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Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.95.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: November 08, 2021, 06:53:09 AM »SpoilerAs a mostly low-tech player, very glad to see the Legion and Dominator both get some buffs. I was going to write a longer post on the Dominator, as it's been my main ship to pilot for most of my time playing and I have some thoughts, but I didn't do so in time to beat all this patch.
All the buffs it gets are great, but I don't normally have issues with the Dominator on OP, dissipation, or longevity. The fact that the two large ballistic weapon slots are hardpoints and spaced widely, coupled with its low maneuverability, really defines the ship and provides some challenges in how to outfit it and use it. I found that for normal enemies all the way through high level bounties, it was a good ship and grew well along with the rest of the fleet. It's usefulness fell off pretty hard with [Redacted], though, and I think point out two issues that plague the ship most.
First, it normally shines when duking it out with capitals. The Dominator can't rotate quickly and its main damage dealers (missiles and large ballistics) are hardpoints, so something that is large or moves slowly will stay in its crosshairs. It can't win a solo flux war with a capital, but it can with some help, and then pound in some damage as the ship tries to retreat. Against a Radiant, though, the Dominator can not take much of the damage to shields, and has to armor tank pretty quickly. That's fine, it's made for that, but its main weapons are routinely knocked out of commission as it does that, so then it can't fight back. I think this is a general weakness of armor tanking vs. shield tanking, but I suspect the Dominator struggles with that more than a Legion or Onslaught as its main weapons are all along its front and located close together. When fighting a Radiant, I find my normal role is to take that damage and let the other ships take the Radiant down. It works, but not a lot of enjoyment in it. What fun is it to get hammered on with no chance of launching a reaper (or three!) in something's face when it gets fluxed out?
Second, the Dominator does not excel close-in fighting with even semi-agile opponents, which the [Redacted] very much try to utilize (specifically, groups of Fulgents/Glimmers). Their typical style is to pelt you from a few angles, swooping into and out of range as they take shield damage. I can pressure one of their shields with the turreted mediums (H Needlers) and sabots, but it's tough to convert that pressure to hull damage as I normally can't spin fast enough to use the larges to hit them. Also, even if I can turn fast enough to hit that weakened ship, the close range will make only one of the two large hardpoints usable...the other is firing into space. Again, I can tie up a decent number of enemies for a while, enough time for the rest of the fleet take things down, but I take damage and don't do much in return.
I'd humbly request two things. First, some kind of way to make the impact of damage to weapons less brutal. Losing most of your DPS in a few moments is tough to plan around, and not much fun for a low-tech fleet relying on armor tanking. Perhaps a Hullmod where instead of a weapon becoming unusable when it runs out of HP, it just reduces to 50% of normal rate of fire? Or maybe a 50% chance to become unusable instead of 100% when it runs out of HP?
Second, I really think the ship needs some way to deal damage at brawler range, either by converting the fixed missiles and LB to turrets (even a small amount of movement would provide a lot of good), or perhaps with another turreted medium ballistic (with no additional dissipation to power it) if the fixed nature of the craft is an important point. With its crazy-low speed and maneuvering, the Dominator cannot dictate terms for exchanges...it's got to have a way to be effective at multiple ranges. It's too easy to just rush it down and make the LB's and missiles semi-useless, and the two mediums just are not enough. The Enforcer has more than that.[close]
I appreciate the detailed write-up! Hmm. Impact Mitigation, Damage Control, and Automated Repair Unit (and Armored Weapon Mounts!) are all intended means to counteract weapons getting disabled, and to bring them back online faster. Resistant Flux Conduits also help reduce EMP damage taken. In the next release, Polarized Armor will also help by reducing EMP damage by up to 50% when flux levels are high, and having a bit more ordnance points will let you take advantage of more of the other options, too. It feels like there is a large number of options here, and they'll be broadened somewhat. You're right that due to how the ship is, its weapons are more exposed (though the larges can actually avoid a lot of fire due to being offset, it's really the medium missiles that suffer the brunt), but I think that's just the breaks for this specific ship.
For engagement range, the changes to Burn Drive should help it be able to dictate range more. But the trouble it has with faster attackers that get close is very much part of its intended design, a weakness that's meant to be compensated for with allies on its flanks.
I think if it ends up brawling with a Radiant... you just kind of have to expect that it'll have some trouble. That *is* a battleship, after all! But, just trying it for a bit now, with a focus on using these options, its weapons get remarkably resilient.
Sorry about the wall of text, it swear it didn't appear as long when I wrote it.
I currently use IM, DC, and armored mounts (along with solar shielding), so I'm trying to keep the guns firing with the tools that are available. My experience has not been the same as what you are describing, and I do find it's difficult to keep the mounts working well (in particular the missiles which often have only a limited time to use). I appreciate you trying it out.
To be clear on the close range weakness, my issue isn't that close-range flanking won't be painful...it is and that feels fair. It's that the fixed nature of the weapons really limits the damage you can deal back in those cases. That's true even if you have a partner to avoid flanking; if your target moves laterally at close range, it will really reduce your effectiveness. The best counterexample is the Legion XIV, which I found to be surprisingly strong in my LT fleet. With 5 turreted heavy needlers and two hurricanes, it can flux out attackers from a number of angles and then pursue them with missiles, all while being slower than the Dom.
Related to the various comments on Radiants and close attackers, I think you are hinting at what I see as the Dom's identity crisis. Against those end-game enemies, what is it supposed to be good at? Not really tackling a Radiant when it is the target, and not attacking faster-moving enemies that close distance. I find it's just got a small list of cases where it works well against Redacted. It's a shame, as it's a pretty decent ship against non-Redacted fleets that respect range a little more, but struggles with the transition to the major leagues.