Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => Suggestions => Topic started by: naufrago on September 03, 2012, 03:23:53 PM
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The EMP Emitter is useful, but the way it works now makes a lot more sense on an Omen than the Shade. The Shade will usually have to phase to keep from dying at some point during its activation while the Omen can keep its defenses up all the time. It would be nice if the EMP Emitter were equally useful on both platforms, so I have some suggestions to fix that.
I feel like you could make the cooldown for the EMP Emitter variable depending on how long it was active before being forced off and only generate flux per lightning bolt fired or for how long it's active, not simply for activating the system. Longer periods of activation would lead to a longer cooldown. You could choose to make it inoperable until the cooldown is over or not. Pressing 'f' would turn the system on as usual, but it should also be able to be deactivated with 'f' to be fair to the Omen. Alternatively, you could make it build up charges, but it would still have to generate flux per lightning bolt to be completely fair. I prefer the former option, since it keeps it closer to how it's currently implemented.
This would let the Shade duck in and out of phase to fire its EMP when it's opportune to do so. The way it is now, it bears the full flux cost of activating the system upfront, usually only gets a few shots before it has to phase, then has to wait for the cooldown to finish before firing again. This would make it about as useful on the Shade as it is on the Omen.
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Sounds sensible, but I'm not sure that weakness is not intentional.
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Sounds sensible, but I'm not sure that weakness is not intentional.
I intended to say something along the lines of 'feel free to ignore if this is intentional' somewhere in the post, but forgot. *shrug*
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Personally, I don't think it makes a lot of sense on any phase ship. It serves as a potent PD weapon, which really isn't necessary for phase ships, since the only thing they really excel at at the moment is quickly ducking underneath missiles and fighters.
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I think the idea is they decloak among a swarm of fighters and fire up the bug-zapper
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I think the idea is they decloak among a swarm of fighters and fire up the bug-zapper
Like you, that's also the overriding viewpoint I've had about the Shade since it first went public. It's one hell of a potent method of swinging in on a vine at the last second like Tarzan and saving a friendly ship from massed fighters or missiles. While the Omen can accomplish some of that goal, the sudden-ambush capability of the phaseable Shade makes it even sweeter.