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#Post#: 124--------------------------------------------------
SKILL SYSTEM REVAMP
By: RaiderOne Date: April 12, 2016, 1:50 pm
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Star Trek Online: Skill System Revamp
By LaughingTrendy
Thu 18 Feb 2016 08:55:32 AM PST
As you gain levels and ranks in Star Trek Online, you are
exposed to a vast array of choices in how you progress your
character, and how you choose to improve your effectiveness. The
core way this is accomplished is by improving one of the many,
many Skills made available to you.
For some time now, we have been looking to improve this
progression system. We know that new players often have a
difficult time coming to understand the many options presented,
what they do, and what the “right” choice for them might be at
any time. And, even more fundamentally, mechanics such as the
Ground/Space point split ratio and what controls when each Tier
of skills unlocks, have never been thoroughly understood or
explained.
When faced with the daunting task of overhauling and improving
such a core aspect of the Star Trek Online experience, it was
important to carefully decide what we wanted to accomplish. What
we arrived at were the following guiding principles:
•Simplify / De-Mystify – More detailed tooltips, better mechanic
explanations, and fewer mysteries.
•Eliminate Sub-Optimal Choices – Where possible, prevent players
from making bad choices, and raise the performance “floor.”
•Players Lose Nothing – As much as possible, everything
available in the current system will be made available under the
new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full
value.
With those concepts guiding the way, we have set out to create a
more streamlined experience that makes gaining levels and skills
more enjoyable and impactful.
Core Mechanic Changes
To facilitate the new process of leveling up and purchasing
Skills, we started with simplifying some core concepts of the
game.
First, we are eliminating the idea of “Skill Points” as the
numeric you earn from completing actions. In its place, the
standard RPG numeric of “Experience Points” will now be given
out. This change makes it more obvious that what you’re earning
is attributed to increasing your Level, and not your Skills.
Players will no longer earn bits and pieces of progression by
gathering small chunks of Skill Points which are then spent on a
granular progression system. Instead, new Space Points and
Ground Points are earned at the time you gain a level,
emphasizing that earning a level is a momentous event. Starting
at level 5, Space Points will be earned every level, while
Ground Points are given out every five levels. Starting at level
5, Space Points will be earned every level, while Ground Points
are given out every five levels.
While the current system includes 405 different skill ranks that
can be purchased (315 Space, 90 Ground) for costs that vary from
1,000 to 3,000 Skill Points each, every single one of the 110
ranks (90 Space, 20 Ground) that exist under the new system cost
either 1 Space Point or 1 Ground Point to purchase, with
entirely separate Skill Trees and costs based on region. No more
feeling as though you’re forced to sacrifice performance in your
Starship for the sake of Ground Skills, or vice versa!
We are also introducing the concept of both Active Progression
and Passive Progression. Active Progression is earned by the act
of choosing where to spend your Space Points and Ground Points,
and purchasing abilities, while Passive Progression is slightly
different in Space and Ground.
Passive Progression in your Space Skills is tracked by a series
of Unlock tracks, separated by skill category (Engineering,
Science, or Tactical), offering additional passive benefits
based on the number of points spent within that category. For
example, Active Progression via the purchase of a skill under
the Science Category will apply Passive Progression to the
Science Unlock Track.
If a player invests at least 24 of their Space Points into a
single profession-themed category of Skills (Engineering,
Science, or Tactical) they will unlock a new “Ultimate” ability.
These powerful new options offer additional tactical choices
during combat situations, without overriding or replacing your
existing suite of abilities, and are presented as additional
incentive for those players interested in spending deeply in a
single thematic category of Skills.
Ground Skills don’t have separate profession-themed categories,
and instead present only a single Unlock Track. However, each
Unlock presents a choice between two options, allowing every
Captain to progress in their own way as they gain levels.
Lost, But Not Forgotten
But, if 405 skill ranks are becoming 110, doesn't that mean
something is being lost? Well, I’m glad I asked.
We had a difficult time arranging a new Skill Tree that would
eliminate sub-optimal choices, re-balance the skills offered by
all 3 different profession categories, and still keep all
options available to players. In the end, the answer ended up
being a combination of Skill/Mechanic Consolidation and moving
some Skills into the Unlock paths, rather than having them cost
Space Points or Ground Points to purchase.
A list of Skills that were turned into Unlocks includes:
•Batteries
•Perception
•Driver Coil
•Threat Control
•… and more!
The most notable example of old Skills that received a
consolidation come into play in the Science category, with the
creation of two new Skills:
Drain Expertise and Control Expertise
Drain Expertise combines the mechanical benefits of what used to
be Flow Capacitors, Power Insulators and Subsystem Repair. In
other words, this single Skill now oversees both the offensive
potential, and the player’s resistances to, all Shield Drains,
Energy Drains, and Subsystem Offline effects. A potent
combination!
Control Expertise plays a similar new role, combining the
previous mechanical effects of Graviton Generators,
Countermeasures, Subspace Decompiler, Inertial Dampers and
Sensors. With investment into a single Skill, players can become
a Control powerhouse. Ignore the Skill at your own peril, lest
you remain vulnerable to these same effects!
Ground Combat has also received a significant streamlining
through the introduction of a powerful new consolidation of
existing skills: Kit Performance
Kit Performance, simply put, takes the place of all of the
profession-specific skills that used to improve different kit
modules in different ways. Now, investment in this single skill
has the same effect as previously spending in all of your
profession-specific skills would have had. The skills being
replaced by Kit Performance are:
•Engineering: Demolitions, Repairs, Generators, Turrets & Drones
and Modification Specialist
•Science: Medic, Physiology, Scientist, Probability Logistics
and Particle Physics
•Tactical: Grenades, Special Forces, Squad Command and Advanced
Tactics
The new skill behaves the same as the old ones did, except that
you no longer have to make the choice between improving the
duration of your Weapons Malfunction debuff vs. the amount of
Shields your Phaser Turret has, or the damage of your Chroniton
Mines.
One profession-specific skill missing from the above lists is
Combat Specialist, which is getting a slightly different
treatment. It will be granted automatically to all characters
(not just Tacticals), but no longer improves critical hits and
melee-themed kit abilities.
Other consolidated Skills exist, such as combining both existing
“Weapon Specialization” skills into superior choices that
improve both Energy and Kinetic weapons, rather than encouraging
players to ignore one or the other.
In the end, the list of Skills that ended up on the cutting room
floor is extremely short:
•Attack Patterns:
All abilities that previously benefited from this Skill have
been re-balanced to behave as if the player had fully invested
in the old Attack Patterns skill.
But Wait, There’s More!
With all of this consolidation occurring, there must be empty
places in this new Skill Tree that require filling in, right? Of
course you’re right!
New options are being introduced that will allow players to
invest in Skills that will increase Shield Hardness, Hull and
Shield Regeneration, Armor and Shield Penetration, or provide
cooldown reductions for certain Bridge Officer Abilities.
We are also introducing entirely new mechanics as options
players can purchase from their Skill Tree:
Coordination Protocols
•This 3-point Skill allows players to increase the effectiveness
of their Hangar Pets, by gaining passive bonuses to their hull
capacity, shield capacity, damage output, damage resistance,
defense and accuracy. These benefits will also be granted to
other non-hangar pets and player teammates, albeit at a lower
value.
Shield Mastery
•Purchasing the first rank in this 3-point Skill allows you to
automatically negate the damage from one incoming Critical Hit
every 20 seconds. Additional investments can be made to also
have this negation trigger a Shield Heal and/or Reflect the
damage back at the attacker.
Long-Range Targeting Sensors
•Each rank purchased in this 3-point Skill will reduce the
damage penalty experienced by being far away from the target of
your energy weapons.
With these new options spread across all Engineering, Science
and Tactical sections of the Space Skill Tree, we anticipate
players feeling many compelling reasons to step outside of their
usual comfort zone and perhaps even exploring new ways of
progressing their captain and starship.
In Summary…
We are extremely excited about the changes we’ve made to
leveling up and earning skills by overhauling this core feature.
With strong guiding design principles and a thorough
understanding of how our players interact with the existing
system, we believe that progressing your character is going to
become a far more enjoyable and interesting experience for all
of our existing players, as well as removing a significant
barrier to entry that previously existed for new players.
Obviously, with such an enormous amount of change happening
simultaneously, it would be hard to imagine that everything
involved is seen as perfect by everyone, or meets everyone’s
needs and expectations. So get your feedback heard early! We
will do our best to answer further questions as they arise
within the community, and provide more detailed explanations of
any mechanical changes, in an effort to keep everyone
well-informed and excited about this revamp.
We’re also going to be keeping a very close watch on feedback
from our Tribble Test Server over the coming weeks, while this
new system undergoes its final tuning and tweaking. We greatly
encourage all existing players to try out the changes, both with
new and existing characters, and offer whatever feedback you can
before the new Skill System becomes a permanent part of the Star
Trek Online experience with the launch of Season 11.5 later this
Spring!
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