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Class Skills at OL135


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Yesterday (07/28/2013) in the Developers Q&A session, I asked if the other classes were due their own special class skill to be earned upon attaining Overall Level 135. Two examples that come to mind are the Sentinel's Call Forward and the Explorer's Compulsory Contemplation. Well, in delving into the lore and notes of the Earth & Beyond Storyline Resource document, I found a third special class skill that was next in line for release but never saw Live before Sunset.

The skill is called Impervious Haven. It is for the Terran Tradesman. What it does or how it is implemented was not in the notes, but only in name. At least two other classes were scheduled for special skills after the Tradesman starting with the Progen Warrior then the Jenquai Defender.

Now when I asked Elrick about if the classes were to eventually get these hinted-at class skills, he replied that there was no room in the PDA to add them without removing a skill. Given that and the original six classes are expanded to nine, how can we re-distribute the skills out a little so as to allow each class for that new, special skill learned at Overall Level 135? I took a look and saw that the Build skills could be best re-shuffled about with minimal damage to each class. But what should be moved and where? Part of the answer is what each race cannot generally build. Terrans don't build reactors. Progen don't build engines. Jenquai don't build shields. By that initial process of elimination, how can we move the skills about to allow for the single special skill learned at Overall Level 135?

I know that there are issues with Compulsory Contemplation. There may be issues with a skill named Impervious Haven. Who knows? But with each class getting a skill at that level the mystery is killing me with curiosity. So here's my challenge:

What skills in each class' PDA can we move around to allow for the special 135 skill? My first vote was to shift the Build Skills. I know that this might anger the pilots who love building and will tick off the Tradesmen the most. But with a skill name like Impervious Haven, I'd be willing to drop a Build Skill just to have a gander.

We know that some of the newer classes have skills that are not right. Privateers are missing Dismantle. The Seeker is suffering. The Skill points system is heavy on the warrior-types and inadequate on the explorer-types. If we were to re-work the skill-sets, to allow for the 135 skill, how might this also help those deficient classes?

From the Careers department desk at NET-7 SOL, this is the Pakkrat.
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Hmm, the Privateer has 16 skills, if you include everything that costs skill points, everyone else has 17.  The PE and JE have 17 plus one L135 skill.   If it was possible to work on the JT, and make her suffer less, I'd borrow something Kenu mentioned a while back.  Change Reactor Optimization to the JT's L135 skill.  It would have the same effect as if you'd maxed the skill, then give the JT a very useful support skill.  Since she's an Explorer/trader hybrid, said skill could be some type of debuff skill, L7 of course.  Confuse or Distract maybe?  If it hasn't already been used.

 

One of the things that limits the devs, if I understand their prior comments on this correctly, is that there are only so many unused skills.   If you check the old documents, on the N7 site, there are skills that weren't used such as dismantle, salvage, find weakness, disable, confuse, distract,  and others.  To make new skills those unused skills can be changed to something else, but once the last unused skill is gone, they can't add any more.  The devs used Afterburn on the Scout, and Null Factor was originally Progen Lore.  They used another one for the Jenquai Seeker's Reactor Optimization.  What I wonder is in the original game did the EA devs also use 8 of them, when they added one skill to each of the original 6 classes, and the JE/PE L135 skills or were they able to add those without subtracting from the potential skills that the Emulator devs can use.  I'd also wonder how many unused skills that they have left, since the emulator developers have used at least 3.  If they have at least 8 left, they could probably add a L135 skill to each class plus add the PT's missing L7 skill.  If they have at least 8, remaining then it's possible to give each class a L135 skill, as well as giving the PT his missing skill.  Of course this assumes that I understand the devs prior comments on this matter correctly.  Would be really nice if they had 9 remaining (specifically for the Scout).

 

I do think that the Scout & Seeker are both suffering, because they don't have enough special things to bring.   The JT has Reactor Optimization, which helps some since it's useful & doesn't conflict with the buffs that the JE brings but I don't think it's enough.  She really needs some unique support skills, or new device effects that only she can use, to get her up to speed as a support class.  In Solo combat the JT is quite effective, at least I find mine to be, when played with patience.  I don't know what limitations the devs have on new device effects.  I'd say that if they pick 3 very good ones, and put them devices that are exclusive to the JT, she'd be either ready to go and desired or close to it.  If she's not quite there yet, make RO the JT's 135 skill, and give her some type of offensive debuffer skill to use on both bio & mech mobs.  The Scout would need similar love on the Activated device front as the JT.  Add 2 more levels to Null Factor & Afterburn, might help too.  The JT & Scout will need to bring support utility comparable to the JE to be viable, without stepping on the toes of the existing classes.

 

That's why I asked the new device effects question w/r/t the new classes.

 

I'd agree that the skill points are light on some of the playable characters, but really only tne new classes.   The Original 6 classes kept the "capped at 5" skills to 3 or fewer, and only the PE and TW had that many 5 capped skills.  The JE, PW, JW, and TT only have one skill capped at 5.  The PT has 3, the JT has 4, and the Scout has 5.

 

 

Edit: I did a quick look at the documents, I counted 23 that weren't in use at the launch of the original game, assuming some weren't used without being noticable to the players.  Now if we assume that every skill that EA added, plus every skill that the emulator devs added, used one there should be 12 left.  That could be totally wrong; however, if I miscounted them, if some of those skills in the document didn't make it into the client, if some of them were used in ways I didn't account for, or any combination of those possibilities.

Edited by Terrell
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Just wanted to put some notes on this since I have first hand knowledge working with westwood on this.

 

The "original" plan was that each race/class would have a special.  There were the following but were never really finished.

 

 

JE: Comtemp

 

JD: Power of the mind: Group Psionic shield at max level

 

JS: Energy Influx - Increase groups reactor by 50% of the JS reactor total capacity.

 

 

PW: Infinite Assault - Skills and weapons use no reactor for 30 seconds.  5 min cooldown.

 

PE - Rebirth

 

PT - Shield Modulation - Increase group shields by 50% of the PT shield total capacity

 

 

TT - Maximize - Increase group reactor and shield regen by 25.

 

TW - Deadly Tactics - Increases group critical rate by 50% for 30 seconds - 5 min cooldown

 

TS - Boldly Go - Increases player movement speed by 100, all shield resist by 25%, reactor & shield regen by 10 

 

That's what I remember about those.  Now as for implementing them in-game, that's another matter.

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  • 8 years later...

6) The Compulsory Contemplation skill (and mission to gain the skill) for Sha'ha'dem Grandmasters (level 135+). This is the Jenquai Explorer affiliated skill. We're still doing a lot of tuning and tweaking but essentially what the skill does is allow the explorer to confuse a single enemy for a period of time. The skill drains energy from the Sha'ha'dem and the confused mob gets periodic resist checks to break free of the mind hold (or in the case of mechanicals, the infinite loop). A number of factors automatically break that hold. I'll have a lot more details after we've finished the tuning phase and feel more comfortable with the skill. We are aiming for a skill that is useful for the majority of Jenquai Explorer play styles, from those that want to bring a valuable ability to a raid, to those that want a more active role in groups, to those that enjoy solo play and want a way to deal with aggressive mobs without fighting them. from http://www.earthandbeyond.ca/news/devupdates/devupdate21.html

 

While doing the mission for Compulsory Contemplation I failed the analyze on the Damaged AI Control Interface (level 5) from http://www.earthandbeyond.ca/news/devupdates/devupdate27.html

Edited by jrichards
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  • 5 months later...

Surprised this thread never got any love from a dev.

 

At first I read the idea of swapping Reactor Optimization to the 135 skill and giving the Seeker something else, and though great idea, because RO sucks as far as I see it, wears off way to soon, more of an annoyance, something that should only be applied if you are going up against some really tough mob and need that slight edge to save you from destruction... but then I saw Ulyydian's post about the 135 skills and have to say those seem good and consistent, it should stay with those.

 

As for the rest that was discussed, and what I have thought about a lot over the years...

 

Yes I can see the Seeker and Privateer have not been given the attention they should have, they seem only 80% complete. I want to start by saying I don't think the Seeker needs something special to set it apart like the Explorer, as I think since the JE had only 3 weapons and had little damage contribution to groups doing raids and the like, it was pigeon holed in to mobile battery support.

 

Like the three warrior types, it is basically doing one thing, but three ways to do it. As the JE is just another way to get your explore on. The traders would be the same, just three ways to go about it.

 

I do think the in-game lore of the Seeker was forgotten when they created the class skills though. I remember in the Character and Starship Creator back during live, you could access the three unreleased classes, and a skill listed for the Seeker, was Psionic shield. The Seeker is not supposed to be the trade arm of the Jenquai, but an investigative, almost police force.

 

While the Shinwa were created to deal with the military weakness of the Jenquai against the Terrans and Progens, evident during the Gate War... the Sharim are a recent addition to the Jenquai, as they are tasked with hunting down those that loot Jenquai artifacts, specifically the Red Dragon and InfinityCorp. They are an anti-piracy force, and as such should be slightly more combat oriented than the default Terran Trader, and I think that is where Psionic shield comes in. Just like the Privateer, as it has the PW skill Shield Inversion, the Seeker should have had Psionic Shield from the beginning.

 

Reactor Optimization should have been that instead, or be changed to that... if not increase the amount of skills classes get by 1 or 2.

 

Furthermore:

 

Cloak and Fold Space at 5, make perfect sense, but...

 

Scan only being to 5 is an issue, all the Jenquai should have Scan 7, if this wasn't intended to show the Jenquai's superior scan tech, then the JD would have Scan 5, and the other two explorer classes would have Scan 7.

 

Negotiate only being 5 is another, as this is a core trader skill that should be at 7, that is why the TS and TE both get Negotiate, being trader hybrids, but only to 5. The Privateer should be given Negotiate 7 in kind as well.

 

I don't think you can go removing skills at this point, especially build skills since people put so much effort in to analyzing new items for build, but the Seeker probably shouldn't have been given Build Devices. I would say give the Progen Privateer, Build Devices as well.

 

Originally I imagined Hull Patch as another core Trader skill, but since it was given to the Terran Scout, I can see how it could be meant to be more of a utilitarian thing and the dominion of Terrans. I would give the Terran Enforcer Hull Patch 5 as a skill in an increased skill count for classes.

 

Another inconsistent skill assignment is on Navigate... being an explorer skill, but not given to the Progen Sentinal, but given to the Terran Trader in a diminished capacity, at 5. Progens are supposed to be slow, so okay, I get why the PS and PP don't have it... but the Seeker, should have Navigate 5 as well as the Terran Trader does.

 

As it is, if you have a TT at 150 and you ignore all build skills and try to max all other skills, you will run in to a deficit of 3 skill points. With the JS, you have an abundance of 30 skill points, that's thirty... with the PP, you have even more, at 40 skill points. This is because of the skills that should be 7, being limited to 5, and then the missing skill on the PP... which probably should have been something like Reveal Weakness.

 

And jrichards, were those earthandbeyond.ca links working in June?

 

Edited by -ViTaMiHnM203-
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