As with C&P, I feel the changes made to Engineers for 3.0 mark a fantastic first step towards making Engineers the very best they can be. However, I do hope the devs will consider some of my ideas in relation to further enhancements to how Engineers work.
1. Multiple routes to rank increase, for *all* Engineers. At present, crafting marks the quickest route by which a player can increase their Engineer Rank. This means that, even if other ranks are available, then they tend to just "fall by the wayside". So I'd suggest giving *all* the Engineers multiple tracks for increasing rank-such as increasing your Reputation with Affiliated Factions (all Engineers should have an affiliated Faction, btw); doing tasks for Engineers that fits in with their personality (giving them mined minerals/metals, handing in Combat Bonds etc etc) & even the occasional Mission-offered via their faction-to get a one time boost to the next rank. Crafting, as a means of increasing rank, should become less effective the higher in Rank you get.
2. Bring back a re-purposed form of Favours. Despite what others might say, I thought the favour system was great. It's only problem was that it was limited only to Weapon Special Effects. Under my proposed changes, Calling in a Favour would be used for two purposes-1. tweaking individual stats of an upgrade, both positive or negative; 2. applying experimental effects for which you lack all the necessary materials. This would have 2 benefits-namely it would allow for even more differentiation between module upgrades, & it would retain the Dynamic Ranking system we had in Season 2.
3. Allow Material Substitution. We need more flexible blueprints. Commanders should be able to substitute 1 or more materials (be it raw, refined or encoded) with something more-or even less-rare. By doing this the Commander would get a bonus-or penalty-to the final upgrade value. In the former case, this might help players get to the next Grade of enhancement quicker.
Anyway, I hope you'll consider these suggestions.....particularly the first one. I think they will all significantly improve the Engineer experience even more.
1. Multiple routes to rank increase, for *all* Engineers. At present, crafting marks the quickest route by which a player can increase their Engineer Rank. This means that, even if other ranks are available, then they tend to just "fall by the wayside". So I'd suggest giving *all* the Engineers multiple tracks for increasing rank-such as increasing your Reputation with Affiliated Factions (all Engineers should have an affiliated Faction, btw); doing tasks for Engineers that fits in with their personality (giving them mined minerals/metals, handing in Combat Bonds etc etc) & even the occasional Mission-offered via their faction-to get a one time boost to the next rank. Crafting, as a means of increasing rank, should become less effective the higher in Rank you get.
2. Bring back a re-purposed form of Favours. Despite what others might say, I thought the favour system was great. It's only problem was that it was limited only to Weapon Special Effects. Under my proposed changes, Calling in a Favour would be used for two purposes-1. tweaking individual stats of an upgrade, both positive or negative; 2. applying experimental effects for which you lack all the necessary materials. This would have 2 benefits-namely it would allow for even more differentiation between module upgrades, & it would retain the Dynamic Ranking system we had in Season 2.
3. Allow Material Substitution. We need more flexible blueprints. Commanders should be able to substitute 1 or more materials (be it raw, refined or encoded) with something more-or even less-rare. By doing this the Commander would get a bonus-or penalty-to the final upgrade value. In the former case, this might help players get to the next Grade of enhancement quicker.
Anyway, I hope you'll consider these suggestions.....particularly the first one. I think they will all significantly improve the Engineer experience even more.