Humongous imbalance between the 2 Federation factions prices (And probably in the other 2 races too).

Game Discussion Levelling and Economy
1

So, I decided I wanted to go Federation, and I was trying to decide which of the 2 factions I wanted to play, when I realized that the prices when buying the ships were incredibly different.

 

For example, if you take a look at the fighters:

 

If I want to buy all the fighters in the Armada faction (1 each tier, 4 in total), I can just go and buy them straight, one every tier:

 

T1 170.000, T2 850.000, T3 2.450.000, T4 5.500.000, making a total spent of 8.970.000 at the end. You just need to buy the 4 Fighters.

 

 

On the other hand, to buy all the fighters in the Vanguard faction , I just can’t buy them straight like in Armada, I need to buy a bunch of other ships because the tree doesn’t let me do it other way (Reds are the fighters you want, green are the ones you need to buy because the tree structure doesn’t leave you any other choice):

 

T1 170.000, T2 480.000, T2 680.000, T2 850.000, T3 1.750.000, T3 2.100.000, T4 4.550.000, T4 6.650.000, making a total spent of 17.230.000 , almost double than in the Armada faction !!! , You need to buy 8 ships in total, double the ships than Armada faction.

 

 

Anyone can explain to me why such a big difference in price between the 2 factions ? Why should I bother going Vanguard ? It makes no sense to me… Going Armada saves you LOTS of money on the long run.

 

I did’t check it, but I guess the same would happen to the other factions.

2

Am I the only one who has no idea what this guy is talking about? Since when did you get ships from Armada/Vanguard subfactions?

3

Yes, there are subfaction ships, mostly you can tell by the specials names. I hit the same problem too, the ship progression list is really skewed to one faction. Advantage is that the other faction ship will usually have better stats, but is a dead end in climbing.

 

Still sucks and it gets horrifyingly expensive.

4

Where can you see the sub-faction ships?

I just looked everywhere I could think of, but all I’m seeing is the main faction ships.

5

Am I the only one who has no idea what this guy is talking about? Since when did you get ships from Armada/Vanguard subfactions?

 

As you have probably seen in game, there are some quests in the contracts that ask you to finish some tasks with specific faction ships, like: “Kill 20 enemies with an Armada ship”.

 

So, if you workship the Vanguard faction, they will ask you those kind of quests, and you might want to have those ships so you can do them. There are more reasons to choose one faction over another, like the weapons they unlock, the small differences in the ships (the special module you use pressing “F” is a little different for the same tier fighter in every faction).

 

Every tier has 3 interceptors, 3 fighters and 3 frigates (Not counting the special steam ships or the ones you buy with real cash). 1 of each is neutral (has no faction attached), 1 of each is of one faction and 1 is from another faction.

 

If you want to check that, for example, you can go to Federation Tier 1 and see that:

1- Ships Lynx, Swift and Raptor are all neutral.

2- Swift-M, Lynx-M and Raptor-M are all Armada faction.

3- Swift Mk 3, Lynx Mk II and Raptor Mk II are all Vanguard faction.

 

You can easily check which faction is every ship by reading the name of the Special module they use, for example, the Swift-M is named “Special Module: Armada Plasma Web”, and the one in the Swift Mk 3 is named “Special Module: Vanguard Plasma Web”.

 

 

 

So, the point of my post was to make see that it’s not logical that you choose Vanguard as a faction, because you will have a slower and more expensive advancement than the people who chooses the Armada faction.

 

I think its and error that should be corrected. And if it’s not, I’d like to see an explanation and the reasoning behind it.

 

 

PS: I forgot that another reason to choose one faction over another is the weapons (i.e. different plasmas in federation) and items they unlock as you progress.

6

Where can you see the sub-faction ships?

I just looked everywhere I could think of, but all I’m seeing is the main faction ships.

 

Just answered it in the above post.

7

Honestly I don’t think the cost of the ship is really a significant investment… at higher tiers the main cost goes into getting good modules to fill all the slots.  Maybe you spend a little bit extra but it isn’t the end of the world.

8

Yea, which you posted AFTER I asked that question.

 

Thanks though, I was searching too hard. Now you opening post actually makes sense.

9

Honestly I don’t think the cost of the ship is really a significant investment… at higher tiers the main cost goes into getting good modules to fill all the slots.  Maybe you spend a little bit extra but it isn’t the end of the world.

 

Well… its not a little extra, its double.

 

Anyways, the reason I’m asking is WHY ? Why there has to be that difference between the factions ? why one faction has to spend double the money than the other ? Thats what I want to know.

10

This is a problem.

The guy above who said the cost isn’t in the ships it’s in the modules, well, guess what?  If you’re paying TWICE as much for your ships then you have twice as little to buy those modules.  It’s pretty crazy when you think about it.

Also, the main difference between abilities for Vanguard/Armada is that the cloak is longer for one, and shorter for the other.  The most important part about that isn’t the 18-24 second cloak, its the fact that the 18 second one doesn’t get interrupted by damage.

This is why I want to go Vanguard(I think its vanguard).  Because I want to cloak and not be stopped by damage.

 

 

The same thing applies to the Microwarp Drive ->  Legion is 1.4 seconds until microwarp.  Warden is 2.5 seconds but it disrupts people around you.

11

Yea this is a problem, agreed. It’s stupid when you need to go with the Armada ship to get to the next tier, the line to the next tier should always go from the basic ship to the basic ship in the next tier.

12

I think that prices are quite low for now. Pilots needs to learn how to fly before moving up for new tiers. There are too many low skilled players at t3-t4 now… I don’t wish to offend anyone, but it is true. People complains about mysterious “cheats”, “hax” or such… But it is nothing more than skill difference or a coordinated team vs random or less coordinated team. Relative high price it is a deterrent factor to l2p before moving up on tiers…

13

I think that prices are quite low for now. Pilots needs to learn how to fly before moving up for new tiers. There are too many low skilled players at t3-t4 now… I don’t wish to offend anyone, but it is true. People complains about mysterious “cheats”, “hax” or such… But it is nothing more than skill difference or a coordinated team vs random or less coordinated team. Relative high price it is a deterrent factor to l2p before moving up on tiers…

Might be true, but that doesn’t change the facts outlined by the OP which is a real problem.

14

I hope some moderator or developer can put some light here… anyone ?

15

I think that prices are quite low for now. Pilots needs to learn how to fly before moving up for new tiers. There are too many low skilled players at t3-t4 now… I don’t wish to offend anyone, but it is true. People complains about mysterious “cheats”, “hax” or such… But it is nothing more than skill difference or a coordinated team vs random or less coordinated team. Relative high price it is a deterrent factor to l2p before moving up on tiers…

This does not effect moving up in tiers.  The original problem is that certain faction ships are available with a “straight shot” and you do not have to purchase any ships in between while others require multiple ship purchases.

 

So, the rise to t3 and t4 isn’t slowed down at all, really, but costs certain factions more.

16

I dunno guys, it might cost more or less for certain ships, sure, and its true that there are dead end branches, but I’ve been floating cash in between ranks like crazy… Its usually more than enough for several ships of the same tier plus outfitting. 

 

I currently have two more ranks to go through for my next ship purchase, I’ve nearly maxed out all three of my T2 ships. I only have 200k but pretty much nothing to spend it on for those two more levels, more than enough time to earn more than enough cash. 

 

I mean T2 awards us ~60k for just showing up in a match, and we get more for every tier so I really cant see money being an issue unless you’re trying to but all the ships.

 

buy ALL of the ships! 8D

 

Lastly, whats the rush? You’ll get there eventually if you’re enjoying the game and play enough. 

17

I dunno guys, it might cost more or less for certain ships, sure, and its true that there are dead end branches, but I’ve been floating cash in between ranks like crazy… Its usually more than enough for several ships of the same tier plus outfitting. 

 

I currently have two more ranks to go through for my next ship purchase, I’ve nearly maxed out all three of my T2 ships. I only have 200k but pretty much nothing to spend it on for those two more levels, more than enough time to earn more than enough cash. 

 

I mean T2 awards us ~60k for just showing up in a match, and we get more for every tier so I really cant see money being an issue unless you’re trying to but all the ships.

 

buy ALL of the ships! 8D

 

Lastly, whats the rush? You’ll get there eventually if you’re enjoying the game and play enough. 

You’re in T2.

You do realize the FIRST T3 ship costs 1.8 million credits, right?  That’s the base ship.

The modules are upwards of 1million+ for the highest end as well, I think.  The cost rises DRAMATICALLY between T2 and T3.  I had plenty of Credits in T2 as well, but it quickly vanishes in T3.  The repair rate on your ship is about 20k+ a match too depending on how much you die, I had a repair bill of like 60k one time.

 

Ammo is more expensive.  Everything is more expensive basically.  It is a big deal to have to buy x2 or 3 more ships to get the ship you want while other factions just buy one ship.  It gives you that much more and leaves you more ahead of the game.  Nobody wants to buy 2-3 more ships and then buy Tier 1 weapons and modules for the ship when you finally get it cause you don’t have that extra 2-5 million credits.  While the other guy is rocking blue modules.

18

You’re in T2.

You do realize the FIRST T3 ship costs 1.8 million credits, right? That’s the base ship

Try looking at tier 4. 3.5 mil=>4.5mil=>5.5mil.

Get used to pricey ships.

Added thought;

I honestly believe they should either reduce base item prices(base ship for each tier and mk1 modules) or just generally reduce costs. Some tier 2 players think they have it costly, but little do they know the pricey pleasures awaiting them in tier 3+

19

There is no “subfaction” ships anymore, after the ship tree was made. “Armada” and “Vanguard ships” are just ships with different ability bonuses, nothing more. And those ships are different not only with subfaction bonuses, but also in ship stats (hull, shields, speed, resistance etc.) and special bonuses (for example, Elf-2 (T3-3 Empire interceptor) has bonus to the duration of the ECM modules effect, while Black Elf (T3-2) has bonuses for the energy suppresion modules).

 

So, the subfaction special abilities is just one of the differences between factional ships and nothing more. That’s why you should forget such concepts like “Armada ship” and “Vanguard ships”. They aren’t exist.

20

Maybe I misunderstand you, but armada and vanguard do differentiate, I cannot recall, but I know legion ships in empire seem to have more hull hp where as wardens ships have more resists.

There IS a difference. Please investigate this and understand what it is for federation ships.