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Rework Request - Redirecting Arrays Starship Trait
astarte
Member Posts: 2 Arc User
Right now, Redirecting Arrays is pretty much a useless trait. If you want to extend the active up-time of Beam: Fire at Will (referred to as FAW from here on out), Entwined Tactical Matrices (referred to as ETM from here on out) is pretty much the only option and outperforms Redirecting Arrays in every way.
First, with Redirecting Arrays the maximum FAW up time you can get is 15 seconds out of every 20 seconds. With ETM, you can get 100% up-time with FAW (by chaining any level of FAW and Torpedo Spread at 10 second intervals).
Furthermore, ETM has no requirement on taking damage to extend that up time (just good timing when triggering BOFF skills). Lastly, ETM also gives additional damage in the form of a Torpedo Spread being thrown out every 10 seconds (while Redirecting Arrays does nothing to improve damage).
Considering this, Redirecting Arrays needs a rework.
My suggestion is, in addition to its existing effect of extending FAW when taking hits, Redirecting Arrays also decreases the global cooldown of FAW to 15 seconds.
This way, Redirecting Arrays can also achieve a 100% up-time on FAW. In doing so, it would make Redirecting Arrays a viable (but NOT obvious) choice for tanks.
What it would mean is that with Redirecting Arrays:
- The reduction in global cooldown of FAW (making it 15 seconds instead of 20) would play in to the Colony World Fleet Tactical Consoles, each of which give a 25% chance at a rather potent heal every time an energy weapon firing mode (like FAW) is activated. Reducing the global cooldown on FAW means that chance, and that heal, can be triggered more frequently which is beneficial for soaking up damage.
- This would remove the necessity for tanks to have a torpedo armament, since torpedo spread is no longer required to get 100% up time on FAW. In other words, 1 more beam weapon for FAW to work with
- Similar to above, it would free up a ensign level tactical BOFF slot. This could allow for some reshuffling of BOFF abilities, which on some builds could mean putting a cannon ability on without losing much more than a level in another BOFF ability. Once again, this means more opportunities to trigger those fleet consoles.
- Retains the only benefit that Redirecting Arrays has over ETM: the fact that all of the up-time it provides to FAW is with whatever level of FAW you are running. I.e this would mean that Fire at Will 3 can have a 100% up time, compared to what it would be with ETM (FAW 3 for 10 seconds, FAW 1 for the other 10 in the best case).
*Note: the fact remains that as Redirecting Arrays is right now, the best it can give is 75% up time for Beam: Fire at Will 3. And tests have been done to show that 75% up-time of FAW3 (which Redirecting Arrays provides) is directly inferior damage-wise to 100% up time of any level of FAW (which ETM provides).
But the reasons to use ETM over Redirecting Arrays would still exist.
- ETM does not require its user to take damage to extend FAW: this means that ETM is still the go-to for any kind of non-tank that wants to keep up time on FAW OR Cannon: Scatter Volley (don't forget that Redirecting Arrays only affects Beam, while ETM is used for beams AND cannons -- and torpedoes too, but that's a different matter for most).
- If you are a tank, but want to use any torpedoes, ETM would still be the main choice because of the torpedo spreads that it gives in addition to the FAW/Scatter Volley up-time. The damage from those torpedo spreads is not negligible.
TLDR: Adding the effect of reducing the global cooldown of Fire at Will by 5 seconds to the Redirecting Arrays starship trait would make that trait a viable choice for beam-based tanks who have no interest in torpedoes, and would do nothing to diminish the importance or prevalence of Entwined Tactical Matrices in other tanking setups or any kind of DPS setup. It would, however, give new choices and flavor to beam-based tanks. The change would make Redirecting Arrays a viable option rather than an automatic disqualification on higher end builds.
P.S.
I do not actually have redirecting arrays at this time, but I do have Entwined Tactical Matrices. If this change was made, it would prompt me to get Redirecting Arrays for my tank... but without this change (or a change that does something similar), Redirecting Arrays has no relevance in this or any future meta.
First, with Redirecting Arrays the maximum FAW up time you can get is 15 seconds out of every 20 seconds. With ETM, you can get 100% up-time with FAW (by chaining any level of FAW and Torpedo Spread at 10 second intervals).
Furthermore, ETM has no requirement on taking damage to extend that up time (just good timing when triggering BOFF skills). Lastly, ETM also gives additional damage in the form of a Torpedo Spread being thrown out every 10 seconds (while Redirecting Arrays does nothing to improve damage).
Considering this, Redirecting Arrays needs a rework.
My suggestion is, in addition to its existing effect of extending FAW when taking hits, Redirecting Arrays also decreases the global cooldown of FAW to 15 seconds.
This way, Redirecting Arrays can also achieve a 100% up-time on FAW. In doing so, it would make Redirecting Arrays a viable (but NOT obvious) choice for tanks.
What it would mean is that with Redirecting Arrays:
- The reduction in global cooldown of FAW (making it 15 seconds instead of 20) would play in to the Colony World Fleet Tactical Consoles, each of which give a 25% chance at a rather potent heal every time an energy weapon firing mode (like FAW) is activated. Reducing the global cooldown on FAW means that chance, and that heal, can be triggered more frequently which is beneficial for soaking up damage.
- This would remove the necessity for tanks to have a torpedo armament, since torpedo spread is no longer required to get 100% up time on FAW. In other words, 1 more beam weapon for FAW to work with
- Similar to above, it would free up a ensign level tactical BOFF slot. This could allow for some reshuffling of BOFF abilities, which on some builds could mean putting a cannon ability on without losing much more than a level in another BOFF ability. Once again, this means more opportunities to trigger those fleet consoles.
- Retains the only benefit that Redirecting Arrays has over ETM: the fact that all of the up-time it provides to FAW is with whatever level of FAW you are running. I.e this would mean that Fire at Will 3 can have a 100% up time, compared to what it would be with ETM (FAW 3 for 10 seconds, FAW 1 for the other 10 in the best case).
*Note: the fact remains that as Redirecting Arrays is right now, the best it can give is 75% up time for Beam: Fire at Will 3. And tests have been done to show that 75% up-time of FAW3 (which Redirecting Arrays provides) is directly inferior damage-wise to 100% up time of any level of FAW (which ETM provides).
But the reasons to use ETM over Redirecting Arrays would still exist.
- ETM does not require its user to take damage to extend FAW: this means that ETM is still the go-to for any kind of non-tank that wants to keep up time on FAW OR Cannon: Scatter Volley (don't forget that Redirecting Arrays only affects Beam, while ETM is used for beams AND cannons -- and torpedoes too, but that's a different matter for most).
- If you are a tank, but want to use any torpedoes, ETM would still be the main choice because of the torpedo spreads that it gives in addition to the FAW/Scatter Volley up-time. The damage from those torpedo spreads is not negligible.
TLDR: Adding the effect of reducing the global cooldown of Fire at Will by 5 seconds to the Redirecting Arrays starship trait would make that trait a viable choice for beam-based tanks who have no interest in torpedoes, and would do nothing to diminish the importance or prevalence of Entwined Tactical Matrices in other tanking setups or any kind of DPS setup. It would, however, give new choices and flavor to beam-based tanks. The change would make Redirecting Arrays a viable option rather than an automatic disqualification on higher end builds.
P.S.
I do not actually have redirecting arrays at this time, but I do have Entwined Tactical Matrices. If this change was made, it would prompt me to get Redirecting Arrays for my tank... but without this change (or a change that does something similar), Redirecting Arrays has no relevance in this or any future meta.
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Comments
I correct you, you are wrong.
To be precise, even if you can activate torpedo spread without a torpedo on the boat, the torpedo spread "buff" will linger for a full 30 seconds or until used, and torpedo spread cannot be used again, regardless of the ability's actual cooldown, without "expending" that "buff".
In short, if you do not have (or are unable to consistently launch) a torpedo, then you cannot keep 100% up-time on FAW since torpedo spread gets an effective 30 second cooldown that cannot be decreased in any way due to having no way to discharge that "buff", instead of its global of 15 seconds.
And that assumes that torp spread can even be activated without a torpedo on the ship, which I am actually not certain of and don't have time right now to test.
You can activate torp spread without a torp being equipped, but you're right, to use ETM regularly you have to fire off a torp to consume the torp spread to be able to hit torp spread BOff power to extend FAW duration more than once very two-ish cycles of FAW.