only problem is there isn’t a counter. if half the team is snipping and killing off most of your team before you can even get into firing range then you are left with a small squad to deal with the other half of their team that is all in fighters and taking out the rest of you. just sitting back and waiting out the clock and gaining kill numbers is not the point of the game. that is why i propose taking out the kill meter and forcing the teams to go after the captain in order to win. that is what you are suppose to do in that game any ways.
Can it be countered…absolutely. Is it easy to do without team work…absolutely not. Again, for those missing the finer points… This takes teamwork to defeat. It means you and your team are going to need a spread of ships in your hanger. By mid T2 you should consider fielding a full hanger of 3 ships with an eye toward some roles. You’ll want an engy yourself, perhaps a guard, and at least one fighter of your favorite sort. You’ll want setups that differ. Consider having one for close support, one for long range firepower, and another for all around. That means using more then one weapon type.
Yep, it IS pretty involved, and likely beyond your average pug group. No arguement there, as especially in T2 people are still learning. If you are queing up solo, without a diverse hangar, and varied setups… for each of those things not done, your decreasing your chances of having a counter to a given tactic on the field. Especially solo que’d your basically playing dice and hoping for a lucky roll in the form of a team.
All that said, I DO HOPE they limit engineer heal stacking, at the very least via diminishing returns if not eliminate it all together. Even if they do that, grouping up into a “ball” formation with fields of fire that overlap, putting your vulnerable ships at the core, and surrounding that with zones of support fighters an guard frigs… well folks that’s just SMART. It’s effective because defense has always had an advantage over offense, namely because in some way the defense can often choose WHERE and HOW the engagement is going to start. It’s a tactic that works in LIFE as much as any video game… the only difference is, the enemy doesn’t have any one to complain to that’s going to help or care out there in the real world. In here, folks pray a dev is somehow going to save them from tried an true tactics?
Here’s an idea… you know all those “useless” torp and snipe frigs… Well god forbid your fighters tie up a “ball of death’s” anti missile systems with minor missile spam while your torps salvo grouped ships. Coupled with incoming fire via sniper frigs at enemy frigs with now stripped shields an golly gee you’ve got yourself a REAL fight eh. Suddenly the “ball of impenetrable death” becomes a shooting gallery faced with a choice. They can now adapt to your tearing their defenses up, or most likely devolve into chaos as their one trick pony show just got hammered.
There is almost always a way to defeat a tactic, be it defense or offense. The problem your facing is coordination. If your team is full of solo hero’s, well your just screwed, fustrating as that is. Having a team of random players that can’t be bothered to work together will always lose to a team that will. I’ve yet to see a problem present here that doesn’t have a -human- solution available.
