The Balance Pass overall is great in concept, and fixed quite a few issues, but feels incomplete with respect to both PvE and PvP. Specific to torpedoes and mines, Borticus said it himself on multiple podcasts, "torps are hard."
There is at least one way to make torps not OP, yet not suck or be relegated to simple-mindedness (as they are now).
How?!
How, referring to which (or all)?
To "There is at least one way to make torps not OP, yet not suck or be relegated to simple-mindedness." You kinda left us hanging there.
Rolling back the senseless nerfs from earlier this year would be a good place to start i imagine.
I don't know about a rollback, but a full and comprehensive overhaul is needed, not an incomplete job.
Test...
My entire post was deleted? It was posted, and then I edited it for clarification, saved it, then refreshed the page. I come back to this and it's gone.
*sigh*
OK, short, short version. There were several good suggestions made by various people throughout the last three years. Two good ones I think were from VirusDancer, so I'll do a search later and see if I can find them. One of the most repeated ones, "make a dedicated torpedo slot" seems to have manifested itself into the "Heavy Weapon Slot". Based off of Dev feedback and intent, this was to help equalize Escorts with Cruisers, but some will argue that it's a partial wish come true (note: I did not advocate for this).
1. Standardize torp secondary effects for all targets. If Gravimetric can proc on all targets AND have an AoE proc, why can't Neutronic, Quantum Phase, & Piezo work on all targets in a TS (Torpedo Spread)? My suggestion was to remove the AoE component for all three, and treat all targets like the main target. PS: fix Neutronic drain proc under TS.
2. Buff base damage of Transphasics, and for each Mark level increase.
3. It was explained that the torpedo flight speed was (either in part or in full) tied to the FX of the torpedo. Change the flight speed by moving it from an FX attribute to a system attribute AND allow haste to increase torpedo flight speed. Also, allow Torpedo Pre-Fire Sequence (TPFS) to boost flight speed for all torps, and the Reman 2pc to properly stack with TPFS to boost Plasma Torp speed, giving Plasma Torps a unique advantage over other torps (especially heavies). this adds to build variety, thematic feel, and viability.
4. Fix TriCobalt to work properly with Concentrate Firepower.
5. Command Tree tier One: Increase chance of Expose/Exploit proc to 5%/7.5% and/or allow Expose/Exploit attacks to proc for all classes of weapons. This happened once accidentally with the Quantum Phase torpedo proc, where the shield drain component proc'd Expose/Exploit attacks (this only lasted for one week before being fixed in a patch).
6. Removed the shared lockout between TS and HY.
7. Fix/Remove Accuracy for Heavy torps (aka Targetable aka Destructable torps). If it's too much to make them work as pets, re-code them to track like standard torps. If the main target dies, go to last location and detonate as if there was a target there, allowing it to hit secondary targets.
I'll remember more of what I wrote as it comes back to me. If you need the reasoning behind each change explained, please feel free to ask.
Thank you very kindly for this great reply!
P.S. Sorry, was away for weekend, and only saw this just now.
Comments
I don't know about a rollback, but a full and comprehensive overhaul is needed, not an incomplete job.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
Thank you very kindly for this great reply!
P.S. Sorry, was away for weekend, and only saw this just now.