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Kobayashi Maru Event (No Win Scenario Remade?)

I've been playing this event all day with my friends, and it is FANTASTIC. I'd imagine, based on my experiences, that droves of people are whining and crying about it being unbalanced, or too hard, or blah blah blah... Cryptic, please do not listen to them. It's perfectly fine how it is.

It is as it says - a challenge match that forces you to think outside of the box, pay attention, and be a real captain. People who benchmark Infected Conduit all day trying to find the highest possible DPS numbers from a build they looked up online will not do well here. They'll jump into this thinking they're all hot stuff, shoot everything, and either fail to protect the Maru (which will rapidly die as a result) or fail to properly protect themselves (and will also rapidly die as a result). Know what, they deserve it. The way to win this mission is to be aware of what the challenge of the mission is - survival - and to bring ships that are outfitted accordingly. Sure, you need some firepower to clear the waves and progress, but the traditional ways of delivering that firepower generally won't work here - and I LOVE that. My friends and I have found the tools needed to excel at this mission with only a moderate amount of ship re-design, and really no significant resource expense. Good luck everyone on doing better and better at it, and IMHO very fine work Cryptic.

Comments

  • aspartan1aspartan1 Member Posts: 1,054 Arc User
    edited June 2017
    I went 15 levels in a PUG with all cruisers... I was astonished to say the least - I'm a DPS guy and I was leveling mastery when I tried it. Fortunately I'm pretty good with all ships types. Nonetheless when it first started I thought for sure a fast wipe given my PUG experience with such a group composition and everyone Fed to boot. 'magine my surprise...
    If you are looking for an excellent PvE fleet consider: Omega Combat Division today.
    Former member of the Cryptic Family & Friends Testing Team. Sadly, one day, it simply vanished - without a word or trace...
    Obscurea Chaotica Fleet (KDF), Commander
    ingame: @.Spartan
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    Original Cryptic Forum Name: Spartan (member #124)
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  • damocles2209damocles2209 Member Posts: 68 Arc User
    I disagree. I think the event is hampered by bad fitment. Some of the enemies dropped in are horrifically unbalanced for the type of play required, and some of the hazards are just plain BS. Case in point, the thalaron cloud would be fine... if the Kobayashi Maru's AI wasn't so bad that it just sits inside the cloud taking damage that you can't do anything about. Iconians? I watched the Maru drop from a good 85% health to dead in less than 3 seconds, thanks to EMP probe spam.
  • slifox#0768 slifox Member Posts: 379 Arc User
    > @damocles2209 said:
    > I disagree. I think the event is hampered by bad fitment. Some of the enemies dropped in are horrifically unbalanced for the type of play required, and some of the hazards are just plain BS. Case in point, the thalaron cloud would be fine... if the Kobayashi Maru's AI wasn't so bad that it just sits inside the cloud taking damage that you can't do anything about. Iconians? I watched the Maru drop from a good 85% health to dead in less than 3 seconds, thanks to EMP probe spam.

    Yeah, a million EMP probes is definitely "no win" as if the AI is saying "Enough is enough. You all are going to die now. "
  • novin7novin7 Member Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited July 2017
    > @damocles2209 said:
    > I disagree. I think the event is hampered by bad fitment. Some of the enemies dropped in are horrifically unbalanced for the type of play required, and some of the hazards are just plain BS. Case in point, the thalaron cloud would be fine... if the Kobayashi Maru's AI wasn't so bad that it just sits inside the cloud taking damage that you can't do anything about. Iconians? I watched the Maru drop from a good 85% health to dead in less than 3 seconds, thanks to EMP probe spam.

    Yeah, a million EMP probes is definitely "no win" as if the AI is saying "Enough is enough. You all are going to die now. "

    "Horrifically unbalanced for the type of play required". Tell me, what exactly is "the type of play that is required"? Is it exceptionally high DPS? Is it your way of flying a spaceship?...

    If you bring sufficient heals, the Maru's damage from the Thalaron Cloud is negligible. There is no stated requirement that the traumatized crew of the poor Kobayashi Maru will be making intelligent decisions - that's on you to be doing in order to save them.

    EMP Probe spam is nasty, I agree. It kills me pretty badly too if I get caught in it. Why was your entire team in the same position so that one volley of EMP could shut you all down, though...? Are you staying close to targets to optimize damage, even though fighting them at a long distance, possibly with high-pen projectiles might be a better and safer option? As soon as you see Iconians drop in, you can pop Evasive Maneuvers (which everybody has...) and separate/get distance so that doesn't happen. Then use long-ranged, high-accuracy fire to cut the EMPs down. Alternatively, if you're flying a torpedo destroyer (Yes they exist, and yes they work) then you're not concerned because the EMP probes dissipate well before they get close enough to affect you, while you casually bombard the dreadnoughts into submission.

    The expectation that everything in your environment will conform to your notions of how the universe works is, as a Vulcan would say, illogical. The idea here is that every captain is going to be good at some of the mechanics and weak to others - so you either build a team that covers as many possible issues as you can think of, or you suffer the consequences. And even then, eventually, you'll run into a problem that nobody you had with you is good at. Then you can stop and think about it, and find a counter, or just go "We did pretty good guys, good game let's try again later". That's what the game *should* be about - various challenges that have multiple answers for you to find, and being cool and comfortable while you think through them. That's what Star Trek, as a story, has always been about - space being dangerous in lots of ways, and struggling to stay one step ahead of whatever challenge you're hit with next. Time travel is TOTALLY unfair, but that's how the Alliance wins the Iconian War. Just because you're not good at something, doesn't automatically make it "unfair" - and saying so is actually unfair to everybody else, some of whom might happen to find that mechanic relatively easy to deal with using their chosen strategy.
  • damocles2209damocles2209 Member Posts: 68 Arc User
    Okay, novin, first, drop the condescension. Second, the type of play required is defend/escort. Third, I don't have an expectation that everything will fit to my interpretation of the universe. I do, on the other hand, have an expectation that mechanics will be tested for viability in a scenario. It does not feel like that was done here. What I do feel like is this was a horde mode where certain enemies do not lend themselves to an enjoyable experience. THAT is what this game is about. No one plays a game to get stomped, annoyed, or to grind. They play it to enjoy it. A challenge is enjoyable, an unfair disadvantage, or mindless slog aren't.

    As for what the 'traumatized crew of the poor Kobayashi Maru' does, they shouldn't even be moving. Distress call says they lost main power. Last time I checked, that meant propulsion, too.
  • jrdobbsjr#3264 jrdobbsjr Member Posts: 431 Arc User
    It's pretty much unplayable, though it might be tolerable with a party rather than randoms. It's also pretty awesome that you often get nothing, including the vouchers. Got one yesterday on the first toon I played, nothing since.
  • strathkinstrathkin Member Posts: 2,666 Bug Hunter
    You only get 1 voucher per day on one toon, so run next day on the toon who last got voucher. :)

    It's done that way since any reward's claimed by one toon can then be reclaimed by others from Event Store. If you gave vouchers to ever toon and you had 5 or more characters you be able to unlock every reward in one weekend available for every toon.

    You need to FOCUS on which reward you want to unlock for that weekend on really only one toon. Once they've unlocked it then becomes available for your ALTS. o:)
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  • rossclansforce1rossclansforce1 Member Posts: 400 Arc User
    I am just curious if anybody has beaten this and if so how. I understand what the title of the mission means but with Star Trek that means work as a team to meet the challenge and win. The way it is setup you are lucky to reach round 3 but if you do it is instant loss. That's not a challenge and people are giving up by the end of rounds two. Then there is the Kobayashi Maru.. engines should not be working so why does it fly quickly into the path of danger? This mission is a reward hunt at this point and nothing else.
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