Progen Sentinel

[virpyre]

This guide is for players that are new to the Progen Sentinel, and are looking for help about there class along the way.

Advantages:

• The biggest advantage: Extremely versatile class, combination of warrior and explorer, very good at both.
• 4 Weapon Slots
• 5 Device Slots
• Build skills – Build your own devices, and shields.
• Scan – Allows you to see farther.
• Jumpstart – Allows incapacitated players to be revived.
• Prospect – Mine asteroids for exp and minerals.
• Menace – Scare your enemies away.
• Power Down – Play dead and confuse your enemies.
• Gravity Link – Immobilize your enemies with gravity.
• Repulsor Field – Damage Shield that reflects damage.
• Critical Targeting – Adds critical strike damage.
• Call Forward – The ability to reset a players skill, so long as they have the required device.

Disadvantages:

• Very slow
• Large signature
• No damage control
• Limited combat abilities

Combat Focus

Beam Weapon (8): 2

Projectile Weapon (9): Max

Missile Weapon (8): 3

Reactor Tech (9): Max

Device Tech (8): Max

Engine Tech (8): 5

Shield Tech (9): Max

Prospect (7): Max

Menace (7): Max

Jumpstart (7): Max

Power Down (7): Max

Critical Targeting (5): Max

Gravity Link (5): Max

Repulsor Field (7): Max

Scan (5): 2

Build Devices (7): ---

Build Shields (7): ---

Advantages:

• Very good at combat
• Good at exploration
• Solo without difficulty
• Excellent jumpstart
• Excellent menace
• Excellent prospect
• Excellent power down
• Excellent repulsor field
• Good critical targeting
• Good gravity link

Disadvantages:

• Poor scan skill
• Base build skills

Combination Focus

Beam Weapon (8): 2

Projectile Weapon (9): 8

Missile Weapon (8): 5

Reactor Tech (9): Max

Device Tech (8): Max

Engine Tech (8): 5

Shield Tech (9): Max

Prospect (7): Max

Menace (7): Max

Jumpstart (7): 6

Power Down (7): 5

Critical Targeting (5): Max

Gravity Link (5): Max

Repulsor Field (7): 5

Scan (5): Max

Build Devices (7): 5

Build Shields (7): 5

Advantages:

• Good at combat
• Good at exploration
• Good at trade
• Solo with minor difficulty
• Excellent prospect
• Excellent menace
• Very good jumpstart
• Good power down
• Good critical targeting
• Good gravity link
• Good build skills
• Extra missile weapon

Disadvantages:

• Not specialized

Trade Focus

Beam Weapon (8): 5

Projectile Weapon (9): 8

Missile Weapon (8): 2

Reactor Tech (9): Max

Device Tech (8): Max

Engine Tech (8): 5

Shield Tech (9): Max

Prospect (7): Max

Menace (7): 6

Jumpstart (7): 5

Power Down (7): 4

Critical Targeting (5): Max

Gravity Link (5): Max

Repulsor Field (7): 5

Scan (5): 3

Build Devices (7): Max

Build Shields (7): Max

Advantages:

• Very good at trade
• Good at combat
• Decent at exploration
• Solo with little difficulty
• Excellent build skills
• Excellent prospect
• Very good menace
• Good critical targeting
• Good gravity link
• Good jumpstart

Disadvantages:

• Not specialized
• Low scan ability
• Low backup beam weapon

Hints and Tips

Grouping:

The Progen explorer is almost always welcome in a group. Their combination of exploration and combat abilities make for a good group member. If things get messy they can use the powerdown skill and revive everyone when the coast is clear. They can also fight along side the tanks. Gravity link is also very useful. Due to their critical targeting ability, and good shields they can tank for group if need be.

Solo:

This is one of my favorites for soloing. This class is possibly the easiest to level with in the game. They can fight, trade, and explore. That makes for many ways to level. They are the only current class to have critical targeting outside the warrior classes. This is one of the most self-sustaining classes in the game, and one of the easiest to level. Surprisingly this is one of the better classes to solo with. Due to the menace skill you can make you enemy run away and reverse kite it, kicking it in the back the entire time. It may not always work with higher levels, but it is a very powerful skill. If you use it in conjunction with the Powerdown skill, more often then not it will go away and forget about you. This comes in very handy when mining. Their only real downfall is their speed.

Starting out:

After you finish your newbie missions you have a choice to make. First you must choose which weapon you are going to specialize in. This will make all the difference in the world. It will change your solo and group tactics and how you do combat in the future. A brief rundown is that terrans specialize in missile technology. While they hit hard from afar, they can get very costly. Progen specialize in projectiles have a medium range and do good damage, but also can get costly, but less then missiles. Jenquai specialize in beams that are close range combat and require no upkeep. Many simply choose beams because it is cost effective. Choose the one that’s right for you.

You must also choose what type of class you want to play as putting points into skills will make a big difference later on. So choose carefully and pick the one that suits you. Plan you character early and it will save you a lot of time when you get into the higher levels. You can’t go back and change your character, so whatever you use your points for you’re stuck with it unless you can find a Progen Sentinel with "Call Forward".

Advanced tips:

As you grow and gain experience you will find that certain things work better against certain enemies. Remember this, as it can be a big help in the future. Learn when to use your skills when they will be most effective. There are so many different ways to level with this class, do not be afraid to experiment. While not as sturdy as the warriors they can hold their own in battle and can be very deadly. Their menace skill is something to be feared. This is a very versatile class and one suited for a player who wants to do a little of everything.

Edited December 15, 2011 by Drifter

[Phaethon]

While menace can be sometimes helpful (but don't bet your life on it), the powerdown skill is outright useless, or was in live anyway, I had it maxxed out. It is a one way ticket, it either works or not. The problem is that you'd like it to work in the kind of situation when it will most certainly not work, when a much higher skill level mob attacks you and you are almost done for. Since that kind of mob has supreme skills, it will see thru your powerdown and send you home.

Another skill to add to the junk bin is repulsor field, it reflects some of the damage you're taking back at mob but unless you have extra skill points you don't know what to do with, don't invest in it before other core skills are maxxed out.

Gravity Link, again, questionable... It won't work most of times on the mob you'd like it to work on, e.g. a mob that has supreme firepower so don't bet on it as your survival skill.

Other than these PS specific skills issues, the PS is certainly one of the most versatile class in game. You can pretty much do whatever you want with it and while not the best in any of the task, you will certainly be good enough to get you by.

[Raytan]

Have Repulsor Field or Power Down been changed at all since live? Because as I remember and as Phaethon said Power Down was totally useless on live with Repulsor Field being only slightly less useless and I do mean slightly. Im just curious as to what if anything may have changed with these skills and is it even possible for the devs to alter class skills in any way. I do have to disagree with Phaethon on Grav Link being a useless skill, for me anyway Grav Link is a must have skill for solo leveling between Grav Link and Menace you have enough CC to take on several mobs at a time so instead of killing 1 or 2 mobs and running away if you have more chasing you and your shields are low.

[bondct]

powerdown was the worst/best skill in the game... while it would NEVER work when you needed it to... it was certainly great for taking an afk...

[Marco[IS]]

Power down works better, then live. At least IMO.

- Marco

[Gamera]

I found PD immensely useful for soloing. The trick was to not have damage or debuffs active on enemies aggroing you when you dropped. As most progens used plasma or chem that meant that they'd have to wait for the damage to stop ticking away before they could shut down successfully. Most didn't know this.

I found it perfect for soloing Arduinne mobs. Do some damage, take more damage. PD, let the shields regen. Pop back up, finish them off.

[Mattsacre]

Oh my..grav link not useful? It was the most supreme group skill ever! It had some unannounced effects that those in the know highly desired..missle tossers would seek me out specificly because I maxxed it and fear. What you ask was the "unannounced effects"? Not only did it slow the mob down...and had a high "disruption" ratio (broke/delayed their effects to you) it debuffed their dodge ratio..this had the effect of giving bonus damage especially to missles. If you had a grav link on them you never missed your shots with PL..and the ML got a net increase damage ratio for every missle and no misses. If it was a plasma missle you would see approx a 1/4th increase to DOT tick.

It's true that it didn't hit very often on higher than you mobs..but it had a fast cooldown so you could repeat it in rotation pretty damn fast..maybe it took 4 tries but you would get..you did have to be careful and not use the max level on clustered mobs as it had a AoE..but the that was good on the tengu..as they would chain aggro if you locked it on one they would run into the AoE and it would clog the whole group of them.

Fear..what to say about fear? It had a high fail rate..but if you did get it locked in..what better skill could you have..at high lvl fear they could do NOTHING but run from you! lol..so a mob that moved away from you in a straight line..that didnt shoot back..didnt debuff you...whats not to like about that? It also had a fast cycle rate..especially if you used a lower lvl of it.

Repulsor..at low level it was truly near worthless..what it bounced back at the mob a couple % dmg? pfft. at mid range it got a bit better it had a net % damage reduction like enviro shield of the JE..5%, 10%, 15% if I remember right. It was at its higher lvls that its subtleness was most usefull..if you where grouped it rocked..you could out tank a PW if you had a TT. You would tap a mob group and get them attacking you..the group as a whole would pick 1 target and cap it..the repulsor field would send back enough damage to the mob(s) to keep them interested in just you while everyone capped the main target. At it highest lvl you had a group repulsor buff that buffed the whole group..this had another subtle effect..any mob that used AoE damage got POUNDED because it bounced the damage from your and ea and every group members repulsor back to that 1 target..so if you had a group of 5 instead of the measly 10% you got 10% x5 (50%) returned to the sender of the AoE this was really effective against the chem tossers in VG.

Powerdown..if there was a more useless skill in game the only one I could think of was self destruct of PW. Like was said before at mid levels it let you get reactor and shield tick back..but most high level mobs saw through it. Afk..why would you waste points so that you could take a nap/bio break? Pfft..go to safe area and afk..then return. Like in arduinne..why not just move to the gate behind the guns and let the terrans guns make your life easy?

[Vinzent Zeppelin[IS]]

I wish Sentinels' and Warriors' gravity link skills were swapped; i.e. Sentinels get level 7 and Warriors level 5. Between the Active, Passive, and Build skills, Sentinels have seven skills which can reach level 7 and three which can reach a maximum of level 5, equalling 177 skill points' investment. Warriors have nine skills which can reach level 7 and one which can reach level 5, equalling 199 skill points -- it seems there's a small imbalance. Additionally, it would make Sentinels more desirable in a combat group, as the only other particularly useful unique combat skill they have at the moment is Menace.

[Gamera]

Powerdown..if there was a more useless skill in game the only one I could think of was self destruct of PW. Like was said before at mid levels it let you get reactor and shield tick back..but most high level mobs saw through it. Afk..why would you waste points so that you could take a nap/bio break? Pfft..go to safe area and afk..then return. Like in arduinne..why not just move to the gate behind the guns and let the terrans guns make your life easy?

Sometimes there are roaming patrols of NPCs you want to not engage. Powerdown is the way to disappear from their radar until they leave.

I haven't had as much success with dropping aggro mid-combat in here as I did in live. Back then it was godly when it was maxed -- as long as there was no damage ticking on a mob or you weren't being damaged right that second (You couldn't use repulsor with it) you could shut down, let your reactor/shields recharge and then resume the fight. The NPC would heal a bit as well, but not at anything resembling your recovery. You could do this over and over, until said mob was dead. It just took a little time, but I killed a ton of critters I would have had no business fighting otherwise this way.

[Raytan]

Since Powerdown is one of only 2 ability that are currently unique to the PS class I'd say that makes it a class defining ability, so for a class defining ability it need some serious work. A big increase to it's success rate would be nice, maybe it could give a small 30 seconds "ambush" damage buff after being deactivated, the PS is a Progen after all and setting up a ambush sounds Progenesk to me. Also the ability to move at say half thrust speed and maybe even tractor items in while Powerdown is active would be really nice.

As for the PS's other class defining ability, Repulsor Field, I haven't used it at all in this version of the game but from talking to other PS's nothing has change with it since live and it remains very lackluster. As I recall, and it has been a long time so if I don't remember correctly forgive me, Repulsor Field doesn't block any damage at all, all it does is return some of the damage you take i.e. you take 100 damage you return 10. If that is the way it works this I would propose this change, you get hit for what would be 100 damage but Repulsor field block's 10 damage so you take 90 then returns the 10 extra damage back to it's source. Furthermore maybe Repulsor field could have a chance at returning enemy ability's used on you back to their source, i.e. a mob trying to use gravity link on you would have a chance of instead hitting itself with gravity link.

[Vinzent Zeppelin[IS]]

I almost never use Power Down, for four primary reasons:

• It doesn't further any combat goals; it gives the enemy a reprieve from combat (this means shield regeneration). It's functionally a Jenquai Cloak in which one can't move or fire in exchange for reactor regeneration, and even then, only the highest skill level allows for normal shield and reactor regeneration rate.
  
• If a single enemy is giving me more trouble than I would like, I'll just use Menace -- I can move and fire, while the enemy is unable to do anything but flee. Here we see that Menace completely trumps Power Down in one-on-one combat. If there are a group of enemies giving me trouble, I'll just warp a short distance away to either escape, or to lure one out and pick it off.
  
• It's almost never practical in close-combat situations due to a constant exchange of damage, which, as I understand it, always causes Power Down to fail. Thus it is never a solution against a group of attacking mobs either. In order to use Power Down, one must first stop the combat by other means, which means -- you guessed it -- either using Menace or warping away to get out of the enemy's range quickly. By the time either of these tactics are used, however, Power Down has already become superfluous.
  
• Power Down is just not a fun or interesting skill. Menace? Scare the enemy away -- useful. Gravity Link? Warp spacetime around your enemy to impair movement -- impressive. Power Down? Play dead and hope the enemy goes away -- meh.

In summary, it's probably the weakest, most dispensable, and most uninteresting class-unique skill in the game. I won't be investing any points into it whatsoever once the next Stress Test is up. If only I could use those extra skill points to get Gravity Link level 7 ....

[nimr0dbbow[IS]]

Powerdown:-

In live when it was activate no mob would attack you (at high levels)

I tended to PD when going AFK !

However that said, it makes a nice spying skill for spying missions should I put them in..

[Raytan]

Just what I always wanted a 21 point AFK skill woo! lol

[Gamera]

Think more along the lines of a "do-over" skill or "run silent, run deep".

Back in live I had my own playstyle which made great use of it. Especially when roving bands of CL56 Vrix would come screaming by without warning. Hit the button, they'd sniff at me and then keep moving.

[Raytan]

Progen are supposed to be all about the combat, PD in it's current form does not support that at all. It's certainly not an offensive ability, im not even sure it could be called a defensive ability, what it most closely resembles in MMO terms is a detaunt. Hey, maybe that's not such a bad idea, rework PD so it works like a detaunt and can be used on other party member's that could have some potential if done right.

[dukeofskye]

<3 powerdown, omg <3 powerdown...

my most memorable save via powerdown, anyone remember the boss scuttlebug that was in Der todesangel? Well, one day i'm on my PS, roadkill hunting for parts, I come out of warp, low and behold, scuttlebug boss, right on top of me, he smacks my shields away in 1-2 hits, I hit powerdown so fast, then proceeded to sit there and cry as the boss patrolled back and forth over me, sorry, but coming out of powerdown and getting one shot was not my plan. So I simply sat on market informing ppl the boss is up, come save my ass.

and of course the entire, if you need to take a random afk in the middle of mining, or hunting, or whathaveyou, powerdown and afk, in the middle of solo fishing? pd and afk, gotta take a bio break? pd and afk... one of the reasons i loved my JEs cloak, though it didnt last as long when you needed that unexpected afk >.>

Imo, menace was a waste of time for me... i swear it only had a 25% chance to actually work on the mob, i either got really lucky and it went off the first try, or I wasted reactor spamming it to no avail, and heaven forbid I was actually in trouble and needed to menace to save my ass, I don't ever remember that working for me, i was better off just warping away and hitting PD.

Gravlink of course was great in live, even better on the PW <3 live maxed Gravlink.

Repulsor field, never bothered with it in live, it did such little damage it was laughable.

Honestly, the only change i'd love to see done to a PS, give them navigate 7, I don't care about some "warrior component", put navigate on the explorer class dangit!

[Terrell [BT]]

The Progen Sentinel getting Navigate 7, or even Navigate 5, is unlikely, the PE is also from the race whose weakness is speed. Navigate does, starting at L5 make you faster at Impulse speed, and at L6 & L7 faster in Warp speed. Not to mention Navigate is a "running away" skill, while Progen are more the "stand your ground and fight" type of race. Giving the Sentinel Navigate, because the other explorers have it, would be like giving the Defender Damage Control, because the other warriors have it, and ignoring that poor shields and weak armor as the JW's weaknesses. Instead of Navigate the PE gets L9 Shields, which are better than the Veiled Oyoroi L8 shield, and the Hyperian Frontier's Friend level 8 shield that the other 2 explorers top out at. Sentinels should also have stronger hulls than either the Scout or the Explorer, and they have Critical Targeting L5, (Scout & Explorer don't have critical targeting) so they do more damage than the other explorers. Sentinels also can use all 3 weapon types, unlike the other 2 explorers, who can use either Beams and Projectiles (JE), or Missiles and Beams (TE).

[Raytan]

I agree PS should not get Navigate but that's not the reason they get L9 shields,

PS L9 Shields

TS L9 Engine

JE L9 Reactor

I also agree that PS should have the strongest hull of the Explorer archetype but for some damn reason the TS has the larger hull. As for being able to use all 3 weapon types, well this PS doesn't give a damn about using anything other then projectile weapons at least. Beams are alright for low level because they are free to shoot but no point for a PS to use beams beyond L5 weapons. As for missiles I found a limited use for them on live to kite kill mobs in Deneb that had greater range then my Projectile weapons but in live I had an extra 30 skill points to burn from referrals so it was not a big deal, now I see no point.

[Terrell [BT]]

I should have put in the part about racial strengths, with respect to the PE's L9 shields, forgot to do that. Was trying to point out the things that were the PE's strengths relative to the other two explorers. JE's strength is having the most reactor power, the stealthiest ship, some of the best devices, and the best scan range of the explorers. The Scout's strength being the biggest hold, fastest ship, and the most profitable, of the explorers. Those things being because of their respective races.

The Scout's hull should probably be closer to the JE's or JT's hull than the PE's. Hopefully that will be corrected.

[dukeofskye]

The Progen Sentinel getting Navigate 7, or even Navigate 5, is unlikely, the PE is also from the race whose weakness is speed. Navigate does, starting at L5 make you faster at Impulse speed, and at L6 & L7 faster in Warp speed. Not to mention Navigate is a "running away" skill, while Progen are more the "stand your ground and fight" type of race. Giving the Sentinel Navigate, because the other explorers have it, would be like giving the Defender Damage Control, because the other warriors have it, and ignoring that poor shields and weak armor as the JW's weaknesses. Instead of Navigate the PE gets L9 Shields, which are better than the Veiled Oyoroi L8 shield, and the Hyperian Frontier's Friend level 8 shield that the other 2 explorers top out at. Sentinels should also have stronger hulls than either the Scout or the Explorer, and they have Critical Targeting L5, (Scout & Explorer don't have critical targeting) so they do more damage than the other explorers. Sentinels also can use all 3 weapon types, unlike the other 2 explorers, who can use either Beams and Projectiles (JE), or Missiles and Beams (TE).

I know what navigate does, thus why I suggest putting it on a PE, you're also missing the "warp through gravity wells" which to me, helps define, "I'm an explorer".

lets take this apart then.

Running away skill:

Power down is a "running away skill" yet PS still have it.

stronger shields: yes ok, their shield caps are better, no ifs or buts.

stronger hulls: they can take 3 hits, instead of 2 that a JE could take, 42k hull vs 54k hull. No hdc, no extra "PW" trance based resistances, If the progen are the "stand and fight race", then the PE could stand to get Damage control 5 or trance 5. But they don't, so they still have paper hulls, they just have 1/4 more paper than the JE. woo?

Crit 5:

The ONLY pure +dmg skill they have in their arsenal. (until repulsor field is fixed to do decent dmg solo, and doesn't interfere with PD working, I will ignore it). They do better raw dmg than a JE... but... JEs get chimaeras/coma/cloak+dmg, TS get hellbores. So this skill... imo, evens them out with the other explorers.

PS can use all 3 weapon types:

......

Have you ever seen a Magister Magna *seriously* run around with L8 beams or MLs? Ever see a 150 TW run around killing CL50s with L8 beams? Or a PW run around and try to level with L8beams? No, I consider this reason irrelevant, no SANE player will purposely use L8 beams/MLs instead of L9 PLs and underpower themselves, they are either a new player that didnt know better, or some player with far to many extra SPs and dumped it into beams/MLs. During live, my PW/TWs had max beams as well... I used them to farm L10 vrix, am I gonna run to cooper and farm fish with my L8 beams? hell no. Really, take away one of the useless weapon skills (remove ML imo, beams are good for farming lowbies or when you want to mine and not carry ammo) and then give the PE an actual useful skill (nav 5 or HDC 5)

Looking over the skills of the classes, I don't believe there was any hard and fast rules, imo, the original devs ran out of time, had to cut 3 classes, then mashed stuff into the remaining 6, there is no reason to follow the old dev ideas or "restrictions".

(hell, PWs had L7 HDC, but L5 enrage, TWs had L5 hdc, but L7 enrage? what? the better tank had the worst threat ability?)

This is still in the testing phase, of a recreated EnB, so, test adding navigate to the PS and see how people like it (or HDC 5!!!). But since i play my PS to mine, i'd rather have navigate.

[garblesoup]

Crit 5:

The ONLY pure +dmg "Progen race" skill they have in their arsenal. (until repulsor field is fixed to do decent dmg solo, and doesn't interfere with PD working, I will ignore it). They do slightly better dmg than a JE... but... JEs get chimaeras/coma/cloak+dmg, TS get hellbores. So this skill... imo, evens them out with the other explorers.

I'm going to have to disagree on you with the "slightly better dmg" assessment. First, I think you are wayyy underselling the value of Crit and second there's the small matter of JE's maxing out at 3 weapons - and even then not till fairly late in their char development arc (by comparison).

[Terrell [BT]]

I know what navigate does, thus why I suggest putting it on a PE, you're also missing the "warp through gravity wells" which to me, helps define, "I'm an explorer".

Or they can put that effect back in game on L8 & L9 engines, which in Live could warp through at least some gravity wells. BTW, the ablity to prospect, Jumpstart, and that 5.0K base scan range already says "I'm an explorer"

lets take this apart then.

Running away skill:

Power down is a "running away skill" yet PS still have it.

How is a skill where you cannot move or fire a Running away skill? It's more an avoid conflict skill, ie: play dead.

Jace said

stronger shields: yes ok, their shield caps are better, no ifs or buts.

stronger hulls: they can take 3 hits, instead of 2 that a JE could take, 42k hull vs 54k hull. No hdc, no extra "PW" trance based resistances, If the progen are the "stand and fight race", then the PE could stand to get Damage control 5 or trance 5. But they don't, so they still have paper hulls, they just have 1/4 more paper than the JE. woo?

End Quote:

3 hits vs 2 hits? Then again, the PE can take almost 2x as much damage as a JE or TE before you even get to hull. (JE's shield cap being 43029, and TE's being around 45K with their custom shields) This does make the PE significantly tougher than both of the other explorers. On survivablity PE wins, clearly.

Jace said

Crit 5:

The ONLY pure +dmg "Progen race" skill they have in their arsenal. (until repulsor field is fixed to do decent dmg solo, and doesn't interfere with PD working, I will ignore it). They do slightly better dmg than a JE... but... JEs get chimaeras/coma/cloak+dmg, TS get hellbores. So this skill... imo, evens them out with the other explorers.

End quote

Let's see 50% critical hit chance for the PE, vs less than 10% for the JE and TE (Crit 1 gives 10% chance of crits). Critical hits doing double damage, per critical hit. I think it's pretty hard to argue that the PE doesn't dish out the pain significantly better than the other two explorers. Not to mention, Critical Targeting is a skill inherent in the PE, while Hellbore is an uber weapon, that only some TEs will get, (Amah's Will, which is PE only actually has a higher DPS than the Hellbore according to Slayerman's database btw). Hellbore is more about the buffs it brings than DPS. ALL PEs will have crit 5, unless for some reason they choose not to put points into it. With Combat Cloak damage does increase JE's output, Chimaera if the JE is using Plasma, however, I seriously doubt it increases JE's DPS to parity with the PE who has Crit 5 and an additional weapon slot. Coma allows all Jenquai to hit without being hit back as much.

Jace Said:

PS can use all 3 weapon types:

......

Have you ever seen a Magister Magna *seriously* run around with L8 beams or MLs? Ever see a 150 TW run around killing CL50s with L8 beams? Or a PW run around and try to level with L8beams? No, I consider this reason irrelevant, no SANE player will purposely use L8 beams/MLs instead of L9 PLs and underpower themselves, they are either a new player that didnt know better, or some player with far to many extra SPs and dumped it into beams/MLs. During live, my PW had max beams as well... I used them to farm L10 vrix, am I gonna run to cooper and farm fish with my L8 beams? hell no. Really, take away one of the useless weapon skills (remove ML imo, beams are good for farming lowbies or when you want to mine and not carry ammo) and then give the PE an actual useful skill (nav 5 or HDC 5)

End Quote

I could see some situations where a Magister Magna might want to use their alternate weapons, really depends on the situation. Mining for example would get them more cargo space (not needing ammo), Faction farming would be another. Also if there was a buff that is very useful to mining such as a beam with a shunt shield to reactor buff, (reduce shield recharge, with a corresponding increase in reactor recharge) a PE might want to consider it. I do think that more support for alternate weapons should be added to the game, but there are situations where DPS isn't the most important factor. I could see a PE using Missiles to kite, if they can get a big enough range boost, not to mention not having to face the target, in some situations as well. I disagree that alternate weapons are not without some use, though I think their usefulness is greater for the JE/JT and JW than the other race/class combos. It's largely a matter of taste, and willingness to try different tactics against at least some mobs. Even if most PE's don't choose to use their alternate weapons, they do have more options to do so than the other 2 explorers. That's the main point, they may not choose to do so, but they CAN.

Remember you're arguing against alternate weapon use with a JE who did fight with Projectiles, as well as with beams in Live, and found L8 PLs to be better than beams in some situations. Could solo L58s in Antares using PLs a Coma, and the Fold Space skill, and rarely take any hits doing so. (the key advantage being rarely taking hits).

Jace Said:

Looking over the skills of the classes, I don't believe there was any hard and fast rules, imo, the original devs ran out of time, had to cut 3 classes, then mashed stuff into the remaining 6, there is no reason to follow the old dev ideas or "restrictions".

(hell, PWs had L7 HDC, but L5 enrage, TWs had L5 hdc, but L7 enrage? what? the better tank had the worst threat ability?)

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I do even if it is backwards I don't see how it bolsters any argument for PE getting Navigate, like the other Explorers, when JW doesn't get damage control like the other warriors. (Both skills can be argued as counter to those 2 classes respective racial weaknesses). Remember TW has better ablity to avoid being hit in the first place than PW, due to greater speed and range. I would say you probably have a better chance of getting HDC 5 on the Sentinels, or more equipment with buffs do hulls, than you do with Navigate. Or getting some unique skill for the PE that doesn't exist as of yet.

Jace Said:

This is still in the testing phase, of a recreated EnB, so, test adding navigate to the PS and see how people like it (or HDC 5!!!). But since i play my PS to mine, i'd rather have navigate.

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There still isn't any reason for PE to have Navigate that doesn't justify HDC 5 on a JW. (or build reactor on a TT) There are reasons why they shouldn't have those skills, racial weaknesses. Of the 9 classes, only 1 has an argument for getting Navigate added to their skill list, the Jenquai Seeker. You might be able to convince HDC 5 to be a Progen thing, plus the TW. Such an arugment would be on much stronger grounds than an argument for PE getting Navigate. You might also be better off arguing that a skill be designed for the PE, that wasn't in the game previously, provided said skill is consistent with the Sentinel coming from the Progen race.

[Raytan]

Oh PE's don't need any newly designed skills and while it would be nice to have HDC I would much prefer redesign of our two class unique skills, Powerdown and Repulsor field, over anything new or HDC. Lets take what we have and fix it before adding anything else.

[Vinzent Zeppelin[IS]]

My suggestion: Improve Power Down or Repulsor Field to the point where they become useful, and allow for Gravity Link 7. Navigate and Damage Control aren't necessary; plus, there's just not enough room for another skill. I find it strange how someone above said Menace is underpowered; I've found it to have about a 70%-80% success rate when fighting evenly-levelled mobs.

[Pacman]

I don't have much to contribute, but on the topic of PE vs TE hull.... on the planner on the Net-7 site it has the TE hull as being 48k. So it would seem that the Scout will have a smaller hull than the Sentinel.