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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Messages - Sabaton

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1
General Discussion / Re: Some bloat content
« on: March 03, 2024, 10:20:53 AM »
I didn't want this thread to focus on those 2 ships in particular. My wider concern is that SS has been steadily accumulating content over its huge dev cycle to the point trying to balance everything might slow down work, have unintended consequences or just bloat the selection with like X but better stuff.

Case in point the Missile Autoloader hull-mod which was added in no small part so the Eagle & Falcon would remain competitive with the newer cruisers. And while that was a good addition similar cases might throw something else out of whack.

As for general availability, that is as simple as tweaking the markets so that there's no need to have X just because Y doesn't show up often. I get that people are cautious of power creeps, but hoarding every piece of content ever added due to slippery slope worry is not a solution.

2
Mods / Re: [0.97a] The Knights of Ludd
« on: February 22, 2024, 10:24:47 AM »
I want to know something first before trying it:
Spoiler
Can the you know what be recovered with that skill?
[close]

3
General Discussion / Re: Some bloat content
« on: February 10, 2024, 07:36:45 AM »
Luddic Path Manticore is ridiculously rare, and it doesn't supplant the colossi in their existence of being a sentient rocket launcher, cause there are too few of them.

Simple solution, make manticores spawn more often.

Mmh. I agree with the spirit of the OP, but none of the examples seem to match.
  • all the bad equipment - has to exist so upgrades are a thing
  • all the bad Pirate and Pather skins - dito; also easily salvaged to make a comeback in Iron mode / to quickly grow power on a restart
  • Afflictor (P), Shade (P) - are straight upgrades over their pristine counterparts: more-than-half the ship for half the ship's cost

1. Arbalest, mortars, piliums, kites, gremlins, hounds, cerberii, wayfarers, mules, buffalos mk2, ventures, atlas & prometheus mk2s... There would still be plenty of mediocre equipment and ships around to feel good about your own fleet & rebuild quicker.

2. "more-than-half the ship for half the ship's cost" - and less op, an stat frigates can't afford to sacrifice

Quote from: Megas

DLMG is too expensive for point-defense.  It is SO assault weapon, a little HMG.

PD laser is the next best thing to burst PD for short-ranged PD.  Probably meant for the back two mounts on an Eagle or similar.

Colossus3 is a raider ship with Ground Support Package.  It is the easiest of the three raider ships to obtain (others being Valkyrie and Phantom), and when I want to raid worlds for blueprints, this ship is the option I will probably start with.  While pirates use it for combat, the player can use it as a freighter and a marine transport.

1. Single machine gun and vulcan works well for SO build and leaves more OP for other stuff.

2. I guess people like the PD laser for its superior damage, something you can make up with skills. Personally I find it lets stuff get too close for comfort sometimes.

3. Good point. I mixed up the colossi... Colossus MK3 actually looks a lot better when you consider it as a raider with carrier & cargo capacity as bonus.

4
General Discussion / Some bloat content
« on: February 06, 2024, 02:42:13 AM »
Now that Starsector is really pushing up in age I'm seeing a bit of bloat content here and there. Mostly items that have fallen by the way side either due to changing balance or being outright surpassed by new stuff. While some could be reballanced into relevancy I feel most of it could be removed from the game and no one would bat an eye.

Lets start with the weapons:

Light dual machine gun: not much better than it's singular counterpart, if anything the single variant is superior due to its
lower OP cost given that small PD must be spammed to be reliable. All in all it lacks the affordability of it's single cousin and
the sheer firepower of the Vulcan while having similar range and being more expensive that both.

Point defense laser:

Has the same OP cost as its long range version but half the range, that alone out weights the superior damage given that, like mentioned before,
small PD guns rely on volume more than individual kick. The burst PD laser is more reliable in the similar range class and the mining laser is dirt cheap.
This leaves the regular PD laser without any saving graces, weak compared to burst laser, short ranged compared to long range PD laser and expensive compared to the mining laser.

On to factions and ships:

Pirates:

I think the pirate Shade and Aflictor were originally introduced so players could learn to fight phase enemies in a low risk environment? That mantle has been picked up by the more thematically fitting Gremlin. Leaving P Shades & Afflictors as just worse versions of their pristine selves that bloat pirate fleets.

Pirate Wolf:

Just a worse Wolf, its role as elusive nuisance is fulfilled just as well by Kites & Gremlins. The paint job is cool tho, so maybe give it to the pirate Shrike.

Mudskipper MK2:

A meme ship with less combat value than a Kite, put it out of its misery. The Buffalo & Atlas mk2 show pirate ingenuity & desperation much better.

Colossus MK2:

Ridiculously big and clunky for such a low fighter count. IMO best replaced with something else, perhaps the unused munition ships sprites? They still hold on well after all these years.

Luddic Path:

Colossus mk3:

Just a hammer barrage with engines, far surpassed in effectiveness and cool factor by the luddic Manticore.

In an unrelated note, we really need a way to remotely contact contacts, at least for some jobs. Going back to them every time is annoying.

5
Modding / Re: [0.96a] Pick Your Ships (v0.0.2)
« on: November 24, 2023, 12:45:56 PM »
Great for people who want to jumpstart a run without going through the early game grind and don't like the nexerelin route for some reason. The options are quite granular and it even allows you to choose hidden factions, perfect for starting off as the boss.


6
Mods / Re: [0.96a] The Xhan Empire, version 2.51 Gramada
« on: September 26, 2023, 12:17:15 AM »
Since I've developed a bit of a fondness for the Pamed faction over multiple runs, it's time to give them a proper review and point out some issues.

Starting with general considerations for the whole faction, their lack of hostilities towards pirates is really weird, especially since they're a rich & opulent micro nation on the edge of the core systems.

Same goes for their neutrality with luddites given their highly advanced tech & ships. Overall it makes their system too quiet for what it should be.

Onto their ships themselves, the expensive deployment costs makes running a Pamed only fleet quite a challenge unless you go full wolfpack and even then the frigates they have aren't great in AI hands, despite being designed to match the class above them in power, for reasons I'll point out later.

Of note is their smart armor & flute engines which combined with officer skills & other hull mods make Pamed ships practically immune to EMP & flameouts, something you really need given their meh armor and unimpressive hull.

The lack of proper carriers is noticeable, perhaps you could add an overengineered drone carrier later down the line like the sprite you posted on discord years ago? I know carriers don't fit their doctrine but the 233 says really clear the faction will support extravagance just because, so overall doctrine isn't much of a concern.

Not having any weapons of their own is also a missed opportunity, could use some funky guns.

As for specific considerations:

The Anuran heavy frigates looks good on paper but in practice is crippled by its anemic flux capacity (slightly smaller than even a lasher) to the point it can neither fight or defend effectively. The shield arc is also too small for such a big & boxy ship making it easy to catch stray shots. It can be a decent ship with proper skills and player control but there are better flagship options.

The 233 is a nasty piece of work held back by a mediocre (for the ships intended purpose at least) system. And that's because if you rely on the electro shields to save you it's likely too late. The 233s best and only defense is speed and if anything it should swap systems with the Anuran. That would also make it better for strike purposes, because as it stands right now you're better off with a pair of tachion lances than risking close contact for plasma cannon action. Still, its a good flagship if you have bigger ships to hide behind.

The Odonata is a phase enthusiasts joy, generous OP and enough firepower to make short work of sub cruisers. Its low cloak activation & upkeep maintains the flux grid cool under pressure and eases the slowdown from coil stress, still I like to give it adaptive coils as well for those old school phase shenanigans. It easily does what the 233 should: move behind the enemy and blast away. The anomalies could be better at confusing missiles but overall its a nice flagship.

The Urodelan is a straight forward ship and best suited to form your fleets backbone. Its strong 360 shields and turret only mounts allow it to put up a fight regardless of the angle its attacked from, but from what I've seen it's still vulnerable to fighters despite the electro shields so don't skip on PD.
The 2 small synergy turrets are...cute but useless, as nothing about this ship is worth putting missiles on, it might as well be all energy. All in all, a good AI ship that will perform as good as you tinker it to.

And finally the crown jewel, the Carillon has the flux grid to surpass some capitals, which combined with its strong shield and system allows it to brawl through overwhelming odds, provided the player flies it as the AI won't use it to full potential. The middle small universals are an odd choice as like the Urodelan, it's not worth using missiles on this ship.
With proper skills and timing you can chain the ship system to nearly constant time shenanigans, which you should as the modest weapons grid won't do much otherwise.

Overall Pamed is a good addition to the sector but seem forgotten in the mods overall development, could use some expansion.

7
Blog Posts / Re: Wormholes and Sundry - Getting Around the Sector
« on: September 19, 2023, 12:36:23 AM »
If abyss has empty background map, would it have empty background for combat?

ships move a bit slower.

Is this a flat amount or % based? Same for all ship classes or differentiated? Depending on how it's handled it could hurt wolfpack meta a lot.

8
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.96a (Released) Patch Notes
« on: May 21, 2023, 08:39:49 AM »
You really outdid yourself with the Lions Guard skins, they look great! Probably warrants a revisit to the battlegroup skins since they're so dated?

Most of the Guards ships themselves are just as dubious in effectiveness as the descriptions make them to be, quite gimmicky to make proper use of them.

Also, since the PD & LR PD lasers cost the same now, the LR PD seems like the better choice with it's superior range and decreased flux. Not to mention having 4 small pd energy is pointless. Why not remove one them since mining lasers fill the cheap option and burst lasers give the advanced option?

Also, the mausoleum shrine really made me emotional :'( . Your storytelling is getting better and better, keep working on that and SS might get close to the likes of Homeworld regarding plot quality.

9
Suggestions / Re: Big wig start option
« on: February 19, 2023, 06:25:37 AM »
sometimes I just want to get into the action, starting out with only an Apogee or destroyers in that case is still too slow.

So some kind of start with a decent heavy/medium cruiser and a light or two, some escorts and a supply train. for when you just want to get into the action, try out some new things or whatever.

My feelings exactly! There are times when I just want to see how a particular Ships/Fleet build would fare in campaign without having to grind my way up from nothing every time (especially if said builds don't work out)

Not to mention that, from the looks of it, most of the upcoming content will be end game so again you have to start over to get to the new stuff. It gets tedious when you've done it dozens of times already.

10
Suggestions / Re: Big wig start option
« on: January 06, 2023, 10:11:57 AM »
I know about it, but don't want to use it because the gameplay changes it brings.

11
Suggestions / Big wig start option
« on: January 05, 2023, 10:50:41 PM »
As someone who's been playing this game for 10 years I know the early/mid game experience like the back of my hand at this point and reached the stage where the early grind discourages me from starting a new playthrough.

Any chance for a big wig starting option? I'm thinking a 7-9 ship fleet with a few cruisers, officers, levels and 100/200k credits under your belt.

12
Blog Posts / Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 2
« on: May 01, 2022, 11:16:31 AM »
What skills, if any, will Lions Guard officers have? I feel like giving them elite Helmsmanship and nothing else would be fitting and funny for a bunch of parade boys.

Also Tactical Drills should reduce CR loss from being harassed and increase it for harassed enemies for added space combat use.

13
Mods / Re: [0.95.1a-RC6] The Xhan Empire, version 2.4 Thousand Eyes
« on: January 31, 2022, 11:15:35 AM »
This boss is what the doritos should have been. Very well done. 8)

14
General Discussion / Re: Anyone else encountered this?
« on: January 01, 2022, 09:41:29 AM »
I love these sensor ghosts. They're unoficially called leviathans and if you pulse interdict them they run away from you. Use them to create a slipstream to wherever you need to go.

15
General Discussion / Re: Do people use Hyperion without Safety Override?
« on: October 17, 2021, 04:37:50 AM »
Yes, it's a top frigate even without extreme builds. Not to mention that wolfpack tactics + energy mastery + cryo blasters/regular blasters means a lot of power in a very mobile and survivable package that can zoom around the battlefield as needed.

Its cost if offset by the fact that you won't have more than one in your fleet since the AI is better at using other ships and there's plenty of ways to offset cr issues.

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