Shield Regeneration Lasers

[GrumpyMinerSmuggles]

I see in this future 2 cutters as "medics" and 2 FDLs causing massive damage. No thank you, neat idea I just dont like the concept and possiblities.

My thoughts entirely.

Then again though, what actual in-game context is there for any kind of pvp anyway?

I'm actually a pvp fan. Have been since early days of Aces High and Il-2:1946.

It makes me wonder - are these beams being added so people will stay in a fight?

Fact is, hi-waking with Countermeasures and drops makes it almost impossible to actually interdict and kill someone unless the cards are really stacked against them anyway.

In a CG I was interdicted by 4 players all top killer type ships. I was able to get away, barely in my t-6. And I delivered the goods. It was top fun.

But in combat, he with the energy advantage wins. In Elite, it's the more maneuverable and faster ship with the advantage. If the ship isn't those things, then it makes up for their shortcomings in armour or shields or both. It's why the Python is so capable, even now, and the Vulture has always been easy mode.

I'm just confused.

The concept could work. If they develop it based on past decisions, things like this may not even be much of a game changer. Much like prismatics and hammers help, but A rated and boosters with normal rails work well enough.

But if it goes to the extreme? It concerns me.

I play paladin/cleric types in traditional rpgs always. Since 1st ed through my preference in "Pathfinder" to SWTOR, DCUO, and Neverwinter.

And yet, as much as I enjoy that role elsewhere, I have to wonder its point in a "hardcore space adventure sandbox simulation"

But... then again.
Energy is energy. Shields, beams, pulses. It's obvious the Elite universe has a strong grasp in harnessing it. So a "healing shields energy beam" can make sense in even a hard-science point of view here.

I'm worried.
I'm scared.

We'll just have to see... and worst case, at least NMS will be out, finally fixing the "exploration itch" I've had since reading Kotaku.com and learning about the 1stGE.

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This is perfect. Now I know what to equip on my corvette's two small hardpoints. Dps/tank and off heal. Yes please.

From a build point of view, I totally get where you're coming from. That'll be brutal. Reminds me of my Cleric. He's a tough SOB that can take gobs of punishment. A 1v1 against him is a trial of attrition lol.

But from a "space sim" point of view, I have to still wonder why it's here.

 

[MarcusKross]

What's next, a CC laser?

You mean the pulse disruptor which is already in the game? Which is also working on acceptable levels after the weapons hull penetration bug fix?

 

[Jack Schitt]

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160119/ncomms10374/full/ncomms10374.html
I find it hard to believe that we will be able to use lasers to heal tissue within decades, but cannot figure out how to use laser to restore a shield the thousand years that follow.

The problem with that sort of extrapolation is that you can end up with a concept that is both useful and easy to justify with 34th century technology. At which point you're forced to ask yourself why such useful and easy-to-build hardware is only available from 30 reclusive Howard Wolowitzes scattered throughout human space, instead of being mass produced and sold for profit in every single station in the civilised galaxy.

Sometimes you just have to accept certain sacrifices on the altar of multiplayer gaming. Trying to justify some mechanics will just tie you up in knots.

 

[MarcusKross]

Fine by me. Interesting for people who play in wings.
I am a soloist and will have no use for this at all...
Unless perhaps FD implements winging up with npc, which I don't expect them to do soon.

Ship launched fighters are coming this season and as it has been told they will be pilotable by AI too. Maybe we will have the option for them to fit one or two of these bad boys to assist repairing the ships shields. But of course that is pure speculation.

 

[Surround]

I was just going say samething as MarcusKross

Stop worrying guys!! Anything that brings more diversity to this game is a good thing! Currently its so easy to build your ships when there are like two options what everybody uses.

 

[Insomnia]

I think healing lasers is a fantastic idea. I didn't expected it at all! But I find it to be a very interesting feature. If we won't be getting NPC wingmen I can't use it because solo.... But that's entirely up to me. Unless ship launched AI fighters could use it ofc.
.
That said, it's still just a new feature to aid you in your mission to get more credits.

 

[Jason S]

Reminds me of the cleric in D&D

 

[MarcusKross]

This will probably make shield penetrating/destroying weapons even more useful. It's adding to the rock/paper/scissors thing many games go with. This will encourage wings and potentially open the door for "dungeon" like missions that require a wing and gives some of the best loot (more PG content here would be best to make it less monotonous and tedius)

I know some people probably won't like this mainstreaming type of gameplay, but honestly it works and it's what many people are already familiar with.

Now this right here is a very legitimate concern of many cmdrs including myself. Personally i would hate to see Elite turning into a band up with 3 more ships to go kill the big bad boss ship to get the next shiny module part which will make your ship go faster or do more damage kinda deal. I am not a mind reader but my best guess is if FDevs intention was that they would have designed their framework according to that, also thinking they will be heading towards to that direction just because they revealed this module now would be overreaching.

 

[DragoonKnight]

You mean the pulse disruptor which is already in the game? Which is also working on acceptable levels after the weapons hull penetration bug fix?

I would love for them to introduce some form of ECM and ECCM to the game. There need to be more items in the game which draw power from the SYS capacitor other than just shields. Perhaps something even that would draw power from the SYS capacitor to stay operational so you would have to make choices between shield recharge rate and powering your device.

 

[Mephane]

We must face it, at this point it is too late anyway. FD have decided they want this feature, we are the mere bystanders of the development. I would love if FD would give us details like this much earlier so we can discuss them and give feedback before all is set in stone. Alas, this is a train at full speed and we are not going to stop it. Anyway, not discussing it would be akin to just swalling our frustration, which is not a healthy thing.


And then after some sleep and more thinking about it, I have come to terms with the general idea of a device that regenerates shields at a distance. Going by the premise FD absolute want this kind of game mechanic, it could be made believable with
a) Some decent world-building
b) Sufficient sacrifices.

While I would prefer a completely new type of gun or utility for this purpose, we can also assume that it is set in stone that this will happen through engineer modifications. In this light, I suggest the following:

The engineer would completely rip out the core of the weapon that generates the laser, and replaces it with the tech normally used in factories to pre-charge shield cells.

Therefore, if you modify a beam laser into a healing laser, it loses all capability for doing damage.

In other words, it doesn't "upgrade" the gun into something more, it completely changes its purpose. It will be a dedicated specialized tool for support. We can at the same time drop the "wingmates only" limitation - let the healing beam do its thing on any target: whatever it hits, if it has a shield, the shield gets replenished. So you also need to be aware you may inadvertently help your foe if you aim wrong. And you can also help someone who is not in your wing.

It also means the sacrifice for this ability is clear: it uses a hardpoint that could also have held a weapon.

As a final detail, since the existence of this device proves that such is indeed possible, there also needs to be a new type of gear for utility slots (maybe an engineer modification of shield boosters) that when fired draws energy from WEP in order to actively regenerate your own shields. It would be quite sensible if indeed the very same engineer who could turn a beam laser into a healing laser would also be able to turn a shield booster into a shield regenerator.

As a final note, I hope that this modification is possible for all variants of beam lasers: fixed, gimballed and turret, with the same caveats (fixed does more than gimballed does more than turret, at the same proportion they already differ for the regular, damage-dealing beams). Otherwise, I think it would look rather strange to have a dedicated support ("healer") vessel always point their nose at their ally, it would look much more fitting and cinematic if they could maneuvre more freely and only had to check their ally is in range and the firing arc of the turret/gimbal. In my mind I still picture this 4 Anaconda wing where 3 of them are loadout out to the brim with healing beams - now that is one thing, but the 3 "healers" always pointing their nodes at the "tank" would look rather silly, don't you think?

Edit: I want to emphasize the need for gimballed and turret healing beams. It would enable support vessel of the less agile type. I don't think FD want Vultures and FAS used as healers, but Vessels like a Python, or even a Cutter. Especially the Cutter could serve as a good platform for a dedicated support vessel, loaded with fighters, healing turrets, various types of limpets (fingers crossed for repair limpets) etc.

 

[Jason S]

Personally I like that they are bringing more options to strategic play.

It does favour group play, but even though I am a solo player I am ok with that.

 

[Mephane]

Wow, this will really change things up I am so hoping for this, would it change pvp me much...? I wonder?

Spoiler

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/397/372/b22.png

There can only be one reply to this post:

Spoiler

 

[MarcusKross]

Well, then the question would be "if the shields were designed for this, why is it only a special module that a lone crazy engineer is making?"

It simply, from current information, doesn't fit the world that's been created. And I REALLY like it when my game worlds are true to themselves. That's one of my favorite parts of Elite.

You are asking for plausibility which is totally fine but you do realize we are flying civilian versions of most ships right? For example the Asp Explorer. It is supposed to have a military version too and we as commanders do not have access to it. This extends to all other tech and yes that includes weapons too. So where does a commander go when he wants that extra punch for his weapons or more utility for his ship? He finds that lone nut engineer hiding in that backwater system 'cos he thinks the reptilian aliens from Andromeda galaxy is governing humankind by secretly embedding themselves in our society.

Also some free lore for you. Did you know the ECM module we can fit right now in game is actually derived from Thargoid technology?

 

[Khelder]

I don't really like the sound of this. Particularly combining the two effects (damage/heal) in the same weapon. I would have preferred repair limpets.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Wolololololo!!!!

 

[Daffan]

These will be probably worthless because a wing can only field 4 people and you want as much DPS as possible.

 

[MarcusKross]

I would love for them to introduce some form of ECM and ECCM to the game. There need to be more items in the game which draw power from the SYS capacitor other than just shields. Perhaps something even that would draw power from the SYS capacitor to stay operational so you would have to make choices between shield recharge rate and powering your device.

We have the ECM ( Electronic Countermeasure ) utility since day 1. It doesn't work the way like you explained but i think it will finally see some use come 2.1 along with PDTs. Also there may even be quite few tinkering options modifying the use in meaningful ways.

 

[Mephane]

These will be probably worthless because a wing can only field 4 people and you want as much DPS as possible.

That depends on what the wing is doing, but from my MMO experience having at least one ship with a few of these in your wing could be a high priority, of nothing else than to limit downtime between fights.

I don't really like the sound of this. Particularly combining the two effects (damage/heal) in the same weapon. I would have preferred repair limpets.

Yepp. Healing beam should not also function as an offensive weapon; which also means there is a drawback and it isn't just a no-brainer upgrade: a hardpoint with a healing beam is one less hardpoint with a weapon to damage your foes.
And I hope there will also be hull repair limpets.

 

[amigacooke]

It seems scientific plausibility is going to be sacrificed to get all the same mechanics that other MMOs have. Nothing new, just copying the same cliched mechanics.

 

[Temple604]

sounds like a cool idea! we need more variety in builds and more counters. adding more multiplayer options is the way to go