With engineering in mind: Should SLF speeds be increased/rethought?

Ahoy there,
as of current the SLF speeds are still fix values.
That being said it works well when you use vanilla ships.
But when you engineer the mothership you can outrun the SLF,
and it doesn't follow orders anymore, unless you recall it to the bay.
This happens often when you chase your target boosting.

So should the speeds of SLF be touched?
Should the SLF get a speed buff when ordered to form up and hold fire?
 
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Perhaps it'd be possible to make the SLF hangar engineerable (is that a word?) in ways that would also have an effect on the SLFs too?

Perhaps have the mod' apply to the hangar (light weight, armored, shielded, efficient etc) and then have a variety of XFX that apply to the SLF (Armored, Improved Thrust, Overcharged Weapons etc)?
 
I think SLFs are too fast already, but so is most everything else.

Most SLFs are faster than most motherships. Only the krait Mk II can really outpace the fighters. However, lower rank NPC crew are slower than they would otherwise be, because they won't move pips to ENG or chain boost until extremely high rank (I don't think I noticed them doing this until Deadly).

Anyway, SLFs ignoring orders sounds like a bug that would need to be addressed independently.
 
Perhaps it'd be possible to make the SLF hangar engineerable (is that a word?) in ways that would also have an effect on the SLFs too?

Perhaps have the mod' apply to the hangar (light weight, armored, shielded, efficient etc) and then have a variety of XFX that apply to the SLF (Armored, Improved Thrust, Overcharged Weapons etc)?

I think further increasing SLF damage would be detrimental to the game,
for their cost they are already very powerful.
I however would support allowing to increase some stats for lowering others,
like lightweight does or an improved capacitor recharge rate.

I think SLFs are too fast already, but so is most everything else.

Most SLFs are faster than most motherships. Only the krait Mk II can really outpace the fighters. However, lower rank NPC crew are slower than they would otherwise be, because they won't move pips to ENG or chain boost until extremely high rank (I don't think I noticed them doing this until Deadly).

Anyway, SLFs ignoring orders sounds like a bug that would need to be addressed independently.

Thanks for the info, my current pilot is master, might be the issue at hand,
and yeah i currently test out the krait, but i also had issues with NPC SLF
behaviour when in the crusader or gunship.
 
I noticed that my Elite crew has no problem keeping up with my Krait or my Cutter when she's flying a Condor. I see her boosting at will to keep up
But things are much worse when she's flying a Taipan. More often than not she's behind and her boosts are rare
 
I noticed that my Elite crew has no problem keeping up with my Krait or my Cutter when she's flying a Condor. I see her boosting at will to keep up
But things are much worse when she's flying a Taipan. More often than not she's behind and her boosts are rare

'She'...That's your problem right there mate, she's too busy posting make-up tutorial selfies and worrying what the High-G boosts will do to her hair.
 
I noticed that my Elite crew has no problem keeping up with my Krait or my Cutter when she's flying a Condor. I see her boosting at will to keep up
But things are much worse when she's flying a Taipan. More often than not she's behind and her boosts are rare
Condor seems to be the best fighter for our AI pilots anway. I didn't try the Taipan yet, but after giving my Elite pilot a Gu-97 instead of a Condor, he actually got less accurate and shot down more often. Not what you expect if you give them something more maneuverable. But in the end I suspect it comes down to the Condor being the overall fastest, which would prove the OP's point.
 
I'd say they are quite ok-ish as the are now.
Instead i'd investigate if (and why) are differences between an Elite crew flying a Condor a Taipan or a Gu.
Apparently i'm not the only one observing that the best performance comes when they're flying Condors

Starting the investigation with Elite crew is a problem.
Not everyone trains SLF crew to elite, and when you face a rebuy they are (still?) gone
and you start over again.
The problems occurr on every fighter type, including condors, with master crew aswell.
If it is an AI problem an investigation on FD's site is in order.
 
Perhaps it'd be possible to make the SLF hangar engineerable (is that a word?) in ways that would also have an effect on the SLFs too?

Perhaps have the mod' apply to the hangar (light weight, armored, shielded, efficient etc) and then have a variety of XFX that apply to the SLF (Armored, Improved Thrust, Overcharged Weapons etc)?
Experimental effect: Escape capsule? Maybe? :)
 
How about nerfing engineered stuff instead of continuing the power creep cycle?

I so much wish they would do that. But considering the rivers of tears parts of the community cried when even facing minor nerfs, i don't want to even imagine the cries and wails of actually significant nerfs being done. :(

So the chance for that to actually happen is minimal.
 
I so much wish they would do that. But considering the rivers of tears parts of the community cried when even facing minor nerfs, i don't want to even imagine the cries and wails of actually significant nerfs being done. :(

So the chance for that to actually happen is minimal.
IIRC the idea and even betatest of diminishing returns on HD shield boosters as well as resistance boosters was quite well receieved by the community actually, save for very few single voices. Still FD didn't go through and never talked about it again.
 
IIRC the idea and even betatest of diminishing returns on HD shield boosters as well as resistance boosters was quite well receieved by the community actually, save for very few single voices. Still FD didn't go through and never talked about it again.

Correct. But these few people, almost all of them never even tried the changes (several of them being console players so they could not even if they wanted), raised such a ruckus that FD caved. It's really all that noise of just a few people, which FD wasn't willing to stand up against, despite most of the players actually approved of the changes.
 
Ahoy there,
as of current the SLF speeds are still fix values.
That being said it works well when you use vanilla ships.
But when you engineer the mothership you can outrun the SLF,
and it doesn't follow orders anymore, unless you recall it to the bay.
This happens often when you chase your target boosting.

So should the speeds of SLF be touched?
Should the SLF get a speed buff when ordered to form up and hold fire?

Swerving back to a different but similar off-topic...
Engineering the SRV?
I'd love extra thruster duration - out exploring I don't do much shooting but I absolutely spend a lot of time skimming the SRV over the surface.
If I can get lateral flight thrusters so much the better..
 
SLFs don’t need a stats buff. As @Morbad mentioned they are already faster than most motherships.

It would be nice to “save” NPC pilots, though. It’s weird that players who take risks in SLF ships are penalized while non-SLF ships are not. Imagine the outrage if weapon mods lost their engineering on death. 😳

I'd say they are quite ok-ish as the are now.
Instead i'd investigate if (and why) are differences between an Elite crew flying a Condor a Taipan or a Gu.
Apparently i'm not the only one observing that the best performance comes when they're flying Condors

I have not done detailed experiments but I think performance is largely dependent on what SLF is being used and for what purpose, as well as what weapon loadout.

My experience is that Taipans are best for PVE because they can shrug off damage that would cripple a Condor or GU. Enemy NPCs are pretty bad at targeting SLFs so the Taipan’s slowness doesn’t seem to hurt its survivability.

I regularly see Taipans shrug off entire Conflict Zones or Wing Assassinations. I can’t say that for the other two.

For PVP it depends on your adversary and, again, your purpose. If you’re looking for a chaser to pick at fleeing opponents definitely go for the Condor. If you want something more general purpose, I personally prefer the GU or Taipan (depends on opponent’s loadout).

I like giving NPC pilots fixed beams, although gimballed lasers may be just as well. MCs and plasmas seem a poor choice because SLF pilots are too inaccurate with them.

*edited for clarity
 
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