The announcement of this years winder event is both a 'high' and a 'meh' for me. A high because I really like the winter event and meh because this years ship is another Fek'Ihri ship; A Fek'Ihri Gok'tad Carrier [T6]. The details should be out 'soon' so I'll have to reserve full judgment till I see it's stats.
The previous 2 Fek'Ihri ships were/are interesting, even if it's the first (S'torr Warship)that I have a greater liking for. The 2nd, the Dreadnought Carrier just never clicked with me. At least with both of those getting the third will allow some options for cross console use... Maybe....
The image of the new ship looks to be a cross between the first two in size at least.... Lets hope it's stats are interesting.
While I've an ever increasing number of games that are a longterm mainstay; Dawn of Man is definitely one of them. Having only been in and out to check new patch content it's been a good few months since I was back to the game properly. So no wonder when I got a hankering the last few day's to put in a bit of time with it. Which I did. It's a great game to 'just' be in. To watch, maintain and manage it's future. That type of gameplay isn't for everyone but if your into it this game gives it in spades.
Even with all the changes, patches and additions to the game it's as fun now as it was then. My Northlands map save is still my 'goto', to be on. It's not a perfect village and there's still some 'manual' micromanagement that needs to be done; But I'm happy enough with it overall.
The armourer update for the long shields and chain-mail armour is great; The newer cheese making not so much(no massive milk production for it to be really useful on this save).
Still fun in watching it all work away; I guess I've a good setup. Here's a full year of that village. Autumn to Autumn (at x8 speed); no comments, no interactions, 'just' the village doing it's own thing....
Earlier today saw the last daily needed for the current events on both PC and Xbox. Once the daily was done and the rewards claimed I ran the TFO once more on each platform for the dilithium daily reward follow up. This event with its repeat of a previous event TFO run was just about getting tedious when it ended. Yet I'll keep doing it on both PC and Xbox until the event timeline is over. No pressure Dil is no pressure.
With the last patch I've been having problems with ship traits/modules and devices staying slotted once selected and saved. Even with a copy of they way I had things setup there's an odd lowering of dps at times. DPS is up and down but still 'effective'.
Xbox live for December. That time again. Four more freebies for the month.
The free games that come every month are so subjective to a gamer; It's no wonder most of the games I see listed with Games with Gold are not of interest to me.
Bleed 2; A short, bullet shooting, fast scrolling platformer. It's a game type that I do be picky about. Glancing at this one, it does nothing for me.
Stacking as a puzzle solver and The Raven Remastered as an investigation solver; Both likewise do noting for me...... at the moment.
3 of 4 that I'll still claim even if I'm not diving straight into them. Then again given last months Aragami surprise I might find more entertainment than I think. Time will tell.
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell is a game I'll be interested in. It's been a long time since I was in my GTA/Saints Row prime; But I'd be interested to see this standalone re-boot-ish version of Saints IV. At the very least I'll give it a try.
I've been pottering away with Gunjack. Getting a few steam achievements in the process. Mainly by aiming to get the 3 star ratting on each mission. Which has been fun and which I've done on all but 4 levels (# 14, 17, 18 & 20).
The end of the last level (level 20) is the scorpion battleship which kicks my áss. I'm missing a trick here as I keep trying to kill the subsystems yet don't seem to be able to do damage to the overall health when targeting elsewhere. Then again I've only tried to do it twice so I'm not exactly 'trying'.
Fun shooter is fun but I'm in no way breaking my back over it. Getting the star ratings and completing the end mission are the real motivators. It's a fun game but repetitive. Once the motivators are 'done' I can't see myself getting back to it for a while. Even then it'll be for the rose tinted good bit highlights. Niche game is niche. Long-term gameplay in Gunjack will come more easily if you have any from of love for ye-olde arcade style wave shooters(vertical or otherwise). For me that comes more from my C64 days and specifically Lightforce.
As gunjack is a few years old I'm noticing a very two sided coin to it's interweb footprint. The year it came out it was 'fresh', 'visionary' and 'visually stunning'; Now it's all the opposites. 30 minute video's praising it then have turned into 30 minutes of down-talking it now...... Either-way then and now, both pro or con were overthinking it. It's a turret wave shooter, not the second coming!
Anyway.
Last time I mentioned the Drake 'mini' boss; It's an Eve Online ship I have a fondness for. In doing mission 11 to get it's third star, this time round, I decided to record it. Great ship with some fun Gunjack mechanics.
Finishing off the game was appreciable. It allowed for some enjoyable tactical stealth game-play along with some brute force. Again the 'boss' fights were not fights; Again I appreciate that and given the end game story-line I really get it. A game that has it's own style and interpretation.
The end boss is more of a traditional end boss fight but still has the Aragami twist; Get three attacks on the boss and finish with an attack from above. More a tactical exercise with precision rather than hammering away at a huge health bar. Really enjoyable even if there's a Dark Souls one hit kill element from the boss.
Going into this game I got it free and went in blind. No history or info look-ups. I had fun with the game and the ending. The story while a little cleché and one you can see coming, wasn't any less enjoyable due to it, at eleast for me. I felt satisfied with the fight and the ending(and the game overall).
Speaking of which here's the end cut-scenes and fight(all the spoilers, no avoiding them):
First things first, I've prolonged getting my decided upon choice of VR headset for a 'while'. An Oculus Rift was on the verge of purchase when news hit that the Rift S would be out. So I waited. Mulled and waited some more. This week was the straw the broke that camels back; Mainly due to the high volume of....the entire country that's ordering online for the December season(as retail is pretty much closed with a lock-down). No better time for VR.... I saw it being sold a few days ago at a local store chain(click and collect) for slightly more than if I'd gotten it from source... In my mind I could get it there and then be home with it for an extra €20 instead of waiting a week or two for delivery. So I did it and had it on my PC and on my head within an hour. Bit of a surreal moment to get the thing I've been mulling for such a long time so quickly.
On a side note about the Facebook sign-in ..... It's not something I'm overly concerned about. At a basic level of the argument I'll be using the Rift S with Steam for the most part and not the Oculus store so....... Meh?!
The Rift S controllers and VR in general are so easy to use and get into..... VR interaction is intuitive. Reaching out and grabbing something in VR is natural. So much so that you forget you've got controllers in your hands.
So the game I've spent the most time in so far.....
Gunjack.... While the game is simple in overall gameplay mechanics. It's a fun VR shooter. Gunjack is usually €4.99 and I picked it up on sale for €2.49 about a year and a half ago although it feels longer(yea I mull things over, bit of a contradiction given some of my impulse buy's). I've got my monies worth in just a few minutes playing it now.
The 'Boss' fights in the game are Battleships from Eve Online so the Abandon and the Scorpion make a big impression that I can appreciate. A mini boss that I really enjoy (as a Caldari at heart) is the Drake with it's 5 repping drones. Each of which you need to kill before you can damage the ship. Not that you need to know any of that going into the game, it doesn't make a difference. Them showing up will be an event even if you know them or not. The way they act in Gunjack is not how they act in Eve(for the most part). Different game different mechanics etc....
As with all VR a video for YouTube doesn't do it justice. Being in the 3D/360 degree environment even sitting down with a controller is a literal enveloping blast. Here's mission 2:
I know saying all of this is really late to the party but I'm not waffling on this blog to be cutting edge or for profit. I'm just here to waffle about my gaming and this is a big step. I've no regrets in buying it. A gaming device I'd recommend but not one I'd say is essential. Definitely try before you buy if there's the slightest doubt. There are plenty of VR centers where you can try out VR for 30 minutes to an hour. More than enough time to see for yourself.
There are downsides to VR. Wearing the headset is easy but the view initially starting out felt like it was blinkered(in a scuba goggles kind of way). The view in VR is wider and not like the slit video above; Yet there's still a black surround but once your in an activity/game all that becomes imperceptible and your only going to 'see ' the content your concentrating on.
So yea I've no regrets about buying the Rift S, not at all. I went with it because it was specifically PC oriented as opposed to the Quest 2 etc(listed as *PC VR-compatible*) . Where it's optional to be connected to a PC. I'm a PC gamer, I don't want a headset that will be non PC centric. It's not like they could change something down the line.... Like needing a Facebook login....(bucket load of sarcasm). So otherwise I'm taking a chance that it won't be cheaper for the next few months before it disappears form being sold.
I chose the headset instead of the current hassle of getting a next gen console. I'm all about the Xbox but for now going from Xbox One to Series X does nothing for me that I can't already do. Series X will be a buy in a year or so.
The headset built in directional sound is also kinda cool. While not a user only sound system..... I could be in Gunjack combat sitting a few feet from my wife and she could only hear about as much as if I'd my normal headphones on(Razer Kraken 7.1 v2).
Other games I've tried in VR so far:
Everspace. As a more dedicated VR implementation, one I was looking froward to it let me down. I was unhappy at how it felt. I spent 2 minutes in combat and said no to more. Graphically is was jagged and not the smooth, slick game I've played normally.
Google Earth VR is a fun time waster. A bit like your in a god mode for the new Flight Simulator just to see the landscape.
House of the Dying Sun's implementation of a cockpit space flight shooter was epic. A real surprise. A really cool game to play in VR. I'll be doing more with it.
Race the Sun was fun in VR. I felt it made the game easier to play in first person mode. 3rd person mode took a moment to get used to. In game spacial awareness etc.... As fast as the game is I felt no motion sickness with it.
Subnautica; a Game I've enjoyed for over 200 hours was both a joy and a nightmare to see in VR. After 200 hours of normal gameplay I've been trained to play the game a certain way and getting used to a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse was hard. Setting up the Rift controllers was a no go as they didn't work with the game(not for me). The initial loading time for my main playthrough was always long but for VR it was really long. Make a cup of tea long. The subnautica listing says that VR is still experimental and in development(I doubt it, at this stage given it been out a while). Don't get me wrong, it was great to walk around one of my bases, lean to look around a corner and just experience things from a 'real' first person perspective, actually in the shoes of the main character. Overall as a VR game it feels unfinished in a lot of ways so maybe it's never going to feel 'finished'. Like being in the Seamoth and viewing a headless character model while trying to pilot the thing!
It was also the first game to make me feel a 'that's not right' disorientation. At least in walking mode; In the water was a different story, freedom was a bit hampered by using a controller. Worth seeing and experiencing some locations for the initial fun awe factor but I can't play the game in VR. After having left the game I was still a little unbalanced after taking the headset off and for a little while after that. As if my own real world spacial awareness was off kilter. Hmmmm don't VR and drive; Different games may affect different players differently. The worst I did was misjudge a step on the stairs and spill a drink I was carrying.
So VR is good overall. It seems that the bigger the game the more one sided a gamers opinion is going to be, in a love it or hate it way. Whereas the smaller games are more enjoyable overall. Expectation vs the VR reality, proof really is in the doing.
One VR game I'm looking forward to getting further into is Tetris Effect Connected which gets a VR patch in December.
As for Gunjack 2: End of shift it seems to be for the Gear VR only. It might have been a game I'd buy if it was on Steam but since all VR has ceased from CCP I won't get to find out.
And last but not least Beat Sabre is one I want to get.
I've mentioned an Eve Online friend before, he's also a true Eve bitter veteran; He's also back to the game, was back on his main for a week(or so) and now has paid for a month(or so)... His workaround for an old laptop(yea that guy) is to enable as much externally as he can; Gaming from a couch with a wireless keyboard and mouse on his 50"(or so) tv. Needs must I suppose. The downside is that he is in a good 10 hours of a time zone difference to me. I may have mentioned that as well at some stage. His early(early) morning is my late(late) night and vise versa. While we still talk/mail in game and out it's been really hard to get some time to game together. It's a pity. It happens.
We'll have to try for some crossover, just to say we did try. He could use a friend in game to help him at the mo. Not that he's inexperienced or anything like that but the wreckage of ships and gear he's lost through getting lag/disconnected... Well it's cluttering up my precious and previously clear(mostly) corp losses tab. At least as a 'friend' I could have kept up the dps aggro or saved his áss-ets.
Time(and or luck) will tell if we can co-ordinate something.
On a side note he's the player, that really 'sold' Eve Online to me(whhaaaaaaaaaaay back when), made it a real thing to get into(rather than an abstract harsh space sim). Stories of null-sec, war, trials and tribulations were the foundation of what the game was and could be. Obviously back then he didn't sell it hard enough as another rl friend got me into the easier World of Warcraft.... That friend is trying to get me back into it for Shadowlands..... No thanks!
Still it's been good to do more faffing about in Eve. Asset management at it's best, like before, just more.
Last weeks theme saw a crossover between Operations mode and being forced to use only bold action rifles. This weeks theme is less fun(imho) as it see's no primary weapons with Rush mode.
So yea the previous weeks theme was mainly rifles in large scale combat with a bunch of handgun users being OP, which is fun enough in the right balanced matches. Or as long as your on the winning side.
I'm rubbish with the standard bolt-action rifles in game, my non sniper aim sucks. That said I am lucky and a match a few days ago proved to be good; Enough times in an hour that I think I made a difference overall.
I particularly liked that portions of the match where I got to take up the mounted machine guns. That really felt like I had some sway. Yea it made me a target but was worth it(again and again)! Plus I got revenge for that one time.....
On a Battlefield tangent I downloaded and tried Battlefield 4(Xbox One) via gamepass; I've not played it since back on 360 years ago.... However with EA-Play accessible to Ultimate Xbox members I downloaded and tried it. Unfortunately my 360 BF 4 profile was not transferred. Seems I'm a few years to late for that once off transfer. I guess I'll have to wait till next month when BF 4 and 5 should be available on PC mid December-ish. If I'm to start fresh I may as well do it on a different platform. PC is my prefered FPS platform.... I wonder if there will be a resurgence of players in BF 1...
A surprise to be sure but one that keeps on surprising. Really happy to have gotten this game. I've been playing it a lot. The best freebie in a long time. I've avoided all internet searches about it's content. It's the small touches that I love with the game as well as the bigger game design choices. Like I said before it's a game that's simply complex. Easy to get into and makes your in game actions feel greater. At least for me.
I'm not a dark souls fan. I get that some players love the difficulty but for me those types of games end up in frustration.... That's not fun for me. I get it in some games(like this in Assassins Creed Origins). Challenge is challenge but difficulty for the sake of it takes a player away from enjoyment(imho). It's a hard balance to strike. Aragami is it's own gaming animal.
One of those bigger game design choices is a long-ish teased boss fight..... No story spoilers but game mechanic spoilers.... The boss fight is in retrospect simple and one I appreciate now because the main fight is a cut scene! Thanks Aragami. That's not to say you've nothing to do. The boss has a power shield and you need to disable the light crystals in the boss arena to weaken his protection.
Destroy crystal, attack boss from above, destroy crystal, attack boss from behind, destroy crystal and then when you get close to do another attack on the boss, expecting a 'big fight'..... cut-scene and story elements. I appreciate that. In the lead up to it I wasn't looking forward to it at all. There's so much sneaking and fighting in a game about sneaking and fighting that a boss fight isn't all it's cracked up to be. Especially when I saw the boss getting faster after each of my attacks. So yea I much prefer how it played out. Game that keeps on giving, in more ways than one...
I get that a lot of gamers drawn to this type of game won't appreciate that but Aragami is I think a greater game because of it's casualness. This boss fight suits it's style. Aragami is what it is and the frustrations of a boss fight that whittles down a health bar for the sake of it, isn't it.
Apt for a late night waffle: I don't get how STO calculates stats.
I try but I don't get it. I'm sure there's an institutional knowledge thing that's not written down...... I've seen experienced players give advice to newer players but it all seems to boil down to then experienced hand making choices over the newer for 'reasons' akin to 'just do it' as an explanation. That's kind of annoying when trying to work stuff out yourself.
Maybe it's just me. Not that I know stat thresholds or what % is best for what 'meta' build......I'm not a min/maxer; But like to think I have some knowledge.
So when the latest patch hit and reset all(personal/space/starship) traits on characters I forgot and took my 'best' ship(that last build) into a TFO; Instead of needing to check my mains traits to see why I was doing 'bad' dps... I needed to check his traits to see why he was getting 100k crits! First noticed with a 127k crit! Then I saw no traits slotted......
At the best of times with the fit I've 'complained' in the past that it was hitting way below it's 'expected' 100k ish expected levels............. So why now with a character that had no space traits slotted does it do above what I expected....
So yea I don't get how STO calculates stats or how to 'do' stats stacking in this game.......
Putting back some traits I thought 'good', it's a ship that now does consistently 'good' at around the 50k mark.
As for my 'common sense' build on my Xbox main... Her ship does about the same or better DPS judging by the high numbers that are consistently popping. Am happy about that, even if I can't explain it. Different platform, different rules in the background?
I still wsth there was a way to get a DPS meter in game. There was talk a while ago but I'm not sure if that's memory playing tricks or a long lost dev post(or reddit post) long ago .....
Anyway this last week pre patch I'd been messing about with canon builds, to put in the time to at least say I tried. I'm getting better but that needs a separate post. I'm still keeping my cannon ship/builds away from the beam boats. For now at least, till I feel like I can pilot them all equally enough..
Aragami is free this month(Nov. 2020) for anyone with an active Xbox subscription. Like all the games with gold/Ultimate freebies I claimed it. Unlike most of the freebies this was one I wanted to try.
It's a game that's proving a pleasant surprise. The stealth mechanics are fun to use and allow some great combinations. It's simple but complex; Making a casual gamer like me seem like I'm a pro with a few button clicks. What really adds to that are the abilities you unlock, they really add to the gameplay, distractions, mark enemies, body disposal etc....
The cape light meter is a great way of adding UI elements without a "UI".
The art style, cel-shader-esque is fitting as the colours, light, dark and well shade along with the mechanics really make the game. It looks and 'feels' good. The games got a combination of styles in that look and feel that's diffident enough from other games that there's a draw, when I leave the game I want to get back into it.
The game may be four years old and the expansion 2 but I'd not heard of the game or maybe I dismissed it one way or another, but I'm glad I have it now. I'm taking my time with this one, I'm casual and I'm taking it casually. I'll potter away with the main game and then see about the Nightfall prequel DLC.
Plenty of fun to be had yet.
I've had no issues with the game streaming to my PC from my Xbox One.
The only minor issue I have is with some elements of the game world/background that may look like a peddle but act like they are a large stone; That either halt your motion or make your character act like he stepped up on a boulder. I'm overstating but that's what it feels like in game. Especially as your sneaking about with an enemy close by.
Whilst the trailer for Aragami 2 looks good, it hasn't sparked anything with me that would 'make' me want to get it. Despite the ninja shadow jumping mechanic it came off as more of an Assassins Creed vibe to me. Aragami(the first game) feels special(now that I've played it) but less so with the sequel game. It's not as much a draw as it perhaps should be but that's just me. I'll stick with the first game.
Game-pass/Ultimate has been worthwhile. The number of games I've been able to play through it has both saved me money and time. I've bought one or two games to 'keep' and not bought games I'd have paid for if not for it. which is all a plus on top of the free monthly Games with Gold.
One game I now have access to is Tetris Effect Connected. I'd seen the base game when it cam out with promotions of the PlayStation VR and more recently with this video two years ago.
While I like the look/style of it, I never thought about getting the game. Xbox guy avoids PlayStation, twas no wonder. Other than knowing of it's existence as a PS game I never thought much about it since.
Till now; I have free access to play it as much as I want....... And I am.
A lot of the levels are fun to replay just to see the background/animations and music. Really great game and a massive step up from previous iterations never mind an original gameboy or Dos version... Yea it may have been a while since I last played a Tetris game 'seriously'.
Even on Normal difficulty a casual gamer like me does tend to get outpaced by a levels later speed boost increase. That speed increase, theme changes and the visual 'distractions' along with the music and tempo's are all things a player has to contend with to progress. Some good, some cause that distraction more than others, some are a combination of sensory overload. Mistakes have and are being made....Still fun is fun.
I've always been fascinated with the way some players setup their characters(like here and here) to mimic other non Trek forms.... This time round Buzz Lightyear, Ironman, and Agent 47, Star Trek Online has it all!
Today Yesterday on both Xbox and PC I completed the final daily for the Universal Red Alert reward.
The event is a good way to farm reputation and fleet marks. Which I did on a good few alts on PC and my main on Xbox. It's the farming of fleet marks on my PC main that gave a good bit of joy as I decided to do it with the handful of ships that needed to also have their mastery completed. Not to unlock any mastery ability but for the sake of fun. Of the handful there as one above all that I'd mothballed pretty much straight away after getting it. Leveling is fast and there were better ships, but nostalgia for the TNG series Galaxy Class is strong. Still not my favorite ship in the game but I wanted to enjoy the joyride with it and farm some more.
Like playing characters in game, small changes that help, a tweak here, an upgrade there and before long your ship, crew and enjoyment are more effective.....
I've enjoyed many a Need for Speed game. From way back when(NFS II SE, NFS III and NFS Porsche 2000) on PC to more 'recent' editions (like NFS Hot Pursuit) on Xbox; But it was the NFS Underground-esque versions of the franchise where I lost my interest. I'm not 'into' the Fast and the Furious movies so I think that waning of interest in the NFS franchise(like Heat / Payback) is no surprise since they have gone down that same route(pun? intended?). It's interesting to note that a new remastered version of Hot Pursuit is due out in a week or so. I'd no idea about it until looking up the wiki to get it's link for this blog post. Given I already have the Xbox 360 version I'm not sure if the remastered version on PC will give me a better experience?! I now need to see about that remaster?!
A few months ago I'd seen a second hand copy of the original Xbox version of NFS Hot Persuit II(2002). Another in the franchise I really liked and not been able to get again. So I got it this time round with some other OG Xbox bits(part 1 / part 2, I may need to do a part 3!). I also need to see about getting something to record OG Xbox footage; I think that could be fun.
All in all NFS has been on my mind in one way or another over the last while.
All that said and the real reason for this post, last week I got a chance to reinstalled and play an old favorite. The original 2005 disk version of Need for Speed Most Wanted. I've nothing against the 2012 version but it's not got the draw or nostalgia that I have for the 2005 edition. There was no hassle with the install and my old saves just needed to be dropped into the windows My Docs folder. I didn't apply any 'new' patches or mods as it worked with no problem. The game options allowed for some decent settings for current systems(Windows 10 etc), just no wide-screed. Once in game that didn't really matter to me.
In many ways the game has aged well. Yes nostalgia plays a part but overall it's a good game when your in the thick of the action. Good fun game-play. The only down side is that a lot of the graphical detail just isn't there; So some things look really bad up close, especially by today's standards. There's a HD mod pack that really makes the game look modern. I may get to mess about with that at some stage. For now I was only in for the nostalgia trip. A save game revisit and some police chase fun for the sake of it. Fun is fun and I got plenty of it with this retro visit.
Last week I took to my mains ship roster with a eye to improve what I needed and clear what I didn't. Improving on Bridge officers, ship gear, abilities and attributes. Through the course of a few days I went through each ship in turn. Improved and upgrading each as I went with some being stripped and dry docked or discharged. I'm no min/maxer but the proof was in the Advanced TFO pudding. If it was better in action then I'd stuck with it in the roster and compare how each went.
My blogging intention was to show lots of screenshots and video footage detailing each ship and my decisions for change, pro or con. However all that was thrown out the window by the Nvidia capture software recording my secondary screen rather than the primary and so no game footage for me to review, post or screen cap. Sucks. Disappointment was lack of motivation to continue. To redo things would be a pain. Yet in retrospect I can cut the chaff from the wheat, do an overview and be more precise still give detail without the need to with some waffle(who'd a thunk it!). I am after all a casual player. So here it is.
However in order to do this post I've hit another snag. I'm away from home this week working off my laptop. A good gaming laptop even after more than a few years but one that's showing it's age. With luck that will be forgiven by the fact that it's STO I'll be taking screenshots of....
In using the DPS charts to track damage/abilities I've come to two conclusions that I can make with certainty. That relying on DPS numbers is unreliable(even in the most controlled circumstances there's to much that can't be controlled. Unlike WoW, STO doesn't have target dummies that you can test a rotation on. So the DPS numbers helped only to gouge a ship in a group. So if a ship came middle of the 5 players in a TFO I was happy that it was 'viable'. The other conclusion is that the auto levelling of players to TFO's(if they are a lower level) is a skew on statistics that can't give accuracy, like for like in real player DPS numbers. At least not in a TFO 'in the wild'. I do think the bottom of the barrel DPS players are those that run TFO's but are 'boosted' in level by the game. Then again maybe not.
Going on gut and seeing numbers proc in space was a better way of 'telling' if a ship/fit/abilities were 'good'. Subjectively good for my character. Seeing my Xbox character for this (at least to me) proves my gut instinct. After all these ships are for my specific character(main for this post) with his specific abilities/unlocks/trait selections etc...
I may not have learned much since the last time I went though a reassessment of my mains ships but I have learned some things. It's was worth the effort.
Bottom to top here's the list of ships.
Two disruptor based builds are joint bottom place. Both T5 purchasable from the exchange. Both are hanging onto that spot by their fingernails. Both have been the recipients of swapping their better level gear to other ships higher up the food chain.
Bottom of the bottom two, the T5-U Hirogen Hunter Heavy Escort. Mainly because it's slower and has slightly less DPS.
Elachi dual beam disruptors up front, with Two space sets, the Omega force space set and the House Martok space set. A mish mash of free and upgraded items. For testing everything was mark XV. Image here is from after it gifted gear to better ships, lower than mark XV shows what went what went after testing. The tactical consoles were damage specific but no suitable replacement was in inventory so it was a case of make do. It was bottom of the list, close to being dry-docked so its no wonder really(this time).
The Other ship, a T5-U Tholian Meshweaver Escort is as fast as it is fun. Small, speedy and ultra maneuverable. It is a blast to fly. the type of ship that makes you giggle. Pretty much the same layout/fit of the previous T5-U Hirogen but with Withering disruptors instead. The new Event reward Space set is here along with the Martok space set. Again for testing everything was mark XV but with the exception of the 'Heirloom' 4 piece space set that is automatically mark XIV. Image here is from after it gifted gear to better ships after it's testing.
Both ships are serviceable, both do the job and both have their moments but there are better ships to have.
Next....
Next on the list is the T6 Alliance Battlecruiser. The exact opposite from the previous 2 in terms of speed and maneuverability. It's greater DPS saved it.
This Frankenstein's monster was all about (Radiant)Antiproton damage and it mainly still is but after some changes I added in the Prolonged Engagement set. The new Event reward Space set makes another appearance. Again for testing everything was mark XV and again the exception of the 'Heirloom' 4 piece.
Image here is very much from after it (was gutted) gifted gear to better ships after testing. Not much to say other than it beat the previous ships on dealing damage, slow in space but with a punch. Not much of a punch but a punch all the same. The only other Antiproton ship I have is a cannon build so if nothing else it's a (mainly) antiproton beam build that will do endeavor objectives. In fact the more I think about it the more I want to use the cannon build over it.
Next....
Next was a ship that got Dry-Docked. Perhaps the ship with the most expensive fit I've ever tried but at least it's fit got moved to the last ship in this list which is my Pilot Risian Corvette. A better fit for a better ship. I'd messaged the youtuber on twitter for any pointers on what I'd done wrong/misjudged or didn't understand etc; But despite an initially favorable response I'd not heard anything since. Pity but time waits for no-one, one way or the other.
I 'feel' I've got better cannon builds. For me I'm finding I can't properly use such a fast cannon build that needs specific facing arcs of fire. Not something I could be proficient at with this ship(or at least it felt that way). To me this ship is to much hard work. I initially liked it's charge in reverse boost and hammer dps on all in front of it..... But yea, to much like hard work.
It's build and use are not how I do cannon builds, I realize that now. Worth a try and worth getting through a charity event but not a ship for me in practice(for now).
I really need to look into these Cannon builds more before making things 'final'.
Hmmmmmm cannons, it and the Shran are 'provisional' placements.
Next....
The T6 Temporal Raider. A ship that ticked all the boxes in what I should like in a ship but in practice didn't live up to the expectations. Other ships, event rewards always outdid it's performance in my view. The more time has passed the stronger that view. Still it's like a combination of all the previous ships(I've kept), fast, maneuverable and with punch. A plan 'ol disruptor beam build with the new reward space set as well as the Martok space set.
Next....
If the ships before it were versions of Frankensteins monster, this fit really is an abomination a mish-mash of a fit. The T6 Fek'Ihri S'Torr Warship is an interesting ship built to pull enemies in front of it, blast'em with cannon fire and then run them over and damage them with it's flaming exhaust.
While I don't really use it as intended, it's fast, maneuverable and cool to see in combat.
2 Dual and a dual heavy Radiant Antiproton cannons up front with 4 turrets in the back. For me it's an easier ship to aim cannons with which is why it made the list over the Shran.
Next....
The Cardassian Intel Flight Deck Carrier, one of the better (for me) carrier ships I have. Not that I fully respect it with a fit but what I have works. Some ship fits are victims of circumstance. I think this is true for all my ships, this one especially. One fit built on the fit that came before. I like this ship, fast for it's size, packs a punch and covers all the bases that work for me. A definite step up in abilities than the ships that came before in the viability list.
It was with this ship that I first used the Console - Universal - Graviton Displacer outside of the Shran escort that that console comes on. A lot of ships have a lot to thank the Shran for; Even if I don't use the ship itself(much). The Graviton displacer is a gravity ball on a selfie stick in front of your ship. Which is great to mop up enemies. However it was the addition of using the Hyper-focused Trinary Array that made it 'a fun thing' for me to use. Mop up a bunch of ships and then use the 3 beam aoe to maximum effect(in my view). Fun.
Something that now also works with the addition of the new space set and its Mycelium Emitter ability. A step up from a duo to a trio combination. Interesting(not the best Gif created but enough to get the idea). Fun factor alone keeps this as is.
Next....
As big a jump in DPs and survival. The Ferengi D'Kora Marauder. A T5-U that may as well be a T6 ship(imho). So many slots it covers a lot of ground.
A Jack of all trades that delivers. Another ship I love. Packs a bigger punch with survivability. The only space set I have on it is the new reward Space set; With other parts that fit the bill for survival and DPS. Another ship fit that's developed over time.
The Marauder Battle Mode is one I appreciate and the swarm Missiles add to the fun. great ship to fly even if it's slower then most it makes up for it with damage.
Next....
A(The?) T6 Battlecruiser. The ugly duckling of my Federation ships. Not one I was drawn to, until I tried it out. Not as big a step up in DPS/survivability than the last ship but still enough of an improvement(as it is) all round to warrant it next in the list.
Slower than the last ship but doesn't feel like it due to a better broadsiding arc's of fire. Handy for Torpedoes.
Next (3)....
The next three are on par with each other, fast, effective and powerful. Love'em all. Great ships. My mainstay lineup, all event reward ships as well. In order Tetryon, Plasma and Phaser based and all upgraded to T-X.
Next....
Last but not least the recipient of the Risian luxury cruisers fit went to the Pilot Corvette which does give higher dps and maneuverability. Still a toss up on mood for flying any of my top 4. Fun is fun.
Further culling and changes needed for sure and a look further into cannons but for now that'll do.
