Compulsory Contemplation

[Terrell [BT]]

This quote by Kyp in the Summon bug thread made me think of another JQ skill that sucks.

Why in particular, what skills do you have and how do they fail you? How is it that you expected them to work or think they should work?

Compulsory Contemplation: This skill is supposed to confuse an enemy for a peroid of time, but IMO it has too many restrictions to make it worthwhile. It does have one benefit that no other Jenquai skill has, it can be used while another skill is being used. This skill continuously drains the reactor while in use.

Here's why the skill isn't that useful, it's restrictions. Compulsory Contemplation is broken if any of the following happens:

1. The JE moves
   
2. The JE runs out of power
   
3. The mob takes any damage other than a debuffer
   
4. The mob passes a resistance check.
   

To me the big sticking point is the requirement that the JE remain in place for the duration of the skill. (sitting still while potentially under attack is a bad idea in most video games, especially bad for a class with poor shields & hull.) Instead I would propose that the skill have an activation cost of 1500 reactor energy and last for a set period of time, until the mob takes damage (other than debuffers), or passes a resistance check, whichever comes first. Not sure how much time would be good, perhaps start at 20 seconds, and adjust if that's too long or too short.

I'm essentially proposing elimination of the restriction against movement, a large energy cost upon activation, and have the skill last for a short period of time (seconds) rather than continuous reactor drain, while keeping the other restricitons in place.

[evildoer]

I think the devs intention for the skills is when in group the je cloaks, maneuvers behind a group of mobs, and than hold back one of them long enough for the group to do serious damage/kill to the other mobs. Its not really a soloing type of skill.

[Terrell [BT]]

You would probably still use it that way, without the you can't move restriction, you would just run away after it hits rather than sitting still and ending up a sitting duck when your reactor runs out. Compulsory Contemplation & Cloak together will drain your reactor VERY quickly, especially if you have to cast it multiple times to get it to hit.

[evildoer]

Cant you use a martyrs heart to restore you reactor without breaking the skill lock?

[Terrell [BT]]

Cant you use a martyrs heart to restore you reactor without breaking the skill lock?

It wouldn't break Compulsory Contemplation, but it would require you to decloak.

[Mattsacre]

In live it wasn't much of a skill either, you forced a mob into state of compulsory contemplation...I.E. force them to meditate..shut them down. It really was only good for 1 thing...mob splitting...many mobs were in pairs or near enough to ea other that attacking 1 set off the other(s). It was a way to make the JE more versatile to a group and more likely to be chosen for a combat group and not passed over..they held 1 mob in thrall while the rest of the group dealt with the other(s).

It was introduced via a PITA mission line but was a free SP..when you got the skill you got the 1 SP needed to use it. So too was the PS skill call forward..PITA mission..free SP.

While I know many (as I) would like to make more of the skill...you really can't..JE are not combat hearty for a reason and it shouldn't be made so through this skill...to rework it much would be imbalancing.

[Yuritau]

It's possible to make the skill useful without make it imbalancing. And Terrell's suggestion is a pretty good move in that direction, imho. Besides, it's not, strictly speaking, a combat skill, so improving it doesn't actually make JE's better at combat. All it would do is reduce by one, for a short time, the number of foes a JE faces.

If it were to work as Terrell suggests, the best two uses I can think of would be the following:

1. run away! Something nasty is chasing you (say a big ol fishy), and you need to get away, so you force it to meditate while you charge up your warp engines.

2. mob splitting. Say there's 3 mobs patrolling in a relatively tight formation. As a JE you know you would not be able to take on all three at once. So you zap one into a short coma, and watch as the other two continue happily on their patrol. Soon as they're far enough away to not notice their buddy getting ganked, you open fire. Rinse, repeat.

The JE isn't any better at combat than he was before, he just has the option of reducing what he has to deal with all at once.

Also, in regards to the original suggestion: If the reactor cost is that high, it has to be an instant activation. If there's a multi-second charge up for it, reactor cost needs to be less than was suggested.

[Mattsacre]

It's possible to make the skill useful without make it imbalancing. And Terrell's suggestion is a pretty good move in that direction, imho. Besides, it's not, strictly speaking, a combat skill, so improving it doesn't actually make JE's better at combat. All it would do is reduce by one, for a short time, the number of foes a JE faces.

If it were to work as Terrell suggests, the best two uses I can think of would be the following:

1. run away! Something nasty is chasing you (say a big ol fishy), and you need to get away, so you force it to meditate while you charge up your warp engines.

2. mob splitting. Say there's 3 mobs patrolling in a relatively tight formation. As a JE you know you would not be able to take on all three at once. So you zap one into a short coma, and watch as the other two continue happily on their patrol. Soon as they're far enough away to not notice their buddy getting ganked, you open fire. Rinse, repeat.

The JE isn't any better at combat than he was before, he just has the option of reducing what he has to deal with all at once.

Also, in regards to the original suggestion: If the reactor cost is that high, it has to be an instant activation. If there's a multi-second charge up for it, reactor cost needs to be less than was suggested.

1.run away...ANOTHER escape mechanism? REALLY? what is combat cloak for? What is teleport self/enemy for? what is WH for? thats 3..THREE valid escapes OTHER than warp away.

2.So you put it into a coma until its buddies wander off......sort of like a time release SUMMON..a JD specific skill. OH OR of course there is the TELEPORT ENEMY skill a JE has....they COULD teleport the enemy away from the group and tackle it solo...what? you say the group aggroes on you then? Teleport it again or cloak. You know its part of the combat through steal thing right? Granted cloak and MOB dynamics havent been up to snuff..but thats being worked on.

In live if they couldn't see you..they couldn't attack you..with low enough sig and getting mob far enough from buddies they wouldn't see you as you hit their buddy with a lead pipe. This is why the Jenny LOVED a coma device...it was like sand in the eyes of the mob..they couldn't see you to target you. TB has posted that they have been working on the sig/don't see you thing on grouped mobs..it does need more work...but its working a bit on the solo mobs ive seen..with more tweak I'm sure groups will get it.

Also in live..the hard hit to reactor was for a reason..you should not be able to hold a mob inactive for 10 min. while another of the group is getting pummled....its to hold them 30 sec or so...its on par with menace or hack etc. to get them out of your hair for a short time while you deal with something else. The JE skill was unique in it shut down TOTALLY 1 mob while others dealt with...other shut down skills didnt do that..and some grouped mobs had summon etc. so you menace or hack 1..the other summons you in for some "special" attention from them. With the JE skill that mob is out and its buds dont know it.