Just a quick question: did combat zones get a buff in 3.3? I know that there is now new mechanics involved with combat zones like spec ops and a kill counter bar, but while the ships aren't dealing more damage, they seem to me that they can take a lot more punishment. My Anaconda used to be able to melt though a combat zone targets hull, now it takes far longer. Did they buff their hulls/HPs?
Combat Zone buffed?
- Thread starter CMDR Jayce MacLeod
- Start date
Yes, some of the NPCs now have rather tough hulls to the point where even overcharged MCs with corrosive require ages to kill their hulls. But to compensate the higher ranked NPCs now have some weapon special effect engineering in addition to the standard engineering.
In short, yes NPCs got tougher. Pure laser setups are now less then ideal.
On the bright side, there is absolutely no reason (beside fun) to go to anything than low intensity CZs.
So it's the same Influence for winning a round regardless of the "intensity" rating?
Assuming for a moment that any of the BGS influence mechanics work at all?
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I've noticed no difference. The higher intensity CZs might count more than a low intensity, but the low intensity are so quick and easy to win compared to the others it makes no sense - in my opinion - to even consider doing medium or high intensity CZs. The special ops NPCs and other side-quest NPCs are so ridiculously overpowered that they are simply a waste of time for basically no reward. (A good example of how broken the whole engineering, defensive modules and in the end the whole combat system is.)
That's an interesting question.
Regarding the CZ ship buff... I like it. It would probably be a good idea to buff the combat bonds payouts, too, though.... tenfold would be reasonable, to make it a bit more competitive with Haz RES bounty payouts.
I am not aware of anybody knowing that. But let myself being educated by the BGS gurus.
The higher threat CZs give certainly higher bounties.
Whether the higher bounty=combat bond reward is somehow related to a higher win contribution at least I don't know.
Also I see two parts. First of all winning a CZ by finishing the bar for one faction = killing a given number of ships plus handing in the combat bonds.
These might well be separately counted for the war outcome calculation.
Personally I prefer the high intensity CZs.
Cause these spawn larger enemy ships which can imho more easily being killed.
Final confirmation to the OP - yes, CZ NPC enemy ships have been buffed and that was a good thing. More challenge, more fun.
Imho.
I've heard some stuff from the BGS community and we found some stuff out on our own as well.
BAsically, there doesn't seem to be any change to the previous way of fighting optimally in a CZ, which is to kill at least 3 ships (some say 1 single eagle is enough to make a transaction) and gain at least 75-100k in bonds, then hand in, and do this as many times as possible, to gain the most effect, as the system is transaction based. This means the scenarios (which give a small bonus to the war effort very small, based on testing by some groups) are definitely NOT worth completing if you are actually going for max war effort effect in shortest possible time. Naturally, due to how long it takes to kill two or three ships compared to how long it takes to complete the scenario, to complete the scenario every time you go is to handicap the side you are working for (assuming the opposition also know this and are executing it in a transactional way). One of the state goals of the CZ changes was to make staying and killing more ships a worthwhile thing to do. It seems not to have worked, as that is still a suboptimal way to win a war.
While the new CZs are fun, there seem to be a lot of issues. Not least of all the fact that we've now had two patches and still no negative influence (described upon completing the scenario) is actually being applied. Don't get me wrong, this is good thing, but it just goes to show that some aspects of this are probably still on the drwaing board.
@OP as for whether they got a buff, hell yeah, they got a buff. CZ ships are engineered now and there's some speculation that their module protection is either extreme or bugged, so just go for sustained dps until you hear otherwise, cos their modules are now hard as nails.
BAsically, there doesn't seem to be any change to the previous way of fighting optimally in a CZ, which is to kill at least 3 ships (some say 1 single eagle is enough to make a transaction) and gain at least 75-100k in bonds, then hand in, and do this as many times as possible, to gain the most effect, as the system is transaction based. This means the scenarios (which give a small bonus to the war effort very small, based on testing by some groups) are definitely NOT worth completing if you are actually going for max war effort effect in shortest possible time. Naturally, due to how long it takes to kill two or three ships compared to how long it takes to complete the scenario, to complete the scenario every time you go is to handicap the side you are working for (assuming the opposition also know this and are executing it in a transactional way). One of the state goals of the CZ changes was to make staying and killing more ships a worthwhile thing to do. It seems not to have worked, as that is still a suboptimal way to win a war.
While the new CZs are fun, there seem to be a lot of issues. Not least of all the fact that we've now had two patches and still no negative influence (described upon completing the scenario) is actually being applied. Don't get me wrong, this is good thing, but it just goes to show that some aspects of this are probably still on the drwaing board.
@OP as for whether they got a buff, hell yeah, they got a buff. CZ ships are engineered now and there's some speculation that their module protection is either extreme or bugged, so just go for sustained dps until you hear otherwise, cos their modules are now hard as nails.
Ah, I thought so. They do definitely seem harder to take down, or rather, just take a much longer time to take down. Thank you all for your responses!
Haven't been finding the new CZs any more difficult. NPC TTKs are up, but that also applies to the allied ships and enemies seem far less interested in focusing solely on my CMDR.
Payouts have been increased, both for bonds and for massacre missions, while the kill counts required of the latter were reduced. Profit per hour has generally gone up.
Payouts have been increased, both for bonds and for massacre missions, while the kill counts required of the latter were reduced. Profit per hour has generally gone up.
Buffed ya, but in medium/high the battle can end in advance upon completion of certain goals (like killing X spec ops ships).
Have just fought another two High ones in a row solo and killed all opponents in order to win the battle.
In my experience definitely stronger than before.
Had Cutters - and Vultures - spawning endlessly SCBs, one Cutter must also have been a hull tank cause I could only slowly damage hull integrity and it could wake out before I could kill.
Some are still weak but on average I would say NPCs are stronger now.
Bottom line TTK increased, it's more challenging and more fun.
TKK has increased, and the greater variety of opponents and goals is more fun, but if anything, I consider it less challenging that before.
In this case, they are just making better use of the tools CMDRs have had for a very long time. I prefer having NPCs play by the same rules.
TTKs are too high, but this is an overarching balance problem that has seen defensive capabilities inflate faster and further than offensive ones. The fix is to rein them in, not continue having NPCs fly inept loadouts.
Fair enough, but I'd rather have the TTK be lower for both players and NPCs due to more offensive damage, that would actually be more dangerous for players and, I think, more fun. And maybe magazines will last longer
Thought I'd ask here given the topic:
Do spec ops not count for massacre missions?
The hud doesn't identify them as mission targets but does for regular ships in the CZ.
Do spec ops not count for massacre missions?
The hud doesn't identify them as mission targets but does for regular ships in the CZ.
Déjà-vu
that topic title is almost exactly the same:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ships-in-CZ-got-a-ton-more-hitpoints-recently
that topic title is almost exactly the same:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ships-in-CZ-got-a-ton-more-hitpoints-recently
I do not think they count for massacre. I was doing some mat farming + massacre yesterday/today and found these did not seem to increment my mission counter. However, I did not go in specifically to test that, so take with grain of salt. In any case I simply started ignoring spec ops, just in case, since I was farming mission rewards not inf+.
Ignoring spec ops seemed to often lead to my side losing (but I didn't care, just wake out and back in). My impression was, if the spec ops spawn and you want to win, you should kill them first, since they kill your little NPC buddies and then you are overwhelmed by numbers. However, if the "protect correspondent" spawns instead, it's almost impossible to lose, just kill whoever you want. More RNG magic. I was using medium and high CZ.
Side note, faction self massacre missions are fixed. I had accepted a few of these, to double stack with the warring faction, and this morning those missions had been reset to zero progress and giver faction changed, so that all of my missions were now from the same faction, instead of half and half.
Do me a favor and bump this would you? I don't want to look like a butt and it's on the 5th page back now.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ps-in-CZ-do-not-count-toward-massacre-targets
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Do me a favor and bump this would you? I don't want to look like a butt and it's on the 5th page back now.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ps-in-CZ-do-not-count-toward-massacre-targets
Done, glad to see I wasn't losing my mind on that one.
I was just trying to see the changes since 3.3 myself, so I wasn't 100% sure but I'll take the 2 confirmations here. Thanks.
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To Confirm:
(1) You gain or lose no influence with either side despite what it may tell you after winning or losing a combat 'Round'
(2) Your wins and losses DO NOT count towards winning or losing a war of any type (Civil or Expansion) only Combat Bonds being handed in will do this.
(3) The Combat Zone 'Massacre Missions' are working but don't contribute to the chance of winning or losing the war beyond the accumulation of Combat Bonds.
In Conclusion: Hitting Low Intensity CZs repeatedly and handing your tally in afterwards is the best way to win the battles for that day and thus, the overall war if you can keep it up for a few days.
I've been testing this since the beta and after the update and my chosen faction has been in wars almost continuously so I'm 100% certain of the information I've posted.
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