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[PixiCode]

The goal of this thread is to take a look at the target leading accuracy part of Fighter Uplink, call into question what value (if any) it provides and suggest an alternative. It is not to suggest a sweeping change to wing skills, that was already discussed on March 10th this year on these forums and possibly before that as well. But, if no changes are done to the carrier skills in general, I would like for there to be a change to Fighter Uplink. This is why;

I suspect the target leading accuracy buff of Fighter Uplink is either completely useless, or it buffs some stat I'm not aware of that doesn't actually impact aim, or it only affects fighters with a weapon that it can turn in its mount. I have a video showcasing why I believe this and I ran this sort of test a fair bit over my time playing SS and just today to get the footage, though I would like more input on people's opinions on the actual in-game effect of this target leading accuracy and not what the text on the skill says. I tried to skim through a forum search about target uplink but didn't find anything really talking about the target leading aspect part of the skill.

~~IMPORTANT NOTE~~
I'm not saying the perditions should or should not hit the Medusa in either case, but I think shows that the fighters do not change their heading to account for 'increased target leading' for weapons that cannot turn. That, paired with the warthogs example too!



Currently, my assumption is that the target leading accuracy has no effect on the actual operation of any fighter or wing currently in vanilla besides maybe aspects, which the player can't normally use, and likely only a few niche wings throughout mods as well. That's because I think the target leading accuracy doesn't change how fighters aim their ship, it only changes how it aims their guns, which just about every wing to my knowledge does not really do or already has a perfect accuracy weapon, like a laser.

My suggestion would be to remove target leading accuracy and apply a maneuvering bonus of some % to the fighter, or maybe add another flat top speed bonus on top of the % top speed bonus, or maybe a 25% range bonus to weapons, or... you get the idea. Just throwing ideas out there.

[Wyvern]

Additionally, target leading accuracy is already maxed out if the base carrier is at 100% CR, making this - much like the similar benefit in the Gunnery Implants skill - of marginal benefit to the player even if it did do anything.

Whether that means it needs replacement is a different question, though; the fighter speed and casualty rate improvements might just be enough on their own? Unsure.

[PixiCode]

Additionally, target leading accuracy is already maxed out if the base carrier is at 100% CR, making this - much like the similar benefit in the Gunnery Implants skill - of marginal benefit to the player even if it did do anything.

Thanks for mentioning that, though are you sure autofire accuracy is the same mechanic that the skill Fighter Uplink is suggesting? To add to what you said, I tried similar tests to these and I don't think I noticed much (if any?) of a difference between 70% CR and 100% CR with or without the uplink. The perdition bombs had about the same amount of 'lag' behind where the medusa was drifting and the warthogs performed largely the same.

[Phenir]

Probably related to the hardpoint aiming fix coming next update. There's no difference now but maybe there will be once they can actually aim properly. Also, basically every fighter uses hardpoint aiming (for projectiles anyway) except 2, the gladius for its ir pulse and the terminator drone, also for it's pulse laser. The terminator already has maxed autofire accuracy because of its core hullmod though so the gladius might be the only fighter that actually benefits from this.

Additionally, target leading accuracy is already maxed out if the base carrier is at 100% CR, making this - much like the similar benefit in the Gunnery Implants skill - of marginal benefit to the player even if it did do anything.

Thanks for mentioning that, though are you sure autofire accuracy is the same mechanic that the skill Fighter Uplink is suggesting? To add to what you said, I tried similar tests to these and I don't think I noticed much (if any?) of a difference between 70% CR and 100% CR with or without the uplink. The perdition bombs had about the same amount of 'lag' behind where the medusa was drifting and the warthogs performed largely the same.

It is the same mechanic. Gunnery impants uses getautofireaimaccuracy for its bonus and so does fighter uplink.

[PixiCode]

Well I had no idea the way hardpoints are aimed are being looked at this patch, so uhm, maybe that would do something.

Though, that still leaves how it's basically a dead number due to how CR and autofire accuracy works, right? I still feel like a little maneuvering bonus to go with the top speed bonus would be an interesting addition either way.

Edit: to expand on that thought a little, I'm sort of comparing it to gunnery implants. The autofire accuracy is basically nonexistant, but the recoil and the range increase put together make it worth it. The top speed bonus for fighter uplink? Since it only gives 20% to 8 wings and then starts diminishing returns, I'm not quite as sold, but since hardpoint aiming is apparently being looked into then that throws the point of the thread into the air, since I felt like it was doubly silly since the autofire accuracy is particularly non-existent for fighters currently.