Looking at how the Skill Revamp is going I noticed that no one can decide where the Hanger pet skills belong.
They were the first unlock on tac, then they, they were bumped to being the last, some people have suggested moving them to sci, but that would be bad for escort carrier and dreadnaught carriers.
So my solution is to take the hangar skill and the Hangar unlocks and turn them into a Specialization. Aside from the Daciot (available at Commander) and the Corsair (available at Captain), no ship gets hangars till Tier 5. Its the perfect choice for a specialization and profession (turn your Boffs into Flight Deck Officers).
Just a suggestion to fix the akward situation with Hangar pet skills.
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Something like this would ONLY benefit ships with hangars, which are in the minority.
A Flightdeck Spec doesn't sound to like to bad of an idea...
It wouldn't have to be. Sure the bulk of it would likely target carrier capable ships, but it could effect seperation console pets, boarding party, as well as things like point defense. powers in a flight deck specialisation could take advantage of the fact that near every ship has a shuttle bay even if it doesn't have dedicated hanger spaces in the loadout. Quite a bit they could do with it, particularly if they broaden beyond just shuttles/fighters, heck it could even be a specialisation that gives bonuses to playable small craft as well.
Still a little niche I admit, maybe more suited to a secondary specialization like Pilot originally was and Commando still is.
I havent seen anyone suggest they be moved to Science. I have stated numerous times that they should be moved to their own tree as they dont fit Science or Tactical. Only that the fact that the true Carriers in the game are Science is evidence they dont belong in Tactical.
I do agree it should be moved to its own Specialization. But knowing Cryptic theyll come up with an excuse that they dont have enough to fill a Specialization. Personally I feel as if the current meta of ship purchase and usage means Pets SHOULD be under their own Specialization Tree the same as other oddities like Command, Intel and Pilot. These are niche ships and niche playstyles. Theres no reason for them to bog down a Skill Tree meant to advance the player not hinder their selection of skills.
Commando doesn't benefit your ship at all. Flight Deck could be a small Secondary-Only Specialization.
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" - Agatha Heterodyne
Do you not know the definition of specialization?
Wanting something to work for everyone in all situations is more generalization than specialization.
I agree with OP. Splitting hanger buffs into a specialization would be a good thing. Something you then use when you jump in a carrier or flight deck cruiser/escort/dread.
Yeah, nothing tactical about heavily armed ships attacking enemies...
I would rather see them make carrier/flight-deck/hanger a career as than we could have a career that updates an improves the Ui for the hanger, separation, and other such UI an also Ai thru abilities they gain in their career. Even a base-line revamp of the Ui to make it more able to be micromanaged and functionality increased allowing you to gain better performance out of the hanger pets not only thru use of abilities, but also thru using the revamped UI to take more manual control.
No one has to fly a Carrier to do STO's content.
A Specialization for Carriers specifically would be of interest only for a small subset of players and characters.
It would be a poor use of resources to make something that inherently adresses only a small group of players, if the same amount of resources could be used to accomplish something that could help all players.
I could see some specializations also offering side benefits to Carriers or their pets.
Or generally looking into more powers having side benefits for carrier pets and seperation pets.
Seems that not only is the playerbase there, but it might encourage ship sales if they developed this Specialization and maybe even retroactively slapped a Flight Deck seat onto the Jupiter, if not just flat out released a FD Carrier.
Many ships have a flight deck, separation units, or specialty pet - most of which cost a premium (eg. 2500 zen for Chevron separation, Aquarius, MVAM, DVS, BoP, T5 Shipyards, Promo Dreadnoughts, etc.). This includes starship and lockbox traits specifically for pets. Separation units definitely need more attention. Pets have received item bonuses since the heavy Nerf to them all while separation has not.
Science career has photonic fleet which could count as a pet. Specializations (Pilot, Command) summon pets. Every ship can summon fleet support when damaged to a point, a feature already boosted by existing Command spec. Commando has Demolitions Team, a space trait, and so an expansion of pet/separation abilities would be well suited there if not its very own.
Ahh no. Just look at pilot spec. Or commando. Most people I know use Command and Intel for their ships. At least with carrier spec they would throw a bone to the countless hangar ship users. And lemme tell you hangar ships have plentyful fanbase.
You still don't seem to understand. Commando is useful to anyone because everyone has to do ground stuff. Pilot is useful to anyone because everyone* has to do space stuff.
The only time people have to use Carrier Pets is a single part of a single mission. Building a huge aspect like a specialization around something of limited general value is not the best use of Cryptic's resources. A new spec represents a significant extension of potential character options and a significant amount of development work. Limiting it again by choosing a narrow focus like carrier pets will just not happen. It's not a question of whether it would be "neat" to have. It certainly would.
A single Starship, Reputation or Personal Trait here and there - that's certainly feasible. Maybe even the occasional rare Carrier pet. A new carrier itself even. Sure, that can happen.
*) Unless you deliberately ignore almost all story content this game has to offer, and then you're in a tiny minority that doesn't get special treatment, either.
You don't get it still. Carrier spec could have effect on ground too. Mortars, drones, red shirts, etc... you name it could be buffed by it. Or it could be a party buffer on ground. Or whateva.... think outside the box, dude...
We also have the following 2-Hangar Carriers in the game:
Atrox
Jupiter T6
KDF - No T6
Vo'Quv
Kar'Fi
Roms
NONE *cough*
Lockbox/Lobi/Event/Promo Pack
JHDC
Narcine
Sarr Theln T6
Obelisk "The Monopoly Shoe Game Piece"
Recluse
Vonph T6
We also have the following 1-Hangar ships in the game:
Vesta
Galaxy-X T5 & T6
Akira T5 & T6
Command FDCs
KDF
Marauder FDC "The Giant Space Hamster"
Corsair FDC
Qatel T6
Command FDC/Battlecruiser
Kosali T6
Roms
Ar'Kif T5 & T6
Scimitar T5 & T6
Command FDC/Warbird
Lockbox/Lobi/Event/Promo Pack
Voth Bastion
Voth Bulwark "The Trophy & Exclusive Ship"
JHEC
Xindi Olaen T6
Herald Quas T6
Elachi Sheshar T6
Tholian Tarantula T6
Xindi Ateleh T6
Annorax T6
Breen Dreadnought T6
Paradox T6
A number of these are quite popularly flown, like the Fed ones, the Command FDCs (cross faction release), Scimitar, JHDC, the ever powerful Recluse, etc, etc... Need I go on?
Then there are the various ships that have access to separation units or something like that but I won't touch that for the time being.
Anyways, out of all those ships I listed, 18 Hangar-capable ships* have made their way into the game ever since Delta Rising came out in 2014.
*
3 Fed SCI Wessels
2 Annorax, Paradox - Both also having been listed in the 1-Hangar Ship List
1 Krenim Science Vessel
The amount of Raiders put into the game since Delta Rising? THREE
Kazon Heavy Raider
KDF B'Rel/Kor T6
Baltim Raider T6
As you can see, Carrier play, whether we're talking 1 or 2 Hangar bay capable ships, are a big deal, and Cryptic's ship releases since Delta Rising proves that. The amount of Hangar bay capable ships have only skyrocketed since Delta Rising.
and Fleet and T5-U, but you piont still stands.
They didn't have to build commando at all...since most specializations have both ground and space tress...but they did.
Most people you know use Command and Intel? Well then either you're blowing smoke or they're doing it wrong...why any person in their right mind would ignore using Pilot as at least a secondary, I don't know.
Anyways back on topic...the only time someone uses them? More people do space than ground stfs...almost every episode involves both ground and space aspects...plus while we just got a new special event yesterday, shall we look at it? How many ground events have they hosted? Hint: it's a number between -1 and 1...ehh I'll just tell you...it's 0...obviously space is bigger than ground and yet they still made a ground rep.
Why shouldn't carriers get something...since they often get nothing but nerfs and buggy pets?
But any way - a ship is not a specialization. Specializations - despite the name - do work for all ships and classes.
I refer to you my previous reply in this thread. Hangar-bay capable ships have skyrocketed since Delta Rising, and a number of those new Cruisers and Escorts, even Science Vessels, are 1-Hangar bay ships. 2-Hangar Carriers aren't common, but the entire family of Hangar capable ships have drastically gone up since DR alone.
You could make the Specialization and call it Support. Which allows you to help everyone in the area, not just yourself. Something like that, I think would work better.
But a "Flight Deck" only spec isn't really neccessary. Maybe there should be just more thought in general (and specializations specifically) in how certain buffs affect pets, too.
For example, why doesn't Intel Flanking also apply to your pets? Heck, maybe some pets could also benefit from the Command Starship Mastery Trait (of course, that trait is terrible and probably needs a major revamp.)
Smart money (pure speculation here) is on a sci-based specialization that not only modifies certain science-based effects but includes some resistances, too. If they don't do something like this, I'm hard pressed to imagine what kind of spec they could release that would be relevant to gameplay and not derivative of what they've already released.