Habitual forum lurker, first posting...I just feel i have to point out the glaring inconsistencies in this recent patch. I have pvped habitually for the last 2 months and i feel the current direction that they've taken escorts is poor. I've read again and again these escorts happy with the changes...REALLY?!? why am i seeing my sci and tac cruiser friends opting for cruisers. So I have gone the way of cruiser...
I recently had a cracked 15 game where the one escort kept calling us TRIBBLE cause we wouldn't heal him. We won the game 15/9, sure close game...said escort had 7 of the deaths. The problems were numerous...1 when focused said escort would almost instantaneously die. 2 his dmg was maybe 10% more than me...so the big question I'm asking is why have an escort, it seems they're the only one kill-able one on one.
I've played about 15 games of salvage since the patch...it honestly seems the game has come down to do you want to kill? or cap nodes? One team will have almost no deaths but lose while the other that didn't Fedball will end up capping most of the nodes...is this game design?
I've also 1vs1 many opponents, some i know to be decent pvpers and frankly as an escort they cant touch me. As a cruiser I can heal through their dmg, and eventually when i drop a facing i can ram them which will give me the win...Ramtrek its the way this patch has progressed. Every 3 mins a kill...if it doesn't bug out...
I guess my point is what is the reason for bringing escorts to any pvp match (especially cracked 15) when a cruiser can fulfill every thing the escort can do with just a 10% disparity in dps...
I recently had a cracked 15 game where the one escort kept calling us TRIBBLE cause we wouldn't heal him. We won the game 15/9, sure close game...said escort had 7 of the deaths.
hope i never have to share a team with you in any map, if you are only interested in yourself, and it is clear an escort is getting no heals from the 4 cruisers naturally any team will focus on him as a squishier target. Have to say in this one i agree with the escorts assessment. so without healing and spending all that time waiting to respawn and travel time back to the fight, waiting for power to reset he still out damaged you, imagine what he might have done if you kept him in the fight
so... 7 deaths and he still had more DPS than the next person? running back to the fight 7 times...
if he hadn't died he would have blown your numbers out of the water.
Now faithborn i;ve read tons you your posts...your fantastic and you know the ins and outs of the game...i get that...your defence is admirable...but your missing the whole point...in numerous games i have been able to top decent escort pvp dmg in a cruiser with much more survivability...i'm not arguing if i chased that guy around healing him we might have even got 15/6... but the point stands now (from an escort player) that an escorts dmg does not overcompensate for his lack of survivability.
hope i never have to share a team with you in any map, if you are only interested in yourself, and it is clear an escort is getting no heals from the 4 cruisers naturally any team will focus on him as a squishier target. Have to say in this one i agree with the escorts assessment. so without healing and spending all that time waiting to respawn and travel time back to the fight, waiting for power to reset he still out damaged you, imagine what he might have done if you kept him in the fight
Lol first forum post and the hate...wow i shoulda been prepared...I never said the team never healed him, i said that he complained we never healed him. After he complained the first time I followed his TRIBBLE with extend shields, engy team and aux heal. Thats why i was the other deaths, rsp on cool down. My point is simple...escorts are more of a liability than an asset...prove me wrong ill switch back to escort in a second.
Now faithborn i;ve read tons you your posts...your fantastic and you know the ins and outs of the game...i get that...your defence is admirable...but your missing the whole point...in numerous games i have been able to top decent escort pvp dmg in a cruiser with much more survivability...i'm not arguing if i chased that guy around healing him we might have even got 15/6... but the point stands now (from an escort player) that an escorts dmg does not overcompensate for his lack of survivability.
In my BOP I am constanly healing... you guys should have been able to keep him up... even a struc to aux once or twice would have given him a nice reisst. One for you... one for him... one for you. I mean heck I have hazard emit, Eng team, and struc to aux that I can cast together now... why not share alittle with the guy getting focused...
Did they not turn on you after he went pop.
Also keep in mind we are 2 days into a major patch... escorts bops/raptors can still deliver very high dps, the builds will get adjusted as people adjust.
thats the point entirely tho a fed escort with 4 cruiser and entire team is raptors and bops,, estimated survival rate of the escort? 0.1% unless there is actually a guy who can heal in the fed team.
Lol first forum post and the hate...wow i shoulda been prepared...I never said the team never healed him, i said that he complained we never healed him. After he complained the first time I followed his TRIBBLE with extend shields, engy team and aux heal. Thats why i was the other deaths, rsp on cool down. My point is simple...escorts are more of a liability than an asset...prove me wrong ill switch back to escort in a second.
Fair... welcome to the forum. We have all played with a Kirk.
Escorts are not a liability at all... there are still allot of escorts not rigged for 1.2. Give it a week and then we can say one way or the other if there is a place for escorts.
Now faithborn i;ve read tons you your posts...your fantastic and you know the ins and outs of the game...i get that...your defence is admirable...but your missing the whole point...in numerous games i have been able to top decent escort pvp dmg in a cruiser with much more survivability...i'm not arguing if i chased that guy around healing him we might have even got 15/6... but the point stands now (from an escort player) that an escorts dmg does not overcompensate for his lack of survivability.
It is the exact same as a dps class in any other games pvp, they need some support from their team to survive. STO PvP isn't solo 1v1. It is team based.
The only heals i was recieving were from myself...of which i outhealed everyone else on the team. If i remember correcly i had 80k healing and the next person below me had 70k. Ok....I am a Tac Escort...there is no possible way given regular circumstances i should be outhealing people in cruisers.
Secondly,
You chase me around the map? Everytime i tried to come into you guys' range you would almost immediately EM out of my range by 20km or more....leaving me there 4v1 most of the time...So i was the one chasing you other cruisers.
Third note...
In a pvp match CP...its all about teamwork and knowing your role. As an escort i will always be the crunchiest part of a team, so i usually require alot more heals than most other ships. On the other hand I am the sharp end of the blade when it comes to your teams DPS. If i hadn't died sir my damage would have outsurpassed everyone elses in that map by over double....easily.
Summary...
There is a reason escorts are a part of your team...and if you want an effective win against another team it would be in your best interests to attempt to keep that person alive and work together in tandem with everyon on your team. The antithesis of this proposal would be to fly around the map trying to 1v1 or 1v2 or 1v3 people in a cruiser....where neither you or anyone else dies in any efficient manner. Meanwhile your truest form of pew pew has become an easy pincushion target because you think you know it all.
I play this game frequently....and i pvp alot...ask just about anyone who is active in the pvp community and they can tell you this. Now i know that i can be an TRIBBLE...im good at that....but i am also good at pvping in an escort and i certainly know my role in any pvp match. Maybe its time you should learn yours.
Well that is very true the BOP does rule the day again... the universal stations... means I kicked one tac officer from my bridge. I die now when multiple feds decide there sick of my cloaking - decloaking. I have died once one on one... and I should have cloaked and come back I got pigheaded.
In a pvp match CP...its all about teamwork and knowing your role. As an escort i will always be the crunchiest part of a team, so i usually require alot more heals than most other ships. On the other hand I am the sharp end of the blade when it comes to your teams DPS. If i hadn't died sir my damage would have outsurpassed everyone elses in that map by over double....easily.
Love,
Xigent
Dude,...weve fought numerous times...you are not the end all and be all of escort dps...you were a liability in that game...it dosen't mean you don't do awesome dps but the point is even fully buffed ready for engagement any competent cruiser can nullify your attack...that's my point...why fly a escort that needs taking care of when you can fly a cruiser with 10-20% dps but doesn't need taking care of?
OP: You need to understand that the end-of-game damage stats do not tell the whole story - they leave out the extremely important aspect of WHEN that damage takes place. Cruisers are perfectly capable of putting out an unending stream of mid or even high level damage. However, due to their lack of high-ranking tactical bridge officer slots and limited mobility, their ability to produce lethal damage via burst is comparatively limited.
Given a choice between lots of damage that's easily healed, and a similar amount of damage that scores a kill, it should be obvious which one wins games.
I don't know how limited it is when you get a 6-beam broadside Assault cruiser with EP2W III and Beam Overload. That's a whole lot of burst. And isn't limited to 45*.
And now that EPS consoles don't fill up everyone's engineering console slots, I've seen some maneuverable cruisers..
from my experience (tac officer,escort).... after the patch.... the key to win now is to play a cruiser........whether you are playing as tac,science,or eng.
after i realized escorts are now almost useless i decided to test my skills in a cruiser.....well
i can only say: Reverse shield polarity and ramming speed online
simply ramm the other escorts to death and when one escort attacks you, you don't have to be afraid getting killed this is game strategy pure^^
some mates (formerly escort captains or science captains) all play in a cruiser now......some because some science skills were nerfed and many because escorts are ............well.....escort captains know what i mean:(
Dude,...weve fought numerous times...you are not the end all and be all of escort dps...you were a liability in that game...it dosen't mean you don't do awesome dps but the point is even fully buffed ready for engagement any competent cruiser can nullify your attack...that's my point...why fly a escort that needs taking care of when you can fly a cruiser with 10-20% dps but doesn't need taking care of?
I just dont know what to say...actually i do know exactly what to say i just dont want to violate forum TOS. You should really listen to pretty much everyone in this post that is telling you that your point of view is invalid, incorrect, and idiosyncradic.
Love,
Xigent
Edit*
I would also like to note, out of all the other paragraphs in my post....this is the one he decides to criticize? I mean assuming you didnt comment on the rest of my post ill consider that a succession of the information i gave. Given that much....I was top heals and top dmg out of the whole team, and i died 7 times to boot....and you are still trying to argue that escorts are worthless....i just...i mean...are you...? Nevermind i think ive more than made my point here i am going to stop banging my head into a wall trying to reason with you now.
Escorts are fine, players just need some time to figure out how to play them effectively again. Clicking 4 buttons and then vaporizing any other ship in seconds didn't exactly promote a high skill level amongst Escort players. They themselves ofcourse thought they were simply superbly skilled. All good pvp-orientated players obviously rolled Escorts
Yes Cruisers are hard as nails now. Newsflash, they are supposed to be. By logical deduction, the slowest ship should be the most powerful as it can never escape nor succesfully chase any of the other shiptypes. So yes, if you want a frontline "duke it out" ship, Cruiser is the way to go. Escorts since the patch need to be played a bit more tactically. Stay away from the initial brawl (yes I know 90% of you escort players tend to mindlessly charge in at the first sight of the enemy...stop it), and pick targets wisely. Do hit and run attacks rather than just staying in the brawl until you or your enemy gets destroyed.
Overall, anyone saying Escorts have become useless hasn't been in an all-Cruiser match yet. It takes forever to kill something, and one or two Escorts on the team would have been a godsend.:)
Dude,...weve fought numerous times...you are not the end all and be all of escort dps...you were a liability in that game...it dosen't mean you don't do awesome dps but the point is even fully buffed ready for engagement any competent cruiser can nullify your attack...that's my point...why fly a escort that needs taking care of when you can fly a cruiser with 10-20% dps but doesn't need taking care of?
The escort got top heals and damage, while being focus fired to death by the other team, with 4 cruisers? That what I call fail on the cruisers part. Escorts are a integral part to the game now, despite all the moron PvPers saying they're a liability. Escorts STILL have damage above and beyond cruisers, IF they can stay in the game. A single escort fending for itself in a sea of cruisers. Apparently the other team knew how to heal. Pity you guys didn't.
I don't know how limited it is when you get a 6-beam broadside Assault cruiser with EP2W III and Beam Overload. That's a whole lot of burst. And isn't limited to 45*.
And now that EPS consoles don't fill up everyone's engineering console slots, I've seen some maneuverable cruisers..
You actually use EPtW 3? I can't think of a bigger waste of BO space.
Now..I am just reading the original posting here. I think that most who side up with me, know that I tend to throw heals at escorts quite often. Personal opinion, the new patch means - cruisers and escorts NEEDS to work together. Whoever does that - wins. Cruisers need the escort to provide the dps, escorts need the cruisers to stay in the fight long enough for the cumulative dps to add up.
Now - I ever get an escort calling me a TRIBBLE *FOR ANY REASON* - including them feeling I am not healing them enough -- will not get jack-squat-sh*t from me. He will be lucky if I don't get sensor jammed, end up targeting the escort and will just keep firing.
Should I get a friendly request from an escort type - "Hey...can you heal me up a bit more" or "Can we duo up ?" or anything like that -- guess what -- heal city. They will get everything I got.
So - to the escort in question - if you called your teammates 'TRIBBLE' - even if they really were not helping you out - then you don't deserve TRIBBLE. If you didn't do this, fine.....but if you did, then you reaped your rewards.
I hardly respond to any threads in the forums, but felt I needed to say soething here.
I am an escort/tac player. In my battles my team is my supports. I do top knotch dps, as my team keeps me alive. My healers keep me alive in almost all circumstances, which in turn keeps my aft alive. I would never change to any other type of vessel. An escort does require a "mass" of heals. However, the faster you take another vessel down, the less heals you need. So, I would focus more on your build, and how to make more "pew-pew" power and leave the heals to your team.
Remember one thing, there is no "I" in team. So, a well molded and equipped team will survive the best. Perhaps find a group to pvp with constantly, that way you learn one another's moves.
I am a healing cruiser pilot as my main. I've fought with Xigent in multiple matches, both on his team and against him. While I'm not the best healing cruiser in the game (I think Faithborn holds that title), there are multiple experienced PvPers out there that have fought with me who will tell you I do have some inkling as to what I'm doing when I fly a healbot cruiser. I also have an interesting perspective in that I play quite a bit with my Klingon tac/BoP (both pre and post patch) and I tend to be pretty successful with him as well.
A few points:
1. Xigent is, on a bad day, a good escort pilot. He is capable of putting out a lot of damage (which is his primary job as an escort) and he is also more than capable of putting out a lot of healing...something most escorts never even think about.
2. Xigent knows how to fly with a healing cruiser. Despite the fact that I haven't PvPed on his side too often, in my experience he knows EXACTLY what he needs to do in order to both apply maximum damage to a target and remain in a position where teammates can cover him with heals. And my experience with him was before the patch, when a good number of my heals were 5km range (extend shields and HE) as opposed to the post-patch nerf of extend and the increased range of HE and Aux to SIF.
3. With very few exceptions, if an escort outheals a cruiser, the cruiser has failed...miserably.
4. I know a PuG does not necessarily have the best tools available to it to foster teamwork, but that doesn't mean the PuG can't fight as a team. Xigent (and dare I say, all DOB members I've run into in a PuG) know this. They know that with no voice comms they have to be careful about remaining in a position that allows the healing that a support cruiser or sci can provide. At the same time, they know that when using voice comms if they have to branch out a little bit, they can.
5. Escort without support, thy name is Target.
6. Escort with support, thy name is Mars, God of War. This is true even post patch.
I have been in a few PvPs myself. I only fly Escorts. Rare is the time I regret that choice. It is a matter of the team and how they gel together. Do I get dropped? Sure.... but I do know that more times then not I can fly into that sure trap and flush out the game so the big and slow boys can get nice targets who focus on me or.... as I loop out of range have to retarget losing time then I normally come back in again. I see an escort as a dodge and waeve thing.... get hit fly out... let them target you because at best they get a shot or two off. Then you are out of range and they have to focus on the others attacking them... Then fly back in again.
Ugh...where to start...First off, Xi, in said 15 cracked you did not have most healing...you didn't even break 100k. All those defending the escort for outhealing a cruiser have been misinformed. I'm not arguing with the majority that an escort teamed with a healbot can still do great damage, I am arguing that in general if loaded and specced right a cruiser can do maybe -10 to -20% the dps of the escort. I've played numerous games where as a cruiser I have out dpsed the other escorts. That should not happen. (BTW cruisers can do burst if loaded right)
Regarding the cracked game, Player deaths in that particular scenario is very important. You win or lose based on player deaths. If other players can't get a heal off on that escort he dies which moves us closer to losing. That IS a liability when said player cannot survive on his own with out constant team heals.
Another poster had mentioned that all cruiser games are boring...that's my point. Why are you seeing all cruiser games??? 20 players all choosing the same type out of 3 choices, that really defies probabilities.
I guess i'll add some suggestions instead of just negativity, why not increase the speed of an escort so he can dive in and then escape, his increased speed lends itself to hit and run patterns. As it is, escorts can do that now (and should) but generally only when evasive is up. A general increase in his speed will up his longevity and allow him to escape more often, thus requiring less heals from his team. One of the biggest problems of healing an escort is the inability to stay within 5km of escort for an extend shield, so most of the healing is engy, sci team or hazard emitters which do nothing if he's focused.
I see alot of posters loving the escort still, and i'm happy for you guys, rock on. But I truly believe that over time most serious pvpers (unless always teamed) will end up shying away from escorts because the nerfs have really been fatal for escorts. Star Trek is about diversity, next time your in a pvp match count the escorts...If the nerfs have been fair then you should see a bunch of them. But i bet you wont. Anyway, please try to stay constructive, I'm not bashing Xi, i'm just trying to point out what i see as a flaw in the most recent patch.^^
Hmm... I think you're missing the point of the escort healing. If the escort is even racing a cruiser on healing the cruiser is doing something terribly wrong. Escorts are primarily damage, cruisers are primarily defenses. Even if you build a cruiser for offense you're not going to do nearly as much damage as an escort if you both live. Additionally, you've said that you have beaten escorts on dps. That simply isn't possible unless the escort pilot was horrible, the escort pilot spent the match flying back to combat, or went afk.
To further the point of deaths actually mattering, if that escort had been properly supported then he would have caused significantly more damage to the opponents. Two dps cruisers cannot produce the same damage that an escort and support cruiser can. If your worried about deaths actually mattering, consider that a heal specced cruiser is going to stop slot more damage than two dps cruisers. Deaths don't matter until the 15th one. Whether you had 2 deaths or 13 deaths doesn't matter, the end result is the same. Deaths only determine how badly you beat the opponent.
Finally cruiser only matches are ****ing stupid. Neither team has the damage to kill the other team unless they all think they're captain Kirk
I think the OP is missing one point. If there was no escort in his team, but TRIBBLE healing cruisers, they would have lost. The least healing cruiser would have been targeted and vaporized. They probably only won, because the escort pilot did survive as much as he could, not because the cruisers were better.
The way Escorts should fight has altered imo. Once it was simply a case of triggering all the buffs then letting loose the damage. Now while that might put a dent in an awake player it probably wont kill him. Now it is better to hold off, wait for the right moment then once you have a breach caused by heavy sustained damage use the spike for a quick finish to beat the healers.
Crusiers cannont deliever that timely strike, in a pug it is more difficult also as players will tend to target whomever they want and there is less coordination. Escorts however can, and they will do it well. This is something a lot of kdf dps'ers will have to learn too when fighting decent teams.
Comments
if he hadn't died he would have blown your numbers out of the water.
hope i never have to share a team with you in any map, if you are only interested in yourself, and it is clear an escort is getting no heals from the 4 cruisers naturally any team will focus on him as a squishier target. Have to say in this one i agree with the escorts assessment. so without healing and spending all that time waiting to respawn and travel time back to the fight, waiting for power to reset he still out damaged you, imagine what he might have done if you kept him in the fight
Now faithborn i;ve read tons you your posts...your fantastic and you know the ins and outs of the game...i get that...your defence is admirable...but your missing the whole point...in numerous games i have been able to top decent escort pvp dmg in a cruiser with much more survivability...i'm not arguing if i chased that guy around healing him we might have even got 15/6... but the point stands now (from an escort player) that an escorts dmg does not overcompensate for his lack of survivability.
Lol first forum post and the hate...wow i shoulda been prepared...I never said the team never healed him, i said that he complained we never healed him. After he complained the first time I followed his TRIBBLE with extend shields, engy team and aux heal. Thats why i was the other deaths, rsp on cool down. My point is simple...escorts are more of a liability than an asset...prove me wrong ill switch back to escort in a second.
In my BOP I am constanly healing... you guys should have been able to keep him up... even a struc to aux once or twice would have given him a nice reisst. One for you... one for him... one for you. I mean heck I have hazard emit, Eng team, and struc to aux that I can cast together now... why not share alittle with the guy getting focused...
Did they not turn on you after he went pop.
Also keep in mind we are 2 days into a major patch... escorts bops/raptors can still deliver very high dps, the builds will get adjusted as people adjust.
Fair... welcome to the forum. We have all played with a Kirk.
Escorts are not a liability at all... there are still allot of escorts not rigged for 1.2. Give it a week and then we can say one way or the other if there is a place for escorts.
It is the exact same as a dps class in any other games pvp, they need some support from their team to survive. STO PvP isn't solo 1v1. It is team based.
Firstly,
The only heals i was recieving were from myself...of which i outhealed everyone else on the team. If i remember correcly i had 80k healing and the next person below me had 70k. Ok....I am a Tac Escort...there is no possible way given regular circumstances i should be outhealing people in cruisers.
Secondly,
You chase me around the map? Everytime i tried to come into you guys' range you would almost immediately EM out of my range by 20km or more....leaving me there 4v1 most of the time...So i was the one chasing you other cruisers.
Third note...
In a pvp match CP...its all about teamwork and knowing your role. As an escort i will always be the crunchiest part of a team, so i usually require alot more heals than most other ships. On the other hand I am the sharp end of the blade when it comes to your teams DPS. If i hadn't died sir my damage would have outsurpassed everyone elses in that map by over double....easily.
Summary...
There is a reason escorts are a part of your team...and if you want an effective win against another team it would be in your best interests to attempt to keep that person alive and work together in tandem with everyon on your team. The antithesis of this proposal would be to fly around the map trying to 1v1 or 1v2 or 1v3 people in a cruiser....where neither you or anyone else dies in any efficient manner. Meanwhile your truest form of pew pew has become an easy pincushion target because you think you know it all.
I play this game frequently....and i pvp alot...ask just about anyone who is active in the pvp community and they can tell you this. Now i know that i can be an TRIBBLE...im good at that....but i am also good at pvping in an escort and i certainly know my role in any pvp match. Maybe its time you should learn yours.
Love,
Xigent
Ok sorry... not a Kirk this time.
Well that is very true the BOP does rule the day again... the universal stations... means I kicked one tac officer from my bridge. I die now when multiple feds decide there sick of my cloaking - decloaking. I have died once one on one... and I should have cloaked and come back I got pigheaded.
Dude,...weve fought numerous times...you are not the end all and be all of escort dps...you were a liability in that game...it dosen't mean you don't do awesome dps but the point is even fully buffed ready for engagement any competent cruiser can nullify your attack...that's my point...why fly a escort that needs taking care of when you can fly a cruiser with 10-20% dps but doesn't need taking care of?
Given a choice between lots of damage that's easily healed, and a similar amount of damage that scores a kill, it should be obvious which one wins games.
And now that EPS consoles don't fill up everyone's engineering console slots, I've seen some maneuverable cruisers..
from my experience (tac officer,escort).... after the patch.... the key to win now is to play a cruiser........whether you are playing as tac,science,or eng.
after i realized escorts are now almost useless i decided to test my skills in a cruiser.....well
i can only say: Reverse shield polarity and ramming speed online
simply ramm the other escorts to death and when one escort attacks you, you don't have to be afraid getting killed
some mates (formerly escort captains or science captains) all play in a cruiser now......some because some science skills were nerfed and many because escorts are ............well.....escort captains know what i mean:(
I just dont know what to say...actually i do know exactly what to say i just dont want to violate forum TOS. You should really listen to pretty much everyone in this post that is telling you that your point of view is invalid, incorrect, and idiosyncradic.
Love,
Xigent
Edit*
I would also like to note, out of all the other paragraphs in my post....this is the one he decides to criticize? I mean assuming you didnt comment on the rest of my post ill consider that a succession of the information i gave. Given that much....I was top heals and top dmg out of the whole team, and i died 7 times to boot....and you are still trying to argue that escorts are worthless....i just...i mean...are you...? Nevermind i think ive more than made my point here i am going to stop banging my head into a wall trying to reason with you now.
Yes Cruisers are hard as nails now. Newsflash, they are supposed to be. By logical deduction, the slowest ship should be the most powerful as it can never escape nor succesfully chase any of the other shiptypes. So yes, if you want a frontline "duke it out" ship, Cruiser is the way to go. Escorts since the patch need to be played a bit more tactically. Stay away from the initial brawl (yes I know 90% of you escort players tend to mindlessly charge in at the first sight of the enemy...stop it), and pick targets wisely. Do hit and run attacks rather than just staying in the brawl until you or your enemy gets destroyed.
Overall, anyone saying Escorts have become useless hasn't been in an all-Cruiser match yet. It takes forever to kill something, and one or two Escorts on the team would have been a godsend.:)
The escort got top heals and damage, while being focus fired to death by the other team, with 4 cruisers? That what I call fail on the cruisers part. Escorts are a integral part to the game now, despite all the moron PvPers saying they're a liability. Escorts STILL have damage above and beyond cruisers, IF they can stay in the game. A single escort fending for itself in a sea of cruisers. Apparently the other team knew how to heal. Pity you guys didn't.
EPIC CRUISER FAIL.
You actually use EPtW 3? I can't think of a bigger waste of BO space.
And Maneuverable cruisers is an oxymoron.
Now - I ever get an escort calling me a TRIBBLE *FOR ANY REASON* - including them feeling I am not healing them enough -- will not get jack-squat-sh*t from me. He will be lucky if I don't get sensor jammed, end up targeting the escort and will just keep firing.
Should I get a friendly request from an escort type - "Hey...can you heal me up a bit more" or "Can we duo up ?" or anything like that -- guess what -- heal city. They will get everything I got.
So - to the escort in question - if you called your teammates 'TRIBBLE' - even if they really were not helping you out - then you don't deserve TRIBBLE. If you didn't do this, fine.....but if you did, then you reaped your rewards.
I am an escort/tac player. In my battles my team is my supports. I do top knotch dps, as my team keeps me alive. My healers keep me alive in almost all circumstances, which in turn keeps my aft alive. I would never change to any other type of vessel. An escort does require a "mass" of heals. However, the faster you take another vessel down, the less heals you need. So, I would focus more on your build, and how to make more "pew-pew" power and leave the heals to your team.
Remember one thing, there is no "I" in team. So, a well molded and equipped team will survive the best. Perhaps find a group to pvp with constantly, that way you learn one another's moves.
My healers do their job, and I do mine.
I am a healing cruiser pilot as my main. I've fought with Xigent in multiple matches, both on his team and against him. While I'm not the best healing cruiser in the game (I think Faithborn holds that title), there are multiple experienced PvPers out there that have fought with me who will tell you I do have some inkling as to what I'm doing when I fly a healbot cruiser. I also have an interesting perspective in that I play quite a bit with my Klingon tac/BoP (both pre and post patch) and I tend to be pretty successful with him as well.
A few points:
1. Xigent is, on a bad day, a good escort pilot. He is capable of putting out a lot of damage (which is his primary job as an escort) and he is also more than capable of putting out a lot of healing...something most escorts never even think about.
2. Xigent knows how to fly with a healing cruiser. Despite the fact that I haven't PvPed on his side too often, in my experience he knows EXACTLY what he needs to do in order to both apply maximum damage to a target and remain in a position where teammates can cover him with heals. And my experience with him was before the patch, when a good number of my heals were 5km range (extend shields and HE) as opposed to the post-patch nerf of extend and the increased range of HE and Aux to SIF.
3. With very few exceptions, if an escort outheals a cruiser, the cruiser has failed...miserably.
4. I know a PuG does not necessarily have the best tools available to it to foster teamwork, but that doesn't mean the PuG can't fight as a team. Xigent (and dare I say, all DOB members I've run into in a PuG) know this. They know that with no voice comms they have to be careful about remaining in a position that allows the healing that a support cruiser or sci can provide. At the same time, they know that when using voice comms if they have to branch out a little bit, they can.
5. Escort without support, thy name is Target.
6. Escort with support, thy name is Mars, God of War. This is true even post patch.
Regarding the cracked game, Player deaths in that particular scenario is very important. You win or lose based on player deaths. If other players can't get a heal off on that escort he dies which moves us closer to losing. That IS a liability when said player cannot survive on his own with out constant team heals.
Another poster had mentioned that all cruiser games are boring...that's my point. Why are you seeing all cruiser games??? 20 players all choosing the same type out of 3 choices, that really defies probabilities.
I guess i'll add some suggestions instead of just negativity, why not increase the speed of an escort so he can dive in and then escape, his increased speed lends itself to hit and run patterns. As it is, escorts can do that now (and should) but generally only when evasive is up. A general increase in his speed will up his longevity and allow him to escape more often, thus requiring less heals from his team. One of the biggest problems of healing an escort is the inability to stay within 5km of escort for an extend shield, so most of the healing is engy, sci team or hazard emitters which do nothing if he's focused.
I see alot of posters loving the escort still, and i'm happy for you guys, rock on. But I truly believe that over time most serious pvpers (unless always teamed) will end up shying away from escorts because the nerfs have really been fatal for escorts. Star Trek is about diversity, next time your in a pvp match count the escorts...If the nerfs have been fair then you should see a bunch of them. But i bet you wont. Anyway, please try to stay constructive, I'm not bashing Xi, i'm just trying to point out what i see as a flaw in the most recent patch.^^
To further the point of deaths actually mattering, if that escort had been properly supported then he would have caused significantly more damage to the opponents. Two dps cruisers cannot produce the same damage that an escort and support cruiser can. If your worried about deaths actually mattering, consider that a heal specced cruiser is going to stop slot more damage than two dps cruisers. Deaths don't matter until the 15th one. Whether you had 2 deaths or 13 deaths doesn't matter, the end result is the same. Deaths only determine how badly you beat the opponent.
Finally cruiser only matches are ****ing stupid. Neither team has the damage to kill the other team unless they all think they're captain Kirk
Crusiers cannont deliever that timely strike, in a pug it is more difficult also as players will tend to target whomever they want and there is less coordination. Escorts however can, and they will do it well. This is something a lot of kdf dps'ers will have to learn too when fighting decent teams.