I have to admit I certainly felt the DPS drop on Tuesday with my protorps (using a pike w/ clusters and protorps), and aside from my general rustiness (I need to seriously get back in the saddle, as I kept making timing mistakes and generally am behind on the situational awareness), I feel that part of it is because protorps now are quite effective tools for killing targets, but have terrible DPS. So I found myself instinctively relying on them more than usual, using them as primary missile as opposed to my old way of doing things (which was to rely more on guns, as well as using clusters to force the missile break and following up with a protorp, which was quite effective vs gunships). Instead, I now found myself hunting mainly with protorps... this generally led to plenty of kills but much lower DPS. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with the changes, though haven't been able to play enough to really nail down what would work best for me (definitely investigating protorps+concussions though on my pike, and thinking of picking up my clarion for bomber heavy domination matches).

Subtle. I'm actually glad to hear you absolutely certainly not confirm that playtesting was involved. I'm very glad to see the devs taking GSF so seriously. Though I hope you can forgive some of us us for being somewhat cynical, after seeing our favourite game mode languish in neglect for so many years. Either way, this is wonderful to hear, and it's great to see so many fixes and improvements done. As for the torpedoes, I haven't followed the data mines in a while, so that explains that.

I must be blind, I looked at both weapon's changes, and there's nothing about lock being unbreakable. Is this perhaps some tooltip in game? Please help out this doddering old man by quoting the text in question.

I'm not sure I see what the problem is... was there a change to make protorps unbreakable? The one change that I'm aware of is that Distortion Field no longer works on missiles post-launch. Engine breaks will still work as before against any missiles.

Do you mean that Torpedo locks can still be broken by distortion field AFTER they have been launched?

Very nice analysis, Rama. Definitely a lot of implications here. One thing that I am very excited about, speaking as a specialized Strike pilot (albeit a very rusty one), is that the various buffs and changes suddenly make a whole lot of different builds at least _potentially_ viable. So while I'm sure things will soon settle into a new meta, it looks like there will be at least _some_ flexibility in builds that won't totally cripple your effectiveness. At the very least, it looks players who don't necessarily want to play at top tier competitive levels will have a lot more options to play with while still remaining contributing members of their teams.

I wouldn't be surprised if all those buffs overshot the mark a little, quite frankly. I used to do fairly well in my Pike back in the day (one of the few who did, mind you), and these upgrades are anything but subtle... not that I'm complaining mind you. I'm sure some further adjustment will be necessary to properly balance things, once we get used to the new meta, but this definitely will make the Strike fighters useful in their own right, and it still maintains the uniqueness of the Scouts (still more mobility, and definitely still leading in the burst damage department). All in all, what we're seeing here is the Devs listening to our suggestions, and making an honest effort in fixing this awesome gameplay mode. It is, at the very least, a very encouraging change. Can't wait for the new map.

I didn't ask for this... But those changes look mighty fine. Too bad by now I'm so rusty I'll probably get nothing out of all the buffs to my beloved Pike. That being said, the changes are so extensive that it'll probably be a while before we have a new handle on the new meta, and learn what needs further adjustment (wouldn't be surprised if the buffs overshot the mark a bit, for example).

I do wish they'd communicate the changes... but my hope is they will pay close attention to our reaction and make necessary adjustments to ensure there is proper balance between the various class types. There's no way they will nail everything in a single round of changes, so follow ups will be necessary.

Oh my. GSF changes... I thought this day would never come. Time to re-sub.

To be fair, you can still have a lot of fun AND success in a Strike fighter. I certainly have. And there's something to be said for succeeding against the odds.

Concerning the idea of reviving Strike Night... I think that the ultimate goal of the balance changes would be to make it so there's no longer any need for Strike Nights, and make it so we have a more even distribution of ship classes at the competitive level. ::goes back to hugging his Pike plushie::

I believe it was specifically stated they have no plans for new modes or maps, very sadly. GSF just isn't generating enough revenue for it, I would imagine. Which, of course, means the onus is on us to popularize GSF and incite more players to try out that neat GSF button they see on their GUI... and not drive them away when they try it. Ironically, I think one of the best things that could happen to Strike fighters is precisely the addition of a new mode which rewards multi-role capabilities. Best example would be an assault mode that requires the use of protorps to destroy objectives. This would not only make strikes more useful, but would also improve protorp-capable bombers and gunships. That said, I certainly won't complain if Strikes are made more capable dogfighters.

Very well said. It captures the classic space sim gameplay, rather than relying on "special" abilities (burst CDs, sniping, or minelaying). Also, I love using protorps on my Pike... and the rep players get to enjoy fighters that look like X-wings. They deserve to be competitive on that argument alone!

Personally I like them all, though probably the best way to introduce the global "class" changes would be gradually: slowly phasing in each change to avoid overshooting the mark and turning GSF into a strike-fest (though keeping in mind that it WILL turn into a Strike fest for a while the moment any improvements are made... but things should balance out as people return to their favourite class in due time). After all, let's not forget that it IS possible to excel in a Strike, so any upgrade should be fairly gradual. Beyond pure balance changes, I think the best thing that could happen to strikes would be a new game mode that makes Protorps significant, such an assault mode that requires destroying hardened objectives (thereby making a multi-role starfighter actually useful). Either way, I certainly hope the devs follow through with this discussion. It would certainly help breathe new life into GSF. Thank you.

Salutations. I've unfortunately been rather semi0dormant for quite some time now, popping in from time to time, but those who do remember me will know that I am an avid Strike Fighter player, with the Pike being my starfighter of choice (Because X-wing *grin*). While there are several reasons I've gone inactive as of late, the lack of attention to GSF was certainly a prominent factor, so I'm _very_ happy to hear about this topic, and that the devs are actually listening. Since I haven't been active lately, my advice has a chance of not being current, but then again little has changed since I last played frequently so my thoughts are likely relevant. But to be honest, I don't think I could do any better than the suggestions already outlined by Nemarus, so here they are again, with a dedicated Strike pilot's stamp of approval. Thank you. Itkovian

I'm not sure if a discussion on the UI issues really belongs in this thread, quite frankly. Perhaps it belongs better in a separate thread? As I understand it, the goal of this thread is to present the devs with a variety of low-complexity changes that could be implemented with minimal dev time. Namely, changes to values that are hopefully not hardcoded in GSF, and that are easy to manipulate without potentially introducing major bugs. Granted, no change in something as complex as a video game is actually simple, but hopefully most suggestions in this thread involve easily manipulated values. UI issues naturally fall outside of this category (including things like adding an artificial horizon or some such). Not to play moderator, but if our goal is to provide the devs a series of simple balance pass fixes, along with discussions on their merits, it's probably best we don't veer too much off topic as it may muddy the waters. Just a thought. Thank you.

Speaking as a dedicated Strike pilot (particularly the T2), I think the following would be quite nice for strikes: 1- Improving boost energy efficiency (so strikes can boost longer). 2- Giving Strikes a native buff to accuracy. Not much, but enough to partly make up for our lack of active buff abilities. Beyond that, reducing missile breaks in some way would be a good nice-to-have (and should be a necessary companion to any Cluster missile nerf, IMO). And I wouldn't be adverse to a Protorp buff (because blue booms are fun *grin*). That said, concerning adding horizon or arrows or some such, let's not forget the purpose of this thread is to suggest changes that can be made simply by fiddling with values... any real additions will require us to make GSF significantly more popular and profitable before the devs would bother investing the manpower necessary to make it happen. Thank you. Overall though, this is an excellent thread.

This thread makes me sad, and I'm afraid Nemarus is correct in his assessment... but I also hope he is successful in his generating developer attention and bringing about some improvements based on Verain's thread (which is an excellent effort). It's unfortunate, as one only needs to look at Star Conflict to see how much potential there is for growth in GSF. It's rather unfortunate, as GSF has several things going for it over Star Conflict, beyond simple branding. For one thing, GSF is much faster-paced and exhilarating than SC, and has many features that add depth to it (missile employment, component progression, power distribution, and better dogfighting comes to mind). That said, I don't think that complaining about the devs not focusing on GSF is going to help. Efforts like Verain's and Nemarus' are a good way to try and get some improvements our way... but if we want more, I think our only chance is to make it more popular. How could this be achieved? Well efforts like the Flight Night are a good way to do it. Let's invite players to join us and come try it out, and try to minimize the main barriers new players face. These barriers are naturally the bad matchmaking and very poor tutorial in the game, which means we have complete newbies getting matched up against Aces on their first matches, and getting completely demolished. This is a major barrier to player retention, as a casual player who decides to just take a look can easily be driven away by it. Naturally we've all been there, including those of us in the Beta, but few people will want to keep queuing after getting thoroughly facestomped. I guess what I think it comes down to is that we, as a community, need to make more efforts to be more welcoming and helpful to new players. There's already such efforts in progress (like the EH Flight Night, Drako's AMA, vids, and so on), but more could probably be done. Perhaps some actual "newbie nights" or some such (Nugget Nights, to stick with the aviation theme ), where we actively invite people on the station or some such to team up and queue up, and we coordinate with the top guilds to take things easy. Less focus on winning, more on helping the new players have fun. Just a thought, though I'm sure it's not an original one. Thank you. Itkovian

Looks good, I hope it continues to bring in new people (and most importantly: retaining them).

This sounds like an excellent idea. Most particularly, I like that it's not meant to be "super serious", but rather just as a way to help out new pilots get some fast pops and good matches/training. How is it working out so far? Are the queue fairly balanced? I imagine popping over to the other side when things are unbalanced probably helps keep things fun.

While I haven't flown for several weeks now, I have to agree with that sentiment as I've noticed it in the past in myself (though not with DF, of course). Now, to be clear, I've been mostly flying my Pike since GSF came out (because X-wing), and back when they nerfed the missile break cooldowns (particular Barrel Roll, my ability of choice) I was really worried that I'd been relying too much on the 10 second cooldown and using it as a crutch. So weeks before the nerf went live I decide to stop using Barrel Roll to break every lock and keep to a 30-ish second cooldown, relying instead on just flying and boosting and LOSing to break locks. And turned out it was completely doable, and that's in a Pike. And I've been doing quite well since then despite having a single break at the longest cooldown available (well, when I wasn't horribly rusty ). Granted, a Strike is better able to tank missiles, but on the other hand Scouts (particularly those using DF) fare much better against blasters... and naturally breaking locks through good piloting is easier on a scout. That's not to say I think the DF bug would make a good balance fix, though I won't argue with those saying Strikes need a buff, because personally I think the most important balance change (when it comes to Strikes) would be the introduction of some game mode that pushes the use of Protorps (and perhaps concussions). For example, the Assault mode that was datamined, which no doubt would require torping shielded targets for progression. This would also make the bomber/gunship variants with torpedoes more popular and encourage multi-role gameplay. Sadly, at this point hoping for more game modes is probably futile. Anyway, that's my two cents on the issue. Itkovian

This is certainly an impressive series of bugs. It doesn't even have the decency of making sense (like all right side upgrades not working, which might lend credence to things going wrong with the trees). Looks like it's time to fly stock.

Salutations. I unfortunately haven't been on much lately (RL happened, and when I am on my regular flying partners haven't been either, sadly), but I have to say that from a purely personal perspective, the best that could be done to revitalize GSF is new game modes. Just 2 game modes gets very repetitive very quickly, and just 1 more (or, heaven forbid, 2) would go a long way towards adding some excellent variety to the gameplay. Naturally, more maps would be helpful as well. Game modes and maps, I'd pay good money for that. Itkovian

Aye, 30% heal might be useful. Somewhat (like people said, that much HP is still going to be burned through in one shot), though it may be of some use when you get pegged with a slug railgun. Assuming you avoid the follow up shot, it would allow you to "reset" the damage, as it were. Either way, Astromech is needed.