There's been quite a bit of discussion about how much stronger frigates have become in the new update, and a significant part of that is the power of wolfpack tactics. Rather than just nerfing it, I think it should become a capstone/tier 5 skill. I think it would need to be a bit stronger to really fit though. I would do one or more of: extending some bonuses to unofficered frigates, and giving some reduced bonuses to destroyers. In addition, I think an interesting opposite skill would be something to buff capitals/crusiers so that there is a choice of which size ships you want to buff, and there is a skill that benefits you no matter what ships you use. Something like bonus range/maneuverability/speed on officered capital ships and cruisers would be interesting I think.
What other ideas do you all have for leadership capstones?
Wolfpack would fit nicely as a tier 5 skill and I would welcome the bonuses being extended to destroyers. I think that destroyers are for low and midtech a strong ship class (Enforcers, Hammerheads, and Sunders are all top tier now, Medusas are pretty good too), so a reduced bonus would be fine.
I like the idea of the other skill being for larger ships, as in my opinion cruisers could really use help with the current skills. I think there's a pretty narrow range of the game where its worth having a cruiser instead of a capital (or for light cruisers a cruiser instead of a destroyer). Mainly just economic incentive, as capitals are expensive to run. Exceptions: the Fury is good as a superdestroyer cosplaying as a cruiser, the Aurora is decent playerbait, there's no capital equivalent to the Gryphon, and the Doom is changing the game difficulty to easy mode.
How about calling it "Decisive Battle Doctrine". For symmetry with wolfpack it applies to officered Cruisers, with a reduced bonus for officered capitals. As for the bonus: Wolfpack mirrors energy weapon mastery in adding more damage, the primary beneficiaries being high tech frigates. What if DBD mirrors gunnery implants? +10% range and projectile velocity, -20% weapon recoil, +10 speed (flat), half bonuses for capitals? The combo of range and speed might be too good tbh.
Yeah, nice idea. As of right now some inexperienced players can fall into the trap and actually spend some skill points on the green line but moving anything even slightly useful to the last position will save them from making such a blatant mistake.
The leadership skill offers for 3 skillpoints:
+15% damage to all ships at 120 DP, scaling to +10% damage at 240 DP
+25% speed to all ships OR +5% speed to all ships and wolfpack tactics for +20% damage, +120 PPT for officered frigates
+5% maneuverability
-5% damage taken by all defense types
-5% fighter refit time
Improved autofire accuracy
An extra deployment or extra time before malfunctions sets in for long battles
All of these benefits are to all ships and stack with other bonuses from officers or player skills. Just comparing those to combat skills, that seems like ~2 and a bit combat skills worth to every ship in the fleet, including the player ship, for 3 skillpoints (or 1 and a bit combat skills for everyone + wolfpack for officered frigates). Next is the officers skill: not exciting, but a good skill. For the 8 ships they are on, the better officers is similar to about 2/3 of T4L and T5L combined (elite skill for story point compared to free hullmod for story point about lines up for the stronger elite choices, and an extra skill overall is depending on skill nearly as good as +20% base flux.).
The problem with leadership isn't that its early stages are weak, its that it has no capstones and sucks for looping because of L1R. L1L, L2-4 are all solid skills. I sometimes wonder whether we've all been fooled by the cost of 1 dead skill and 1 colony skill and if it wouldn't be stronger to just loop leadership: Wolfpack +20% speed would be even crazier for frigate fleets, the 15% CR stacks with fighter replenishment for making carriers better, and the officer skills stack with each other too.
