Hi there pilots,
This is going to be a somehow long topic, so please bare with me. Lots of interesting ideas, i hope.
There is some chit-chat about the 3 main factions and the fact that their places for new ships are limited. And it is true, there are only 13 places left for the new ships - i mean manufacturable, level 15 to 17. In all 3 factions - Empire, Federation, Jericho. There would be 19 with the destroyer’s column, but that’s not exactly a standard ship.
And when looking at the ATLAS, you can see the 5 main categories: Empire, Federation, Jericho, Ellydium and the Unique ships. Some pilots (myself included) are unhappy that the Ellydium line is developed so slowly. It makes no sense to extend the timeline for completing the line. Why? Some say the developers are afraid they will have nothing more to offer to this game if they complete the line - this is a hilarious reason if real. Others say some pay2win aspects could be included, to get more cash. No matter the reason, it’s very easy to see that those 5 main lines can be expanded. And should be. A few examples below:
- The 6th line - PvE ships.
There are lots of PvE fans, so these ships would be ideal for grinding and leveling up, while simply learning the specs and how to handle those ships.
Structured and related to levels, it would be something like:
a) ship #1 would be able to propel pilots in every PvE map from level 1 to level 100. As we can see now, all ships must be upgraded in 10 steps, where at level 2, 4 and 8 you unlock certain specs. A ship is fully upgraded at level 10, when you get clearance points. These PvE ships would be tied to the PvE levels directly.
Here’s a breakdown:
Level 1 ship - allows PvE levels 1-10;
Level 2 ship - allows PvE levels 11-20;
Level 3 ship - allows PvE levels 21-30;
Level 4 ship - allows PvE levels 31-40;
Level 5 ship - allows PvE levels 41-50;
Level 6 ship - allows PvE levels 51-60;
Level 7 ship - allows PvE levels 61-70;
Level 8 ship - allows PvE levels 71-80;
Level 9 ship - allows PvE levels 81-90;
Level 10 ship - allows PvE levels 91-100.;
b) ship #2: similar in principle, but with different specs, modules and gameplay. Some could encourage solo play, while others would strongly encourage team-play. Unlocks levels 101 to 200.
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c) shiip # 10: unlocking this would mean having access to PvE level 1000. Yes, one thousand. On every PvE map. That may be a very high level for a large number of pilots, but not for everyone. Some pilots already have attack power 1000 to 2000, so for them it’s no big deal.
For going above 1.000 let’s remember there are:
- seed-chips;
- special modules, like the nanolocator or Taikin’s crystal infiltrator, to name a few.
- team-play. Some pilots are simply talented at PvE, forming very strong teams, while others are weak or average at best.
- A place for the 7th line - the Space-ships (or the Bubble-ships)
Yes, i know, the name is funny, but consider it literally. Again, looking in ATLAS we can see there are 10 categories, ranging from ECM to destroyers.
Now imagine a new ship for every one of those categories, based on a single and simple word: space.
Ships that would contract or extend their specs based on how much space there is around them.
Examples:
a) an ECM who’s Stasis Generator range and duration decreases from 100% (the standard range) to only 10% when the ship has lots of objects around it, like: other ships, rocks, beacons and so on except… air, space.
b) a tackler who’s Target Painter range and strength would decrease (gradually, of course!) to min, 10% according to how many objects are around it.
c) considering the extension - the specs could also be doubled when playing on large maps. Example: the Stasis Generator on a Storm Viking is valid for 2,9 seconds at a range of 6750m. Imagine these doubled if no ships/objects are around. This would be a nice feature of PvP battles in Open Space and also in the large PvP maps, like the Artuga sector.
So on and so forth to destroyers.
This could mean testing new gameplay styles, from sniper fights to close-range duels. Or even contact-range battles, that would pretty much involve soft or hard ramming.
- The 8th line - Ai-ships
Let’s face it, the Artificial Intelligence is around us. So let’s play with it and simply allow it to develop whatever ships/modules it considers fit. Yes, i mean this in a raw way, where AI has full control over whatever it develops, not like a baby hand-held by parents, telling him “you’re allowed to develop this or that, but not that one!”. Of course it can be supervised, but it should have full power to manifest.
Sidenote: dear devs, can we PLEASE (!!) have smarter bots in Skirmish? I have to publicly admit i’m very dissapointed by the low IQ level of these bots. And i bet i’m not the only one.
I am hoping for:
- much smarter bots (that offer an intellectual challenge, not only a pew-pew threat);
- recons that can warp;
- engineers that repair other bots, not only deal damage to human players;
- bots that realise a beacon has 4-5 seconds left and move on to capture the next one where the human players are, and so on… Thank you!!
To conclude, I think the above would be a nice addition to the current 5 branches of the ship tree. More to come! 