Executor ability idea

[Revanchist]

Yeah I am in agreement as well. Every ship having the same upgrades makes things a bit too cookie-cutter for my likes.

[A.J.]

I've given a fair amount of thought to this, and while I think more development for the titans would be an amazing idea, I think they should be abilities that make the titans terrifying again. I remember the first time I came across an Executor in this game, and I almost crapped my pants! Now, it's not much of a terror for me anymore, as I can just hit it with a mass of cruiser and capital types and do a reasonable job of taking it down. I like the "intensify forward batteries" as an ability idea, as it is from the movie, but my only issue with it, is strike craft aren't in large enough numbers, or cause enough damage for that to be a sought after ability. I would suggest that ability auto-cast upon shields hitting 0, and within a certain range, firepower does X% more damage for a certain amount of time, at the cost of shield regeneration becoming 0, or a very small number. For the Viscount, the ability could be "back-up shields", where if the shields hit 25% or something, it could auto-cast for a giant immediate shield regeneration, and a high regen point. I don't know much about the Bellator, so I can't offer much advice there, nor have I really used it yet...I'm mainly a NR player. But just a few thoughts for this. I do like the track this is going though.

[Pali]

I agree.  Also the reason I'm a big fan of the NR capitals, they have interesting abilities as compared to the IR (Overwhelm + tractor beams).

I actually think tractors are perfectly appropriate, though there is an issue in that they will activate while the ship is out of weapon's range, so the ISD will hold the enemy ship but be unable to shoot it.

[tlmiller]

I actually think tractors are perfectly appropriate, though there is an issue in that they will activate while the ship is out of weapon's range, so the ISD will hold the enemy ship but be unable to shoot it.

Oh, it's APPROPRIATE, but...boring.

[Revanchist]

Well, at least with the Torpedo Sphere we finally got one ship that wasn't Overwhelm + Tractor. Only issue I have with it is the energy required for the abilities is more than the energy they have for the first few levels of the abilities.

[tlmiller]

They've fixed that in the newer builds.  They can use their abilities in the latest commits.  They're pretty fun, although I think they probably still need some tweaking.

[Papa Palps]

Hmm. That just gave me a cool idea (I have no idea how Sins works so this might be unfeasable) for different "paths" instead of standard upgrades. For example:

Knight Hammer track would decrease the upkeep cost and fleet supply each level, with the last level making it black and giving it extra fighter supply (as the Knight Hammer required fewer crew and actually carried closer to the number of fighters an Executor actually could carry if I recall)

Iron Fist track would increase hyperspace and sublight speed, with the last level giving it a one-time use "Save me" button activateable at low HP that would make it appear to be destroyed while actually jumping to the nearest capital shipyard (as the Iron Fist was used in hit-and-fades and that trick was used by Zsinj).

Reaper track would boost allegiance in your space and decrease enemy allegiance in theirs, with the last level also giving it an ability to generate a large amount of diplomatic points in other Imperial or Pentastar territory (as the Reaper was, in Imperial hands, used as a tool to attempt to reestablish faith in the Empire and bring wayward Imps "back into the fold.")

Lusankya track would provide a bonus against fighters and projectiles, with the last level giving it an ability to "activate sleeper agents" on a target ship, causing havoc in some way (as some of the heavy weaponry was replaced with more point defense systems and it was Isard's prison/reindoctrination center)

You can purchase any combination of these, but you could only get the highest tier if you invested all your points into that track.

I really love this idea.

For abilities, I think the SSDs should be offense-oriented, and the NR Star Dreadnaught defense-oriented with a defensive synergy with the rest of the NR fleet.  Here are some ideas for the Executor:

Intensify Firepower: boosts firing rates but reduces engine speed and shield recharge rate/amount
Intimidate: lowers the stats of the enemy fleet in damage/chance to hit
Inspiring through Fear/Reckless Ambition: gives a sort of frantic feel to the Imperial fleet with greater engine speed and firing rates, but makes it take more damage/have less accuracy (this would be a refinement of the Iron Grip ability)
Point Defense: destroys fighters and bombers within a short range

The Numerical Superiority ability is very redundant, the Executor should already have a lot of fighter complement (upgraded as it levels up).
I like the Concussion Barrage ability as it is pretty much, though it could be more powerful to be better suited for anti-fleet action.

For the Sovereign:

All the abilities are very good, though the Mass Effect ability does nothing and should be redone.  The Crack Mantle ability needs to be more damaging too.

For the Viscount:
Power to Shields: reduces speed and damage/firing rate but increases shield recharge rate/amount.
Sacrifice: forces enemies to target the Viscount in order to save your fleet from destruction.
Coordinate Efforts: the NR fleet tries to help and support each other, reducing offensive power but increasing the defense of the fleet (damage reduction, damage output reduction).

[MaxL_1023]

I would like to see the Bellator get a barrage ability like the Ragnarov's explosive shot in stock. It has fewer but heavier guns appearance wise, so it would make sense for an area-suppression type ability to make it have a role against frigates/cruisers more so than pure anti-capital.

Would it also be possible to give at least a couple of the titans the shield and weapons upgrade levels which stock has? There are too many points for the abilities as it is (since titans get 20) and AFAIK it should be an option to have your SSDs optimized for standard fleet action if you do not want to use special abilities - something like ending up with 50% more HP, Shields and Raw Damage output if you invested 12 points in those areas.

[Papa Palps]

I would like to see the Bellator get a barrage ability like the Ragnarov's explosive shot in stock. It has fewer but heavier guns appearance wise, so it would make sense for an area-suppression type ability to make it have a role against frigates/cruisers more so than pure anti-capital.

Would it also be possible to give at least a couple of the titans the shield and weapons upgrade levels which stock has? There are too many points for the abilities as it is (since titans get 20) and AFAIK it should be an option to have your SSDs optimized for standard fleet action if you do not want to use special abilities - something like ending up with 50% more HP, Shields and Raw Damage output if you invested 12 points in those areas.

Agreed.  Some more basic upgrades would be nice to give some titans a more battleship-type feel rather than a utilitarian-only feel.

[at-dt]

I think that the executor should have the ability to fire its broadside batteries, but the shield is easier to bring down. the shields around the weapons of the vessel drop for a second so it can fire, then bring shields back online.