I'll go with the beam in warhead option, probably the closest option that wouldn't change the functionality of the ability much...unless you have orbital chase beam.
But you could turn that chase beam into a pulsating warhead thingamabob that follows enemies.
Orbital Strike is the best captain ability ever, and the players love it
I think it's just fine really. I thought it was kind of funny (and slightly confusing) when I first saw it, but it's nothing I would personally complain about. I'd be much happier seeing ground gameplay improvements in general over 'fixing' these few (rather entertaining) graphical deviations in particular.
You boarded an enemy ship with your engineering captain and a small squad of trusted senior officers. You spot a group of enemies. You send their coordinates to your ship and PEW - A beam of energy smashes through the shields, hull and several decks of the ship... and then just gives second degree burns to the enemies, and mildly heats up the floor on which they were standing. If you also think there is something wrong with this picture, please vote for what you would think would be a reasonable replacement, or give your own ideas ;-)
How would any of those suggestions interact with the [Genetic Resequencer Pack - Ground Trait (Profession-Specific)] that grants Trait: Orbital Devastation?
How does Orbital Strike make any less sense than Tactical Initiative? How is only a Tactical captain capable of telling their allies to pull their collective heads out of their collective afts and do things faster!?! In a related note, why isn't my Command Specialist Engineer a good enough leader to accomplish this feat?
What's wrong with Support Drones (other than the limitation of a single Fabrication Engineer doff to a Tac's three Security Officer doffs)?
Why would I want more shield heals with the already abundant options available and the progressive increases in the amount of shield penetration, etc. in the game? As a player, what would adding another shield heal at the cost of one of my few targetable offensive abilities gain me?
With most of the options, why would I (as a player) want to change something that works (from a gameplay standpoint) on almost any target for something that only applies in a specific and limited manner?
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
Orbital Strike is the best captain ability ever, and the players love it
Change it because it is not realistic, it doesn't make sense? Really? What's next?
I am all for a good deal of realism in any game, because, where is the point we get god mode, so where do we stop. This game however, 90 percent of the stuff here doesn't make sense.
BTW. you can limit yourself of course by not using certain abillities, but you condemn yourself more or less to solo play.
Now here is an idea. We have difficulty levels and a higher difficulty means that the NPC's are harder by having more hp. How about a difficulty level that doesn't do that, boosting the NPC, but gimps the player, by limiting him to only realistic mechanics?
0
rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,663Community Moderator
Orbital Strike is the best captain ability ever, and the players love it
But... but... I love punching new skylights into structures! Especially with my Orbital Devastation trait!
Its funny to use Orbital Strike inside Starfleet Academy during the Academy event!
I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite colored text = mod mode
I'd say don't change it, changing abilities is never good and won't happen.
Having an animation replacer which does the exact same thing for indoor maps would be nice to have, like beaming in of nadion-charges that deal energy damage but only as a change in animation, not in function. But that's too much work for no gain so again, won't happen.
I'm not sure for what I am supposed to vote, though. I want the ability to stay the same and only a "beam something in" animation that only works on indoor maps (it could work, some maps disable certain abilities like security escort etc.)
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
Orbital Strike is the best captain ability ever, and the players love it
No need to change it. But if we have to change it, let's go full on Final Fantasy cutscene with it. Let's use FF7's Neo Bahamut cutscene. Except we're teleporting the opponents and the landmass that they're on in front of our starship and ordering a bombardment.
In fact, let's change ALL fancy attacks into cutscenes and QTEs. Let's add Omnislash for sword users instead of the derpy one-handed attacks.
If you are really interested, I have the answers ready, but since I have little hope of changing the opinion you already seem to have, wouldn't it be better for everyone involved if you just voted "Other" and gave your own alternative, or voted "Orbital Strike is the best..." if you feel that Orbital Strike is fine just the way it is? After all, this is just-for-fun poll, we are not deciding the looks of the next fed carrier here...
How does Orbital Strike make any less sense than Tactical Initiative? How is only a Tactical captain capable of telling their allies to pull their collective heads out of their collective afts and do things faster!?! In a related note, why isn't my Command Specialist Engineer a good enough leader to accomplish this feat?
You need a tactical captain to be able to call your ship and ask them to beam down redshirts.
You need engineer captain to call your ship and ask them to beam down turret or drone.
You need an engineer captain to be able to call your ship and ask them to shoot something.
You need tactical captain to pull the pin off a grenade and toss it at enemy.
Etc, etc, etc...none of it makes sense they're just there because the classes need to have all different abilities like every other MMORPG.
At least the science captain powers are mostly the kind of technobabble gimmicks that would actually be expected to require special skill.
If you are really interested, I have the answers ready, but since I have little hope of changing the opinion you already seem to have, wouldn't it be better for everyone involved if you just voted "Other" and gave your own alternative, or voted "Orbital Strike is the best..." if you feel that Orbital Strike is fine just the way it is? After all, this is just-for-fun poll, we are not deciding the looks of the next fed carrier here...
I am actually curious. I know the questions themselves indicate my opinion lies somewhere along the lines of 1, 9, or 10 for my answer... but the actual vision behind some of the options might be perfectly valid. As you can tell, I'd have absolutely zero interest in target-restricted abilities like the IFF Virus example, and a few seem like redundant versions of existing abilities like Support Drone and Engineering Proficiency or a Kit Module.
I think option 1 is decent, but it would change the damage-type of the attack... and you'd probably end up with the same "wet newspaper" effectiveness compared to what it should be capable of conceptually.
Option 3 could be greatly entertaining, but it would be highly dependent on its capabilities and what Skill those capabilities scale off of. Having Orbital Strike scale off of the cheapest of our Eng Ground Skills helps keep it an affordable ability to use from a build perspective. It could also be an option for the Commando active ability if they ever expand it to a full Specialization... Call Juggernaut Exosuit or somesuch.
If they were to go ahead and tinker with something that works as-is for immersion, my option 9 would be anything that leaves the mechanics alone and applied a healthy does of technobabble. For example, maybe Orbital Strike isn't really a direct beam at all... maybe we're using advanced transporter theory to beam in a temporary column of nadeon particles or waste plasma, rapidly dissipating it the same way for the safety of our own personnel. This causes Phaser/Plasma damage to targets caught within the transporter beam, and temporarily overloads the pattern buffers (that our captains experience as cooldown). Maybe the Klingons went a simpler route and are using the disruptive effect of enemy personal shield generators on Klingon transporter systems against them; while enemy PSG's prevent forcible transport, this also creates feedback within the transporter beam that disrupts the molecular structure of any targets caught within. This causes Disruptor damage, and like the Federation/Romulan strategies puts a strain on the main transporter systems (that our captains exerience as cooldown). Emergency transporters can be used to evacuate an Away Team if necessary, though these transporter systems lack the signal strength to be weaponized... and in any case the use of transporter beams in this manner remains ineffective compared to using an actual directed energy weapon in Space combat (which also happens to explain how little damage the Orbital Strike is doing compared to say a Beam Overload). I'm still mulling over how to technobabble Polaron Bombardment, though...
A literal interpretation of option 10 implies that Orbital Strike is better than granting a cooldown bonus to every member of your team, allowing everyone to do everything more often; not really an opinion I share, because that's pretty damn awesome. On the other hand, if that was meant in the same tone as the Delta Rising memes it implies that Orbital Strike is deeply flawed and somehow reduces the enjoyability of the game; also not really an opinion I share, because it does its job. If there's a way of making it feel more immersive without impeding its function I'd be fine with that. I'd also be fine with leaving it as-is.
How does Orbital Strike make any less sense than Tactical Initiative? How is only a Tactical captain capable of telling their allies to pull their collective heads out of their collective afts and do things faster!?! In a related note, why isn't my Command Specialist Engineer a good enough leader to accomplish this feat?
You need a tactical captain to be able to call your ship and ask them to beam down redshirts.
You need engineer captain to call your ship and ask them to beam down turret or drone.
You need an engineer captain to be able to call your ship and ask them to shoot something.
You need tactical captain to pull the pin off a grenade and toss it at enemy.
Etc, etc, etc...none of it makes sense they're just there because the classes need to have all different abilities like every other MMORPG.
At least the science captain powers are mostly the kind of technobabble gimmicks that would actually be expected to require special skill.
Agreed, though that does kind of kill the whole discussion since that's the same reason Orbital Strike and Polaron Bombardment work indoors.
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
Honestly i don't think that it needs to be changed at all, since as said it works really well an if they did try and change it might break or cause a nerf to it somehow. THough Having other meths might be nice like if used in doors or on your own vessal maybe the ship transmits power into either your fabrications you have active, such as into your drone or turret/mortor that would cause them to super-charge thier next attack or few attacks. Yet i actually this this would be a great new ability/module for the engineer to get that buffs their fabrications, but also alot of the options given could be good abilities to be added to the carrears as a whole honestly.
I would lvoe to have mechanical pets of both non-animal and animal forms, cybernetic enhanced pets, power-armor (like the voth maybe a vechicle that has its own life an weapons that you have to use instead of your own), more veriety in the fabrications (turrets, mortors, and such) both in their looks an functions.
1. Imagining a concievable enhancement by "Orbital Devastation" (or an appropriate rename of it) isn't too hard. Like beaming in kamikaze drones instead of just one bomb, fabricating more turrets, beaming in a heavier exosuit, more abilities for engineering escorts, additional AoE debuffing and damage for the nanites, more hitpoints for the cage, reduced cooldown on Stroke of Genius, chance to affect targeting of enemy energy weapons for the IFF thing...
2. For one, whatever buffs is the tactical captain capable of dispensing, they are not so glaringly immersion breaking as phaser (or whatever) beam, that was somehow able to pierce through multiple layers of rock and/or metal, then magically stopping at just the right depth to give sunburn to your enemies, and re-sealing the hole when it's over. Secondly, the tactical buffs can be attributed to the ability to anticipate enemy movements and being intensly trained in coordinating troops in the heat of the battle (good at managing OTHER people), where engineers and science officers are good at focusing on contributing directly, with repairs, fabrications, first-aid, etc.
3. What's wrong with support drones? If you mean why they are not on the list, then it's because it only allowed me ten options, and I already had engineering escort in there, which would make that option kind of redundant, but either way is fine
4. The AoE shield heal is just an option I randomly wrote there, trying to base the abilities on the roles the engineer is performing. Pretty much just in case *somebody* would like it.
5. It all depends on how well the ability performs in said limited scenarios and how well that function scales with the challenge-rating of the enemies. And while the Orbital Strike's damage works on everything and can be used anytime, it does not really give the feeling of "Boy, I'm sure glad I'm an Engineering captain, so that I could OS that one particular group of enemies...", meanwhile having an ability which would actually make a noticeable difference in a particular scenario would certainly seem preferable to me.
BTW: Option 10 is the "I like Orbital Strike the way it is, indoor beam blasts never bothered me anyway" option - The wording is just used for (hopefully) humorous effect ;-)
Yeah people just want way too much realism for a simple video game. There's always going to be odd things like Orbital strikes in MMORPGs that don't make sense.
Defending The Galaxy By Breaking One Starfleet Regulation After The Next.
Hey， what about the Worfzooka in Insurrection. Engineer carry those RPG/Anti-[insert vehicle] Missiles in Battlefield.
Hast thou not gone against sincerity
Hast thou not felt ashamed of thy words and deeds
Hast thou not lacked vigor
Hast thou exerted all possible efforts
Hast thou not become slothful
Hey， what about the Worfzooka in Insurrection. Engineer carry those RPG/Anti-[insert vehicle] Missiles in Battlefield.
I'm happy with my Engineer not playing Battlefield but STO, thanks
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
Orbital Strike is the best captain ability ever, and the players love it
I'm not sure I agree it's the best captain ability ever, and I'm actually ambivalent about which type of captain gets to use it. But the effect belongs in the game. Orbital strikes are not new to Star Trek and should be represented somehow.
I like the way orbital bombardment was handled in the final mission of the Romulan FE series and would love to see that kind of mechanic used more often. It only happens when the plot says it can happen, could theoretically be used by any captain, and doesn't have the 'magic beam' issues that Orbital Strike does.
Since Eng captains have to get something appropriate and roughly equivalent to Security Team for use on away teams, I wouldn't really be in favor of removing it. It is visually unique and it would be a shame if it went away for good. Some of the proposed alternative options don't make that much more sense than OrbS when you think about them too hard.
Give me one good reason why my ship can't shoot through a ceiling? The fact I'm nearby means nothing. I mean, let's be realistic about this. If you had a death ray in orbit that you could use to shoot things, you would shoot things with it all the time! It doesn't matter if you are outside, or inside, or on another ship. It's a freaking death ray! Shoot everything with it!
Slight issue with that argumentation... You you did that on a space-station... you'd be f'ed.
Nope, security force fields.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
Remove it completely, make Engineers work for a living
You shouldn't be able to use the thing outside at the short range from your landing party and/or friendlies it fires on if you want realistic without frying everything within 100's of meters. let alone in the same room. It's just a cool video game power, take it for what it is. If you want a simulator, go play one.
Orbital Strike is the best captain ability ever, and the players love it
Is today let's ruin a good thing day? There is nothing wrong with orbital strike. And before you give people ideas of changing it stop to consider the folks who did a lot fomgrinding to get the trait that enhances it. That thing is awesome in the defamation battle zone
1. Imagining a concievable enhancement by "Orbital Devastation" (or an appropriate rename of it) isn't too hard. Like beaming in kamikaze drones instead of just one bomb, fabricating more turrets, beaming in a heavier exosuit, more abilities for engineering escorts, additional AoE debuffing and damage for the nanites, more hitpoints for the cage, reduced cooldown on Stroke of Genius, chance to affect targeting of enemy energy weapons for the IFF thing...
2. For one, whatever buffs is the tactical captain capable of dispensing, they are not so glaringly immersion breaking as phaser (or whatever) beam, that was somehow able to pierce through multiple layers of rock and/or metal, then magically stopping at just the right depth to give sunburn to your enemies, and re-sealing the hole when it's over. Secondly, the tactical buffs can be attributed to the ability to anticipate enemy movements and being intensly trained in coordinating troops in the heat of the battle (good at managing OTHER people), where engineers and science officers are good at focusing on contributing directly, with repairs, fabrications, first-aid, etc.
3. What's wrong with support drones? If you mean why they are not on the list, then it's because it only allowed me ten options, and I already had engineering escort in there, which would make that option kind of redundant, but either way is fine
4. The AoE shield heal is just an option I randomly wrote there, trying to base the abilities on the roles the engineer is performing. Pretty much just in case *somebody* would like it.
5. It all depends on how well the ability performs in said limited scenarios and how well that function scales with the challenge-rating of the enemies. And while the Orbital Strike's damage works on everything and can be used anytime, it does not really give the feeling of "Boy, I'm sure glad I'm an Engineering captain, so that I could OS that one particular group of enemies...", meanwhile having an ability which would actually make a noticeable difference in a particular scenario would certainly seem preferable to me.
BTW: Option 10 is the "I like Orbital Strike the way it is, indoor beam blasts never bothered me anyway" option - The wording is just used for (hopefully) humorous effect ;-)
1. Hmmm, I kind of like the Kamikaze Drones, or maybe something like a Bombardment Drone that fires off a powerful energy burst and shorts out... but those would be targetable, nerfing the ability to some extent. Still, the fact that they went and stuck a modifier for Orbital Strike in a lock box makes it a tough sell tampering with the ability in any significant manner, especially since it works so nicely (except for immersion ).
2. I suppose as far as immersion I like my technobabble explanation... even if that doesn't work with Polaron Bombardment due to the way that ability hits.
As to Tactical captains, it still strikes me as odd that a Tactical that specializes in Piloting can be better at ordering people around than a Scientist that specializes in Command. Plus, I'd expect that having the jarhead yelling at you to do stuff faster might actually interfere with calibrating an Exothermic Induction Field rather than helping. Different things break the immersion wall for folks in different ways, I suppose... warpangel's list of oddities are a great set of examples for that bit.
3. I was actually referring to the existing Support Drone ability that we currently have, and the potential redundancy with the suggested Engineering Escort. Personally, I'd be happier if we could slot three Fabrication Engineer doffs to get to the same swarm of pets a Tac can spawn, but it is what it is.
4. Fair enough. While I wouldn't want to trade something as effective as Orbital Strike for it, such an ability could be a decent Rep or lock box Kit Module. Shield heals tend to be a bit oversaturated at this point, though; while you can stack buffs endlessly, you're limited in just how much shielding you can recover... and some enemies/abilities ignore your shields anyway. Maybe something that applied temporary hitpoint (like the Ablative Generator) might be a good alternative... but even then I wouldn't trade one of the Engineer's only targetable damage abilities for it.
5. Hehe, personally I'd rather have an ability that makes a noticable difference in every scenerio. Tactical Initiative, Orbital Strike, and Tricorder Scan are useful everywhere... and I love them for it.
I do see your point, but honestly the only ability I don't really use is Nanoprobe Infestation on a Science captain... often as not, your own team ends up infected with the damn things. Pretty much every other captain ability is useful somewhere, with some like Fire On My Mark being great for priority targets and usable on anything you desire, Cover Shield being a surprisingly great utility power in so many different ways, and Neural Neutralizer being good for keeping groups of NPC's out of your hair when necessary. Despite this, I wouldn't trade any of the universally useful abilities for a conditional one... it's just no fun having abilities that you forget to use because much of the time they don't accomplish anything (*cough* or apply their debuff to you and your allies, lingering well after your initial targets are dead *cough*). Then again, all the conditional abilities are YMMV types...
[EDIT] Okay, I vote option 9: Other, and specify the use of a technobabble justification and leave it alone mechanically.
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
Orbital Strike is the best captain ability ever, and the players love it
Reverse-Engineer Solar Gateway Technology to work with Fed/KDF/Romulan Phaser/Disruptor/Plasma Directed Energy Weapons. Orbital Devastation now causes said Gateway to rotate and move around to find new targets to destroy.
Reverse-Engineer Solar Gateway Technology to work with Fed/KDF/Romulan Phaser/Disruptor/Plasma Directed Energy Weapons. Orbital Devastation now causes said Gateway to rotate and move around to find new targets to destroy.
Hehe, reminds me of Planescape Torment's Mechanus Cannon :-D
Comments
But you could turn that chase beam into a pulsating warhead thingamabob that follows enemies.
It's not broken don't mess with it!
-6th place eng in NTTE
Tactical Team sucked, once upon a time. I got it buffed. Don't think for a minute that Cryptic ignores forum feedback.
I am all for a good deal of realism in any game, because, where is the point we get god mode, so where do we stop. This game however, 90 percent of the stuff here doesn't make sense.
BTW. you can limit yourself of course by not using certain abillities, but you condemn yourself more or less to solo play.
Now here is an idea. We have difficulty levels and a higher difficulty means that the NPC's are harder by having more hp. How about a difficulty level that doesn't do that, boosting the NPC, but gimps the player, by limiting him to only realistic mechanics?
Its funny to use Orbital Strike inside Starfleet Academy during the Academy event!
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
Having an animation replacer which does the exact same thing for indoor maps would be nice to have, like beaming in of nadion-charges that deal energy damage but only as a change in animation, not in function. But that's too much work for no gain so again, won't happen.
I'm not sure for what I am supposed to vote, though. I want the ability to stay the same and only a "beam something in" animation that only works on indoor maps (it could work, some maps disable certain abilities like security escort etc.)
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In fact, let's change ALL fancy attacks into cutscenes and QTEs. Let's add Omnislash for sword users instead of the derpy one-handed attacks.
If you are really interested, I have the answers ready, but since I have little hope of changing the opinion you already seem to have, wouldn't it be better for everyone involved if you just voted "Other" and gave your own alternative, or voted "Orbital Strike is the best..." if you feel that Orbital Strike is fine just the way it is? After all, this is just-for-fun poll, we are not deciding the looks of the next fed carrier here...
You need engineer captain to call your ship and ask them to beam down turret or drone.
You need an engineer captain to be able to call your ship and ask them to shoot something.
You need tactical captain to pull the pin off a grenade and toss it at enemy.
Etc, etc, etc...none of it makes sense they're just there because the classes need to have all different abilities like every other MMORPG.
At least the science captain powers are mostly the kind of technobabble gimmicks that would actually be expected to require special skill.
I am actually curious. I know the questions themselves indicate my opinion lies somewhere along the lines of 1, 9, or 10 for my answer... but the actual vision behind some of the options might be perfectly valid. As you can tell, I'd have absolutely zero interest in target-restricted abilities like the IFF Virus example, and a few seem like redundant versions of existing abilities like Support Drone and Engineering Proficiency or a Kit Module.
I think option 1 is decent, but it would change the damage-type of the attack... and you'd probably end up with the same "wet newspaper" effectiveness compared to what it should be capable of conceptually.
Option 3 could be greatly entertaining, but it would be highly dependent on its capabilities and what Skill those capabilities scale off of. Having Orbital Strike scale off of the cheapest of our Eng Ground Skills helps keep it an affordable ability to use from a build perspective. It could also be an option for the Commando active ability if they ever expand it to a full Specialization... Call Juggernaut Exosuit or somesuch.
If they were to go ahead and tinker with something that works as-is for immersion, my option 9 would be anything that leaves the mechanics alone and applied a healthy does of technobabble. For example, maybe Orbital Strike isn't really a direct beam at all... maybe we're using advanced transporter theory to beam in a temporary column of nadeon particles or waste plasma, rapidly dissipating it the same way for the safety of our own personnel. This causes Phaser/Plasma damage to targets caught within the transporter beam, and temporarily overloads the pattern buffers (that our captains experience as cooldown). Maybe the Klingons went a simpler route and are using the disruptive effect of enemy personal shield generators on Klingon transporter systems against them; while enemy PSG's prevent forcible transport, this also creates feedback within the transporter beam that disrupts the molecular structure of any targets caught within. This causes Disruptor damage, and like the Federation/Romulan strategies puts a strain on the main transporter systems (that our captains exerience as cooldown). Emergency transporters can be used to evacuate an Away Team if necessary, though these transporter systems lack the signal strength to be weaponized... and in any case the use of transporter beams in this manner remains ineffective compared to using an actual directed energy weapon in Space combat (which also happens to explain how little damage the Orbital Strike is doing compared to say a Beam Overload). I'm still mulling over how to technobabble Polaron Bombardment, though...
A literal interpretation of option 10 implies that Orbital Strike is better than granting a cooldown bonus to every member of your team, allowing everyone to do everything more often; not really an opinion I share, because that's pretty damn awesome. On the other hand, if that was meant in the same tone as the Delta Rising memes it implies that Orbital Strike is deeply flawed and somehow reduces the enjoyability of the game; also not really an opinion I share, because it does its job. If there's a way of making it feel more immersive without impeding its function I'd be fine with that. I'd also be fine with leaving it as-is.
Agreed, though that does kind of kill the whole discussion since that's the same reason Orbital Strike and Polaron Bombardment work indoors.
I would lvoe to have mechanical pets of both non-animal and animal forms, cybernetic enhanced pets, power-armor (like the voth maybe a vechicle that has its own life an weapons that you have to use instead of your own), more veriety in the fabrications (turrets, mortors, and such) both in their looks an functions.
Well, in that case...
1. Imagining a concievable enhancement by "Orbital Devastation" (or an appropriate rename of it) isn't too hard. Like beaming in kamikaze drones instead of just one bomb, fabricating more turrets, beaming in a heavier exosuit, more abilities for engineering escorts, additional AoE debuffing and damage for the nanites, more hitpoints for the cage, reduced cooldown on Stroke of Genius, chance to affect targeting of enemy energy weapons for the IFF thing...
2. For one, whatever buffs is the tactical captain capable of dispensing, they are not so glaringly immersion breaking as phaser (or whatever) beam, that was somehow able to pierce through multiple layers of rock and/or metal, then magically stopping at just the right depth to give sunburn to your enemies, and re-sealing the hole when it's over. Secondly, the tactical buffs can be attributed to the ability to anticipate enemy movements and being intensly trained in coordinating troops in the heat of the battle (good at managing OTHER people), where engineers and science officers are good at focusing on contributing directly, with repairs, fabrications, first-aid, etc.
3. What's wrong with support drones? If you mean why they are not on the list, then it's because it only allowed me ten options, and I already had engineering escort in there, which would make that option kind of redundant, but either way is fine
4. The AoE shield heal is just an option I randomly wrote there, trying to base the abilities on the roles the engineer is performing. Pretty much just in case *somebody* would like it.
5. It all depends on how well the ability performs in said limited scenarios and how well that function scales with the challenge-rating of the enemies. And while the Orbital Strike's damage works on everything and can be used anytime, it does not really give the feeling of "Boy, I'm sure glad I'm an Engineering captain, so that I could OS that one particular group of enemies...", meanwhile having an ability which would actually make a noticeable difference in a particular scenario would certainly seem preferable to me.
BTW: Option 10 is the "I like Orbital Strike the way it is, indoor beam blasts never bothered me anyway" option - The wording is just used for (hopefully) humorous effect ;-)
Defending The Galaxy By Breaking One Starfleet Regulation After The Next.
Hast thou not felt ashamed of thy words and deeds
Hast thou not lacked vigor
Hast thou exerted all possible efforts
Hast thou not become slothful
I'm happy with my Engineer not playing Battlefield but STO, thanks
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I like the way orbital bombardment was handled in the final mission of the Romulan FE series and would love to see that kind of mechanic used more often. It only happens when the plot says it can happen, could theoretically be used by any captain, and doesn't have the 'magic beam' issues that Orbital Strike does.
Since Eng captains have to get something appropriate and roughly equivalent to Security Team for use on away teams, I wouldn't really be in favor of removing it. It is visually unique and it would be a shame if it went away for good. Some of the proposed alternative options don't make that much more sense than OrbS when you think about them too hard.
Nope, security force fields.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
You shouldn't be able to use the thing outside at the short range from your landing party and/or friendlies it fires on if you want realistic without frying everything within 100's of meters. let alone in the same room. It's just a cool video game power, take it for what it is. If you want a simulator, go play one.
1. Hmmm, I kind of like the Kamikaze Drones, or maybe something like a Bombardment Drone that fires off a powerful energy burst and shorts out... but those would be targetable, nerfing the ability to some extent. Still, the fact that they went and stuck a modifier for Orbital Strike in a lock box makes it a tough sell tampering with the ability in any significant manner, especially since it works so nicely (except for immersion
2. I suppose as far as immersion I like my technobabble explanation... even if that doesn't work with Polaron Bombardment due to the way that ability hits.
As to Tactical captains, it still strikes me as odd that a Tactical that specializes in Piloting can be better at ordering people around than a Scientist that specializes in Command. Plus, I'd expect that having the jarhead yelling at you to do stuff faster might actually interfere with calibrating an Exothermic Induction Field rather than helping. Different things break the immersion wall for folks in different ways, I suppose... warpangel's list of oddities are a great set of examples for that bit.
3. I was actually referring to the existing Support Drone ability that we currently have, and the potential redundancy with the suggested Engineering Escort. Personally, I'd be happier if we could slot three Fabrication Engineer doffs to get to the same swarm of pets a Tac can spawn, but it is what it is.
4. Fair enough. While I wouldn't want to trade something as effective as Orbital Strike for it, such an ability could be a decent Rep or lock box Kit Module. Shield heals tend to be a bit oversaturated at this point, though; while you can stack buffs endlessly, you're limited in just how much shielding you can recover... and some enemies/abilities ignore your shields anyway. Maybe something that applied temporary hitpoint (like the Ablative Generator) might be a good alternative... but even then I wouldn't trade one of the Engineer's only targetable damage abilities for it.
5. Hehe, personally I'd rather have an ability that makes a noticable difference in every scenerio. Tactical Initiative, Orbital Strike, and Tricorder Scan are useful everywhere... and I love them for it.
I do see your point, but honestly the only ability I don't really use is Nanoprobe Infestation on a Science captain... often as not, your own team ends up infected with the damn things. Pretty much every other captain ability is useful somewhere, with some like Fire On My Mark being great for priority targets and usable on anything you desire, Cover Shield being a surprisingly great utility power in so many different ways, and Neural Neutralizer being good for keeping groups of NPC's out of your hair when necessary. Despite this, I wouldn't trade any of the universally useful abilities for a conditional one... it's just no fun having abilities that you forget to use because much of the time they don't accomplish anything (*cough* or apply their debuff to you and your allies, lingering well after your initial targets are dead *cough*). Then again, all the conditional abilities are YMMV types...
[EDIT] Okay, I vote option 9: Other, and specify the use of a technobabble justification and leave it alone mechanically.
Hehe, reminds me of Planescape Torment's Mechanus Cannon :-D