Making Guardian Components on par with engineering

[lemon407]

So i just had a though on how to make the guardian components worth getting. As we are all aware, guardian components are really not that great, specifically because they can not be engineered to be worth using.

The idea here is really simple, and i think it could easily be balanced in order to make it work, and it goes like this.

The more guardian components you have equiped on your ship, the better they become. For example. If you end up having a guarding power supply, and a guardian power distributor, they end up buffing both of them and becoming better then using them by themselves. This extends to other models as well.

 

[here_it_comes]

Something is needed to make them not worthless, but FD never looks back once something is in the wild.

 

[Captain Willard]

Hardly useless. Some are very worthwhile getting.
Guardian Shard Cannon
Guardian Gauss Cannon
Guardian Frame Shift Drive Booster
Guardian Module Reinforcement Package
Guardian Shield Reinforcement Package

 

[gorankar]

The only ones I would call useless are the Guardian SLF. Guardian PP and PD are somewhat close to useless, but even those have their place if you need G2-3 performance but don't want to go through the engineering process.

I suspect they may have intended there be some sort of synergy if guardian modules and weapons were used together, but that they just decided to leave it as is. Something along the lines of improved thermals or output or recharge rates or DPS the more guardian modules/weapons were used in conjunction with each other.

 

[Rubbernuke]

I had similar thoughts too- Guardian stuff could be cool if FD woke up a bit.

Guardian tech: the more you slot in, the more Voltron you get

Guardian technology is causally amusing, but its drowned out by engineering. What is needed is a super version of the Guardian distributors ability to enhance power delivery- in short each Guardian module added adds either an enhancement to other modules, or powers up the ship in exotic ways...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[here_it_comes]

It's really just the PP and PD that are trash. I like the Guardian SLFs, the GMRP is handy for Interceptor fights, GFDSB is obvious, GSRP I stopped using once I was competent in combat, but it has it's place. I even use the Plasma Charger for Interceptors for fun and looks.

 

[Misty_Dark]

Have you ever tried any Guardian modules?

They are usefull and the PD/PP are pretty much on pair with being G4 engineered parts. That you can buy off the shelf. Which works pretty well for most builds, especially if you are trying out stuff. as you can easilly get a ship up and running. without having to swap to many modules around.



Sure they are not as powerful as the G5 engineered parts, but once unlocked, these are available 24/7 at the nearest Guardian Tech broker! So pretty convenient stuff if you do not like parts of the engineering process.


Then we have the FSD Booster, for those who want to increase the jump range. For a class 5, taht will add 10 LY directly ontop of your current jumprange.


So these are far from useless...

 

[lemon407]

Yeah i have them unlocked, and i use a lot of them, but the issue is when compared to the engineered items they dont really stack up.

PP and PD being the biggest issue, hell if even those two together buffed each other that would be really cool.

 

[Misty_Dark]

Yeah i have them unlocked, and i use a lot of them, but the issue is when compared to the engineered items they dont really stack up.

PP and PD being the biggest issue, hell if even those two together buffed each other that would be really cool.

Well the PD buffs the output of your Powerplant.

And do they have to stack up? they much easier to get hold of.. so if you do not need a maxed out PD? why spend all the time and effort doing that? When a quick trip can get you the Guardian version with much less effort.

 

[Chaparral]

Have you ever tried any Guardian modules?

They are usefull and the PD/PP are pretty much on pair with being G4 engineered parts. That you can buy off the shelf. Which works pretty well for most builds, especially if you are trying out stuff. as you can easilly get a ship up and running. without having to swap to many modules around.



Sure they are not as powerful as the G5 engineered parts, but once unlocked, these are available 24/7 at the nearest Guardian Tech broker! So pretty convenient stuff if you do not like parts of the engineering process.


Then we have the FSD Booster, for those who want to increase the jump range. For a class 5, taht will add 10 LY directly ontop of your current jumprange.


So these are far from useless...

I agree with 90% of this sentiment. The difference is heat. a G4 engineered PP/PD is usually far cooler than the Guardian equivalent. If engineering were possible with guardian gear, focusing on heat mitigation or making the weapons able to damage human ships effectively would be a decent upgrade.

 

[DemiserofD]

Honestly, the power plant could use a little extra something. The power distributor is occasionally useful exclusively for its bonus to your power plant, but the power plant has no equivalent bonus. Maybe just invert the distributor bonus? The power plant boosts distributor Supply by 3%?

 

[Teh Smoo]

The only ones I would call useless are the Guardian SLF. Guardian PP and PD are somewhat close to useless, but even those have their place if you need G2-3 performance but don't want to go through the engineering process.

I suspect they may have intended there be some sort of synergy if guardian modules and weapons were used together, but that they just decided to leave it as is. Something along the lines of improved thermals or output or recharge rates or DPS the more guardian modules/weapons were used in conjunction with each other.

I've tried to love the guardian SLFs, they're so cool looking. After running Trident/Lance for a while, I switched back to a fixed beam laser, and now my fighter is doing a LOT more, and TANKING a lot more. Maybe I'll keep the trident though. Haven't really given the shard a fair shake, but fighters don't even NOTIFY when they run out of ammo, so the lance or shard will just run out and then sit there.

 

[DemiserofD]

I've tried to love the guardian SLFs, they're so cool looking. After running Trident/Lance for a while, I switched back to a fixed beam laser, and now my fighter is doing a LOT more, and TANKING a lot more. Maybe I'll keep the trident though. Haven't really given the shard a fair shake, but fighters don't even NOTIFY when they run out of ammo, so the lance or shard will just run out and then sit there.

Guardian SLFs are really good at AX combat. I've watched mine solo instances of thargoid fighters, as well as solo exert the hearts on basilisks. On Medusas on up, they dramatically reduce the health regen, allowing you a lot more leeway to take them down.

The trouble is, their utility is basically inversely proportional to your skill. If you're awesome at AX combat, the fighters become a lot less useful, because they have less time to do their limited but consistent DPS.

This means the experts, who are the ones writing the guides, tell everyone else they're useless; because for an expert, they are useless. Or at least, less useful.

But for a newer player, a fighter can easily mean the difference between success and failure.

 

[lemon407]

So i have personally found that with Guardian fighters, they are only good if you have an elite pilot running them. My elite pilot i have in a lance, and i will send him out to take out smaller ships with out much issue.

 

[Teh Smoo]

Guardian SLFs are really good at AX combat. I've watched mine solo instances of thargoid fighters, as well as solo exert the hearts on basilisks. On Medusas on up, they dramatically reduce the health regen, allowing you a lot more leeway to take them down.

The trouble is, their utility is basically inversely proportional to your skill. If you're awesome at AX combat, the fighters become a lot less useful, because they have less time to do their limited but consistent DPS.

This means the experts, who are the ones writing the guides, tell everyone else they're useless; because for an expert, they are useless. Or at least, less useful.

But for a newer player, a fighter can easily mean the difference between success and failure.

Oh, yeah, I was doing just normal bounty hunting though. So the guardian fighters look REALLY cool, but don't really accomplish anything.

 

[DemiserofD]

Oh, yeah, I was doing just normal bounty hunting though. So the guardian fighters look REALLY cool, but don't really accomplish anything.

They're not terrible there; they can compete with most options, really. It's just that there are 1-2 standard fighters that are about 5x more powerful than average, so even decent still look awful by comparison.

The one place you might find utility is the plasma guardian fighter. Against fully engineered enemies, their 100% absolute damage could be useful.