I was in a run just an hour or so ago where none of the transports at all made it out. It had a Cnidarian in it too, but they never put up the field and in fact sat at the starting position for about half of the run before moving or doing anything else.
It also had someone zipping around hosing down large swaths with AoE cannonfire that seemed to cool down way too fast and they just kept flying toward the densest cluster towards their front without regard to what was in it or what would get damaged by the explosions.
All in all it was the perfect example of all the complaints here rolled into one FUBAR run (at least it was over quickly though).
I am finding the thing about substituting the assimilators for the cubes in order to make the cubes more impressive hilarious, the cube at the end is lucky to last more than five seconds and the only significant danger in the whole scenario is the sphere explosions. The new spheres are more appropriate for solo runs where you can take time to deal with the things and not get blindsided by someone blowing one or two up right behind you.
IMHO- that sounds like player fatigue/apathy. Especially with the event wrapping up. And them not trying simply created a self-fulfilling prophecy of a sorts. They think they can't save the transports so they don't try, when they probably could if they just did. I know, for my part, there were times (with some pugs) when I could have swooped in and fired off my Protomatter console but didn't because folks just kept firing all willy-nilly even after warning call outs and earlier transport losses. There were other runs that were flawless were folks took care and watched where they fired off their GW or held fire, and scrambled to heal the transport when accidents took place. Again, that seems more the choice on the part of the other players on the team as to whether they are going to try or not. Not necessarily the simple presence of detonate or how hard it can hit.
I do agree that the cube at the end is almost pointless as a threat when compared to the other borg vessels in that TFO. In many of my runs, the player/players closest to it either solo or small team kill while the rest of us are scrambling to fly over and help. Its quite pitiful when you think about it.
~Shia~
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
T'Lyra, LvL 65, Fed, Vul Sci
Ta'el, Lvl 63, Rom Tac
Sukima, Lvl 65, Fed Vul Sci
The Assimilators look ridiculous when they tumble after being destroyed. Cubes don't do this, why do they? It just looks silly.
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The Assimilators look ridiculous when they tumble after being destroyed. Cubes don't do this, why do they? It just looks silly.
Yeah I think the Assimilators move like normal ships while cubes and few other large ships are programmed to not tumble when they die, that said I do agree it looks kind of silly on the Assimilators and they should belong to the ship group that don't tumble then they die.
@leemwatson and @fleetcaptain5#1134 beat me to and summed up my response perfectly. Only better. While there is the occasional and sometimes unavoidable loss of a transport, there is little reason why flawless runs are not the norm with respect this TFO aside from lack of situational awareness and shot discipline on the part of players. Two more ec.
From what I have seen flawless runs are the norm for Defense of Starbase One but rare in Resistance of Starbase One. And judging from chat a large percentage the players simply don't care anymore because when they did try to keep all the transports alive it rarely ever worked, and they only tolerate so much frustration before saying "tribble it" and ignoring that optional.
The few perfect runs of it I have been in have with only one or two exceptions featured Cnidarians with their healing/defense fields up, which is good PR for those previously much maligned bioships, and one or two perfect runs without the jellyfish healing everything have been done with megawell builds sucking all the enemy ships out towards the outskirts (though relatively few people seem to run that powerful of megawell builds to pull it off without a few spheres getting through and killing the transports).
And it is especially hard for pet wranglers (not just fighters either, other pets like the power crystal and various summoning devices as well for example) to suddenly break off from spheres since the pets don't always do what you tell them and tend to get distracted by enemy units nearby.
Yeah, I get that sentiment, but if the entire team comes in with it, then transport death is likely a certainty. If just one or two players on the team keep some kind of SA and have the tools (AoE Shield/hull heals/Control effects) and use them, the squad can make it through. I just finished a flawless run where one of the player's fluidic AP was working on overdrive and spheres in question were in between the player and the transport. I saw it, zipped in and fired of Protomatter saving the Andor. It just takes folks recognizing what they are coming to the TFO with, what it does and try and adjust accordingly. They might only have HE1 slotted, but if they can fire it off and add to the save, it can make a difference.
I greatly appreciate the presence of one or two (better) Star Jellies in a group and you're right - Its like the ships were made for that kind of TFO. I don't have a megawell build myself but I'm working on it. To somewhat compensate, I try to be very deliberate about where I place my wells (provided someone doesn't come along and oneshots my target that is ) and it tends to work out in keeping the spheres at bay.
And I get that sentiment about the pets as well. They are fine for the first phase, but when I'm in my Eternal, I either recall my fighters during the transition from first to the second (transport) phase, or I don't deploy them at all since I can't fully control them. During transport phase, the safety of the transports is key, for me, and there is already enough chaos when the spheres spawn. It's just much easier to do without unpredictable pets. Just deploy them when the transports are away for the cleanup/Cube phase.
~Shia~
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
T'Lyra, LvL 65, Fed, Vul Sci
Ta'el, Lvl 63, Rom Tac
Sukima, Lvl 65, Fed Vul Sci
I just created a special build that vaporises and that has prevented sphere explosions very well, it's annoying when the NPC goes boom though.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Perhaps this TFO should have it's mark award adjusted to better reward keeping the escaping ships from going boom?? When this hits the main track with Adv and Elite versions, the 'penalty' for losing ships would be greater.
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
use hazard emitters on the transports its very easy target transports when they 1st appear hit hazard emitters then kill every thing its very easy todo.
Perhaps this TFO should have it's mark award adjusted to better reward keeping the escaping ships from going boom?? When this hits the main track with Adv and Elite versions, the 'penalty' for losing ships would be greater.
So increasing it to 10/15 marks (possible Adv/Elite payouts) per ship saved vice 5 it is now? I certainly would not have a problem with it. Especially with an Advanced or Elite version of that TFO.
~Shia~
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
T'Lyra, LvL 65, Fed, Vul Sci
Ta'el, Lvl 63, Rom Tac
Sukima, Lvl 65, Fed Vul Sci
No, he means players who's Damage Per Shot rating is 100k+. My FAW should be somewhere north of 200k. My best BO is just over 400k+ with a team that does a lot more damage than I do. Which means I am lucky to score that high because they kill everything very quick. Also, I am not chasing DPS, but designed for Elite Solo PVE. The best DPS players get over 1million so one shots are common. This is why we don't like doing Event TFO on normal. Too easy.
He's also pointing out, since the other players are not protecting the those ships there's not enough Argo to distract the Borg ships. Which is why on normal the Borg Warp Core explosions are so effective. I like flawless runs so I am probably being too critical. There's nothing that can be done about casual players. It is what it is.
So, I probably should stop complaining about this. If we get this mission on Elite, a team that knows what to do these explosions most likely won't be an issue.
By the way, the reason STO is forcing all players to do these Event TFO on normal is because the casual players have problems completing them, so the higher-end players are force to carry the team.
Thank you; I could not have said it better myself.
If a sphere is within 5km of a transport, it is not a bug and WAI. Best bet is to kill them before they get that close, control them in an area at distance from the transport flight path, or try to attract the sphere's attention and have them follow you.
That's the thing, when the sphere warps in, sometimes they're practically RIGHT ON TOP of the evacuating ship, and DPSers will shred the borg sphere right upon arrival, and there goes the evacuating ship.
By DPSers you mean the every day causal players who are often lacking in situational combat awareness.
Are you forgetting the fact that your "every day casual player" doesn't shred Borg Cubes in less than 2 seconds, let alone Borg Spheres?
I just played the mission again, to get some additional dilithium for the last time.
The patch notes said they
Resolved an issue that could cause unexpected behavior in detonating Mirror Borg Spheres.
But they're now far more unpredictable. A sphere exploded near a transport ship, nothing happened for a while so we thought it must have been sufficiently far away - and then the transport exploded anyway.
There's a clear delay now that wasn't there before today's maintenance. I've seen it multiple times, things are actually much more difficult to predict than before.
I've seen this, and I believe it's a consequence of the new Borg Spheres' ability to overload their own warp cores. I don't know whether it's intended to work this way, but it does seem to cause the transports to die seemingly without warning... and kind of a lot.
I've been noticing this and with my ship too where all of a sudden I lose like 20-40% of my hull in a blink of an eye
I'm glad that they finally increased the damage from warp core explosions. They nerfed that years ago when we still had the foundry. Someone created a mission that was designed to give us a lot of XP by destroying ships that were bunch together, causing a chain reaction from the warp cord explosions. STO frowned on that, so they reduced the damage from work core explosions.
Before the Nerf, you had to get out of the way of a warp core explosion, or it would most likely take you out. After the Nerf, you could park right inside a Borg Tactical Cube as it explodes. It'll barely scratch the surface. I still think an elite difficulty they need to increase the damage from the warp core a little bit more. I am only losing about 25% of my hull while within an explosion. Now, my base resistance is around 45%, so it does take a little bit more to destroy me.
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,594Community Moderator
They didn't buff Core Breaches, they gave Mirror Spheres a Core Overload ability which causes massive blast damage on death.
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IMHO- that sounds like player fatigue/apathy. Especially with the event wrapping up. And them not trying simply created a self-fulfilling prophecy of a sorts. They think they can't save the transports so they don't try, when they probably could if they just did. I know, for my part, there were times (with some pugs) when I could have swooped in and fired off my Protomatter console but didn't because folks just kept firing all willy-nilly even after warning call outs and earlier transport losses. There were other runs that were flawless were folks took care and watched where they fired off their GW or held fire, and scrambled to heal the transport when accidents took place. Again, that seems more the choice on the part of the other players on the team as to whether they are going to try or not. Not necessarily the simple presence of detonate or how hard it can hit.
I do agree that the cube at the end is almost pointless as a threat when compared to the other borg vessels in that TFO. In many of my runs, the player/players closest to it either solo or small team kill while the rest of us are scrambling to fly over and help. Its quite pitiful when you think about it.
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
T'Lyra, LvL 65, Fed, Vul Sci
Ta'el, Lvl 63, Rom Tac
Sukima, Lvl 65, Fed Vul Sci
House Miliskeera in exile (NW)
Sereska Miliskeera, Lvl 70 OP - Devotion (Just.)/Protection (Just.)
Shizlee Miliskeera, Lvl 70 DC - Divine Oracle (Right.)/Anointed Champion (Faith.)
Finithey Miliskeera, Lvl 70 HR - Stormwarden (Combat)/Pathfinder (Trapper)
Maya Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 CW - Spellstorm
Irae Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 TR - Master Inflitrator
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Yeah I think the Assimilators move like normal ships while cubes and few other large ships are programmed to not tumble when they die, that said I do agree it looks kind of silly on the Assimilators and they should belong to the ship group that don't tumble then they die.
Yeah, I get that sentiment, but if the entire team comes in with it, then transport death is likely a certainty. If just one or two players on the team keep some kind of SA and have the tools (AoE Shield/hull heals/Control effects) and use them, the squad can make it through. I just finished a flawless run where one of the player's fluidic AP was working on overdrive and spheres in question were in between the player and the transport. I saw it, zipped in and fired of Protomatter saving the Andor. It just takes folks recognizing what they are coming to the TFO with, what it does and try and adjust accordingly. They might only have HE1 slotted, but if they can fire it off and add to the save, it can make a difference.
I greatly appreciate the presence of one or two (better) Star Jellies in a group and you're right - Its like the ships were made for that kind of TFO. I don't have a megawell build myself but I'm working on it. To somewhat compensate, I try to be very deliberate about where I place my wells (provided someone doesn't come along and oneshots my target that is
And I get that sentiment about the pets as well. They are fine for the first phase, but when I'm in my Eternal, I either recall my fighters during the transition from first to the second (transport) phase, or I don't deploy them at all since I can't fully control them. During transport phase, the safety of the transports is key, for me, and there is already enough chaos when the spheres spawn. It's just much easier to do without unpredictable pets. Just deploy them when the transports are away for the cleanup/Cube phase.
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
T'Lyra, LvL 65, Fed, Vul Sci
Ta'el, Lvl 63, Rom Tac
Sukima, Lvl 65, Fed Vul Sci
House Miliskeera in exile (NW)
Sereska Miliskeera, Lvl 70 OP - Devotion (Just.)/Protection (Just.)
Shizlee Miliskeera, Lvl 70 DC - Divine Oracle (Right.)/Anointed Champion (Faith.)
Finithey Miliskeera, Lvl 70 HR - Stormwarden (Combat)/Pathfinder (Trapper)
Maya Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 CW - Spellstorm
Irae Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 TR - Master Inflitrator
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
So increasing it to 10/15 marks (possible Adv/Elite payouts) per ship saved vice 5 it is now? I certainly would not have a problem with it. Especially with an Advanced or Elite version of that TFO.
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
T'Lyra, LvL 65, Fed, Vul Sci
Ta'el, Lvl 63, Rom Tac
Sukima, Lvl 65, Fed Vul Sci
House Miliskeera in exile (NW)
Sereska Miliskeera, Lvl 70 OP - Devotion (Just.)/Protection (Just.)
Shizlee Miliskeera, Lvl 70 DC - Divine Oracle (Right.)/Anointed Champion (Faith.)
Finithey Miliskeera, Lvl 70 HR - Stormwarden (Combat)/Pathfinder (Trapper)
Maya Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 CW - Spellstorm
Irae Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 TR - Master Inflitrator
Thank you; I could not have said it better myself. Are you forgetting the fact that your "every day casual player" doesn't shred Borg Cubes in less than 2 seconds, let alone Borg Spheres?
The patch notes said they
But they're now far more unpredictable. A sphere exploded near a transport ship, nothing happened for a while so we thought it must have been sufficiently far away - and then the transport exploded anyway.
There's a clear delay now that wasn't there before today's maintenance. I've seen it multiple times, things are actually much more difficult to predict than before.
That comes from an event ship.
I'm glad that they finally increased the damage from warp core explosions. They nerfed that years ago when we still had the foundry. Someone created a mission that was designed to give us a lot of XP by destroying ships that were bunch together, causing a chain reaction from the warp cord explosions. STO frowned on that, so they reduced the damage from work core explosions.
Before the Nerf, you had to get out of the way of a warp core explosion, or it would most likely take you out. After the Nerf, you could park right inside a Borg Tactical Cube as it explodes. It'll barely scratch the surface. I still think an elite difficulty they need to increase the damage from the warp core a little bit more. I am only losing about 25% of my hull while within an explosion. Now, my base resistance is around 45%, so it does take a little bit more to destroy me.