Is It just me? Are Scouts a bit OP?

[LeonBraun]

Now, the Sting/Flashfire is more problematic, largely because it seems so much better than the Rycer/Star Guard in most respects. Yes, it's not as durable, but it has anti-figther missiles as well as anti-turrent rockets, better durability than the Blackbolt, and so forth.

 

The Flashfire/Sting have EITHER rocket pods or Cluster Missiles, but not both.

 

If they use Rocket Pods, they excel at taking out turrets and stationary ships, or ones that try to play chicken with a Scout, but the weakness for Rocket Pods is their low accuracy and can be defended by mobility.

 

If they use Cluster missiles, they are better dogfighters, but lose the burst ability as well as being able to take out turrets effectively.

 

Quite honestly I'm a little baffled at people feeling Scouts are OP. They have things they excel at and the issue comes when people try to out-scout the Scouts. You have to play them for their many weaknesses, not play into their hands.

[Sharee]

Now, the Sting/Flashfire is more problematic, largely because it seems so much better than the Rycer/Star Guard in most respects.

 

I think that's more a problem with the Star guard than with the Flashfire. The strike fighters just don't know what they are supposed to do. They get picked apart at long range by gunships, and at short range by scouts. The only problem a strike fighter gives my scout is the constant missile locks when i am already fighting someone else(and even in that scenario, a gunship would be much more of a threat).

 

Strike fighters need some niche they will excel at that neither the scout nor the gunship has access to. Currently they don't have one.

[Lymain]

Strike fighters need some niche they will excel at that neither the scout nor the gunship has access to. Currently they don't have one.

 

Their niche is the ability to be effective at multiple ranges with a single loadout. They're all about versatility...making them the best at any one role while maintaining their versatility would be overpowered. However, some slight improvements to missiles and giving the Rycer/Star Guard access to BLCs would emphasize their intended strengths more.

[DarthVindictus]

LoL clusters, I have never met a good scout pilot that uses clusters extensively. Please clusters are a cheap trick that are nothing more than a psych weapon. I often run out of the things early in a match and fight on with no reduction in capacity without them.

 

However removing rocket pods would hurt the class hard.

 

Upgraded clusters are far more dangerous than rocket pods. especially when I can count on my hands how many times I've actually been hit by rocket pods. If they have the upgrade to fire 2 clusters at once they really hurt.

[DarthVindictus]

Their niche is the ability to be effective at multiple ranges with a single loadout. They're all about versatility...making them the best at any one role while maintaining their versatility would be overpowered. However, some slight improvements to missiles and giving the Rycer/Star Guard access to BLCs would emphasize their intended strengths more.

 

"multiple ranges"

 

short and shorter? Generally a strike fighter is equipped to be effective between 4-5k range, same as a flashfire/sting.

[Sharee]

I have mentioned the sensor package in previous posts, and the sensor upgrade is indeed a nice Novadive exclusive upgrade (at lease between the 2 scouts). Unfortunately, dampening only works at distances beyond 15,000 meters. This does allows you to sneak up on objectives and gunships, but if they're wary they'll still see you as soon as you cross the 15,000 meter threshold.

 

Where do you get this information from? I am fairly sure i have been hit before by gunships that i could not target back. If what you wrote was true, i should have been able to, as to hit me a gunship needs to be within 15km.

 

You mention using rocket pods with light lasers to kill a gunship before it realizes it's been made. This is indeed a good strategy, but one that is better realized with a Flashfire. Burst cannons have more burst damage than light lasers, and Flashfires can equip rocket pods too if they choose. Blaster overcharge is the third and final ingredient in the gunship assassin's cookbook, but it is Flashfire only.

 

Burst laser does more damage per hit. It has 'more burst' than light lasers when all you get is one hit. That's why its excellent for knife fights where you only get brief windows of opportunity to fire.

 

But when you get to hold down the trigger, the weapon's DPS comes into play, and light lasers beat burst laser because they have higher accuracy at the distance you open from, and also higher DPS.

 

And i am not using blaster overcharge, i prefer booster recharge, because it allows me to get where i need to be much faster, and also saves my butt when i get hit by ion tap(Quick Boost -> Barrel Roll).

[mr_sim]

This is your problem. You make this claim in all your posts, but never support it. In what way do strikers have more "punch" or "sustained dps" in any way?

 

The strikers have ion cannons, heavy laser cannons, proton torpedoes, and a couple of other things that don't really seem to be particularly effective compared to the advantages of the Flashfire.

 

If you have a strike fighter that out "punches" the Flashfires on your server, please tell us what your build is for this ship.

 

I couldn't find who your were quoting BTW.

 

If you add potential dps from striker missiles and cannons then yes they do more total damage before exhaustion. The key factor is role and good mechanics as scouts have no long range dps ability. The strikers can build for long range and more importantly have strong medium range abilities, every class does short range obviously. So the theoretical factor is that a striker will engage from long range into medium range and finish up at short range hence longer period of damage dealing hence more total dps. The Scout though more notably the flashfire as it is the Dogfighter of the scouts needs burst to have some parody to the striker.

 

I have mentioned the sensor package in previous posts, and the sensor upgrade is indeed a nice Novadive exclusive upgrade (at lease between the 2 scouts). Unfortunately, dampening only works at distances beyond 15,000 meters. This does allows you to sneak up on objectives and gunships, but if they're wary they'll still see you as soon as you cross the 15,000 meter threshold.

 

You mention using rocket pods with light lasers to kill a gunship before it realizes it's been made. This is indeed a good strategy, but one that is better realized with a Flashfire. Burst cannons have more burst damage than light lasers, and Flashfires can equip rocket pods too if they choose. Blaster overcharge is the third and final ingredient in the gunship assassin's cookbook, but it is Flashfire only.

 

Essentially the question is are you willing to give up burst cannons and blaster overcharge in order to receive the sensor package? The answer for most gunship hunters is "no."

 

The problem with the sensor upgrade is it seems to be the *only* advantage that the Novadive has over the Flashfire.

 

OK so lets firm up the scout roles here as the two types are actually quite diverse.

 

The True Scout is the Nova Dive and the Black Bolt. It has the most traversablity(engine power) strong sensors, and crude missiles that allow it to open up its range. The True Scout performs these roles best:

 

- initial Capture, In fact you can build yours a a one off ship that you only use at match opening.

- Control point response, at C but there is trouble at A, your the only one that can get there in time to do anything. that said the True Scout is only really able to delay capture until heavyer help arrives.

- Responsive Control point assault, this is similar to control point response. Basically when your opponent is pouring it on one of your control points with heavy numbers you quickly hit the now stripped defenses of rear control points

- GS scouting, Search and distract. You have the sensors to spot that GS your team knows it there, the sooner that GS stops shooting at them the better, good thing your good at the response role. You might wish to book some quality time with some striker buddies to meet you out there for some coffee and armor busting.

- turrets slashers, use strafing runs to take out turrets.

 

The Interceptor Scout. This be the flashfires and Stings, also cartel unlock scout. This is the second most transverable ship in the game. In many ways it's not a scout at all but Bioware probably wanted to keep the classes simple. The interceptor Scout performs these roles best:

 

- responsive defense, like the True Scout it has the legs to get to the next control point in time to make a difference. it's limited to the next door where the True Scout can cross the map.

- responsive assault(anti-starfighter) same as True scout though again not quite as fast and should focus on downing the defending starfighters and not simply turning the control point.

- Medium Range intercept. hit node attackers when they are zeroed in on a node and beginning their attack runs.

- Hunter killers. Turns out your team found Baron Fel or Wedge Antilles is killing them off by the numbers, your mission is to find tie up and if possible destroy this ACE. Essentially your using your speed to turn a 12v12 into an 11v11. This role should only be applied if there is a problematic Ace.

- GS assault. this is not to say it is the ideal craft to do this, merely is to say that it is also a role the interceptor can perform.

 

Now you can rebuild a scout to try to make it perform a different role, A bursty scout will kill turrets any ship can kill turrets. But to say interceptors are ideal turret killers is not a universally factual statement, while I believe a players can adapt his play style to be effective on turrets that does not mean it is the optimal tool for the job, and perhaps you should be performing a different role and not killing off turrets as some one else is more optimized to do it. It's sort of like a Dps having to do self heals while the healer is dpsing the boss.

 

The Interceptor scout is a good choice for supporting the True Scout because of it's closer speed parody.

[Lymain]

"multiple ranges"

 

short and shorter? Generally a strike fighter is equipped to be effective between 4-5k range, same as a flashfire/sting.

 

So you're complaining about having the freedom to make sub-optimal choices? I started out using the Laser Cannon on my Blackbolt; that doesn't mean the Blackbolt is gimp.

 

As a strike fighter, your weapon selections dictate how powerful your number 1 hotkey is. Maximize the usefulness of that hotkey in order to leverage the offensive advantage that strike fighters have.

[Delta_V]

Here's the thing. Blaster Overcharge is powerful yes, but it's only effective on stationary targets or fighters that are moving in a straight line. Anything that is moving makes a hard target for the Scout. Once the Scout has their CD's on cool down, they're as good as naked out there. That the advantage and players have to counter that effectively. If they want to play chicken with a Scout popping their CD's, they are gonna be gunned down. Don't make yourself easy prey for a Scout.[/Quote]

 

LOL, what? Moving targets are harder for Strikes because they're slower and less maneuverable. Scouts can leverage their superior speed and maneuverability to keep the target in their sights.

 

Also, Flashfires are naked w/out their cooldowns? Their damage is comparable to a Strike's without their offensive cooldowns, and far superior when they are up. Defensively, they might have lower shields on paper, but 41% evasion means they're only taking 59% of the blaster damage a Strike would in the same situation (and that's not even accounting for the Flashfire's speed and maneuverability making it easier to stay out of the enemies' sights), which closes the gap in durability considerably. Evasion might not help against missiles (although Distortion Field can be specced into giving a second lock breaker), but if you are routinely letting the enemy get missile locks when you're in one of the two fastest, most maneuverable fighters in the game, you are doing something wrong.

 

Second, Cluster missiles are not part of any burst mechanic on a Scout, they have a locking time and are ineffective if anything is moving around at any rate, and they don't work well with said CD's that some are having issues with. What gives the Scout burst are their Rocket Pods combined with their offensive blaster CD's which again only really work well on stationary targets, or fighters moving in a straight line. Again, don't make yourself easy prey for a Scout. It's not all that complicated.

 

The cluster missiles also work much better on Striker as they're more of a range fighter and have to play vectors and angles well. Don't try to out race a Scout, or fly in a straight line with one, that is playing to their strengths. Come in on them at angles and use your locking missiles. Strikers are designed to have more punch and have more durability; use this strength. If you are playing a Striker, don't try to out-scout the Scout. Play to the SF strengths.

 

Rocket Pods are better for ambushing stationary targets (aka Gunships. Turrets don't count because anyone and their mother can kill them w/out difficulty) because they don't alert the target w/ a lock-on warning, but Clusters are a perfectly viable option in a dogfight. I'd argue that Clusters are a better all-around option because, like you said, Rockets are only useful against stationary targets. If you're encountering more stationary targets than the occasional Gunship (again, dealing with Turrets is so trivial it shouldn't affect your build), you are playing against incompetent morons, and it shouldn't matter what strategy or build you use. Clusters have such a wide firing arc that they are perfectly usable in a dogfight (if you can hit the enemy w/ your lasers, you can usually get a lock-on at the same time). Each missile might not do a whole lot of damage, but when you've got over 20 of them (and very few will be wasted since they're almost impossible to evade after they've been fired), they can add up to a significant chunk of damage.

 

Again, you talk about Strikes somehow having "more punch" and yet you still haven't justified this statement. What Strike build has "more punch" than a Flashfire? The only weapons the Strikes have access to that a Flashfire doesn't are Heavy Lasers, Ion Cannons (Starguard only), Concussion Missiles, Proton Torpedoes, and Ion Missiles (Pike only). Of those, most are niche weapons that have lower overall damage potential than the more general-purpose weapons. The only one from that list which lends itself to a higher dps potential are Ion Cannons, but as others have noted, the delay when switching between weapons means they're only practical against targets w/ large shield pools (currently Gunships, and likely Bombers when they show up).

[mr_sim]

Strikers have large pools to but their recharge rate + maneuverability diminished Ion effectiveness.

[Delta_V]

Where do you get this information from? I am fairly sure i have been hit before by gunships that i could not target back. If what you wrote was true, i should have been able to, as to hit me a gunship needs to be within 15km. [/Quote]

 

In the Known Issues thread, there is a comment about Dampening being limited to 15k (too lazy to find it atm). Also, in my experience, every time I've been killed by a Gunship, I've been able to press "R" to target it (which you can't do if it's not in sensor range). I don't know if you were on the PTS for GSF, but Dampening worked back then, and it was horrible. Strike Fighters couldn't detect Sensor-Damped Gunships until they got within 6k, which rendered them all but useless, and almost everyone was either flying a Gunship or the default Scout for the Sensor Range component.

 

If the bug w/ Sensor Dampening is fixed, it would vastly improve the usefulness of the Novadive, since the extra sensor range would be invaluable, but it would also completely screw over Strikes.

[mr_sim]

In the Known Issues thread, there is a comment about Dampening being limited to 15k (too lazy to find it atm). Also, in my experience, every time I've been killed by a Gunship, I've been able to press "R" to target it (which you can't do if it's not in sensor range). I don't know if you were on the PTS for GSF, but Dampening worked back then, and it was horrible. Strike Fighters couldn't detect Sensor-Damped Gunships until they got within 6k, which rendered them all but useless, and almost everyone was either flying a Gunship or the default Scout for the Sensor Range component.

 

If the bug w/ Sensor Dampening is fixed, it would vastly improve the usefulness of the Novadive, since the extra sensor range would be invaluable, but it would also completely screw over Strikes.

 

interesting, perhaps you could find that link to the know issue.

[Zoom_VI]

I will concede that Burst lasers + any offensive cooldown is probably one of the derpyest mechanics second only to ion rail.

[DarthVindictus]

So you're complaining about having the freedom to make sub-optimal choices? I started out using the Laser Cannon on my Blackbolt; that doesn't mean the Blackbolt is gimp.

 

As a strike fighter, your weapon selections dictate how powerful your number 1 hotkey is. Maximize the usefulness of that hotkey in order to leverage the offensive advantage that strike fighters have.

 

You still only get a range flexibility of about 1000 if you use the longest range lasers, which are too slow to be very effective.

 

Strike fighters need a primary weapon that has a max range of 7000 for you to be able to consider them "effective at multiple ranges" because when we're talking one weapon having a range of 4000, and another of 5000, it's not even really a range difference.

[Delta_V]

interesting, perhaps you could find that link to the know issue.

 

Here's the link (it's in the Bug Report forums): Clicky

 

Here's the relevant part (under Galactic Starfighter):

•All Sensor Dampening upgrades are currently limited to 15k meters.

[/Quote]

 

It's not exactly clear what this means on its own, but based on observation in-game, it certainly seems like Sensor Dampening cannot reduce Sensor Range below 15k meters. I for one hope this "bug" never gets fixed, as I was on the PTS, and have no desire to repeat that nightmare of invisible gunships sniping people left and right (and people hadn't even realized the game-breaking potential of Ion Railguns at that point ).

[Sharee]

You still only get a range flexibility of about 1000 if you use the longest range lasers, which are too slow to be very effective.

 

Strike fighters need a primary weapon that has a max range of 7000 for you to be able to consider them "effective at multiple ranges" because when we're talking one weapon having a range of 4000, and another of 5000, it's not even really a range difference.

 

Upgraded heavy lasers have a range of 6300(not counting range capacitor). Just sayin'.

[Sharee]

Here's the link (it's in the Bug Report forums): Clicky.

 

Thanks! That changes a few things. For one, dampening sensors are utterly useless for a gunship hunting scout, as a gunship only has 2500 more sensor range than 15km, and treek alone negates that.

 

/back to drawing board.

 

(on a positive note, this means i dont need to have two different ships for normal combat and gunship hunting:D)

[HKtheindomitable]

Statement: OP, I applaud your intelligent posts. They haven't turned into QQ posts that are full of rage.

 

Statement: Unfortunately, the only ones denying what you say are Scout pilots.

 

Side: Unless I missed one that isn't a Scout pilot.

 

Continuation: And a bunch of the Scout pilot posters are ones that I've seen in all the other threads of this type and all they do are make posts that essentially (and almost exactly) say, " Stop QQing!", "L2P" "You need more skillz!", "Everything's fine with my ship because it wins everytime and shouldn't be nerfed because then it would be a challenge. You just suck!" Very deconstructive, and against the forum/community guidelines.

 

Statement: If the poster is wrong, then prove it with evidence and facts, not name calling. Act like an adult, not a 5 year old.

 

Statement: I switch between Striker (upgraded Star Guard) and Scout (Upgraded Flashfire), and find the Scout to be super effective. But I prefer my Striker because I hate being what everyone else is (much like when the favored and best PvP classes were either Sorcerer Heals and Operative stun-stab-killers were). It's mostly frustrating when all but 2 of the opposing faction consist of Scouts that just tear up the other team. That is the biggest problem. Strikers should be able to take out a scout in a couple (don't quote me on that number) of hits, but only when the hits land (thus the high evasion). Strikers should be able to survive most hits that come from the scouts. Gunships should die to Scouts because they can't move as fast. Strikers and Scouts should die to Gunships because Gunships hit really hard (because that's what a sniper does).

 

Simplification: To put it simply: Weapons: GS>SF>S Armor: SF>GS>S (GS & S armor being nearly the same) Shields: GS>SF>S Evasion: S>SF>GS.

 

Retort: And in response to the "Scouts are not OP/better." comments, the obvious fact that in 7 of every 10 matches I'm in, both sides (except for the ones with all the new players(so frustrating when they waltz in and ask for advice DURING the match instead of reading guides)) are 9 S, 1 SF, and 2 GS or 9 S, 3 GS says that Scouts are probably better than they should be. Mostly it's the opposite faction (Imps on my server, a server which unfortunately consists of hardcore Imperial PvPers and complaining pug Republic PvPers) that flies mostly Scouts and are almost always premades.

 

Conclusion: The short version of this is that you should read it and respond intelligently and constructively or I will report you to the master and have you publicly flogged.

[LeonBraun]

^^ You typed a lot in this last post but backed it up with absolutely nothing.

 

1. Suggesting people who have differing opinions are Scout pilots is mere conjecture.

2. Good pilots are good with whatever fighter they pilot.

3. Scouts are not OP, they have a role just like each other fighter does.

 

Scouts are great at moving around and capping objectives; if one considers that OP, then that is their perspective.

 

But in terms of getting kills, Strikers are face roll easy to get kills in, and one could argue the same is true with gunships. Scouts can get kills, but it takes much more skill to do consistently, and honestly is not their primary role anyway.

 

Conclusion: This thread is baseless and just plain dumb.

 

/thread

[HKtheindomitable]

^^ You typed a lot in this last post but backed it up with absolutely nothing.

 

1. Suggesting people who have differing opinions are Scout pilots is mere conjecture.

2. Good pilots are good with whatever fighter they pilot.

3. Scouts are not OP, they have a role just like each other fighter does.

 

Scouts are great at moving around and capping objectives; if one considers that OP, then that is their perspective.

 

But in terms of getting kills, Strikers are face roll easy to get kills in, and one could argue the same is true with gunships. Scouts can get kills, but it takes much more skill to do consistently, and honestly is not their primary role anyway.

 

Conclusion: This thread is baseless and just plain dumb.

 

/thread

 

Statement: Perfect example of a non-constructive post from someone who read one or two posts, formed an opinion, then posted. I recognize it because I've done it.

 

Query: And the "/thread" thing. What is that even supposed to mean?

 

Rebuttal: I backed it up with plenty. While skill is very important, it is not skillful for a Scout to rip through the fully upgraded shields and armor of a Strike Fighter and abilities in a few seconds while the fighter is weaving around super tight areas. Two or more should, but not just one. And there's always something up with a class of any type when the majority play as that one type instead of it being a consistent balanced mixture.

 

Addendum: I will say that maybe there is nothing wrong and that the official release with the added modes, weapons, and ships will change things so that they all can be the role they are supposed to be. But at the moment, things are off.

 

Admission: I saw a huge mixture of different ship types in the beginning. But it has slowly turned into what it is now: Scout + Gun Ship vs Scout + Gun Ship with the odd Strike Fighter involved.

[LeonBraun]

Statement: Perfect example of a non-constructive post from someone who read one or two posts, formed an opinion, then posted. I recognize it because I've done it.

 

Yes you have done this, in fact, in this very post.

 

Go back and read all 27 pages of this thread and then try to write the same uninformed type of post again. You won't be able to. Educate yourself first and then proceed to hop into some constructive discussion.

[dancezwithnubz]

i'm a Blackbolt pilot myself. i don't think they're "overpowered" at all. if anything, rocket pods are underpowered for what they are.

 

why Flashfire/Sting gets Blaster Overcharge when Strike Fighters don't is a mystery to me. Blaster Overcharge seems like the sort of ability that Strike Fighters should have as stock.

 

I don't think it's so much that scouts are 'OP', it's just that scouts can fulfill their roles a damn sight better than Strike fighters can fill theirs.

 

if anything, Strikes need some love. Right now, a Flashfire/Sting is the ship that Strike Fighters want to be when they grow up. A flashfire with Blaster Overcharge is what i think of as a 'Short Range Scout'. give that same ship Booster Recharge, it's a Long Range Scout.

[HKtheindomitable]

Yes you have done this, in fact, in this very post.

 

Go back and read all 27 pages of this thread and then try to write the same uninformed type of post again. You won't be able to. Educate yourself first and then proceed to hop into some constructive discussion.

 

Irritated Observation: Again with the deconstructive posts. You continue it causing it to lead into a derailment of the thread topic.

 

Statement: I shall not indulge your foolish responses any longer. It is both unnecessary nor productive in any way. Attacking an opinion and in that manner is not the way to hold a discussion, especially on a forum. I am trying to deal with you in a manner befitting a mature sentient meatbag. If you have something to say in a mature manner that proves another wrong then speak it in a mature manner.

 

Conclusion: I have presented my case in my initial post about this topic. I shall take your advice and go through this thread again to ensure that I did not miss anything and correct myself where needed. In the mean time this nonsense between us will end.

 

Observation: Back to the subject at hand, I'm not quite sure that when mr_sim says "OP" that it is in the common, misused way that indicates something is way out of balanced. I do believe it is in the sense that they are a bit stronger in an as of yet unknown area for an as of yet unknown reason that shouldn't exist; be it pilot error on other ships (Striker Fighters especially), or something in the way the Scout's components/abilities work.

 

Suggestion: Perhaps "OP" and "Imbalance" aren't the right terms for this. I believe "disproportionate to their expected class capability" is more fitting.

 

Query: Tell me mr_sim, am I correct in understanding your meaning?

[mr_sim]

Wow I thought this thread had died to the annals of pages never visited. Though I was proud that it became the longest discussion thread in this GSF forum the only longer one I've seen is the GSF records one.

 

LeoBraun and HK you both have said a lot and I'm not going to attempt to quote everything quote everything.

 

Since it wasn't answered "/thread" means end of thread. I don't know if LeoBraun means to imply his participation is ended or if he means to suggest that the discussion is over and nobody should continue the thread. I've seen him "/thread" before and assume it's the former, though he did post after his "/thread" but I won't make anything out of it.

 

I started this thread with a question not a conclusion, "Are scouts over powered?"

 

We can argue the language of overpowered vs off balance, I did need to market the thread somehow and the thread has had discussion that evolved above the bias of it's title.

 

Also fact this thread started a week after launch, so early that there were almost no Flashfires/Stings yet in the game, It was actually started about novadive/blackbolt but as I said the discussion evolved.

 

Conclusions this thread and/or I have discovered:

 

- Scouts and Strikers have a lot of overlapping roles. This causes endless confusion and rivalry between the classes. My hope is that bombers will help better separate the roles of these 2 craft, my PTS experience leads me to hope this true.

 

- Scouts might have an easier L2P then Striker L2P. That is not to say that the scout has less of a learning curve overall, but simply that in the initial learning phase the Scout seems to be easier to pick up then the Striker. For example the Scout is a get in close tear them upship, I just explained 60% of how to fight the scout in 6 word that make perfect sense. I challenge anyone to do so for the striker.

 

It's this simplicity for the initial learning that was probably the reason that I started this thread in hindsight. Today I am far more competent in my striker as are a lot of players out there. I do maintain that the scout is better built for racking up lots of kills as well as ninja others kills, this is all because of the Scouts transverability allowing it to always be where the action is. I only get minorly annoyed by Scout kill ninjas, I assume it's just scouts being scouts and not deliberate attempts. I think that strikers are getting ripped off on the end of match score boards specifically on the damage and objective lists. It almost seems that shield damage is not recorded only hull damage is, I know as a striker pilot I do more shield damage then anything mostly with missiles.

 

As for objective points I think it needs to be adjusted and this will actually benefit scouts as well. When you clear a satellite of turrets, remaining close in prevents turrets from spawning but you don't get points if other ship are in close as you won't actually capture. To this I say for both teams you should receive objective points every time a turret would have spawned but didn't because it was blocked.

 

So let me answer my own question, "Are Scouts OP?" My answer today is no. However I do still believe they are exploitable which in my opinion does not make them OP as not every scout takes advantage. There are builds that make a scout kill a striker in an insanely fast amount of time is the striker has power shifted to either weapons or engines.

 

Basically what you see when such fighters are around is Scouts that can put everything into their lasers but strikers need to nerf their own lasers just to stay alive, which would almost be tolerable until said scout pops distortion field and becomes an invincible overcharged killing machine, yes it's 6 seconds and yes there is a cooldown but that's not too much comfort to the players who got dead, only the next guy if there is one.

 

There are a couple choke points in this game and have seen scouts park there and from stationary proceed to blow away multiple ships.

 

Here's the minimal fix. Every other class in the game has either a weapon swap or a bomb launch tied to the weapon ability slot. Only the Scout has a buff in that slot. So here's what you do, Do not allow weapon buff and a shield buff at the same time.

[Ramalina]

That's pretty good insight on the annoying aspect of Scout interceptor builds.

 

In older games A wings and TIE interceptors had the speed and maneuverability to get on a target and stay on it until it was dead, with little chance it would escape. The tradeoff was weaker shields, weaker spaceframes, and less firepower. It worked because you could keep on someone's tail and blast away until they died.

 

In GSF the scout interceptors retain the speed and maneuverability advantage, but they have cooldowns that let them have: effective invincibility and higher damage output than a heavy fighter, both at the same time.

 

It's the heavy fighters that are relegated to trying to spend a long time on target, only without the tools to do it, while the scout interceptors get the unrivaled firepower that you'd expect to show up in a heavy fighter without paying for it in terms of speed and manuverability.

 

I think part of the design problem comes from being built by people used to balancing ground PvP in MMORPGs. It seems like they vastly underestimated the extent to which having brief shot opportunities against a maneuvering target reduces the value of sustained DPS and enhances the value of burst DPS.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Ramalina