Shield power doesn't have any effect on regeneration, it effects shield hardness. If you put your shield power all the way up to 125, you get 25% damage reduction.
If you put 3 points into the shield hardness skill, that increases it to 50% damage reduction.
Actually, if that still mirrors Holodeck even to a mild degree, shield power has always increased regeneration. 50 shield power = 100% regen rate of the shield, and for each power point + - from there, there's a 4% recharge difference.
From what I remember of the new Tribble skill, the effectiveness of the power subsystem is reduced in favour of granting a larger effect from skill investment.
EDIT - Just to add this for completeness.
50 shield power = Standard regeneration
25 shield power = Half regeneration
100 shield power = Double regeneration
125 shield power = Triple regeneration
Obviously the exact value of regeneration also has to take into account the shield type and it's intrinsic modifiers, before it's actual item modifiers...
Resists are a whole other thing for which there used to be a table somewhere on the old forums, which I have no idea how to get to now. I remember it was a simple formula like 'shield power/x = resist percentage from shield power'.
I just hopped on to Holodeck to check that out. This is what I'm seeing.
That's a bug in the UI. Shield power always boosted regen but it never shows on the stats page. Same for the consoles that boost shield regen they don't update the UI. But in combat you can see the shield regen work.
EDIT: Would be nice to see shield resistance and hardness as well but I don't think they are listed anywhere?
Maybe the new stat window, whenever it comes, will finally account for those, too?
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
I've been thinking. There's a fundamental disconnect between how STO is configured and how it is designed that is only being partially addressed in the skill revamp.
There's a MMO standard that you get to choose some but not all of a set of skills. In sort, you make choices that differentiate and specialize your character. This is a standard that STO followed, but shouldn't have; and though some is being done to correct this, it's not as much as should be.
The first example was that ground and space skills (and traits) were lumped together. You got to chose a space captain or a ground captain, but that didn't fit with the play-style (where everyone was expected to work in both arenas). After 6 years, the design is catching up to that, as first traits (well, most of them) and now skills are being made into separate pools for ground and space. Yay.
But in space, there's still a problem.
If I go an play SW:TOR, I will build a buffer, tank, or cannon. Indeed: my inalterable class choice means that I am permanently locked out of one. I can try to super-specialize or I can try to generalize a bit, but I'm going to build something and rarely, if ever change it (respec).
But in STO, I am expected and encouraged to collect ships. So I get myself an Arbiter and build a beam boat. When I do so, I'm going to build either a glass cannon or something close to that. I'm going to pour points into weapon damage, and likely flow, and ignore gravg, torps, pets, etc... because they would be completely useless on this ship.
Then this cool sci boat show up, and I spend $30 or so to buy it, and my skillset is completely useless for it.
And if I spend a respec token to setup my skills for my new sci boat, I can't (effectively) use my Arbiter any more.
STO (space) isn't like other MMOs. The ships are the characters, but the skillsets aren't per-ship but per toon. The analogy for SW:TOR would be if I had to chose a universal skill set for all my toons to share, except when I respec. It would stop me from playing a variety of toons.
I don't think this has been fully considered in the design. The recent changes indicate we are getting better; but we are still locked-in on the space side. (ground side lock-in isn't nearly as much of a problem, because ground toons aren't encouraged to switch ships or their equivalent).
Please consider treating skills more like specializations. Let us get them all and chose between sets. Or give us unlimited respecs so that when we look at buying a ship, we aren't penalized for trying to set our skills to best use it.
I've been thinking. There's a fundamental disconnect between how STO is configured and how it is designed that is only being partially addressed in the skill revamp.
But in STO, I am expected and encouraged to collect ships. So I get myself an Arbiter and build a beam boat. When I do so, I'm going to build either a glass cannon or something close to that. I'm going to pour points into weapon damage, and likely flow, and ignore gravg, torps, pets, etc... because they would be completely useless on this ship.
Then this cool sci boat show up, and I spend $30 or so to buy it, and my skillset is completely useless for it.
And if I spend a respec token to setup my skills for my new sci boat, I can't (effectively) use my Arbiter any more.
STO (space) isn't like other MMOs. The ships are the characters, but the skillsets aren't per-ship but per toon.
I don't think this has been fully considered in the design. The recent changes indicate we are getting better; but we are still locked-in on the space side. (ground side lock-in isn't nearly as much of a problem, because ground toons aren't encouraged to switch ships or their equivalent).
Please consider treating skills more like specializations. Let us get them all and chose between sets. Or give us unlimited respecs so that when we look at buying a ship, we aren't penalized for trying to set our skills to best use it.
This does sound very on point and one of the issues I have in the understanding area of the game.
I've been thinking. There's a fundamental disconnect between how STO is configured and how it is designed that is only being partially addressed in the skill revamp.
There's a MMO standard that you get to choose some but not all of a set of skills. In sort, you make choices that differentiate and specialize your character. This is a standard that STO followed, but shouldn't have; and though some is being done to correct this, it's not as much as should be.
The first example was that ground and space skills (and traits) were lumped together. You got to chose a space captain or a ground captain, but that didn't fit with the play-style (where everyone was expected to work in both arenas). After 6 years, the design is catching up to that, as first traits (well, most of them) and now skills are being made into separate pools for ground and space. Yay.
But in space, there's still a problem.
If I go an play SW:TOR, I will build a buffer, tank, or cannon. Indeed: my inalterable class choice means that I am permanently locked out of one. I can try to super-specialize or I can try to generalize a bit, but I'm going to build something and rarely, if ever change it (respec).
But in STO, I am expected and encouraged to collect ships. So I get myself an Arbiter and build a beam boat. When I do so, I'm going to build either a glass cannon or something close to that. I'm going to pour points into weapon damage, and likely flow, and ignore gravg, torps, pets, etc... because they would be completely useless on this ship.
Then this cool sci boat show up, and I spend $30 or so to buy it, and my skillset is completely useless for it.
And if I spend a respec token to setup my skills for my new sci boat, I can't (effectively) use my Arbiter any more.
STO (space) isn't like other MMOs. The ships are the characters, but the skillsets aren't per-ship but per toon. The analogy for SW:TOR would be if I had to chose a universal skill set for all my toons to share, except when I respec. It would stop me from playing a variety of toons.
I don't think this has been fully considered in the design. The recent changes indicate we are getting better; but we are still locked-in on the space side. (ground side lock-in isn't nearly as much of a problem, because ground toons aren't encouraged to switch ships or their equivalent).
Please consider treating skills more like specializations. Let us get them all and chose between sets. Or give us unlimited respecs so that when we look at buying a ship, we aren't penalized for trying to set our skills to best use it.
In space it is still going to be SUPER easy to make a general skill distribution that will be effective no matter what ship you want to fly. I've had 6 characters with identical skill layouts flying Escorts, cruisers, sci vessels, and they are all capable of facerolling enemies, no matter how each individual ship wants to go about it.
Will it be 100% optimal for every single ship in the game? no. But if you are THAT worried about the single percentiles you are going to be losing through generalizing, they you are already the "one ship, one toon" kind of player anyway.
Real Temporal Operative: Purchased the Special Temporal Agent pack before it was even officially announced!
My Holodeck build has both. Batteries allow me to enjoy the benefits of EPS Manifold Efficiency trait (Batteries skill increases the buff duration). Subsystem Repair is there because I hate having a subsystem disabled for long.
On Tribble I can't have both and this means a loss in my build. Are there other ways to offset Subsystem Repair that aren't BOFFs or Gear? I already have a Human-only crew, and I'm not willing to change equipment to get more Subsystem Repair as it would mean a loss elsewhere.
Suggestion: move them away from each other? They're very distinct in functionality and I don't see the reasoning of them being mutually exclusive.
Damage control - the way I saw it, you can never get your old passive hull regen values (with full crew) back, not even with 3 points, so I won't put there anything. After all, how reliant are you on passive hull regen at the moment?
Shield regen - saw slight increase, compared to holodeck values, even with 0 points in tribble. Really-really hoping it's intended.
I usually consider hull repair kind of a big deal. I am left with a few questions, though, it seems.
1) Active hull heals (HE/MW/ET, and such) shouldn't be affected by Damage Control, right? In fact, what, under the new system, actually *does* control that?
2) Hull heals from consoles and/or space sets, I reckon, should be considered Active too, right?
Thanks.
Hull repair =/= passive regen. I doubt passive regen is big deal for you (but then again, ppl are different).
1. The Lieutenant Engineering skill that's not Hull HP (name escapes me at the moment, description says it's increases outgoing heals etc.)
2. Yes, they should.
I don't know many games that actually do tell you outright what anything does behind the scenes.
The new tooltips are better in the fact that they actually tell you what percentage boost you will receive, unlike currently in Holo where one has to go way out of the way to find out from a third party the real effect of putting pips into a skill. Oh, suggestion! Since we're simplifying things, why not get rid of the Cat1, Cat2, CatInf nonsense and have all boosts be what Cat2 is right now?
DING DING DING...WINNER.
We SERIOUSLY need to end this nonsense of "Cryptic Maths". When I see a damage boost advertised, I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to see what the TRUE gain is. If it says to beam weapons...one would expect an additional 25 gottdamned damage! not "25% boost to pre-buff values of a mk 1 equivalent weapon, yada yada." or whatever.
captain abilities, not kit abilities - they took a MASSIVE hit because nothing buffs them anymore
They'll have their performance restored in a future patch. To what +100 of the relevant skill would give them in the old system.
So - will the Jem Hadar Set get something to replace the soon to be deprecated crew code? Perhaps an additional buff to it's addded kinetic resist? If you have something in mind already, apologies...
captain abilities, not kit abilities - they took a MASSIVE hit because nothing buffs them anymore
They'll have their performance restored in a future patch. To what +100 of the relevant skill would give them in the old system.
So - will the Jem Hadar Set get something to replace the soon to be deprecated crew code? Perhaps an additional buff to it's addded kinetic resist? If you have something in mind already, apologies...
That would make sense. You also have several consoles with stats that specifically boost crew that are about to become completely obsolete. Biofunction monitor, emergency force fields, EMH(if anybody has one) are some that come to mind. Though I don't know anybody that still uses them. So makes some or get them if you want a nostalgia item for the future.
So - will the Jem Hadar Set get something to replace the soon to be deprecated crew code? Perhaps an additional buff to it's addded kinetic resist? If you have something in mind already, apologies...
I think it got a hull skill in it's place, just too lazy to hop on to Tribble to check.
The attack pattern skill is gone completely from the game, there will be no boosting them anymore. The Romulan engines bonus now is +30 to weapon critical hit and severity skill. So like 2% crit chance and 6% crit severity to all weapons.
Yeah, I just got told. My fault really: I jumped the gun here. Sorry.
"+30 to weapon critical hit and severity skill." is wickedly huge, actually, LOL. I'll take that over the extra Attack Patterns every day!
I have that engine on Tribble actually... XIV UR just boosts CrtD. It's still not bad, but not exactly what you were led to believe.
Well, I'm sure I'm not seeing CrtH buff in the tooltip. And this thread has enough fulmination and vituperation already, so it's not bad. Better than the short shrift TT/AP conn officers got, at any rate.
ADD: That said, If it could be switched to CrtH... I won't complain. Then again, if they leave it as is I won't complain either, I'll just have to find something else (I need new deflector too, for reasons unrelated to the revamp, that simplifies things.)
Then again, the UR upgrade was a RNG luck, I didn't spend heaps of dil on it... But some people did, and they may view things differently.
I specked my ground at max shield/armor to see how I do. Pretty tanky. But during combat this green+ marks appear. I assume it's linked with the new healing skills. Kinda a cool 'Hey I'm healing' notice. But I think they're a tad too big. I'm lining up my next shot and a big green plus is in my field of fire. I have to wait an extra sec for it to clear out, then two more pop up a few sec latter. Maybe scale down the size some?
In space it is still going to be SUPER easy to make a general skill distribution that will be effective no matter what ship you want to fly. I've had 6 characters with identical skill layouts flying Escorts, cruisers, sci vessels, and they are all capable of facerolling enemies, no matter how each individual ship wants to go about it.
In which case: eliminate skills all together as people will all setup this same generalized skillset.
Will it be 100% optimal for every single ship in the game? no. But if you are THAT worried about the single percentiles you are going to be losing through generalizing, they you are already the "one ship, one toon" kind of player anyway.
Except that the reality is that I am not. The reality is I like to make several ships of several types and then try to optimize those ships as much as I can (within my own trade-offs). So you may simply dismiss a caricature of me (as you have done), or we can consider my suggestions (which in no way hurt your style of play)
ADD: That said, If it could be switched to CrtH... I won't complain. Then again, if they leave it as is I won't complain either, I'll just have to find something else (I need new deflector too, for reasons unrelated to the revamp, that simplifies things.)
Then again, the UR upgrade was a RNG luck, I didn't spend heaps of dil on it... But some people did, and they may view things differently.
Hmm, a mere +6% CrtD isn't all that much, really. +6% CrtH, otoh, that'd be major.
I specked my ground at max shield/armor to see how I do. Pretty tanky. But during combat this green+ marks appear. I assume it's linked with the new healing skills. Kinda a cool 'Hey I'm healing' notice. But I think they're a tad too big. I'm lining up my next shot and a big green plus is in my field of fire. I have to wait an extra sec for it to clear out, then two more pop up a few sec latter. Maybe scale down the size some?
That is from a trait, Saviour I believe. The longer you are in combat, the more of those + you get. It's buffing your outgoing heals.
I have been reading and reading for hours, about this "skill system revamp", and I believe I have some questions that may not have been asked. . . (Perhaps I am wrong, but at 21k replies I am kind of blurry at 7am with no sleep the night before)
Any way here are my questions: (and sorry if they have been asked already)
1.- One of the reasons I didn't know how to play STO when I first started is because there was almost NO Cryptic documentation to read about the details of game play, how sets worked, what skills actually affected (instead of a ludicrous synopsis), how ships differ from each other and why they differ from each other, what consoles actually do and what they affect, etc. . . . And I believe the same is true now. . . So new players have no way to understand the deep details of the game, due to the lack of Cryptic made information. . . They could go to some fan sites and learn which would be good if they knew where those sites are. Is Cryptic going to make complete documentation?
2.- One of the things I love about STO is not just that I am a Trekker but because the depth of the game makes it so there is always something to learn, and experience. . . With simplifying the game, are we not doing the opposite of giving it more depth? We make there less to look forward to learning about, and therefore less exciting to play. When I started to understand the depth of STO I started to be filled with wonder about how those brilliant developers poured so much into this game to keep me excited about learning all about it. . . Isn't simplifying is the exact opposite of the wonderful experience that I had in learning the games secrets? Because simplifying, means Less secrets, or treasured knowledge.
3.- As a fleet leader I know what most of my high level officers spend their time doing. . . And that is helping all the newbie recruits understand the depth of the game at different times in those players progression of understanding and experience. When you take away the depth in the game and make it easier for new players to understand, aren't you also taking away from what "high level" fleet officers get to teach? Therefore "Less" interaction within the fleet members which also makes the game less interesting because there is less need to trust the knowledge and experience of your high level fleet-mates. Doesn't Less interactions between fleet-mates also equals less friendships made, and therefore less people getting on to play with their friends?
4.- Science is one of STO's deepest career paths. I myself and most of my fleet-mates didn't try flying science ships until we had flown the other 2 types of ships. . . I find science ships are the funnest to use (regardless of career path) because of the danger of dying and the reward of being able to help your fleet-mates and yourself with Huge Mega Wells. . . No where in any of your documentation Cryptic does it say that Gravity Generators make gravity wells into Mega Wells (unless some tooltip have been changed or something else). . . This again is something that a good fleet can help new players with. Aren't there consoles and skills that help nullify the effect of Mega Wells? If so why is there a need to normalize the science powers?
5.- If you are going to simplify the game, then what are you doing to the veterans who are the "All In" players? What affect does simplifying the game have on those of us who love the depth of the game? Because it isn't the new content that is put out that keeps us playing! It is the depth and detail of design that we can use to our advantage. We are always trying to think up new builds and new skill specs that push the game forward. . . So if you make it simple to understand, then are you not also making it more controlled on your end of the game? We dedicated players who have purchased the ships, skills, traits, and earned the other details in the game so we can try new things, we should be driving the game. And we should not be kneecapped by the developer to make it more new player friendly. . . Put out some decent documentation or even ask us to do it for you, and you will have new players. Because the documentation or playable tutorials are so good (how to spec your tac, engineering, or science ships out, for instance) that they want to play to learn more and more.
I am sorry if I have bored you to tears, but I am just interested in understanding Cryptic's goals for the game that I love. . . And I don't really want to play a simplified game, or more Grind till you drop events, or pay to win games. . . So please if you wouldn't mind, answer these questions. . . Thank you Cryptic for a game I became a lifer in years ago.
Can anyone here verify if all current boff abilites are available to obtain under the new system? I read a post that there is no way to obtain scramble sensors 3 or science team 3 under the new system because boffs don't come with those (at least those currently in the Exchange). It would be nice to have access to good old photonic officer 3 somehow.
I have been reading and reading for hours, about this "skill system revamp", and I believe I have some questions that may not have been asked. . . (Perhaps I am wrong, but at 21k replies I am kind of blurry at 7am with no sleep the night before)
Any way here are my questions: (and sorry if they have been asked already)
1.- One of the reasons I didn't know how to play STO when I first started is because there was almost NO Cryptic documentation to read about the details of game play, how sets worked, what skills actually affected (instead of a ludicrous synopsis), how ships differ from each other and why they differ from each other, what consoles actually do and what they affect, etc. . . . And I believe the same is true now. . . So new players have no way to understand the deep details of the game, due to the lack of Cryptic made information. . . They could go to some fan sites and learn which would be good if they knew where those sites are. Is Cryptic going to make complete documentation?
2.- One of the things I love about STO is not just that I am a Trekker but because the depth of the game makes it so there is always something to learn, and experience. . . With simplifying the game, are we not doing the opposite of giving it more depth? We make there less to look forward to learning about, and therefore less exciting to play. When I started to understand the depth of STO I started to be filled with wonder about how those brilliant developers poured so much into this game to keep me excited about learning all about it. . . Isn't simplifying is the exact opposite of the wonderful experience that I had in learning the games secrets? Because simplifying, means Less secrets, or treasured knowledge.
3.- As a fleet leader I know what most of my high level officers spend their time doing. . . And that is helping all the newbie recruits understand the depth of the game at different times in those players progression of understanding and experience. When you take away the depth in the game and make it easier for new players to understand, aren't you also taking away from what "high level" fleet officers get to teach? Therefore "Less" interaction within the fleet members which also makes the game less interesting because there is less need to trust the knowledge and experience of your high level fleet-mates. Doesn't Less interactions between fleet-mates also equals less friendships made, and therefore less people getting on to play with their friends?
4.- Science is one of STO's deepest career paths. I myself and most of my fleet-mates didn't try flying science ships until we had flown the other 2 types of ships. . . I find science ships are the funnest to use (regardless of career path) because of the danger of dying and the reward of being able to help your fleet-mates and yourself with Huge Mega Wells. . . No where in any of your documentation Cryptic does it say that Gravity Generators make gravity wells into Mega Wells (unless some tooltip have been changed or something else). . . This again is something that a good fleet can help new players with. Aren't there consoles and skills that help nullify the effect of Mega Wells? If so why is there a need to normalize the science powers?
5.- If you are going to simplify the game, then what are you doing to the veterans who are the "All In" players? What affect does simplifying the game have on those of us who love the depth of the game? Because it isn't the new content that is put out that keeps us playing! It is the depth and detail of design that we can use to our advantage. We are always trying to think up new builds and new skill specs that push the game forward. . . So if you make it simple to understand, then are you not also making it more controlled on your end of the game? We dedicated players who have purchased the ships, skills, traits, and earned the other details in the game so we can try new things, we should be driving the game. And we should not be kneecapped by the developer to make it more new player friendly. . . Put out some decent documentation or even ask us to do it for you, and you will have new players. Because the documentation or playable tutorials are so good (how to spec your tac, engineering, or science ships out, for instance) that they want to play to learn more and more.
I am sorry if I have bored you to tears, but I am just interested in understanding Cryptic's goals for the game that I love. . . And I don't really want to play a simplified game, or more Grind till you drop events, or pay to win games. . . So please if you wouldn't mind, answer these questions. . . Thank you Cryptic for a game I became a lifer in years ago.
Thanks for everyone's time!
Tiger
I think a lot of your questions boil down to: "How well does the system explain itself to the player". I think it might better than before. More effects are standardized now, and the skills tend to be more descriptive, but it will still require combining the knowledge of the different skills to get the final interaction possibilities.
For example, Control Expertise buffs control effects. Gravity Well is a control effect. But do you conclude automatically that Control Expertise will buff the Gravity Well into a "Mega Well" with a huge radius? Not necessarily.
I think there will always be some level of experimentation and trial and error in a skill system. I don't think that's necessarily bad, since there are many players that love figuring this stuff out. Even if it can be a bit daunting to new players.
What I would hope is that
1) The skill system is not non-intuitive. E.g. a skill named "Control Expertise" should probably not have a side effect on weapon damage. I think the system wasn't terrible in that regard (but the terminology of the skills tended to be very vague)
2) The skill system should have no build-traps, e.g making you think a skill will be useful but it's not.
I think the system could still use some work for. I think, for example, that the skills that buff innate regeneration tend to be of little value, since innate regeneration is just not that high compared to healing from skills.
The Drain Corruption skill at its current value sounds like something a drain build would absolutely want, but the damage it inflicts is negligible and the point would probably be better spend buffing your weapon skills.
But you can of course just hop onto Tribble and look for yourself. Maybe you have some actual input on how to improve the descriptiveness of the skills and abilities.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Can anyone here verify if all current boff abilites are available to obtain under the new system? I read a post that there is no way to obtain scramble sensors 3 or science team 3 under the new system because boffs don't come with those (at least those currently in the Exchange). It would be nice to have access to good old photonic officer 3 somehow.
Please tell me we will still be able to buy all boff abilities off exchange, right?!
Can anyone here verify if all current boff abilites are available to obtain under the new system? I read a post that there is no way to obtain scramble sensors 3 or science team 3 under the new system because boffs don't come with those (at least those currently in the Exchange). It would be nice to have access to good old photonic officer 3 somehow.
This is still a work in progress, but the plan is that anything not attainable as a Skill Unlock will be made available on the Boff Trainer Store. (With a couple possible exceptions)
Can anyone here verify if all current boff abilites are available to obtain under the new system? I read a post that there is no way to obtain scramble sensors 3 or science team 3 under the new system because boffs don't come with those (at least those currently in the Exchange). It would be nice to have access to good old photonic officer 3 somehow.
This is still a work in progress, but the plan is that anything not attainable as a Skill Unlock will be made available on the Boff Trainer Store. (With a couple possible exceptions)
I would like to know more about the Threat Control. It says it applies while in a threatening stance, but I am uncertain if that just means any combat, or if it's something else.
I am also unsure why, as an escort captain, would I need to choose between Threat Control (which in the Holodeck version I need to avoid like the plague because of the increased aggro) and Stealth (which does not apply to my ships). I keep hearing mention of meaningful choices, but this is just asking me to choose between do not want and do not need. The same applies to the choice between two things affecting hangar pets since none of my ships have hangar bays.
Comments
There's a MMO standard that you get to choose some but not all of a set of skills. In sort, you make choices that differentiate and specialize your character. This is a standard that STO followed, but shouldn't have; and though some is being done to correct this, it's not as much as should be.
The first example was that ground and space skills (and traits) were lumped together. You got to chose a space captain or a ground captain, but that didn't fit with the play-style (where everyone was expected to work in both arenas). After 6 years, the design is catching up to that, as first traits (well, most of them) and now skills are being made into separate pools for ground and space. Yay.
But in space, there's still a problem.
If I go an play SW:TOR, I will build a buffer, tank, or cannon. Indeed: my inalterable class choice means that I am permanently locked out of one. I can try to super-specialize or I can try to generalize a bit, but I'm going to build something and rarely, if ever change it (respec).
But in STO, I am expected and encouraged to collect ships. So I get myself an Arbiter and build a beam boat. When I do so, I'm going to build either a glass cannon or something close to that. I'm going to pour points into weapon damage, and likely flow, and ignore gravg, torps, pets, etc... because they would be completely useless on this ship.
Then this cool sci boat show up, and I spend $30 or so to buy it, and my skillset is completely useless for it.
And if I spend a respec token to setup my skills for my new sci boat, I can't (effectively) use my Arbiter any more.
STO (space) isn't like other MMOs. The ships are the characters, but the skillsets aren't per-ship but per toon. The analogy for SW:TOR would be if I had to chose a universal skill set for all my toons to share, except when I respec. It would stop me from playing a variety of toons.
I don't think this has been fully considered in the design. The recent changes indicate we are getting better; but we are still locked-in on the space side. (ground side lock-in isn't nearly as much of a problem, because ground toons aren't encouraged to switch ships or their equivalent).
Please consider treating skills more like specializations. Let us get them all and chose between sets. Or give us unlimited respecs so that when we look at buying a ship, we aren't penalized for trying to set our skills to best use it.
This does sound very on point and one of the issues I have in the understanding area of the game.
In space it is still going to be SUPER easy to make a general skill distribution that will be effective no matter what ship you want to fly. I've had 6 characters with identical skill layouts flying Escorts, cruisers, sci vessels, and they are all capable of facerolling enemies, no matter how each individual ship wants to go about it.
Will it be 100% optimal for every single ship in the game? no. But if you are THAT worried about the single percentiles you are going to be losing through generalizing, they you are already the "one ship, one toon" kind of player anyway.
My Holodeck build has both. Batteries allow me to enjoy the benefits of EPS Manifold Efficiency trait (Batteries skill increases the buff duration). Subsystem Repair is there because I hate having a subsystem disabled for long.
On Tribble I can't have both and this means a loss in my build. Are there other ways to offset Subsystem Repair that aren't BOFFs or Gear? I already have a Human-only crew, and I'm not willing to change equipment to get more Subsystem Repair as it would mean a loss elsewhere.
Suggestion: move them away from each other? They're very distinct in functionality and I don't see the reasoning of them being mutually exclusive.
STO Screenshot Archive
Hull repair =/= passive regen. I doubt passive regen is big deal for you (but then again, ppl are different).
1. The Lieutenant Engineering skill that's not Hull HP (name escapes me at the moment, description says it's increases outgoing heals etc.)
2. Yes, they should.
U.S.S. Buteo Regalis - Brigid Multi-Mission Surveillance Explorer build
R.R.W. Ri Maajon - Khopesh Tactical Dreadnought Warbird build
My Youtube channel containing STO videos.
DING DING DING...WINNER.
We SERIOUSLY need to end this nonsense of "Cryptic Maths". When I see a damage boost advertised, I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to see what the TRUE gain is. If it says to beam weapons...one would expect an additional 25 gottdamned damage! not "25% boost to pre-buff values of a mk 1 equivalent weapon, yada yada." or whatever.
This seems like a PERFECT opportunity to do so.
So - will the Jem Hadar Set get something to replace the soon to be deprecated crew code? Perhaps an additional buff to it's addded kinetic resist? If you have something in mind already, apologies...
That would make sense. You also have several consoles with stats that specifically boost crew that are about to become completely obsolete. Biofunction monitor, emergency force fields, EMH(if anybody has one) are some that come to mind. Though I don't know anybody that still uses them. So makes some or get them if you want a nostalgia item for the future.
I think it got a hull skill in it's place, just too lazy to hop on to Tribble to check.
I have that engine on Tribble actually... XIV UR just boosts CrtD. It's still not bad, but not exactly what you were led to believe.
Then again, the UR upgrade was a RNG luck, I didn't spend heaps of dil on it... But some people did, and they may view things differently.
In which case: eliminate skills all together as people will all setup this same generalized skillset.
Except that the reality is that I am not. The reality is I like to make several ships of several types and then try to optimize those ships as much as I can (within my own trade-offs). So you may simply dismiss a caricature of me (as you have done), or we can consider my suggestions (which in no way hurt your style of play)
Hmm, a mere +6% CrtD isn't all that much, really. +6% CrtH, otoh, that'd be major.
That is from a trait, Saviour I believe. The longer you are in combat, the more of those + you get. It's buffing your outgoing heals.
I have been reading and reading for hours, about this "skill system revamp", and I believe I have some questions that may not have been asked. . . (Perhaps I am wrong, but at 21k replies I am kind of blurry at 7am with no sleep the night before)
Any way here are my questions: (and sorry if they have been asked already)
1.- One of the reasons I didn't know how to play STO when I first started is because there was almost NO Cryptic documentation to read about the details of game play, how sets worked, what skills actually affected (instead of a ludicrous synopsis), how ships differ from each other and why they differ from each other, what consoles actually do and what they affect, etc. . . . And I believe the same is true now. . . So new players have no way to understand the deep details of the game, due to the lack of Cryptic made information. . . They could go to some fan sites and learn which would be good if they knew where those sites are. Is Cryptic going to make complete documentation?
2.- One of the things I love about STO is not just that I am a Trekker but because the depth of the game makes it so there is always something to learn, and experience. . . With simplifying the game, are we not doing the opposite of giving it more depth? We make there less to look forward to learning about, and therefore less exciting to play. When I started to understand the depth of STO I started to be filled with wonder about how those brilliant developers poured so much into this game to keep me excited about learning all about it. . . Isn't simplifying is the exact opposite of the wonderful experience that I had in learning the games secrets? Because simplifying, means Less secrets, or treasured knowledge.
3.- As a fleet leader I know what most of my high level officers spend their time doing. . . And that is helping all the newbie recruits understand the depth of the game at different times in those players progression of understanding and experience. When you take away the depth in the game and make it easier for new players to understand, aren't you also taking away from what "high level" fleet officers get to teach? Therefore "Less" interaction within the fleet members which also makes the game less interesting because there is less need to trust the knowledge and experience of your high level fleet-mates. Doesn't Less interactions between fleet-mates also equals less friendships made, and therefore less people getting on to play with their friends?
4.- Science is one of STO's deepest career paths. I myself and most of my fleet-mates didn't try flying science ships until we had flown the other 2 types of ships. . . I find science ships are the funnest to use (regardless of career path) because of the danger of dying and the reward of being able to help your fleet-mates and yourself with Huge Mega Wells. . . No where in any of your documentation Cryptic does it say that Gravity Generators make gravity wells into Mega Wells (unless some tooltip have been changed or something else). . . This again is something that a good fleet can help new players with. Aren't there consoles and skills that help nullify the effect of Mega Wells? If so why is there a need to normalize the science powers?
5.- If you are going to simplify the game, then what are you doing to the veterans who are the "All In" players? What affect does simplifying the game have on those of us who love the depth of the game? Because it isn't the new content that is put out that keeps us playing! It is the depth and detail of design that we can use to our advantage. We are always trying to think up new builds and new skill specs that push the game forward. . . So if you make it simple to understand, then are you not also making it more controlled on your end of the game? We dedicated players who have purchased the ships, skills, traits, and earned the other details in the game so we can try new things, we should be driving the game. And we should not be kneecapped by the developer to make it more new player friendly. . . Put out some decent documentation or even ask us to do it for you, and you will have new players. Because the documentation or playable tutorials are so good (how to spec your tac, engineering, or science ships out, for instance) that they want to play to learn more and more.
I am sorry if I have bored you to tears, but I am just interested in understanding Cryptic's goals for the game that I love. . . And I don't really want to play a simplified game, or more Grind till you drop events, or pay to win games. . . So please if you wouldn't mind, answer these questions. . . Thank you Cryptic for a game I became a lifer in years ago.
Thanks for everyone's time!
Tiger
I think a lot of your questions boil down to: "How well does the system explain itself to the player". I think it might better than before. More effects are standardized now, and the skills tend to be more descriptive, but it will still require combining the knowledge of the different skills to get the final interaction possibilities.
For example, Control Expertise buffs control effects. Gravity Well is a control effect. But do you conclude automatically that Control Expertise will buff the Gravity Well into a "Mega Well" with a huge radius? Not necessarily.
I think there will always be some level of experimentation and trial and error in a skill system. I don't think that's necessarily bad, since there are many players that love figuring this stuff out. Even if it can be a bit daunting to new players.
What I would hope is that
1) The skill system is not non-intuitive. E.g. a skill named "Control Expertise" should probably not have a side effect on weapon damage. I think the system wasn't terrible in that regard (but the terminology of the skills tended to be very vague)
2) The skill system should have no build-traps, e.g making you think a skill will be useful but it's not.
I think the system could still use some work for. I think, for example, that the skills that buff innate regeneration tend to be of little value, since innate regeneration is just not that high compared to healing from skills.
The Drain Corruption skill at its current value sounds like something a drain build would absolutely want, but the damage it inflicts is negligible and the point would probably be better spend buffing your weapon skills.
But you can of course just hop onto Tribble and look for yourself. Maybe you have some actual input on how to improve the descriptiveness of the skills and abilities.
Please tell me we will still be able to buy all boff abilities off exchange, right?!
This is still a work in progress, but the plan is that anything not attainable as a Skill Unlock will be made available on the Boff Trainer Store. (With a couple possible exceptions)
Yes. We're not making any changes to the tradeable nature of training manuals.
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
Coolbeans.
** Posts quote and waits patiently for @borticuscryptic to make a statement about which are the exceptions **
FYI - Photonic Officer 3 has ever only been available prior to the F2P model which was 4 years ago. -> http://sto.gamepedia.com/Starfleet_Photonic_Science_Officer_Candidate
I hope he just means lockbox skills lik KCLW.
I am also unsure why, as an escort captain, would I need to choose between Threat Control (which in the Holodeck version I need to avoid like the plague because of the increased aggro) and Stealth (which does not apply to my ships). I keep hearing mention of meaningful choices, but this is just asking me to choose between do not want and do not need. The same applies to the choice between two things affecting hangar pets since none of my ships have hangar bays.
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