My list of ground balance issues i'd like to see addressed:
- Caitians & Dodge stacking
The most important stat on ground is dodge. Theres a dodge bonus on the omega shield, a dodge bonus on the gambler, dodging boni from crouching/sprinting, dodging boni from the omega set and the cat racial.
Im not sure if the dodging formula is faulty in some way or if theres a perfect-threshold (like with cloak) but for some reason this 10% extra caitian dodge plays a major role.. cats dodge way more then any other race and taking half-damage is much better protection then any armor or maco-shield recharge can provide.
This has lead to the situation that most ground veterans have been rolling cats as it seems to be the only viable race to play due to its durability - in fact the only reason im not playing my cat every day is that i can't stand its look and i feel guilty for playing such an OP'ed toon against inexperienced players.
I agree with most of the suggestions subu has made to get em fixed.. roof's in maps should be blocked off for anyone and there should be something done about that dodge trait bonus, that dodge on the cat trait alone is already better then ANY other trait out there and ONLY cat's can have it atm, thats just wrong.
On top to the above mentioned dodge issue cat's also have access to covert as trait choice, the 2nd most important trait on ground for tac's since it allows to cloak perfectly (close to 600 stealth), a threshold were perception abilities seem to become inefficient against. Theres no other race that can have covert and dodge boni together.
- Shanty town and the cloak
Almost all CTF style games try to make the flag (virus in our case) visible to players so they know theres something to intercept.. not so in shanty town.
In the past, before covert was buffed into a must-have trait for perfect cloak and before omega cloak was added this wasn't much of an issue... but nowadays you can run the virus perfectly cloaked and even capture it while under cloak. This is especially for inexperienced players a rather unintuitive design as they ain't even noticing whats going on and why they lose but also creates problems for veterans and can totally turn games. I suggest a cloak debuff to be added to the virus and the virus carrier should maybe even flash on the minimap - just like in other CTF games.
- Relativity stasis pistol
Theres one huge major flaw with that pistol atm and that is that the invulnerability part of it can be cancelled, this means a player can be stunned for 10 seconds and be killed while beeing stunned. Theres no way to counter the stun and the description of the pistol gives no indication that the invulnerability even should be removable. I won't be disclosing howto do it tho, i mailed bort a howto some month ago tho.
- Kit switching and buffs
Widely known and heavily abused on ground is that kit switching cuts cooldowns. As example some sci-medic buffs nanite health monitor 100s duration on someone and gets a 40s cooldown then swaps to another medic kit and has a 20s cooldown. Thats half the normal cooldown.. this allows for a kit-switching (ab)using sci to buff 5 NHM's compared to one-kit playing one that can only buff 2 players within the duration of it.
In comparison.. when trying the same thing in space - swapping boffs after buffing another player with TSS3 the buff will cancel on the target the very second the boff gets swapped.. so the tech to cancel buffs must already be there just not heavily employed on ground.
- Engineer can spam to many pets
Once an engineer dies on ground he loses attachments to his pets and can spawn another set of pets thus will have way more pets out then normally possible.
The amount of engineer spam in some games seen has grown into ridiculous proportions now.. i find 3 mortars, 3 turrets and 2x3 drones already heavy but once the extra wave of spam is added after a death a game with a couple engineer on one side grows into an epic battle of spam with mortar circles all over the place. Thought i'd note its not the engineers fault to have to many pets out, its most likely just a bug.
Engineer spam should either despawn on death of the engineer (like escorts do for tac's) or they need to keep its attachment to the engineer at least. Doff proc extra pets also need to learn to despawn when a kit is swapped.
The discussion was about Catians on ground where space skills are not a factor. They get 3 traits in 1 where Gorn get 3 traits as 3 and only choose 1 more making them weaker than cats on ground. Borticus aready said pounce and lunge will share a recool as we asked for.
As for available space traits; Catians can get the best 2, Accurate and Elusive, and still be OP on ground.
I don't care about pounce & lunge sharing a cooldown. That's fine with me.
What I was concerned was are the passives. If I say that these species cost zen to unlock unlike other species we're available to use from the get go is probably not a valid argument. What worries me is the tendency to make everything equal or similar. I get the feeling that people are getting lazy to find ways around their species' disadvanages or another species' advanages. When I say this I'm thinking in general and of no one in particular, so I wouldn't want anyone to get insulted by this.
My point is that if we go that way, it's a very steep road we're taking. How about the passive advanages that the 'joined symbiote' gives to sci.captains then? The 'efficient captain' trait also boost 4 passives +10 in space. The alien chars. and the availability to use 4 player chosen skills? Should we begin nefring everything?
I think I understand you, the problem comes in when a race, trait, ship, console provides too much of an advantage and forces all players to use it or not play. Many of us play anyways, even with disadvantages. However, most people do not want to PvP if it is more about buying advantages than about building skill and strategy. Many of these balance issues cross the line and cause players to avoid PvP or just leave matches when they see Pay2Win being spammed by the other team.
It is true that pounce and jump bonuses are fun for those who like to play as felines. They just need to be balanced for PvP so we can all play together. Any other race has to use a trait on Perception for instance, yet Caitians get it for free, plus they get a racially unique dodge bonus that is even better, plus they get jump height. All 3 of these traits are wrapped up into 1, allowing Caitians to pick 3 more. That gives them effectively 6 traits vs others 4, and 2 of those are unique and powerful. I do not think anyone wants the game to be perfectly even, just keep the advantages minor so that the game can be competitive.
you never know. thoes were different times when people could use the term cannon. that no longer holds any water. i dont think cryptic would like to see something they made have no use. now back to topic?
also ide like to add maybe the reason they did not upgrade it to advanced cloak was because every klink player trolled it. blah blah blah this is was makes klinks unique. well look today. feds with klink uni consoles and klinks with fed uni consoles. klinks in recluse, wells , jem ships as are feds. many c-store ships have been phased out due to lock box ships. but even before the f2p era hardly anyone slotted the cloaking device on a defiant. also its odd that its listed as a device but yet its a console.
Just to clarify the Battle Cloak allows cloaking in combat the standard KDF cloak does not. Enhanced Battlecloak allows for firing torps et al. The BCs are only found on base BoPs and now the KDF Vet ship. The EBC is only on the B'rel and Fleet B'rel.
None of the KDF cruisers nor Escorts have a BC. I don't see them upgrading the Defiant's cloak w/o upgrading all the KDF Escort/Battle Cruisers.
[Zone] Dack@****: cowards can't take a fed 1 on 1 crinckley cowards Hahahaha you smell like flowers
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
The 'efficient captain' trait also boost 4 passives +10 in space. The alien chars. and the availability to use 4 player chosen skills? Should we begin nefring everything?
Efficient captain gives +15 starship warp core efficiency those days, one boff with efficient gives +7.5 to the same.. that trait isn't all that OP as you make it sound and doesn't really compare well at all with the situation of cats on ground.
If you face a spacer with efficient in space and you don't have that trait the battle is far from being decided already. if two equal good tac's cat vs non-cat meet the outcome is easily predictable. There is no space analogy to cats really, cats are dominating ground pvp and if you'd be a ground pvp veteran like buccaneer you'd know. The biggest glaring issue of cats isn't even really that extra catty-lunge, its the cat-only extra dodge.
while we are on the topic of dodge, we should have to dance for about 10hours plus for a passive. like a +2 to dodge. they really need to make a dodge accolade. 20 hours would give like a +4
Join Date: Dec 2007Originally Posted by BROKEN1981
To bring the caitian/feresian issue into some perspective.
If it weren't for cats, the choices for ground pvp characters that could compete on an even footing would look something like this:
Ideal for a wide variety of builds:
Alien (fed and kdf)
highly customizable
Andorian (fed)
cold resistance (build vs cold gun)
Klingon (fed and kdf) ---- superior versions of widely valuable passives, able to stack Covert and Honorable
Orion female (kdf)
activatable placate
Potentially interesting for specific builds / counter-builds.
Gorn (kdf)
powerful passives, although very limiting
Lethean (kdf)
If I recall correctly, Rapture can be used while cloaked
Bajoran (fed)
ideal for selfish-medic or medic-supported supertanking engineer
Saurian (fed)
fire resistance (build vs physicist)
Tellarite (fed)
interesting possibilities for a selfish-medic, engitank, or maybe (depending on whether Pig-Headed buffs mines) enemy neutralization
As it is, your options are:
Caitian (fed)
ideal for all builds
Feresian (kdf)
ideal for all builds
or: select any other race, and compete at a disadvantage
Too many things to comment on all so I will just choose one:
Balance Fleet Ships and Lock Box Ships
Lock Box Ships SHOULD be OP compared to Rear Admiral Ships and even VA Z-Store Ships but not when compared to the best Fleet Ships IMHO
Branflakes compliance:
The reason Lock Box ships are overpowered is because they not only have ten consoles and come with special consoles, but also higher base stats than Fleet Ships. The biggest place this shows up is in the turn rates. Fleet Recon Sci has 13, Wells has 15. Fleet Defiant has 17, JHAS has 20. Simply buffing the turn rates of Fleet Ships to equal Lock Box Ships would probably all that is needed to balance them, though I think personally both options that follow should be considered.
Getting a Fleet Ship takes a huge investment of time and resources from not jsut the one player but from the entire fleet. Lock Box Ship is obtained through either luck or buying from another player via exchange (again a lot of resources, but really not the same level as Fleet Ships)
I propose two possible solutions to this, both of which could be implemented:
1a. Simple balance pass so that Fleet Ships are dead even balance wise with lock box ships. Cryptic/PWE earn good money from both and IMHO the best ships in the game should indeed put money in the coffers. They should however be equal as some of us would rather not gamble and opening lock boxes should not be REQUIRED to have the best ships. Personally I think the Lock Box Ships should stay specced as they currently are and Tier 3 Shipyard and higher Fleet Ships should be buffed to be equal to them.
--OR--
1b. Lower the tiers at which Current Fleet Ships can be obtained and add Lock Box quality ships to T5.
2. Fleet Ships should get the special consoles that come with the z-store counterpart.
Still on the subject about defense and offense disparity, I'd like to see Willpower becoming more effective against Knockback. (Or, any better means to counter KB chains.) If you have Willpower + Sure Footed + MACO Armor (which I have), it won't be enough to stop some powers with high KB chance, allowing for a few KB chains. Because status resistance is apparently affected by the DR formula, you can't seem to ever get more than about 50-60% resistance to effects. Additionally, KB seems to be augmented by damage buffs, as I seem to be much often KB'd by a superbuffed Lunge.
From my perception this seems to affect KB more than the other effects like stun or confuse. I have 6 points in Willpower, and confuse powers last at most 1~2s on me, which is perfectly fine. However a KB chain of two or three times will lock me out of combat for much longer, enough for a defeat. This seems unbalanced to me since I have so much KB resistance and I intentionally built for it.
On a sort of different note, there also seems to be a bug with stun that if you have a high Willpower level, the stun will wear off quickly, but while you can move again, your ability to use any powers and consumables will be locked for the full duration. This happens to me very often.
while we are on the topic of dodge, we should have to dance for about 10hours plus for a passive. like a +2 to dodge. they really need to make a dodge accolade. 20 hours would give like a +4
really? no 1 likes this idea? this could be key to help rp guys like me try to rp in pvp ground. right now i probly have about 80 hours of dance time with no accolade. why cant it be linked to the doge system? dance could be a training course for dodge. i also think it would help alot of the rp guys go into ev suits and try some ground pvp. or even shoot at some borg in elite stf.
Join Date: Dec 2007Originally Posted by BROKEN1981
Simply buffing the turn rates of Fleet Ships to equal Lock Box Ships would probably all that is needed to balance them, though I think personally both options that follow should be considered.
You're fooling yourself if you think this is going to happen.
Once fleet ships are unlocked, they become unlocked for ever for that fleet for easy, repeated purchases.
The investment for a fleet newcomer is effectively 0 (beyond ship modules, of course)
Basically what you are suggesting would cut directly into the truly massive (and I guarantee you they are massive) profits that come from master key sales.
They are almost always going to be a little faster, a little stronger or with a better layout than what is typically available (barring metagame shifts that the devs might not realize or consider).
I understand what it is you're aiming for, and I don't disagree with the desire to have this balance as I'd much rather be flying true Fed ships than Alien ones but my inner min-maxer will not let me - but I think most players need a dose of reality when it comes to the state of the game regarding lockbox ships and the importance of revenue in a game that has to answer to share holders.
And no, the fleet ships will never be on the same level of revenue unless players would be willing to purchase them for 20+ fleet ship modules each.
With that being said, the number of Lobi store ships that show up on the market show that people are in fact quite willing to spend that kind of money to obtain certain ships - I just think there would be a riot if the Fleet Regent was made more awesome but also had a new price tag of 40 fleet ship modules (= $200 compare to 800 lobi at ave 4 lobi per $1.25)
You're fooling yourself if you think this is going to happen.
Once fleet ships are unlocked, they become unlocked for ever for that fleet for easy, repeated purchases.
The investment for a fleet newcomer is effectively 0 (beyond ship modules, of course)
Basically what you are suggesting would cut directly into the truly massive (and I guarantee you they are massive) profits that come from master key sales.
They are almost always going to be a little faster, a little stronger or with a better layout than what is typically available (barring metagame shifts that the devs might not realize or consider).
I understand what it is you're aiming for, and I don't disagree with the desire to have this balance as I'd much rather be flying true Fed ships than Alien ones but my inner min-maxer will not let me - but I think most players need a dose of reality when it comes to the state of the game regarding lockbox ships and the importance of revenue in a game that has to answer to share holders.
And no, the fleet ships will never be on the same level of revenue unless players would be willing to purchase them for 20+ fleet ship modules each.
With that being said, the number of Lobi store ships that show up on the market show that people are in fact quite willing to spend that kind of money to obtain certain ships - I just think there would be a riot if the Fleet Regent was made more awesome but also had a new price tag of 40 fleet ship modules (= $200 compare to 800 lobi at ave 4 lobi per $1.25)
Overall I think you're right, but there is room for the lockbox ships to still be better without being as overwhelmingly so as they are now.
I think it's also worth considering that the lockbox ships are one of the things people mention for making them leave the game. If they imbalance the playing field too much, they drive customers away. Look at it this way, if you were considering plopping down $20 for a fleet escort, would it be worthwhile given that it would put you at a disadvantage against anyone with a bug? The money for the fleet modules wouldn't be much, but it still seems kind of wasted in comparison.
The sweet spot for Cryptic would be to leave the lockbox ships with a slight edge, but not so much that they make the other fleet ships obsolete. If players aren't going to pay for the lockbox ships, Cryptic should still be trying to make money off them in other ways.
we are seeing a slight toning down of lock box ships, the jem heavy could have easily had a turn rate of 18 or something. the movement stats are quite conservative. and the dread is practically nonviable. the fleet ships are fine, though a bit unimaginative. that was a chance to have more interesting station setups of actual klingon and starfleet ships
Overall I think you're right, but there is room for the lockbox ships to still be better without being as overwhelmingly so as they are now.
I think it's also worth considering that the lockbox ships are one of the things people mention for making them leave the game. If they imbalance the playing field too much, they drive customers away. Look at it this way, if you were considering plopping down $20 for a fleet escort, would it be worthwhile given that it would put you at a disadvantage against anyone with a bug? The money for the fleet modules wouldn't be much, but it still seems kind of wasted in comparison.
The sweet spot for Cryptic would be to leave the lockbox ships with a slight edge, but not so much that they make the other fleet ships obsolete. If players aren't going to pay for the lockbox ships, Cryptic should still be trying to make money off them in other ways.
I don't disagree; on the other hand I don't think fleet ships are "obsolete" outside of the very top tier of the game.
The JHAS for example, for the primary market of this game (PvE) has advantages that are all but irrelevant.
Also, ultimately, with the way that boff layouts are set basically in stone some ships will be winners and some will be losers and you can only ever have one best (just imagine the difference in this JHAS conversation if the Fleet Defiant had an Ensign Eng or Uni instead of tac)
we are seeing a slight toning down of lock box ships, the jem heavy could have easily had a turn rate of 18 or something. the movement stats are quite conservative. and the dread is practically nonviable. the fleet ships are fine, though a bit unimaginative. that was a chance to have more interesting station setups of actual klingon and starfleet ships
I think there is potential as we move forward.
What I do not think we will ever see is Cryptic going back and nerfing the ships already in play.
There is an unwritten understanding to this whole scheme and there is a psychology to it as well.
The buyer is willing to take a large risk with their money for a big (vanity) payout.
They expect it to be excellent or possibly even the best in class.
They also expect that it will not be nerfed.
Once Cryptic starts nerfing lockbox ships, faith in the entire scheme from the buyer side will collapse.
Let's take a look at the current lockbox as an example.
It's possible this was a deliberate attempt to keep these ships a bit more in line as opposed to setting a new bar (it's also possible we're about to see another JHAS limited time Doffpack promo and these ships are intended to increase revenue on an existing product as well as generate their own revenue).
On the other hand, from a PvE player perspective these are apparently the ships they have been waiting for (and as someone who has drilled several craptons worth of PvE I personally don't get the appeal at all FWIW).
I don't know if it was deliberate or if they just missed the mark, or if these were expressly designed with PvE in mind and I'm waiting for the next lockbox to see if there any more hints in any kind of over-arching design intent.
Also by your own statement it's very easy for Cryptic to miss the mark completely and create a "nonviable" ship like the JH Dread Carrier.
Here is the real telling point though:
The JH Dread has been hailed as the second coming of awesome in other subforums. It is selling for more than the JH HEC on the exchange, and many players have pointed to it as having made their Recluse Carrier or Cruiser obsolete.
Just let the lunacy of that sink in for a moment, and you have a very clear idea of where the greatest influx of revenue comes from.
Couple that with the demands of shareholders who expect growth for the money they invest into your product, and you have a better view of the big picture of all of this.
- Beam arrays need to drain way less energy than current, and have higher proc chances to make up for reduced hit chance. - Right now, cannons both do more damage than beams and proc more often. FAW and subsystem targeting is the only reason to run arrays at current.
- DEM needs a massive boost to bleed through damage, it should also become a beam weapon only effect. No real use for it besides the doff skill
- The amount human doffs reduce subsystem disable is too much.
- Did I mention that beam arrays suck?
All weapons should have a chance to proc based on shots fired over time, so the slower RoF weapons have increased proc chances.
DEM needs looking at, currently its not much of a bonus compared to the investment.
Leadership trait needs diminishing returns, having all humans on your bridge crew is really OP. Also goes against the diversity Starfleet embraces.
Beam arrays do suck. Either their dmg is too low or there drain is too high (kinda the same thing)
How about this.
Beam Overload:
"Greatly increases damage on ALL beam arrays by X% for their next firing cycle."
30 sec CD (maxed), 15 Sec Shared CD with FAW and subtarget powers.
Lasts 10-15 seconds or until beam has finished a firing cycle.
Remove the weapon power drain that occurs on the current ability. (why doesn't rapid fire drop weapon power after it's used?)
I think this would be the single target broadside power beams lack.
Leadership is nerfed to Stone Age on Tribble. So you can cut the NEEERF chorus. Your prayers have been answered. Let all Starfleet ships be polluted by green-blooded pointy eared hobgoblins.
"Cryptic Studio’s Jack Emmert (2010): Microtransactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense. I like paying one fee and not worrying about it – like my cellphone. The world’s biggest MMO isn’t item based, even though the black market item GDP is bigger than Russia … microtransactions make me want to die.”
Leadership is nerfed to Stone Age on Tribble. So you can cut the NEEERF chorus. Your prayers have been answered. Let all Starfleet ships be polluted by green-blooded pointy eared hobgoblins.
Ya I agree with you they went a little far with 0.02% lol
Some where not quite half way would likely be about right. I think.
DEM is very strong engineering ability if used properly.It doesnt need any more buff and neither nerf because it would make obsolete a whole class of ships.It should stay as it is now.
There is at least one fed engineer in game that creates havoc using DEM .When it is on field we have to attack him with 2-3 ships to kill him.True is that all other fed engineers I met in PVP are far behind of that single char.
On kdf side I met 2-3 good engineers that again do good damage and score on top at the end of a game but that is the number of really good engineers that can kill easily a kdf escort using DEM i have met until now in PVP.
"There already is a Borg faction, its called the Federation. They assimilate everyone else's technology and remove any biological or technical distinctiveness and add it to their own."
I refuse to be content https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwI0u9L4R8U
I think all escorts should be the same and the only difference should be the way they look.That way all cry babies will have equal ships because we all know thats how things work everywhere .Even in real life all stuffs are equal..is not like the word "best" was invented for a reason.
Btw it doesnt matter that the escort's goal is to have good dps (jhas will always be outdps'ed by a defiant) and wait heals from a healer.Funny how no one complains about the HEC which is a escort carrier but if you mix escort with cruiser people start bit***ing.
also crpytic should nerf everything till the game is turned into pong or have pong's complexity.Seems everyone cant go pass 1 vs 1 which is unfair even if both ships are the same (someone will bi**ch about better consoles ,or better weapon mods ...or "omg you had a purple mk XII rcs and I had a purple mk XI that gives you better turn rate ...its op ,it needs neerf" ). Learn that pvp in this game is for 5 vs 5 (or more if cryptic ever makes the game engine support all the spam)
also if all ships are equal (which I already said is BS) there would be no reason to have more than 1 escort....dun dun dun Pong online ....not to heavy on the brain.
Btw where are those people who wanted tricobalt nerfed and after it was nerfed were raging on the forums?
How about those who wanted romulan boffs nerfed and again rage after nerf?
The JH Dread has been hailed as the second coming of awesome in other subforums. It is selling for more than the JH HEC on the exchange, and many players have pointed to it as having made their Recluse Carrier or Cruiser obsolete.
JE Dreadnought is a lobi store ship which has a fixed and well know price of 800 lobies.There are other lobi store ships like recluse or Mobius ...they also sell for 800 lobies.People sell them on exchange to get ec for their lobies .There is no reason to buy a 800 lobi ship which sells for 10 million ec less than other lobi ship( same 800 lobi remember) .Those ships control eachother's price and they will always be @80 mills till cyrptic spams more way to get ec or nerfs the amount of ec people get through whatever people do.
Leadership is nerfed to Stone Age on Tribble. So you can cut the NEEERF chorus. Your prayers have been answered. Let all Starfleet ships be polluted by green-blooded pointy eared hobgoblins.
Ok I take my words back. The trait just doesnt work on tribble, so the magnitude is unknown. You all leadership moaners might continue your nerf chorus.
"Cryptic Studio’s Jack Emmert (2010): Microtransactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense. I like paying one fee and not worrying about it – like my cellphone. The world’s biggest MMO isn’t item based, even though the black market item GDP is bigger than Russia … microtransactions make me want to die.”
Comments
Vin Naftero@playhard88 - FED Sciencie
K'tan@playhard88 - KDF Tactical
Argento@playhard88 - RRF Tactical (FED)
You can keep the battle cloak, just make that freaking ensign a uni!! :P
- Caitians & Dodge stacking
The most important stat on ground is dodge. Theres a dodge bonus on the omega shield, a dodge bonus on the gambler, dodging boni from crouching/sprinting, dodging boni from the omega set and the cat racial.
Im not sure if the dodging formula is faulty in some way or if theres a perfect-threshold (like with cloak) but for some reason this 10% extra caitian dodge plays a major role.. cats dodge way more then any other race and taking half-damage is much better protection then any armor or maco-shield recharge can provide.
This has lead to the situation that most ground veterans have been rolling cats as it seems to be the only viable race to play due to its durability - in fact the only reason im not playing my cat every day is that i can't stand its look and i feel guilty for playing such an OP'ed toon against inexperienced players.
I agree with most of the suggestions subu has made to get em fixed.. roof's in maps should be blocked off for anyone and there should be something done about that dodge trait bonus, that dodge on the cat trait alone is already better then ANY other trait out there and ONLY cat's can have it atm, thats just wrong.
On top to the above mentioned dodge issue cat's also have access to covert as trait choice, the 2nd most important trait on ground for tac's since it allows to cloak perfectly (close to 600 stealth), a threshold were perception abilities seem to become inefficient against. Theres no other race that can have covert and dodge boni together.
- Shanty town and the cloak
Almost all CTF style games try to make the flag (virus in our case) visible to players so they know theres something to intercept.. not so in shanty town.
In the past, before covert was buffed into a must-have trait for perfect cloak and before omega cloak was added this wasn't much of an issue... but nowadays you can run the virus perfectly cloaked and even capture it while under cloak. This is especially for inexperienced players a rather unintuitive design as they ain't even noticing whats going on and why they lose but also creates problems for veterans and can totally turn games. I suggest a cloak debuff to be added to the virus and the virus carrier should maybe even flash on the minimap - just like in other CTF games.
- Relativity stasis pistol
Theres one huge major flaw with that pistol atm and that is that the invulnerability part of it can be cancelled, this means a player can be stunned for 10 seconds and be killed while beeing stunned. Theres no way to counter the stun and the description of the pistol gives no indication that the invulnerability even should be removable. I won't be disclosing howto do it tho, i mailed bort a howto some month ago tho.
- Kit switching and buffs
Widely known and heavily abused on ground is that kit switching cuts cooldowns. As example some sci-medic buffs nanite health monitor 100s duration on someone and gets a 40s cooldown then swaps to another medic kit and has a 20s cooldown. Thats half the normal cooldown.. this allows for a kit-switching (ab)using sci to buff 5 NHM's compared to one-kit playing one that can only buff 2 players within the duration of it.
In comparison.. when trying the same thing in space - swapping boffs after buffing another player with TSS3 the buff will cancel on the target the very second the boff gets swapped.. so the tech to cancel buffs must already be there just not heavily employed on ground.
- Engineer can spam to many pets
Once an engineer dies on ground he loses attachments to his pets and can spawn another set of pets thus will have way more pets out then normally possible.
The amount of engineer spam in some games seen has grown into ridiculous proportions now.. i find 3 mortars, 3 turrets and 2x3 drones already heavy but once the extra wave of spam is added after a death a game with a couple engineer on one side grows into an epic battle of spam with mortar circles all over the place. Thought i'd note its not the engineers fault to have to many pets out, its most likely just a bug.
Engineer spam should either despawn on death of the engineer (like escorts do for tac's) or they need to keep its attachment to the engineer at least. Doff proc extra pets also need to learn to despawn when a kit is swapped.
I don't care about pounce & lunge sharing a cooldown. That's fine with me.
What I was concerned was are the passives. If I say that these species cost zen to unlock unlike other species we're available to use from the get go is probably not a valid argument. What worries me is the tendency to make everything equal or similar. I get the feeling that people are getting lazy to find ways around their species' disadvanages or another species' advanages. When I say this I'm thinking in general and of no one in particular, so I wouldn't want anyone to get insulted by this.
My point is that if we go that way, it's a very steep road we're taking. How about the passive advanages that the 'joined symbiote' gives to sci.captains then? The 'efficient captain' trait also boost 4 passives +10 in space. The alien chars. and the availability to use 4 player chosen skills? Should we begin nefring everything?
It is true that pounce and jump bonuses are fun for those who like to play as felines. They just need to be balanced for PvP so we can all play together. Any other race has to use a trait on Perception for instance, yet Caitians get it for free, plus they get a racially unique dodge bonus that is even better, plus they get jump height. All 3 of these traits are wrapped up into 1, allowing Caitians to pick 3 more. That gives them effectively 6 traits vs others 4, and 2 of those are unique and powerful. I do not think anyone wants the game to be perfectly even, just keep the advantages minor so that the game can be competitive.
Issue:Mine
Problem: with half to full shields takes half my hull on a bug ship(which is very tanky)
Solution either nerf damage or make it so it hits shields more then hull cause as it is now 99% of 1v1s are with mines.
Thanks for looking at my post.
-Spells
| Dues Ex Mechina |
Fleet Leader
Just to clarify the Battle Cloak allows cloaking in combat the standard KDF cloak does not. Enhanced Battlecloak allows for firing torps et al. The BCs are only found on base BoPs and now the KDF Vet ship. The EBC is only on the B'rel and Fleet B'rel.
None of the KDF cruisers nor Escorts have a BC. I don't see them upgrading the Defiant's cloak w/o upgrading all the KDF Escort/Battle Cruisers.
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
Efficient captain gives +15 starship warp core efficiency those days, one boff with efficient gives +7.5 to the same.. that trait isn't all that OP as you make it sound and doesn't really compare well at all with the situation of cats on ground.
If you face a spacer with efficient in space and you don't have that trait the battle is far from being decided already. if two equal good tac's cat vs non-cat meet the outcome is easily predictable. There is no space analogy to cats really, cats are dominating ground pvp and if you'd be a ground pvp veteran like buccaneer you'd know. The biggest glaring issue of cats isn't even really that extra catty-lunge, its the cat-only extra dodge.
while we are on the topic of dodge, we should have to dance for about 10hours plus for a passive. like a +2 to dodge. they really need to make a dodge accolade. 20 hours would give like a +4
If it weren't for cats, the choices for ground pvp characters that could compete on an even footing would look something like this:
Ideal for a wide variety of builds:
Alien (fed and kdf)
highly customizable
Andorian (fed)
cold resistance (build vs cold gun)
Klingon (fed and kdf) ---- superior versions of widely valuable passives, able to stack Covert and Honorable
Orion female (kdf)
activatable placate
Potentially interesting for specific builds / counter-builds.
Gorn (kdf)
powerful passives, although very limiting
Lethean (kdf)
If I recall correctly, Rapture can be used while cloaked
Bajoran (fed)
ideal for selfish-medic or medic-supported supertanking engineer
Saurian (fed)
fire resistance (build vs physicist)
Tellarite (fed)
interesting possibilities for a selfish-medic, engitank, or maybe (depending on whether Pig-Headed buffs mines) enemy neutralization
As it is, your options are:
Caitian (fed)
ideal for all builds
Feresian (kdf)
ideal for all builds
or: select any other race, and compete at a disadvantage
Balance Fleet Ships and Lock Box Ships
Lock Box Ships SHOULD be OP compared to Rear Admiral Ships and even VA Z-Store Ships but not when compared to the best Fleet Ships IMHO
Branflakes compliance:
The reason Lock Box ships are overpowered is because they not only have ten consoles and come with special consoles, but also higher base stats than Fleet Ships. The biggest place this shows up is in the turn rates. Fleet Recon Sci has 13, Wells has 15. Fleet Defiant has 17, JHAS has 20. Simply buffing the turn rates of Fleet Ships to equal Lock Box Ships would probably all that is needed to balance them, though I think personally both options that follow should be considered.
Getting a Fleet Ship takes a huge investment of time and resources from not jsut the one player but from the entire fleet. Lock Box Ship is obtained through either luck or buying from another player via exchange (again a lot of resources, but really not the same level as Fleet Ships)
I propose two possible solutions to this, both of which could be implemented:
1a. Simple balance pass so that Fleet Ships are dead even balance wise with lock box ships. Cryptic/PWE earn good money from both and IMHO the best ships in the game should indeed put money in the coffers. They should however be equal as some of us would rather not gamble and opening lock boxes should not be REQUIRED to have the best ships. Personally I think the Lock Box Ships should stay specced as they currently are and Tier 3 Shipyard and higher Fleet Ships should be buffed to be equal to them.
--OR--
1b. Lower the tiers at which Current Fleet Ships can be obtained and add Lock Box quality ships to T5.
2. Fleet Ships should get the special consoles that come with the z-store counterpart.
From my perception this seems to affect KB more than the other effects like stun or confuse. I have 6 points in Willpower, and confuse powers last at most 1~2s on me, which is perfectly fine. However a KB chain of two or three times will lock me out of combat for much longer, enough for a defeat. This seems unbalanced to me since I have so much KB resistance and I intentionally built for it.
On a sort of different note, there also seems to be a bug with stun that if you have a high Willpower level, the stun will wear off quickly, but while you can move again, your ability to use any powers and consumables will be locked for the full duration. This happens to me very often.
STO Screenshot Archive
really? no 1 likes this idea? this could be key to help rp guys like me try to rp in pvp ground. right now i probly have about 80 hours of dance time with no accolade. why cant it be linked to the doge system? dance could be a training course for dodge. i also think it would help alot of the rp guys go into ev suits and try some ground pvp. or even shoot at some borg in elite stf.
You're fooling yourself if you think this is going to happen.
Once fleet ships are unlocked, they become unlocked for ever for that fleet for easy, repeated purchases.
The investment for a fleet newcomer is effectively 0 (beyond ship modules, of course)
Basically what you are suggesting would cut directly into the truly massive (and I guarantee you they are massive) profits that come from master key sales.
They are almost always going to be a little faster, a little stronger or with a better layout than what is typically available (barring metagame shifts that the devs might not realize or consider).
I understand what it is you're aiming for, and I don't disagree with the desire to have this balance as I'd much rather be flying true Fed ships than Alien ones but my inner min-maxer will not let me - but I think most players need a dose of reality when it comes to the state of the game regarding lockbox ships and the importance of revenue in a game that has to answer to share holders.
And no, the fleet ships will never be on the same level of revenue unless players would be willing to purchase them for 20+ fleet ship modules each.
With that being said, the number of Lobi store ships that show up on the market show that people are in fact quite willing to spend that kind of money to obtain certain ships - I just think there would be a riot if the Fleet Regent was made more awesome but also had a new price tag of 40 fleet ship modules (= $200 compare to 800 lobi at ave 4 lobi per $1.25)
I think it's also worth considering that the lockbox ships are one of the things people mention for making them leave the game. If they imbalance the playing field too much, they drive customers away. Look at it this way, if you were considering plopping down $20 for a fleet escort, would it be worthwhile given that it would put you at a disadvantage against anyone with a bug? The money for the fleet modules wouldn't be much, but it still seems kind of wasted in comparison.
The sweet spot for Cryptic would be to leave the lockbox ships with a slight edge, but not so much that they make the other fleet ships obsolete. If players aren't going to pay for the lockbox ships, Cryptic should still be trying to make money off them in other ways.
I don't disagree; on the other hand I don't think fleet ships are "obsolete" outside of the very top tier of the game.
The JHAS for example, for the primary market of this game (PvE) has advantages that are all but irrelevant.
Also, ultimately, with the way that boff layouts are set basically in stone some ships will be winners and some will be losers and you can only ever have one best (just imagine the difference in this JHAS conversation if the Fleet Defiant had an Ensign Eng or Uni instead of tac)
I think there is potential as we move forward.
What I do not think we will ever see is Cryptic going back and nerfing the ships already in play.
There is an unwritten understanding to this whole scheme and there is a psychology to it as well.
The buyer is willing to take a large risk with their money for a big (vanity) payout.
They expect it to be excellent or possibly even the best in class.
They also expect that it will not be nerfed.
Once Cryptic starts nerfing lockbox ships, faith in the entire scheme from the buyer side will collapse.
Let's take a look at the current lockbox as an example.
It's possible this was a deliberate attempt to keep these ships a bit more in line as opposed to setting a new bar (it's also possible we're about to see another JHAS limited time Doffpack promo and these ships are intended to increase revenue on an existing product as well as generate their own revenue).
On the other hand, from a PvE player perspective these are apparently the ships they have been waiting for (and as someone who has drilled several craptons worth of PvE I personally don't get the appeal at all FWIW).
I don't know if it was deliberate or if they just missed the mark, or if these were expressly designed with PvE in mind and I'm waiting for the next lockbox to see if there any more hints in any kind of over-arching design intent.
Also by your own statement it's very easy for Cryptic to miss the mark completely and create a "nonviable" ship like the JH Dread Carrier.
Here is the real telling point though:
The JH Dread has been hailed as the second coming of awesome in other subforums. It is selling for more than the JH HEC on the exchange, and many players have pointed to it as having made their Recluse Carrier or Cruiser obsolete.
Just let the lunacy of that sink in for a moment, and you have a very clear idea of where the greatest influx of revenue comes from.
Couple that with the demands of shareholders who expect growth for the money they invest into your product, and you have a better view of the big picture of all of this.
All weapons should have a chance to proc based on shots fired over time, so the slower RoF weapons have increased proc chances.
DEM needs looking at, currently its not much of a bonus compared to the investment.
Leadership trait needs diminishing returns, having all humans on your bridge crew is really OP. Also goes against the diversity Starfleet embraces.
Beam arrays do suck. Either their dmg is too low or there drain is too high (kinda the same thing)
How about this.
Beam Overload:
"Greatly increases damage on ALL beam arrays by X% for their next firing cycle."
30 sec CD (maxed), 15 Sec Shared CD with FAW and subtarget powers.
Lasts 10-15 seconds or until beam has finished a firing cycle.
Remove the weapon power drain that occurs on the current ability. (why doesn't rapid fire drop weapon power after it's used?)
I think this would be the single target broadside power beams lack.
Ya I agree with you they went a little far with 0.02% lol
Some where not quite half way would likely be about right. I think.
There is at least one fed engineer in game that creates havoc using DEM .When it is on field we have to attack him with 2-3 ships to kill him.True is that all other fed engineers I met in PVP are far behind of that single char.
On kdf side I met 2-3 good engineers that again do good damage and score on top at the end of a game but that is the number of really good engineers that can kill easily a kdf escort using DEM i have met until now in PVP.
I refuse to be content https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwI0u9L4R8U
Btw it doesnt matter that the escort's goal is to have good dps (jhas will always be outdps'ed by a defiant) and wait heals from a healer.Funny how no one complains about the HEC which is a escort carrier but if you mix escort with cruiser people start bit***ing.
also crpytic should nerf everything till the game is turned into pong or have pong's complexity.Seems everyone cant go pass 1 vs 1 which is unfair even if both ships are the same (someone will bi**ch about better consoles ,or better weapon mods ...or "omg you had a purple mk XII rcs and I had a purple mk XI that gives you better turn rate ...its op ,it needs neerf" ). Learn that pvp in this game is for 5 vs 5 (or more if cryptic ever makes the game engine support all the spam)
also if all ships are equal (which I already said is BS) there would be no reason to have more than 1 escort....dun dun dun Pong online ....not to heavy on the brain.
Btw where are those people who wanted tricobalt nerfed and after it was nerfed were raging on the forums?
How about those who wanted romulan boffs nerfed and again rage after nerf?
JE Dreadnought is a lobi store ship which has a fixed and well know price of 800 lobies.There are other lobi store ships like recluse or Mobius ...they also sell for 800 lobies.People sell them on exchange to get ec for their lobies .There is no reason to buy a 800 lobi ship which sells for 10 million ec less than other lobi ship( same 800 lobi remember) .Those ships control eachother's price and they will always be @80 mills till cyrptic spams more way to get ec or nerfs the amount of ec people get through whatever people do.
Ok I take my words back. The trait just doesnt work on tribble, so the magnitude is unknown. You all leadership moaners might continue your nerf chorus.