I like the ways it's been done. Other than the missing meta alloys and soontill relics, it's "carry on playing the way you play" and you will amass the materials the engineers need. Do a few more activities to add to this (like scan some high wakes, some freighters in SC, drop in a few signal sources) just enriches and varies the gaming experience.
People who must have level 5 engineer mods right now are in for a painful shock how much simply "playing the entire game" will be needed to get there. And they will call it a grind.
I well agree with you and some attention to detail to where to spend materials is evident. In beta I found I was much more pleased with a Huge Beam modded Long Range 2-3 rather than long range 5.
There is no "overcharge" for the huge beam option and a L5 upgrade puts you above 4k range with a 30% reduction in DPS. A L2-3 (I forget my preferred build) had the range I liked at 3.2 ish k with 30% more damage. When added to L5 modded Huge MC with Incendiary special, it was awesome, where the beam with a thermal shock or conduit special and L5 was so reduced DPS it was terrible.
So moral of the story is, just cause its L5 does not mean its better, it means its L5. Watch your DPS sliders for the level you want to unlock or the features that you want. For the guys that did not ehave beta, its a grind to learn this from here, we did it in beta with fish. I ran over 500 builds to prefect my vette
I built a powerplant that with my preferred load out was 66 units power free, with a load of SCB active. Way overkill.
This means, that for the frugal builder, the one that does not have the credits for the 7a PP, you Might be able to build a 6a that suits your needs just fine for half the price and a grind.
Your mileage may vary. Thanks for the things I learned in this thread, be well.
Now for realtime.
