 20 pages of this thread
That brings me to the point I would like to make. There are a lot of good guesses at how the current system works but no one really knows for sure and i think this would be a great time to share a little bit of that with the player base.
I'll used Crit H for an example.
When you roll for Crit H, does a % chance go through each roll individually ( e.g. 2% for weapon, 2% for space console, 2% for space console, 2% for space console, 5% for specialization, 1% for space trait, 4 % for space reputation etc.) with each roll being independant of the first.
or
is there an additive effect as in the total for the above example is 18%
or
something akin to a logarithm scale where continued investment still offers a return but there is a maximum upper limit. <most player's guess>
Having a bit more knowledge would be great for the playerbase and helpful in future decisions.
BTW props for upfront communication.
^
So this. The last time they tested something for a month before actually putting the change in Holodeck was when they fixed the gravity well and tyken's rift. Everything else gets mad rushed into Holodeck.
Three rows aren't enough for some builds.
He's talking about opening an additional three rows vertically, for a total of 6 rows. 3 vertical and 3 horizontal.
KDF: Dahar Master Kan (Borg Klingon Tactical)::Dahar Master Torc (Alien Science)::Dahar Master Sisteric (Gorn Engineer)
RR-Fed: Citizen Sirroc (Romulan Science)::Fleet Admiral Grell (Alien Engineer)
RR-KDF: Fleet Admiral Zemo (Reman Tactical)::Fleet Admiral Xinatek (Reman Science)::Fleet Admiral Bel (Alien Engineer)
TOS-Fed: Fleet Admiral Katem (Andorian Tactical)::Lieutenant Commander Straad (Vulcan Engineer)
Dom-Fed: Dan'Tar (Jem'Hadar Science)
Dom-KDF: Kamtana'Solan (Jem'Hadar Science)
CoHost of Tribbles in Ecstasy (Zombee)
It just seems like now would be a good time to make a change since the driver coil skill is getting reworked and so are almost all skill giving items.
Warp cores have been influencing warp speeds for a while now
Speeds above warp ~9.97 are considered "unconventional" drive methods. The Borg subtranswarp engine is just one example.
But to stay on topic, yeah, I'm curious how this revamp will affect Driver Coil as well. It helps me out a lot during Tour the Galaxy and I like zooming around in sector space in general.
-
"To boldly go to the stars on the wings of the faithful."
Mouse-over text is no more acceptable than trying to read a book with hidden text that only pops up when you point at the empty space with your finger or mouse pointer.
1. Since hull regen has been set to max levels are we talking both in and out of combat?
Does this mean that if we spend hull regen points we'll exceed what our maxes were before and if we don't our numbers will be as are now?
2. Since shield power benefits have been lowered about how many points will one have to put in shield regen to gain previous levels if shield power setting is kept at same levels?
Also is this new Hull Pen skill the same and tied to the [Pen] modifier of crafted weapons?
Fleet Leader of:
Liberty Task Force/Liberty Honor Guard
Pride of the Federation/Pride of the Empire
Liberty Guardians
U.S.S. Liberty, NX-42813-L, T-6 Legendary Odyssey Class
Game Handle: Grayfox@GrayfoxJames
Website: https://www.libertytaskforce.com
Armada (STOFA Member Fleet): https://www.libertytaskforce.com/stofa
Discord: https://discord.gg/bGp9N7z
Twitter: STOFA@LTFGrayfox
Email: CSDynamix@Hotmail.com
(the little crew gauge isn't even on the UI anymore)
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
*gasp*
So from now on, only players and their bridge crews will be flying the ships from now on?
-
"To boldly go to the stars on the wings of the faithful."
Aww Hell, my Borg Princess TAC can fly the ship all by herself with a few button clicks.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Wouldn't go so far as to say they are wrecking it. And some of the changes are something that should have been done a long time ago.
But I question the claim of flexibility being added to builds.
Yeah I know that lol, it's the unconventional warp drive speeds I am interested in. Since sector space got merged into giants zones I want to be able to exceed warp 10 with special warp drives not special impulse drives.
Ok here is my question lets say I have deflector with
+8.5 flow capacitors
+8.5 Power insulators
+24.4 subsytem repair
What is my new Drain Expertise skill?
This is what I mean about items and set items. Do we only get the highest, or an average, or lowest, or all 3 added. This could mean many of the items normal, upgraded, fleet, rep. may all be majorly changed. Are they going to change all the texts on these items too? I wonder if the developres thought on this issue, as this would be a lot of work.