Hey all,
So, not long ago I returned to the game. In my absence things have changed. I last played when Engineers was new, and I dabbled a little but never had the materials to go that far. However, it didn't feel like I had to Engineer, as "normal" upgrades on the way to "A" Rated made a huge difference to the ships I was flying at the time (Vulture, ASP, Type 6, iEagle)
Returning today, it seems that "A" Rated ships are barely adequate these days. I.e. I do an "A" Rated build on one ship and it simply doesn't have enough power (Vulture) I do it on other ships and they have ample power, but are slow, another runs way too hot, yet another will have a terrible jump range etc. I just seems that every "A" Rated build ends up with some major weakness, perhaps more than one. This is fine on the one hand, I'm not looking for a "it can do everything ship, that'd be silly. However, I'd expect such a build to be competent at least.
To me, it feels like the old gold standard "A" rated build has been hugely de-valued with Engineers. I'm forced to Engineer my Vulture for example just so it can power very much middle of the road weapons...and just two of them. A dedicated fighter that cannot power all but the lowest tier 3 lasers when "A" rated? Doesn't seem right lol. Don't get me wrong, I like that we can customise our builds like this, I just think that a non-Engineered "A" rated build should feel special in its own right.
Now, to be clear, as I've been away much of the last 18+ months, I've only dabbled with Engineers. I understand the basics, but have largely avoided spoilers along the lines of "here's how you grind material x" for example. I do however do LOTS of missions with a huge variety of material rewards. I find these missions fun, that's why I do them. Also, having roll-played as a Trader much of the time, I'm not one for seeking combat. I understand that certain materials primarily drop from the results of combat? I do spend the odd hour here and there doing HighRes bounty hunting with a buddy, but that's more about the bounties than anything. Of course I'm on his wing, or he mine, much of the time. I'm not taking time out from protecting my buddy to scoop up any dropped materials - it's so damn time-consuming. We fight in iEagles btw, it's a fun challenge.
I guess I'd hoped I'd gain most of the materials I'd eventually need for an Engineer over normal game-play, but it does indeed look like I may have to focus my activities for a while to gain what I require.
What do people think of Engineers as it is now? I know things are planned to change in the future, but we're not sure exactly how yet other than the "always an improvement" thing. Personally, I was thinking that for the more basic tweaks, we should have an option just to pay the Engineer for their services, only the more exotic - say tier four and above - tweaks would need additional resources. I guess I had hoped that the basic materials needed for the lower tier upgrades would be gained through natural gameplay. However, I'm finding myself unable to do all but the most basic tweaks with the handful of Engineers I've unlocked (three currently, with two more known but locked) this is despite me being near full of both Materials and data for Engineers - I guess I just have lots of the wrong stuff lol.
How have other people found the material gathering side of things? Did you manage to acquire what you needed through natural game-play? If so, what was your preferred game style that gained your these materials? Or, did you have to grind / do tasks you'd rather not to get what you needed?
My game time is currently spent mostly doing more relaxing tasks. So, I do various Trade, Passenger and Data type missions in my Type 7. I recently acquired a Python and "A" Graded it and use it for a similar role, but I can actually fight when interdicted now - I've not been interdicted since getting it lol. These tasks regularly give me materials of course, I potentially gain a fair few for one trip when the mission board is kind and I can take multiple missions at once. However, I'm simply not gaining anything I can use. Poor RNG luck on my part perhaps?
Anyway, this isn't intended at a whinge, just my observations on how "A" Rated has been hugely devalued, and how the required (so certain ships don't suck) Materials do not seem to be forth coming through natural game-play - at least not for me. I ideally don't want to have to grind tasks I don't naturally do, in order to enhance something I use all the time for tasks I undertake regularly. I've barely been able to upgrade my FSD and thrusters due to lack of materials.
I welcome people's thoughts on this. Remember, I am new...again, to the game so perhaps I'm missing some trick, or maybe I simply do have to embrace other activities to perform the ones I like adequately.
Scoob.
So, not long ago I returned to the game. In my absence things have changed. I last played when Engineers was new, and I dabbled a little but never had the materials to go that far. However, it didn't feel like I had to Engineer, as "normal" upgrades on the way to "A" Rated made a huge difference to the ships I was flying at the time (Vulture, ASP, Type 6, iEagle)
Returning today, it seems that "A" Rated ships are barely adequate these days. I.e. I do an "A" Rated build on one ship and it simply doesn't have enough power (Vulture) I do it on other ships and they have ample power, but are slow, another runs way too hot, yet another will have a terrible jump range etc. I just seems that every "A" Rated build ends up with some major weakness, perhaps more than one. This is fine on the one hand, I'm not looking for a "it can do everything ship, that'd be silly. However, I'd expect such a build to be competent at least.
To me, it feels like the old gold standard "A" rated build has been hugely de-valued with Engineers. I'm forced to Engineer my Vulture for example just so it can power very much middle of the road weapons...and just two of them. A dedicated fighter that cannot power all but the lowest tier 3 lasers when "A" rated? Doesn't seem right lol. Don't get me wrong, I like that we can customise our builds like this, I just think that a non-Engineered "A" rated build should feel special in its own right.
Now, to be clear, as I've been away much of the last 18+ months, I've only dabbled with Engineers. I understand the basics, but have largely avoided spoilers along the lines of "here's how you grind material x" for example. I do however do LOTS of missions with a huge variety of material rewards. I find these missions fun, that's why I do them. Also, having roll-played as a Trader much of the time, I'm not one for seeking combat. I understand that certain materials primarily drop from the results of combat? I do spend the odd hour here and there doing HighRes bounty hunting with a buddy, but that's more about the bounties than anything. Of course I'm on his wing, or he mine, much of the time. I'm not taking time out from protecting my buddy to scoop up any dropped materials - it's so damn time-consuming. We fight in iEagles btw, it's a fun challenge.
I guess I'd hoped I'd gain most of the materials I'd eventually need for an Engineer over normal game-play, but it does indeed look like I may have to focus my activities for a while to gain what I require.
What do people think of Engineers as it is now? I know things are planned to change in the future, but we're not sure exactly how yet other than the "always an improvement" thing. Personally, I was thinking that for the more basic tweaks, we should have an option just to pay the Engineer for their services, only the more exotic - say tier four and above - tweaks would need additional resources. I guess I had hoped that the basic materials needed for the lower tier upgrades would be gained through natural gameplay. However, I'm finding myself unable to do all but the most basic tweaks with the handful of Engineers I've unlocked (three currently, with two more known but locked) this is despite me being near full of both Materials and data for Engineers - I guess I just have lots of the wrong stuff lol.
How have other people found the material gathering side of things? Did you manage to acquire what you needed through natural game-play? If so, what was your preferred game style that gained your these materials? Or, did you have to grind / do tasks you'd rather not to get what you needed?
My game time is currently spent mostly doing more relaxing tasks. So, I do various Trade, Passenger and Data type missions in my Type 7. I recently acquired a Python and "A" Graded it and use it for a similar role, but I can actually fight when interdicted now - I've not been interdicted since getting it lol. These tasks regularly give me materials of course, I potentially gain a fair few for one trip when the mission board is kind and I can take multiple missions at once. However, I'm simply not gaining anything I can use. Poor RNG luck on my part perhaps?
Anyway, this isn't intended at a whinge, just my observations on how "A" Rated has been hugely devalued, and how the required (so certain ships don't suck) Materials do not seem to be forth coming through natural game-play - at least not for me. I ideally don't want to have to grind tasks I don't naturally do, in order to enhance something I use all the time for tasks I undertake regularly. I've barely been able to upgrade my FSD and thrusters due to lack of materials.
I welcome people's thoughts on this. Remember, I am new...again, to the game so perhaps I'm missing some trick, or maybe I simply do have to embrace other activities to perform the ones I like adequately.
Scoob.
