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[TheWetFish]

Combat Endurance skill under Combat aptitude has fleetwide -50% malfunction chance at level 2. Is it intended?

No, that can't be right <digs through the files>
Huh.
LevelBasedEffect.ScopeDescription.ALL_SHIPS;

[TaLaR]

This is true, but presumably at some point there'll be more of a reason to have a more compact but more powerful pound-for-pound fleet. That's already true to some extent - fuel and logistical costs, deployment costs, etc - so combat skills, while technically weaker in terms of total fleet power, do make you more efficient.

I don't think that kind of approach can apply to whole play-through.
Moderate investment into personal skills makes sense as early to mid-stage, but cleaning up endgame challenges (currently Remnant Station is the only example) would likely require fully optimized fleet.

We have no real idea of what the final end game challenges will look like, and if we really need to command the most powerful fleet for it. Maybe we can unite the Sector peacefully, or solve the riddle of the gates, or boot out other factions trough market manipulation, or build the strongest industry infrastructure and dominate that way. Or if we fight an boss enemy, maybe as an elite core of a big allied fleet, or as a mobile raider interrupting enemy supply lines.

While that's true, Starsector feels like a game that should have strong endgame combat challenges. Winning peacefully or being overshadowed by allies would be kind of disappointing (what are all my Onslaughts/Paragons for then?).

[Takion Kasukedo]

Gothars, that's rare, i've had that on a few ships.

[Histidine]

The Combat Endurance thing is a text error.

[Megas]

Quick question:  If range debuff from ECM is capped, say from 30% to 10%, does ECCM reduce the original total or the capped total?  In other words, with the 30 capped at 10 example, does the object with ECCM hullmod get -15% (capped at -10%) or -5% to its shot range.

If it is applied to capped total, then adding ECCM hullmods to the battlestation (sections) can be a quick and dirty way to prevent player from stacking ECM to let beam Paragon outrange the battlestation.  Player absolutely needs to inflict the full -25%, and stack every range buff (from Gunnery Implants 3 and Advanced Optics hullmod) to do that.  Even -20% is not enough all of the time.  (That makes Command & Control 3 mandatory for a battlestation killer character.)

[Sarissofoi]

Anyone feel that there is not enough skills for officers? We all know that leveling system for them is lacking.
20 levels is worth of 7 full skills and if you go full no carrier there is really little builds. For carriers its even less as 5 skills are pretty much mandatory.
Like there could be some rank(level max) system where you can pull some basic officer(max 6 level) from the rank, then have some professionals(up to 12 levels) and some elites(up to 20).  Maybe different categories of officers with different access to skills(?).
Plus some support skills so you can put some lesser officers on support vessels with skills that either reduce supply usage/maintenance/fuel usage, give boost to salvaging/surveying, fast repair , increase recovery rate for crew from destroyed vessels, increase sensor range etc.
Fleet would also benefit from putting different aptitude officers to support ships.
Leadership skills could offer boost to having more professional and elite officers. Or even make elite officers hard to find(kind of heroes) and recruit-able from quests or events(or from commissions).

[Alex]

Quick question:  If range debuff from ECM is capped, say from 30% to 10%, does ECCM reduce the original total or the capped total?  In other words, with the 30 capped at 10 example, does the object with ECCM hullmod get -15% (capped at -10%) or -5% to its shot range.

If it is applied to capped total, then adding ECCM hullmods to the battlestation (sections) can be a quick and dirty way to prevent player from stacking ECM to let beam Paragon outrange the battlestation.  Player absolutely needs to inflict the full -25%, and stack every range buff (from Gunnery Implants 3 and Advanced Optics hullmod) to do that.  Even -20% is not enough all of the time.  (That makes Command & Control 3 mandatory for a battlestation killer character.)

Uncapped totals are compared, then the difference is capped by the winner's limit.

I think I'll just make sure the station AI "officer" always gets gunnery implants - it's thematic, and would probably do the job.

[TaLaR]

Anyone feel that there is not enough skills for officers?

At 21 skillpoint officers already have more personal skills than player, unless you go for personal skills at cost of giving up fleet-wide essentials. I'd rather see officers have less skill-points (or player should get more).

I'd like to see better skill selection for officers though. Under current system I often face choice - either accept ones who failed to reach goal skills (like carrier without all 3 fighter skills), or fire-hire them till I find ones that get right skills.

[Alex]

Just a quick note re: officers - for .1, a) an officer without carrier skills is guaranteed a non-carrier skill choice on levelup and b) an officer with carrier skills is guaranteed at least one carrier skill choice on levelup.

[Megas]

I think I'll just make sure the station AI "officer" always gets gunnery implants - it's thematic, and would probably do the job.

Probably.  Player needs to get and min-max everything range related (three skills, Advanced Optics hullmod, no Glitched Sensors allowed) to get guaranteed range superiority with beam Paragon.  If -20% was sufficient, I would not have touched Command & Control.  Occasionally, -20% sometimes lets the Paragon outrange it, but the range difference is too narrow, and the Paragon is too slow to adjust position as the station's arms rotate.  Paragon really needs -25% to outrange.  Adding any range to the battlestation should stop that exploit.

Although, since Gunnery Implants do not affect missile range, I guess taking hits from HIL and Gauss only instead of all among Gauss, Squalls, and HIL is better.

[Deshara]

Alex I think you could stop the complaining about aptitudes & leveling by making uncapped a part of easy mode.

[Sarissofoi]

Anyone feel that there is not enough skills for officers?

At 21 skillpoint officers already have more personal skills than player, unless you go for personal skills at cost of giving up fleet-wide essentials. I'd rather see officers have less skill-points (or player should get more).

I'd like to see better skill selection for officers though. Under current system I often face choice - either accept ones who failed to reach goal skills (like carrier without all 3 fighter skills), or fire-hire them till I find ones that get right skills.

Not enough to choose from.
So making more skills to choose from or limiting max level of officers so they can get all the skills and player need to do some choosing will be be the point.

[Thaago]

Just a quick note re: officers - for .1, a) an officer without carrier skills is guaranteed a non-carrier skill choice on levelup and b) an officer with carrier skills is guaranteed at least one carrier skill choice on levelup.

Nice . I'm very much enjoying my Reckless carrier captains on Mora's, but I don't really expect them to be able to get the carrier skills I want, which would be nice. Watching the AI brawl with those wonderful ships is so much fun.

Also, minority opinion here, but I think that the current skill system of needing to sink points into aptitudes is working well.  Currently a player can get a good batch of skills in 3/4 branches, which feels right. Perhaps change the levelup from 1 point to 2, cut max level to 20, double XP required etc, so that a player never has a level where 'nothing happens'. I do support an increase of max level when more industry skills are in the game (and if the other branches get some more skills).

[Sarissofoi]

Just a quick note re: officers - for .1, a) an officer without carrier skills is guaranteed a non-carrier skill choice on levelup and b) an officer with carrier skills is guaranteed at least one carrier skill choice on levelup.

Wait.
So if I want have no carrier officer then he is always forced to have carrier skill to choose on level up - its fairly limiting leveling of no carrier officers.
Unless its more than 2 choices on level up.

[Alex]

Hmm - I think maybe you misread what I said - it's "at least one", not "one".