And I don't agree that the EMR S-mod effect really nerfs missile RoF that badly, because the player can simply not S-mod it and instead pay the meager extra OP cost.
Ah yes, the "meager" 8/12/20/30, one of the most expensive hullmods in the game.
If you don't build in EMR then you build in something else that costs 5/10/15/25 (or cheaper but with a bonus) so it really only costs 3/2/5/5 OP which is pretty meager.
Yup, this is what I was referring to by "meager".
YES to Missile Specialization nerfs. The skill doesn't need the massive 50% RoF bonus to use extra missiles because if the player finds they have an excess stockpile of missiles, they can decide not to equip Expanded Missiles Racks.
The skill itself already doubles your missile amount.
And I don't agree that the EMR S-mod effect really nerfs missile RoF that badly, because the player can simply not S-mod it and instead pay the meager extra OP cost.
Ah yes, the "meager" 8/12/20/30, one of the most expensive hullmods in the game.
Vanshilar has shown that a pure Gryphon fleet (minus his Onslaught capital)
So a "pure Gryphon fleet", except with a capital flagship that does 30% of total damage in the fight, not to mention the player target prioritization(because good luck fielding a monofleet of 8-10 Gryphons against Radiants and Novas) and the effect it has on enemy AI.
are becoming too common (via the Missile Spec skill's +100% ammo), too difficult to shoot down (via the Missile Spec's +50% missile HP) and too easy a DPS crutch (via the Missile Spec's elite effect of +50% RoF)
What you(an many others) seem to be missing is that missiles by default are support weapons - precisely because they have limited ammo, can be shot down and usually have low rate of fire. If you take elite Missile Specialization, and Expanded Missile Racks, and ECCM, then you can turn them into a main weapon system but that's a hefty price to pay.
I mean, no one is complaining that if you take Automated Ships and Neural Link then you can fly a Radiant, the single best ship in the game - because everyone understands that it comes at a cost. But for some reason whenever missiles are involved everyone conveniently forgets about how much you need to do to actually make them viable. No other weapon system requires even remotely as much investment.
You make a solid point about how the player-controlled Onslaught, but considering that Vanshilar does all his testing with that Onslaught, the fact that the Gryphon fleet is so much more effective than other fleets goes to show that they really are that much more powerful than other ships. Again, not saying Gryphons need to be nerfed. My qualm is purely with Missile Spec.
And as for a missile fleet, you yourself say in your post that "The skill itself already doubles your missile amount." So no, you don't
need Expanded Missile Racks for a missile fleet. And, considering the +50% Missile HP of Missile Spec, you don't really need ECCM for most missiles either, except maybe MIRVs, Harpoons, and those new DEMs.
And you are right that missiles are support weapons due to all those reasons, but I think the fact that pretty much all those drawbacks are taken care of by Missile Spec alone is just waaay too much power to give one skill. Like, Ballistic Mastery is a good skill, but it doesn't
transform ballistics from support to main armament, and same for Energy Weapon Mastery. I think if missiles are supposed to be able to be used as a primary weapon, especially on ships that
aren't dedicated missile ships like the Gryphon, then it should take more than one elite skill, occassionally ECCM, and maaaybe EMR for medium missile mounts or fights that go longer than would ever be required at any point in the game (see: 2+ Ordos).
Author
Topic: Skill re-balancing but make the changes as small as possible (Read 2415 times)