Please use this thread to post feedback and issues found for the new Constable Secondary Specialization.
Constable Secondary Specialization:
This new Specialization is themed around upholding the law that keeps modern societies functioning much like the way Constable Odo did on Deep Space Nine.
This Specialization is unique in that it benefits the player whether in space or ground.
I have a major concern regarding the 'Confiscate' ability: In PvE, it has only limited use because enemy NPCs die rather quickly and rarely use buffs anyway (maybe a high yield on a cube but thats it). However, in PvP, having buffs is necessary to stay alive. Given the high chance and muliple applications from multiple enemy players, it could result in a situation where a player is stripped of all buffs and is left no chance because there is not a single counter to 'Confiscate'. Depending on the number of enemy ships using the specialization, the ability could even strip a player off more buffs than he actually activates himself, thus making the activation of any buffs for himself completely useless.
The Constable spec is cool, but it's definitely going to need a lot of refinement.
The control increase against your Antagonist is not at all consistent with itself. Abilities like Stasis Beam (Hold), Incite Chaos (Confuse), and Neurolytic Injection (Hold) are boosted in duration, but abilities like Psionic Assault (Hold, Debuff), Soothing Pheromones (Confuse), Cryo Visor Blast (Hold, effectively a slightly shorter duration stasis beam), and Sonic Pulse (Repel) receive no bonuses whatsoever, despite also being control abilities (Most of which are also affected by Agony Modulator, Spring in your Step, etc.). What is and is not considered a control ability is seemingly completely random, and should certainly be looked into.
The regen debuff is possibly bugged from what I have seen, but I am also concerned with the fact that it's impossible to actually tell how high the debuff has stacked at any given moment. There is no time listed in the power description, leaving only vague guesses as to how useful it is. The skill also lists "Hull Repair Rate" which is particularly vague, and it is unclear as to whether this means regen or healing.
The speed buff is also somewhat inconsistent between space and ground. In space, your Antagonist must be in your forward 90 degree arc to get the buff, but you only need to have an Antagonist targeted to be given the buff on ground maps.
It's definitely going to be a fun specialization (Except for the poor, poor PvPers...), but it could also use some serious recalibration and tuning.
I have a major concern regarding the 'Confiscate' ability: In PvE, it has only limited use because enemy NPCs die rather quickly and rarely use buffs anyway (maybe a high yield on a cube but thats it). However, in PvP, having buffs is necessary to stay alive. Given the high chance and muliple applications from multiple enemy players, it could result in a situation where a player is stripped of all buffs and is left no chance because there is not a single counter to 'Confiscate'. Depending on the number of enemy ships using the specialization, the ability could even strip a player off more buffs than he actually activates himself, thus making the activation of any buffs for himself completely useless.
How am I meant to test this when in ground and space the average NPC doesn’t last 4 seconds after being targeted so nothing ever triggers. Even the bigger boss’s like the Crystalline barely last much longer.
It seems very counterproductive to have a Specialization that is designed around trying to keep your main target alive longer so that you get boosts to kill and deal with it faster.
Its also not a good sign when people reading the blog cannot tell if its an early April fools joke or real.
Unless its for PvP I just don't see how things like close the gap are meant to be useful at all. If anything its counterproductive and makes it harder to keep the enemy in the forward arc to shoot them. Its 100% useless for closing the gap as it only triggers under 10km and by the time it triggers you are pointblank before it does anything usefull. Then after it triggers your turn circle gets wider so harder to keep the target in the forward arc. Close the gap seems counterproductive.
As for - target Health regen isn't that turned off in ground once combat starts. At the point it triggers its useless. All the player ground skills say health regen doesn't work in combat. As far as I know its the same for NPC's, never seen one with health regen in combat.
Will agree that having largely the only method of assigning a target as your antangonist being thru targetting that enemy for four seconds continuously is kinda clunky, though I could see it as a backup method to assign a target as your antagonist alongside another method. Afew examples I could see working are shown below.
Alternate methods for assigning an antagonist
Boff-method: I would say having it that using certain types of boff-abilities on a target can assign them as your antagonist, such as control abilities, or even primarily single-target abilities. Yet that this would only be for assigning the target as your antagonist, and to maintain that you would need to maintain the targeting of the antagonist.
Focus-mechanic method: This would use the existing focus toggle method we have, for assigning/toggling a target as a focus target. This would be more of a manual method of choosing a antagonist that would replace the idea of the "four second targeting" method maybe.
Random method: This one is more of like when you enter combat a target within a given range of you is assigned as your antagonist, with maybe a overlay marker to make noticing it easier when you have large swarms of enemies. To me this would be the least interesting, but also the more active method as you would need to actively locate an acquire your antagonist target.
Where the buff stripping/cleansing is concerned I think that you could work it that there is a limit to the number of buffs that can be stripped from a single target, or a lockout on it to make it less of a potential problem atleast in pvp. Yet you could also work it that as buffs are cleansed/striped the target being stripped/cleansed could gain a stacking resist to being cleansed/stripped (maybe turns into a strip/cleanse immunity if the stack gets high enough) either on a target or overall basis.
Hope that we don't see hull/shield-point buffs on enemies to make this spec more appealing, since that might be received as well as it was back in delta, but buffs to energy resists might be a better option. Though giving some abilities that give damage reduction, short duration damage immunity, and other such things that can be played around would add to fighting the pve enemies.
Hmmm... would Immunity count as a buff that is now able to be stripped with any of this stuff? That would make it interesting.
If the stripping were targeted, and not really random, than it might be interesting. Though right now with how random the stripping seems to be you are just as apt to have something less important stripped, as you do having a damage immunity or another important buff stripped.
Hmmm... would Immunity count as a buff that is now able to be stripped with any of this stuff? That would make it interesting.
If the stripping were targeted, and not really random, than it might be interesting. Though right now with how random the stripping seems to be you are just as apt to have something less important stripped, as you do having a damage immunity or another important buff stripped.
buff stripping is not random iirc, the 5 longest duration buffs are gone, which are usually the most important buffs
Something that may be neat which is constant with the theme would be a chance of the stripped buff to be transferred to YOU, kinda like the way a changeling "mimics" other life forms? Like perhaps a 10% chance to *steal* the buff? That might make this specialty useful. But otherwise, let's be frank: this spec is ridiculously weaksauce that is outclassed by other specializations that offer more real-world utility based on the current meta.
Comments
The Constable spec is cool, but it's definitely going to need a lot of refinement.
The control increase against your Antagonist is not at all consistent with itself. Abilities like Stasis Beam (Hold), Incite Chaos (Confuse), and Neurolytic Injection (Hold) are boosted in duration, but abilities like Psionic Assault (Hold, Debuff), Soothing Pheromones (Confuse), Cryo Visor Blast (Hold, effectively a slightly shorter duration stasis beam), and Sonic Pulse (Repel) receive no bonuses whatsoever, despite also being control abilities (Most of which are also affected by Agony Modulator, Spring in your Step, etc.). What is and is not considered a control ability is seemingly completely random, and should certainly be looked into.
The regen debuff is possibly bugged from what I have seen, but I am also concerned with the fact that it's impossible to actually tell how high the debuff has stacked at any given moment. There is no time listed in the power description, leaving only vague guesses as to how useful it is. The skill also lists "Hull Repair Rate" which is particularly vague, and it is unclear as to whether this means regen or healing.
The speed buff is also somewhat inconsistent between space and ground. In space, your Antagonist must be in your forward 90 degree arc to get the buff, but you only need to have an Antagonist targeted to be given the buff on ground maps.
It's definitely going to be a fun specialization (Except for the poor, poor PvPers...), but it could also use some serious recalibration and tuning.
agree 100%
David
*** Aktiv since 03.06.10 ***
It seems very counterproductive to have a Specialization that is designed around trying to keep your main target alive longer so that you get boosts to kill and deal with it faster.
Its also not a good sign when people reading the blog cannot tell if its an early April fools joke or real.
Unless its for PvP I just don't see how things like close the gap are meant to be useful at all. If anything its counterproductive and makes it harder to keep the enemy in the forward arc to shoot them. Its 100% useless for closing the gap as it only triggers under 10km and by the time it triggers you are pointblank before it does anything usefull. Then after it triggers your turn circle gets wider so harder to keep the target in the forward arc. Close the gap seems counterproductive.
As for - target Health regen isn't that turned off in ground once combat starts. At the point it triggers its useless. All the player ground skills say health regen doesn't work in combat. As far as I know its the same for NPC's, never seen one with health regen in combat.
Alternate methods for assigning an antagonist- Boff-method: I would say having it that using certain types of boff-abilities on a target can assign them as your antagonist, such as control abilities, or even primarily single-target abilities. Yet that this would only be for assigning the target as your antagonist, and to maintain that you would need to maintain the targeting of the antagonist.
- Focus-mechanic method: This would use the existing focus toggle method we have, for assigning/toggling a target as a focus target. This would be more of a manual method of choosing a antagonist that would replace the idea of the "four second targeting" method maybe.
- Random method: This one is more of like when you enter combat a target within a given range of you is assigned as your antagonist, with maybe a overlay marker to make noticing it easier when you have large swarms of enemies. To me this would be the least interesting, but also the more active method as you would need to actively locate an acquire your antagonist target.
Where the buff stripping/cleansing is concerned I think that you could work it that there is a limit to the number of buffs that can be stripped from a single target, or a lockout on it to make it less of a potential problem atleast in pvp. Yet you could also work it that as buffs are cleansed/striped the target being stripped/cleansed could gain a stacking resist to being cleansed/stripped (maybe turns into a strip/cleanse immunity if the stack gets high enough) either on a target or overall basis.
Hope that we don't see hull/shield-point buffs on enemies to make this spec more appealing, since that might be received as well as it was back in delta, but buffs to energy resists might be a better option. Though giving some abilities that give damage reduction, short duration damage immunity, and other such things that can be played around would add to fighting the pve enemies.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
If the stripping were targeted, and not really random, than it might be interesting. Though right now with how random the stripping seems to be you are just as apt to have something less important stripped, as you do having a damage immunity or another important buff stripped.
buff stripping is not random iirc, the 5 longest duration buffs are gone, which are usually the most important buffs