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Command vs Intel space
postinggum
Member Posts: 1,117 Arc User
For solo and pugs does the intel penetration clicky trump the command achille's heel?
I'd guess that often the AH debuff is going onto things that aren't really worth debuffing with FAW, TS and AOE powers spraying the crits around, only coming into its own against big bads like TAC cubes and gates.
I'd guess that often the AH debuff is going onto things that aren't really worth debuffing with FAW, TS and AOE powers spraying the crits around, only coming into its own against big bads like TAC cubes and gates.
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There, that the reason intel has an edge over command, boff powers.
The special stuff like gather intel and inspiration meter are a nice gimmick but boffs are the beef of it and on that point command sadly just falls flat. OSS, SS, IT and others are all very powerfull and potent ablities which do make a significant impact in terms of DPS.
Form what I've heard so far the ranking is 1st pilot with intel as a close second and command on a very distant third place.
Command specialization is your team support it is not going to beat intel in terms of DPS but it will in terms of utility the only people ive seen use command including myself are engineers which it is directed at.
Command abilities are so awful and underwhelming. Rally Point is the only clear cut nice ability. Concentrate Firepower is excellent in Single Player or if in Multiplayer when NOBODY else on the team has torpedoes. Even friendly hangar units can take the Concentrate Firepower proc if they have a torpedo launcher. Support or not, the rest of the Command BOFF abilities are just weak.
What about Suppression Barrage? I've had some luck with it...it also seems to help Reciprocity proc more often, the downside being the only 30% uptime. Thoughts?
It's a pretty useful spec tree all around, with a little something for everybody. Extrovert also helps sweeten the deal by getting more XP when teamed with others. Achilles Heel is fairly useful. It doesn't really force you into any particular playstyle, except maybe using torps. So if you're used to flying cannon/beam boats, it may not be truly optimal. I personally love torps, so it works for me.
Intel is also nice, but I find it's more suited for a stealthy playstyle. It kind of pigeon-holes you into positioning yourself into a flanking position. This means it's best suited for maneuverable ships that can cloak, and the flanking bonuses stack with Raider flanking. Perception Blending boosts your cloak by a flat amount according to your Aux power -- so I really want to say Intel was built with Warbirds and BoPs in mind.
Notice I said, "Command abilities are so awful and underwhelming" but I didn't talk about the spec tree's bonuses, traits. Those are very different aspects of a Specialization. You can take those specialization bonuses, traits anywhere on even non-spec ships.
I would have thought someone like you deep into Torp Boating would have known of Concentrate Firepower's major issues.
First is the good part. When you're solo and with next to no friendlies with Torps, CF3 (because 1 & 2 are utter TRIBBLE) is amazing. Free HYT1 spam of Neutronic Torps in quick sequence? GREAT. However, once more friendlies are around with a Torpedo Launcher in multiplayer and especially with Hangar Units with a Torp, the benefits of CF gets very cloudy. It's a round-robin effect and not everyone gets that proc. Only 1 damager but CF3 has a shorter timer to get the job done. Cool if you like to share the love. Not cool if you intended CF to up your Torpedo attacks. It is not a true substitute for TAC's HYT/TS abilities.
Concentrate Firepower's proc does indeed get used by Hangar Units. This was the very first thing I noticed when I used CF on a Romulan Command FDC and stuck with the default, cheap Scorpions that it has. Those default Scorpions have Plasma Torps but unlike the Elite Scorps from Rom Reputation, they do not have HYT1. Go ahead and try those cheap Scorpions out with CF. Matter of fact, go ahead and use any of the Hangar Units with no torp ability (regardless of rarity) you can stuff onto any Command capable ship with CF. You'll see them taking CF proc and see HYT1 Plasmas from them. Since the cheap Scorpions launch targetable, highly noticeable projectiles, it became too obvious they were getting the CF proc. Go into multiplayer content and the benefits of CF for the original user, to spam HYT1 in quick sequence, gets worse because others take the proc.
Suppression Barrage's utility is very questionable. I don't need help making the NPCs miss. Hell, you can be stationary and the NPCs will miss you. There's utility to Suppression Barrage but not at the cost of a LtCdr or Cmdr slot, IMO. It gets even murkier when both CF3, OE3 are both LtCdr rank skills. At least it no longer buffs enemy Acc LOL! If Suppression Barrage started at Ens and ended at LtCmdr, then maybe we got something. Maybe.
Quite correct, sir. Sorry I drove this into a different direction.
Anyways, you could do one better: Have both Intel & Command Spec set as Active and reap the benefits of both. Full Mastery however is a different thing and requires an ungodly amount of Spec Pts.