Collection Limpets Controller Buff

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Collecting stuff in space is now a large part of the game, and collection limpet controllers are basically becoming unsuitable for the task (IMHO).

So I have some suggestions!

1) Remove the difference in speed between single and multi collection mode. It doesn't make sense really. (What was that even for? Lol). I wouldn't mind if empty limpets traveled faster than full limpets.
1b) Speed up limpet speeds, nearly all of them are far too slow, specifically collection and prospector limpets.

2) Increase the number of limpets a controller can use. It'll save on some module bloat, and allow us to collect all this new stuff a bit quicker. My suggestion is roughly;
Class 1 = 1
Class 3 = 3
Class 5 = 7
Class 7 = 11

3) Limpet synthesis;
Either make limpets ammo, and adjust the costs to refill them all in one go.
Or make 2 new recipes, and adjust the basic one.
"Basic" is just 1 limpet. And costs 1 iron, 1 nickel, and is almost instant.
"Standard" is 10 limpets, and costs 10 iron, and 10 nickel. Takes about 5 seconds.
"Premium" is 50 limpets as cost 50 iron and 50 nickel. Takes about 20 seconds.
(or something like that.)

And I think that's it.

Thoughts?

 

[777Driver]

Some good ideas, however regarding speed etc, keep in mind that limpets are used by pirates (both NPC & CMDRS in Open) I personally want my point defense to have a fighting chance.

 

[Speedcuffs]

Class 2,4,6,8.[up]

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Some good ideas, however regarding speed etc, keep in mind that limpets are used by pirates (both NPC & CMDRS in Open) I personally want my point defense to have a fighting chance.

Hatchbreakers are seemingly plenty fast enough. I wouldn't change those.

The buff is intended for collection and Prospector limpets really. Mainly because they're both painfully slow. Lol

If you try launching collectors in an active CZ, they get shot down very quickly. Lol
I don't think speed will fix that at all.

 

[MK Regular]

Not too sure about 1), although I agree with 1b) (maybe not for hatch breakers though as per other posts). From what I understand, the reason for the different limpet speeds for the different collection modes is to further differentiate between the collection modes. 99.9% of the time, the single target mode is useless, although there are a few situations where you would want to pick up a specified object(s) in the shortest possible time (think salvage missions). I don't necessarily agree with this, but then again I think that limpets shouldn't self-destruct after collecting a single targeted item, sooooo....



For 2), there seems to be 3 different patterns for how controller size/class affects the number of limpets available (excluding "experimental" controllers). Repair and collector limpets scale linearly with size (1->2->3->4), prospector and fuel transfer limpets scale exponentially with size (1->2->4->8), and hatch breakers scale with size and class (1->3->6->12 for A/D, 1->3->7->15 for C, 2->4->9->18 for B/E). Personally, I would like to see ALL of the different types of limpet controllers follow the same scaling rule (preferably 1->2->4->8 or similar) with other "soft" stats scaling with size and class to balance out the changes (things like range, hacking time, repair amount, etc...).

Most of the problems I have with the current system come down to how useless the larger limpet controllers are. The limpet types that would normally be employed en mass have the lowest limpet cap (encouraging the use of multiple smaller controllers) and the limpet types that are usually employed one at a time have higher limpet caps (which is completely unnecessary when the same job can be done by a smaller limpet controller). The whole thing just seems backwards to me. A pair of size 1 controllers SHOULD be an equally valid alternative to a single size 3 controller (trade mass/power draw for range and extra module slot), as should a pair of size 3 controllers be to a single size 5 controller and a pair of size 5 controllers be to a single size 7 controller.



As for 3), yeah, I can DEFINITELY get on board with that.

 

[Speedcuffs]

Some good ideas there Cosmic. I run a few rescue ships and would certainly like to see some changes.

 

[Lestat]

I notice with mining in 3.3 You tend to only use one collector that has 2. So I don't see needing to change anything.

 

[GlitchedVision0101]

I notice with mining in 3.3 You tend to only use one collector that has 2. So I don't see needing to change anything.

that depends on the style of mining you're doing. people like me who are limited to the old mining laser due to visual challenges would still want a lot of controllers.

 

[Lestat]

that depends on the style of mining you're doing. people like me who are limited to the old mining laser due to visual challenges would still want a lot of controllers.

Then the current setup fine. I tend to have 2 or 3 Level 5 controllers that give me 6 to 9 limpet.

 

[Speedcuffs]

Then the current setup fine. I tend to have 2 or 3 Level 5 controllers that give me 6 to 9 limpet.

I want more limpet controller options.
Because I want more limpet controller options.

 

[Lestat]

I want more limpet controller options.
Because I want more limpet controller options.

Thing is you have this option right now but it wastes a lot of space. Instead of asking to have a game make another Lame hold it all MMO that caters to holding everything. Why don't you focus on playing the game smarter?

 

[VR CMDR Novindus]

Limpets are already on the verge of going overboard as I see it.

Some diversity is in order, particularly if it adds some game play elements.

I would suggest replacing collection limpets with a tractor beam which would require some skill to aim and to retrieve objects, which could possibly increase in difficulty with distance.

Fuel limpets could be replaced by an actual magnetised fuel hose, which again would take some skill to align and launch, and would need to remain attached as long as fuel is being transferred. The Fuel Rats will probably not like this if it takes too long I'm guessing, or I could be wrong and many of them would appreciate it breaking up the monotony.

Hatch breaker, prospector, and repair limpets are mostly fine as they are.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I notice with mining in 3.3 You tend to only use one collector that has 2. So I don't see needing to change anything.

Oddly, I wasn't thinking of mining when I posted this idea.
You don't actually need that many because mining is a slow process anyway. But a larger controller would free up more cargo space, or defences for you.

The thought came to me after trying to clean up the aftermath of a CZ before all the materials expired.
The low speed and low limpet count meant that I couldn't gather hardly any of the materials I'd "liberated" before they began to expire.
More, faster, collection limpets would help with that, especially since trying to use limpets in an active CZ is basically pointless because of the sea of PD rounds flying all over the place. Lol


And yes, I could sacrifice a large chunk of my armour to gather more materials, but have you seen the Spec Ops NPC's?!
They nearly vapourised my Anaconda WITH my armour. Lol

 

[Screemonster]

The big problem that limpet controllers have is that an extra active limpet comes at massively increasing the opportunity cost of whatever would have gone in that slot.

Let's compare the amount of cargo you could have been carrying if you didn't have a limpet controller - or rather, how much cargo space you lose by equipping the controllers), with worst-case allowing for inefficient use of space by putting limpets in even-numbered slots.
2 limpets? You can use 2 class 1s (4-8t) or a class 3 (8-16t)
3 limpets - 3C1s (6-12t), C1+C3 (10-20t) or C5 (32-64t)
4 limpets - 4C1s (8-16t), 2C1+C3 (12-24t), 2C3 (16-32t), C1+C5 (34-68t) or a C7 (128t lost, possibly 256 if you're insane enough to waste a C8 slot)
In literally every case you're better off using as many small limpet controllers as you can.

If the larger limpet controllers came with an internal limpet-only cargo space or something to make up for the lost volume, I wouldn't feel nearly as bad about fitting them. Right now though I'm left with the feeling of "who the hell would ever drop a 7-slot for the benefit of a pair of 3s?"

 

[Bunkerkind Anni]

check out the requirements to do a megaship/installation raid

1. recon limpet
2. hatch breaker limpet
3. several collector limpet, because the cargo has low value AFAIK and someone starts shooting at you soon
4. obviously you also need cargo for limpets AND what you want to pick up

something HAS to be done about limpets.
pirating has the same issue - your ship choices are limited if you don't want to destroy your target

single-pick up mode also has that annoying issue that you can't tell on the contact list, what you are already picking up, especially if it suddenly resets due to new contact

The big problem that limpet controllers have is that an extra active limpet comes at massively increasing the opportunity cost of whatever would have gone in that slot.

Let's compare the amount of cargo you could have been carrying if you didn't have a limpet controller - or rather, how much cargo space you lose by equipping the controllers), with worst-case allowing for inefficient use of space by putting limpets in even-numbered slots.
2 limpets? You can use 2 class 1s (4-8t) or a class 3 (8-16t)
3 limpets - 3C1s (6-12t), C1+C3 (10-20t) or C5 (32-64t)
4 limpets - 4C1s (8-16t), 2C1+C3 (12-24t), 2C3 (16-32t), C1+C5 (34-68t) or a C7 (128t lost, possibly 256 if you're insane enough to waste a C8 slot)
In literally every case you're better off using as many small limpet controllers as you can.

If the larger limpet controllers came with an internal limpet-only cargo space or something to make up for the lost volume, I wouldn't feel nearly as bad about fitting them. Right now though I'm left with the feeling of "who the hell would ever drop a 7-slot for the benefit of a pair of 3s?"

actually, my corvette sacrificed one class7 slot for a lightweight modded collector. it has just the mass of a two 3A's and since i am not an SCB user, thats the best use of that slot.
the class5 slots are for HRPs and MRPs