massive shield depleter

[thorfrog]

Why not just mod the massive shield depleter to fire 3 or 4 times in combat. That makes the most sense.

[PvK]

travislp, yes that's more or less what I did to the shield base in Proportions.

automannj, yes that would help the depleter a bit.

Baron, I don't see Religious as weak, with its shrines and above all the talisman. The talisman is about the most powerful offensive tool in the game, it seems to me.

Temporal also don't seem weak to me - their weapons can be devastating to anyone who uses shields, and those who don't use shields are in trouble at some point, unless they are organically armored.

PvK

[Phoenix-D]

"Religious needs something more to help it on the 'offensive'."

*cough* TALISMAN *cough*

Phoenix-D

[capnq]

Sure, the Talisman is great, but can you survive long enough to research it? I've yet to manage that in multi-player. (Although the fact that I was fighting Askan in two of those three games had a lot to do with it.)

[Baron Munchausen]

The Talisman just means that whatever direct fire weapons you carry will always hit if within range. The default weapon for the Norak is the Meson BLaster, which has a range 2 less than the APB and many other direct fire weapons in the game, not to mention various seekers. This is not such a big advantage as you might think, though it can be nice in certain situations. Popping through a WP to find a bunch of Talisman-equipped ships waiting for you is NOT fun! But they can still be easily out-ranged and they still have to break down any shield/armor in order to do serious damage to an enemy. I've changed them to research the PPB and that does make them more dangerous.

[ 29 April 2002: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[Phoenix-D]

Don't picture the AI races for balance- picture a human player. APB, Wave Motion Gun.. engage at max range. Max range on the APB is 8. That means against a fully defended opponent (ECM, stealth armor) with combat sensor III, you have about NIL chance to hit.

+65% (CSIII)
-60% (ECMIII)
-15% (stealth armor)
-15% (scattering armor)

= -25%. Since range 8 = 20% chance to hit and SE4 rounds, you have a 1% chance to hit. Compare this to the Talisman player, who hits EVERY time.

The WMG is better of since it has an inherent 30% bonus. And of course you must hold the range open.

Phoenix-D

[PvK]

Ya, I have seen talismans deployed in player-vs.-player games and they are up there with the Ark of the Covenant in effectiveness. You can also put them on weapon platforms, satellites, starbases... but even a half-dozen battlecruisers with APB's become able to devastate dozens of opponents and emerge unscathed (and having done so, will become even more invincible thanks to experience).

As for the stock Norak run by the AI, well, ya, I'm sure they need all the help they can get.

PvK