Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Megas]

This is quite random for this blog post but it could kind of tie in somewhere. Reminded myself in another discussion that large energy slots only have 2 non beam options. And ships not meant for hit and run tactics pretty much just mainly need Plasma Cannon. Which is fine and all, great weapon either way, but having so few options after a plethora of ones in medium mounts feels awkward. I also thought large missiles were lacking some more interesting options and we know we're getting a bunch of them in the next patch, so that's taken care of. I just wish there was another thing that isn't a beam (I don't hate them or anything, but there's only so many things you can do with a beam loadout).

I rather have one good weapon than several that are mediocre.  It is pretty bad when the best assault weapon sometimes is a PD weapon, Heavy Burst Laser for medium energy mounts.

Large missiles are okay, between Locusts, Squalls, and MIRVs.  If anything, medium missiles sometimes frustrate me because the only good homing option (on a ship with limited rear-firing mounts to attack tailgaters) is Harpoon Pod because AI is way too conserve with Breach Pod (at least as much if not more so than Harpoon Pod).  Also, Harpoon Pod is the only damaging option for long-range sniper ships.  (Pilums are not damaging enough, usually.)

Might be interesting to make Mjolnir a hybrid weapon though.

Interesting as it might, it might offer too much range on the high-tech ships that can use it.  Now, if it has a special rule that lost 100 or 200 base range if mounted in an energy slot, then it could be an option.

[Grievous69]

Smh thinking too inside the box. I would've never guessed we'd get a unique low tech battlecruiser yet here we are. Alex has a way of making crazy stuff seem balanced.

[Amoebka]

Meh, I would rather not see the base game turn into its own mod. It's bad enough we'll have a special snowflake dreadnought with 4 unique hullmods.

And as far as outside the box goes, you can downsize mounts.

[Grievous69]

Eh fair enough, but if we get factions that use high tech ships and then exclusive weapons, it's gonna be boring seeing capitals with Heavy Blasters and Autopulses (if they even get that blueprints).

[Ruddygreat]

Seeing as the league & diktat are gonna be in the next blogpost - which one's gonna be properly getting the odyssey?

The league has it prioritised but doesn't know it & the diktat knows it but doesn't prioritise it (and TT also has it but they've already got 2 caps), it seems wierd that one of the few capitals isn't used by any of the major players.
My money's on the diktat getting it; a fancy ship with overdone officer's quarters feels like it'd fit right in for them.

[Megas]

Eh fair enough, but if we get factions that use high tech ships and then exclusive weapons, it's gonna be boring seeing capitals with Heavy Blasters and Autopulses (if they even get that blueprints).

If we need extra weapons to make factions stand out, then yes, makes sense.  It may not be as critical for weapons.  We have several "poor" factions that use stuff acquired from the Open Market.

What I like to see is what the Independents will get.  Pirates and Pathers get their own stuff, and they are minor factions.  Similarly, the Remnants, although I guess they use Tri-Tachyon (if not Omega) stuff.  It would also be nice if the player can find some weapon and combat ship blueprints no other faction has.

It would be nice if more of the XIV ships were distinct from standard hulls aside from more flux and armor like Legion XIV, if more ships become Hegemony exclusive.

[Draba]

Reminded myself in another discussion that large energy slots only have 2 non beam options.

To be fair L energy also only has 2 beam options
Paladin is mostly PD, didn't get around to give it a proper try since it was changed so might be missing that it's decent against ships now.

Might be interesting to make Mjolnir a hybrid weapon though.

While hit strength and efficiency are below plasma, at a glance 900 range+EMP would probably make it too good on most things with L energy slots.
Just a guess ofc.

[Megas]

Paladin is mostly PD, didn't get around to give it a proper try since it was changed so might be missing that it's decent against ships now.

Paladin is not that good against ships.  It underperforms compared to other large energy weapons at anti-ship.  Paladin is an anti-missile and maybe anti-fighter weapon.  Best to treat it like a dual flak with much more range that fits in a large energy slot.

[Amoebka]

It would be nice if more of the XIV ships were distinct from standard hulls aside from more flux and armor like Legion XIV, if more ships become Hegemony exclusive.

Yes, this would be very welcome. The current "same hull but objectively better" situation discourages using base skins. I'll never s-mod a base enforcer, for example, because I know I will be using an orange version of it later.

While hit strength and efficiency are below plasma, at a glance 900 range+EMP would probably make it too good on most things with L energy slots.
Just a guess ofc.

I don't really know why long range is such a taboo for high tech. Conquest is fast as hell and allowed to kite with 2220 range gauss cannons, why is 1575 range Odyssey unacceptable then? Similarly, Falcons are about as fast as high tech stuff, yet they can use 1650 range kinetics.

EMP is what would make it stand out a little from plasma/autopulse. High tech already has easy access to ion damage, so I don't think it would break things either.

[Megas]

I don't really know why long range is such a taboo for high tech. Conquest is fast as hell and allowed to kite with 2220 range gauss cannons, why is 1575 range Odyssey unacceptable then? Similarly, Falcons are about as fast as high tech stuff, yet they can use 1650 range kinetics.

EMP is what would make it stand out a little from plasma/autopulse. High tech already has easy access to ion damage, so I don't think it would break things either.

Mjolnir as synergy may be okay if it counts as Ballistic for buffs.  (So, no -10% flux from elite Energy Mastery.)  Still kind of leery of base 900 range hard flux on high-tech ships.  I would certainly kite further away with such high-tech ships.  Omega's improved Rift Cascading Emitter is quite powerful, not at max range, but it still explodes quite a bit a short distance before max.  I would love to kite with or otherwise abuse that weapon but player probably gets only one in the entire game.

Aside, Omega's Volatile Particle Driver not working with Heavy Ballistics Integration is a dealbreaker when otherwise considering it for Onslaught or other ships with HBI.  Not paying more than 10 OP extra for what is essentially a Storm Needler and Thumper hybrid.

[Draba]

I don't really know why long range is such a taboo for high tech. Conquest is fast as hell and allowed to kite with 2220 range gauss cannons, why is 1575 range Odyssey unacceptable then? Similarly, Falcons are about as fast as high tech stuff, yet they can use 1650 range kinetics.

I wrote ships with L energy mounts, not high tech.
Sunder's main drawback is that it's fragile, getting a 900 base range hardflux weapon with focus would be a big buff.
Apogee/Champion main drawback is being slow, same there. Quad Mjollnir Paragon would also be a real pain.

Gauss has atrocious turnrate, much lower DPS than Mjollnir, does little against armor and Conquest has really, really bad shields with mediocre armor.
It's nice for fire support but dual gauss Conquest and dual Mjollnir Odyssey aren't comparable, they do very different things.

+if Mjollnir keeps ballistic mastery bonuses it really starts stepping on plasma's toes (also 1665 range, not 1575 in that case).
If it counts as energy that's a pretty big nerf, it's already situational for the ships that can use it now.

Mjolnir as synergy may be okay if it counts as Ballistic for buffs.  (So, no -10% flux from elite Energy Mastery.)  Still kind of leery of 900 range on high-tech ships.  I would certainly kite further away with such high-tech ships.

Elite ballistic mastery would be obviously, no contest better for Mjollnir than elite energy IMO.
+90 range, +40/20 damage/hit, +33% projectile speed. It's generally a great skill.

[Dri]

The Diktat needs a battleship that can compete with Paragon/Onslaught that embraces the energy/ballistic mix that is midline. Something like 2 large energy and 2 large ballistic mounts with decent flux stats.

[Voyager I]

I don't really know why long range is such a taboo for high tech. Conquest is fast as hell and allowed to kite with 2220 range gauss cannons, why is 1575 range Odyssey unacceptable then? Similarly, Falcons are about as fast as high tech stuff, yet they can use 1650 range kinetics.

The Conquest counterbalances its offensive potential by having one of the worst defensive profiles in the game, while the Falcon building around ballistic range has inferior firepower to destroyers.

[Megas]

I don't really know why long range is such a taboo for high tech. Conquest is fast as hell and allowed to kite with 2220 range gauss cannons, why is 1575 range Odyssey unacceptable then? Similarly, Falcons are about as fast as high tech stuff, yet they can use 1650 range kinetics.

The Conquest counterbalances its offensive potential by having one of the worst defensive profiles in the game, while the Falcon building around ballistic range has inferior firepower to destroyers.

Yes, Conquest needs its long-range firepower to not be totally eclipsed by Onslaught.

I need to min-max armor hullmods and skills (plus get Shield Shunt for the always-on synergy with Polarized Armor) just to have Conquest strong and sturdy enough to be battleship-grade in a brawl, but I give up much (not enough OP left to get all the best-in-class missiles plus ECCM), and Onslaught is still better at it with the same armor min-maxing.

The Diktat needs a battleship that can compete with Paragon/Onslaught that embraces the energy/ballistic mix that is midline. Something like 2 large energy and 2 large ballistic mounts with decent flux stats.

If Hegemony gets Onslaught, Tri-Tachyon gets Paragon, Persean League gets Pegasus, and Church gets Invictus (and Remnants get Radiant), then what does Diktat get?  Conquest is too flimsy to be a battleship despite costing 40 DP.

[SafariJohn]

Diktat gets Conlobsterquest - it's a Conquest, except it's blue and has 0.7 efficiency shield. Native to Volturn.