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[Alex]

Blog post here.

[robepriority]

What would be the difference between an interruptible burn drive and plasma burn?
Would a discharged terminator be effected by strike commander or missile specialization?

[Bub]

Well there goes my idea for a ship pack lol, I had the same idea of swapping out shields on a low tech ship for dampening field and maybe having it regen a little bit of armor so you could be more aggressive on low tech

Really excited about the changes, the new tempest nuke system seems really fun, mixing it with an atlas mkII could make for some crazy firepower

[tseikk1]

The new low-tech ships look great, and the change to burn drive is, in my opinion, the best of all the suggestions it has gotten.

But did the tempest really need a nerf? I don't think it was overperforming that hard. Thanks to its small shield it was really hard to use in mid-late fights. Sure, it smashes early pirates and pathers, but what doesn't? Most people were already choosing to use the scarab over the tempest, since it has a proper shield, and because small energy slots in general are better than in earlier versions. edit: and why is the Omen left untouched?

On another note, are there any plans to change or rebalance the skill system any further, or is it in a finished state now?

[Eji1700]

As always i really like the approach that's being taken to solve these issues. 

The new frigate looks fun and opens some really interesting design space, and of course i'm really excited to see how the burn drive changes work out (Especially in AI hands).

In general though i'm just excited for "moar ships" in vanilla.  God knows we've got a ton of great mods to expand the roster, but i'm happy to see some of the niche's being filled in more and more without it.  Really helps keep the flavor right in the base game, and hopefully moves away from "high tech best tech" mentality that it can leave you with.

[AcaMetis]

Vanguard

What happens if I try to put Makeshift Shield Generator on the Vanguard? Does it just not allow the hullmod to be added?

Though, to be fair, “this isn’t as powerful as the baseline version of the ship” is unlikely to be much consolation when it’s coming at you full-burn.

"Ship coming in with Full Burn" means "big, predictable target wide open to Reapers/Doom Mines". So yes, that is, in fact, a consolation .

Actually wait, that's cancellable now. Might have to be more worried in the future .

Bonus: Termination Sequence

Does the AI know how to use this new system? I can already see my officers spamming missile drones against a SO Hound that they're never going to hit and never needed to hit with that kind of ordinance, or spamming the 1K flux option in front of multiple Sabots or something. Beyond that I'm curious to see how the modified Tempest handles, and whether it'll still manage to justify it's 8DP cost. People said it "overperformed" a fair bit, but I don't recall as many people saying it "overperformed for an 8DP frigate"...

[intrinsic_parity]

I'm not even sure if the tempest is all that nerfed. If the drone missiles deal good damage, it basically gets unlimited missiles which is pretty solid on a frigate. It might even be worth treating it like a battle carrier with bombers and investing in replenishment rate.

[Dark.Revenant]

Will the existing non-toggle Burn Drive AI be available?

I'm not even sure if the tempest is all that nerfed. If the drone missiles deal good damage, it basically gets unlimited missiles which is pretty solid on a frigate. It might even be worth treating it like a battle carrier with bombers and investing in replenishment rate.

The flux cost (and loss of PD) makes it an overall nerf compared to HEF.

[SCC]

Finally, burn drive can be interrupted again. You don't have to choose between not using it or using it and overcommitting anymore.
I was hoping for pirate Fury, but alas.
Stealing another name from DR (first Revenant, then Vanguard) is just rude. However, it's cool to see second ship system UI implemented, it would help some mod ships that already had ship systems instead of shields.

[Arcagnello]

The problem, however, is that this system very difficult for the AI to use safely. There are just too many factors to consider, but the main problem is that *if it gets it wrong* then this leaves the ship terribly exposed and likely to be destroyed. So, even an AI that got it mostly right – it just takes one mistake, and those are the things that stick in the player’s mind when they see it. The AI, therefore, is very conservative with its use – but this means that Burn Drive is largely not doing the job it was intended for, giving low tech the ability to keep the pressure on when facing technically-faster ships.

So, one key change that supports much of what’s in the rest of this post is making Burn Drive able to be toggled off at any point in the burn. (This can be done either by pressing the system-activation key again, or by venting.)

I am so Ludd right now.

With this final piece of the puzzle, the new ship – named the “Vanguard” – works! It’s tough and persistent, and if it does fall in a larger battle, then it’s just not a very big deal. And another nice thing here is that this combination of two systems is special, so low tech gets something with a bit of a shine to it that way. Here’s its in-game description:

An ancient and tough heavy frigate featuring robust construction, a combat burn drive, and no modern shields. Instead, the Vanguard is equipped with an integrated Damper Field of archaic design but tuned to modern standards. This allows the Vanguard to allocate 100% of flux buildup to weapon systems, leaving defense to its heavy armor enhanced by the obscure physics of resonant field-dampening.

And here’s a shot of it in action, featuring burn drive and damper field active at the same time:

Spoiler

[close]

I can't wait to try this bad boy now. It's legit making me doubt my next campaign focus

Eradicator, which has Accellerated Ammo Feeder

I can taste the Safety Overrides, Heavy Machinegun and Harpoon/Reaper/Annihalator spam already. It's going to be glorious.

Do you have Luddic Path versions of either of these ships planned by the way? The faction could really benefit from some more good ships 

About the Tempest

It's very pleasing to see the amount of effort being devoted to reining high tech back a tad. Looking forward to the tempest and the other High tech frigate changes!

[Luuiscool4567]

Mmm. Just saying that the Eradicator could make a good choice to add a 14th Battlegroup variation. It's pretty close to being in line with the Kantai Kessen decisive battle doctrine that the 14th practiced. Eagle and Falcon XIV variants don't really feel like they fit in the 14th Battlegroup's overall. 

[Arcagnello]

Mmm. Just saying that the Eradicator could make a good choice to add a 14th Battlegroup variation. It's pretty close to being in line with the Kantai Kessen decisive battle doctrine that the 14th practiced. Eagle and Falcon XIV variants don't really feel like they fit in the 14th Battlegroup's overall.

Indeed, a 14th battlegroup variant of both these new upcoming low tech additions would be very welcome!

Welcome to the forum by the way Luuiscool4567! Stick around 

[RustyCabbage]

All these changes/additions are really exciting! The Eradicator especially looks lovely. Guessing the dissipation will be around 300-350? That'll be a lot of fun with 3 AAF-boosted medium ballistics.

[Luuiscool4567]

Mmm. Just saying that the Eradicator could make a good choice to add a 14th Battlegroup variation. It's pretty close to being in line with the Kantai Kessen decisive battle doctrine that the 14th practiced. Eagle and Falcon XIV variants don't really feel like they fit in the 14th Battlegroup's overall.

Indeed, a 14th battlegroup variant of both these new upcoming low tech additions would be very welcome!

Welcome to the forum by the way Luuiscool4567! Stick around 

Always been lurking around on the forum posts. Just decided to make an account just to throw around ideas now for fun as this is the opportune time to strike for moar XIV variants.

[AcaMetis]

It's very pleasing to see the amount of effort being devoted to reining high tech back a tad. Looking forward to the tempest and the other High tech frigate changes!

I would like to not see High Tech dragged down because the whole "Low Tech" philosophy is just faulty by design and therefore unable to compete, though. That said I'm not sure what to make of the Tempest change. It definitely feels like a nerf, since I can't imagine these pseudo-missiles are at all sustainable in an extended fight (if only compared to infinitely renewable HEF Pulsar shots, which would be a very difficult bar to cross). But 2 combined HB shots and 1.25 Ion Cannon worth of EMP at 1K flux is nothing to sneeze at either.

(The loss of PD I personally don't care about, I always pair Tempests with Omens anyway since I find anything short of top tier PD to be suicide in this patch for some inexplicable reason)

Alex, what are these Terminator missile things classified as, in terms of skills and hullmods? "Fighters turning into missiles that deal energy damage" is...not clearly accounted for in the skill tree . Does Strike Commander's +20% damage to Destroyer+ targets apply to them? That would be lovely, especially as I wouldn't have any reason to pick that skill otherwise...