Ok, so lot of this isn't new - many of these mechanics have been with us since always or at least a long time.
But for me, in 2.1, it is a perfect storm combined to make it so utterly frustrating. I don't mind challenge, I don't mind players taking accountability for consequences their own choices bring them. But I despise and find quite demoralizing to continue play in current broken meta when despite taking proper precautions, the combined mechanics that we could live with separately, when all combined together = insta fail for the player regardless of skill or precaution.
Should have realized this but until it happened, did not think about that respawning NPCs that fully heal + respawning NPCs with 2.1 randomized ship traits = every new instance in which the NPC shows up to interdict you, not only are they fully healed, but they get a new chance to roll for different ship loadouts - including the utterly devastating thermic weapons.
Was making run for some mission deliveries - I arm my Asp as best I can, I don't go shieldless or even in this new era of deadly NPCs - without armor upgrades either. In short, I'm not trying to scrape by and max out cargo, I am in fact losing quite a bit of mission cargo stacking in favor of defensive precautions including milspec armor, shields, etc. As I said, if a player wants to take some extra risk to try and squeeze extra profits, the accountability for the consequences is on them.
But in this case, my long range mission / trade Asp is as defensively built as an Asp can get, sacrificing jump range and cargo for the proper build. But I did not count on these new thermic weapons, and the fact that an NPC who is mission assigned - which means they stick with you forever, can't be escaped from, and often teleport from behind you when you jump, to be in front of you when you arrive.
Was on a 20 jump trip or so, and had one of these attached NPCs due to mission RNG that assigns a threat NPC. So far so good. He is a deadly FDL so while I fight NPCs of my caliber when I can, in my Asp fighting him would not be good idea - so I run for it. After 10-11 escapes, usual submit, boost boost, jump out again - suddenly the shots which I could absorb while boosting to escape suddenly changed when the 'new' respawned version of the FLD showed up.
The first few shots that hit me made my heat rocket up, so fast that dropping a heat sink was too late. So already suffered some heat damage, but 2nd heat sink dropped and I was ok and 1/2 way to jumping, when few more shots hit and now I'm overheating again, and my heat sinks themselves start to malfunction. Couple more shots and I am frying as if deep into a star, and it's all she wrote - dead and staring at insurance screen few sec later.
Fast forward rebuy, re-gather mission cargo (for the sourcing missions I just lost the source cargo to), then set out again to my destination ~20 jumps away. Same FDL npc shows up again, again for 8-10 jumps where I get him spawning about half the time, so like 4-5 interdictions, I'm ok. Then rng bad luck again, he spawns again with thermic weapons - or whatever this god awful new ability is because in ~3 sec after dropping from interdiction submit, my Asp is roasting again, then insta-fail death...again.
Yes, I realize this is bad odds, because I'd done this run since starting 2.1 week ago about half dozen times and this is first time I've had the thermic weapoms on npc show up, and not only once, but twice. So either bad rng or something changed in last patch to tune NPCs down, whatever. Point is, I would have been fine dying if I had tried to risk it by skimping on shields or armor to try and get more profit.
But as I didn't, and there is nothing you can do in terms of skill when trying to evade interdiction other than submit, boost, try and not run in straight line, and jump away again - the guaranteed death when the RNG of install healing NPCs and random ship loadout giving it a chance to spawn with thermic weapons is quite frustrating.
I mention full healing NPCs because if they sustained dmg, then I would try to chip away at an NPC as he chases me across the 20 jumps or so, but since any battle dmg I take is permanent and any he takes is temporary until the next system, the fighting withdrawal tactic is pointless for now.
All I can say is GDI, the otherwise pretty good content update is also so frustrating at times with RNG coming to bite us in so many ways, motivation to continue playing is ebbing fast.
But for me, in 2.1, it is a perfect storm combined to make it so utterly frustrating. I don't mind challenge, I don't mind players taking accountability for consequences their own choices bring them. But I despise and find quite demoralizing to continue play in current broken meta when despite taking proper precautions, the combined mechanics that we could live with separately, when all combined together = insta fail for the player regardless of skill or precaution.
Should have realized this but until it happened, did not think about that respawning NPCs that fully heal + respawning NPCs with 2.1 randomized ship traits = every new instance in which the NPC shows up to interdict you, not only are they fully healed, but they get a new chance to roll for different ship loadouts - including the utterly devastating thermic weapons.
Was making run for some mission deliveries - I arm my Asp as best I can, I don't go shieldless or even in this new era of deadly NPCs - without armor upgrades either. In short, I'm not trying to scrape by and max out cargo, I am in fact losing quite a bit of mission cargo stacking in favor of defensive precautions including milspec armor, shields, etc. As I said, if a player wants to take some extra risk to try and squeeze extra profits, the accountability for the consequences is on them.
But in this case, my long range mission / trade Asp is as defensively built as an Asp can get, sacrificing jump range and cargo for the proper build. But I did not count on these new thermic weapons, and the fact that an NPC who is mission assigned - which means they stick with you forever, can't be escaped from, and often teleport from behind you when you jump, to be in front of you when you arrive.
Was on a 20 jump trip or so, and had one of these attached NPCs due to mission RNG that assigns a threat NPC. So far so good. He is a deadly FDL so while I fight NPCs of my caliber when I can, in my Asp fighting him would not be good idea - so I run for it. After 10-11 escapes, usual submit, boost boost, jump out again - suddenly the shots which I could absorb while boosting to escape suddenly changed when the 'new' respawned version of the FLD showed up.
The first few shots that hit me made my heat rocket up, so fast that dropping a heat sink was too late. So already suffered some heat damage, but 2nd heat sink dropped and I was ok and 1/2 way to jumping, when few more shots hit and now I'm overheating again, and my heat sinks themselves start to malfunction. Couple more shots and I am frying as if deep into a star, and it's all she wrote - dead and staring at insurance screen few sec later.
Fast forward rebuy, re-gather mission cargo (for the sourcing missions I just lost the source cargo to), then set out again to my destination ~20 jumps away. Same FDL npc shows up again, again for 8-10 jumps where I get him spawning about half the time, so like 4-5 interdictions, I'm ok. Then rng bad luck again, he spawns again with thermic weapons - or whatever this god awful new ability is because in ~3 sec after dropping from interdiction submit, my Asp is roasting again, then insta-fail death...again.
Yes, I realize this is bad odds, because I'd done this run since starting 2.1 week ago about half dozen times and this is first time I've had the thermic weapoms on npc show up, and not only once, but twice. So either bad rng or something changed in last patch to tune NPCs down, whatever. Point is, I would have been fine dying if I had tried to risk it by skimping on shields or armor to try and get more profit.
But as I didn't, and there is nothing you can do in terms of skill when trying to evade interdiction other than submit, boost, try and not run in straight line, and jump away again - the guaranteed death when the RNG of install healing NPCs and random ship loadout giving it a chance to spawn with thermic weapons is quite frustrating.
I mention full healing NPCs because if they sustained dmg, then I would try to chip away at an NPC as he chases me across the 20 jumps or so, but since any battle dmg I take is permanent and any he takes is temporary until the next system, the fighting withdrawal tactic is pointless for now.
All I can say is GDI, the otherwise pretty good content update is also so frustrating at times with RNG coming to bite us in so many ways, motivation to continue playing is ebbing fast.
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