Support Pilot Love

[Gentleman_snow]

Evasion bonuses and power dive have become good friends. We get drinks and get slapped by twi'lek dancers a lot in our spare time.

[RickDagles]

You should really consider changing to Running Interference. It will, even on a Strike, prevent more damage than Hydrospanner will repair. It has the added benefit of providing your nearby teammates with an evasion buff as well, and in this game, evasion is the best defense available. You might also want to check out the guide I posted recently right here in these forums.

 

Eh, I think Wingman is the only choice for the T3 Strike. It is already tanky enough without RI. Its problem is lack of teeth, and Wingman somewhat addresses that issue.

 

 

Oh and on the topic - shield talent on repair probes and repair drone is only a tiny bit useful when paired with a Overcharged Shield T1 Bomber. It only *kinda* works here because the shield regen on overcharged shields is so painfully slow. Otherwise the talent is completely useless because normal shield regen makes it redundant.

 

 

Ammo replenish, on the other hand, is one of the best upgrades in the entire game. Qa'an on Red Eclipse runs a Bloodmark with Repair/Ammo and it's extremely useful at supporting a Podscout + CP Razorwire team (Scout gets pods, Razorwire gets heals). You could do the same support with a Legion, but it's cool to see it being utilized with the Bloodmark. The Imperium might be the best option but it kinda requires VOIP.

Edited July 4, 2015 by RickDagles

[ALaggyGrunt]

I'll add that Wingman (and RI) are also support talents: pop it near a friendly gunship or on a scout fight on a sat, and your teammates there become a lot deadlier.

[DakhathKilrathi]

Eh, I think Wingman is the only choice for the T3 Strike. It is already tanky enough without RI. Its problem is lack of teeth, and Wingman somewhat addresses that issue.

 

While I agree, most people who run Hydrospanner really want a defensive cooldown. I don't agree with their reasoning, but RI is a better defensive cooldown than Hydrospanner is in every way that matters.

 

 

On topic: It's not like the other categories can't be cheesed as it is. Kills aren't as likely to be, but farming assists is really, really easy. Farming damage is similarly really easy. Farming objective points? Yep, just stay on the node. Farming medals is also way too easy. Some players would abuse the ability to farm heals, sure, but I don't think it'd be a widespread problem any more than the others already are.

Edited July 6, 2015 by DakhathKilrathi

[MiaowZedong]

Some of the achievements already in game are really unlikely to happen without deliberately farming them (at the expense of actually trying to win the game, or trying to win by the widest margin). It's to the extent where I'm pretty sure nobody has ever reached 100% GSF achievements without "abuse". It's even worse in warzones.

[Danalon]

Some of the achievements already in game are really unlikely to happen without deliberately farming them (at the expense of actually trying to win the game, or trying to win by the widest margin). It's to the extent where I'm pretty sure nobody has ever reached 100% GSF achievements without "abuse". It's even worse in warzones.

 

Almost all achievements can be done by normal play although you may need to switch ships because some are easier depending on what ship is used.

The exceptions are the "kill 12 turrets in one game" and "kill 8 turrets in 100 games". Personally I find these counterproductive to do in a DOM match because they require the other team having at least one satellite that's not being attacked. Those should be done in matches where the outcome is already determined.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Danalon

[DakhathKilrathi]

Getting 4K heals multiple times sorta requires farming it if you want to finish in a reasonable time frame. I can't think of any of the others that are terribly difficult off of the top of my head.

[MiaowZedong]

Almost all achievements can be done by normal play although you may need to switch ships because some are easier depending on what ship is used.

The exceptions are the "kill 12 turrets in one game" and "kill 8 turrets in 100 games". Personally I find these counterproductive to do in a DOM match because they require the other team having at least one satellite that's not being attacked. Those should be done in matches where the outcome is already determined.

 

They can all be done in normal play but you won't get 100 of some before the SWTOR servers go offline

 

And yes, Demolisher is the most ridiculous one.

[StrixHiraeth]

showing healing done and naming drones for allies only would both really help promote pilot love.

 

I for one do not support pilot love. Romantic relationships within the ranks wreak havoc on strategy and should be emphatically discouraged. Pilots must focus on the mission, not their love.

[Ardaneb]

The secret to getting demolisher in normal game play is to solo queue repeatedly against a strong team. Taking out those turrets will be part of good strategy.

[Armonddd]

The secret to getting demolisher in normal game play is to solo queue repeatedly against a strong team. Taking out those turrets will be part of good strategy.

 

From experience, that takes *forever*. And if I'm a good pilot (which I am), I have to literally go AFK at times so my team doesn't push harder than they can handle.

 

Much easier to just bother teammates until they leave the point alone, and manipulate wargames, and such.

[Ardaneb]

I have to literally go AFK at times so my team doesn't push harder than they can handle.

I don't understand this sentence. Do you mean that you spend much of the round typing in chat? Protecting new players?

 

In a round where I am the best player on either side with almost all beginners on my team, I generally cap a satellite and hope that the beginners hold onto the satellite while I try to get the second one. That is typically only 3 turrets, but that situation usually leads to long matches with a lot of satellite turnover.

 

If the round is so bad that the other team is trying to 3 cap, then I just keep attacking satellites to bring the score closer. This one feels like *forever* but the turret count just happens. Plus, if the match is looking like 850-50 or something, I just switch satellites for the last 3 turrets. It is way easier than manipulating a wargame. The only problem with this strategy is a problem with GSF as a whole: no one wants to lose that many matches in a row before the match even starts.

[Armonddd]

I don't understand this sentence. Do you mean that you spend much of the round typing in chat? Protecting new players?

 

No, I mean that if I am performing at my normal efficiency, the enemy team is not alive enough to defend their point from the other seven on my team.

 

I have something like a 70% win rate when queueing solo, 95% with my usual team. It's not uncommon for 3-caps to happen unless I essentially take myself out of the fight, so that's what I end up having to do.

[Linuxizer]

In easy matches where I bounce my T2 bomber off the satellite the whole match, I do about 7000 repairs. In a competitive match where I was playing normally and attacking ships, satellites and defending (and dying every so often), I did above 15000 repairs. The T3 strike repairs less, and I don't think it can do 4000 repairs to itself within 334 seconds, but I'll check the numbers later.

 

I guess you could be in an easy match, fly a T2 bomber or T3 scout, and get 2 or 3 teammates to also keep bouncing off the satellites and maybe get 30000 repairs. In that kind of match, the stats on the scoreboard are mostly irrelevant anyway. So adding repair stats on the scoreboard is fine. Just don't add them to the match records thread.

[nyghtrunner]

Buffing anything that's falling apart is hardly useless, ammo buff or no. Most people die even with my repairs pretty quickly, so they refill their own ammo. It's worked just fine for the most part.

I get what you're saying, and while I can understand where you're coming from, as someone who flies scouts a lot and who will often stay alive long enough to run out of ammo, I will say that I tend to love, love, LOVE repairs that refill pods or clusters, and try to let those who drop the drones know in Ops chat every time I see the ammo refill icon on my ship. Even if it's just something quick like, "<3 ammo! Thanks! :D".

 

I think in general, the argument is that shields (from the Drones or Probes, at least. Shield projector is a different story) won't heal enough, fast enough, to make a difference while the fighting is going on, and if there's no fighting, you can just power to shields to replenish.

 

That said, I do agree with you about getting a bit more love for support without having to dig. A "healed" column alone would go a long way to letting others know you were helping them out. I will often look at medals at the end of a match, and I tend to sort by damage, rather than kills, but I doubt most people do either. Most seem to base performance off of kills alone.

 

So overall, consider me a +1 here. I don't need to see who healed who, but just seeing the healing was done would be a nice addition.

Edited July 7, 2015 by nyghtrunner

[Gentleman_snow]

Okay, I've got the final tier of repair drones, the option that refills ammo supply midfield. I told you guys I'd look into it. ^_^ Still loving the Clarion. Buffed up it's a nice fighter. Not perfect, but as a team element, I wish more people played it.

[AlrikFassbauer]

Not perfect, but as a team element, I wish more people played it.

 

None of the aces is using it on a regular basis, sop no-one will of the casuals will use it - there must be a reason aces don't use certain things, no ?

 

What aces use is good - what aces don't use is bad - it's simple logic.

Edited July 10, 2015 by AlrikFassbauer

[Armonddd]

None of the aces is using it on a regular basis, sop no-one will of the casuals will use it - there must be a reason aces don't use certain things, no ?

 

What aces use is good - what aces don't use is bad - it's simple logic.

 

I and several other aces I know run repair drone with ammo on a regular basis in competitive matches.

 

In fact, I would go so far as to say that a TDM composition without a Warcarrier/Legion is not optimal. The ability to hang back and recuperate is a huge boon.

[MaximilianPower]

None of the aces is using it on a regular basis, sop no-one will of the casuals will use it - there must be a reason aces don't use certain things, no ?

 

What aces use is good - what aces don't use is bad - it's simple logic.

 

Simple logic, but based on a completely flawed premise. Almost every player I know who's any good flies support builds - maybe not more often than their favorite offensive powerhouse, but certainly on a "regular basis".

[Fractalsponge]

No one should be without heals on their bar for domination, and ideally not for TDM either. Tensor is life. Reloads are life, and Heals are literally life.

[MaximilianPower]

I and several other aces I know run repair drone with ammo on a regular basis in competitive matches.

 

In fact, I would go so far as to say that a TDM composition without a Warcarrier/Legion is not optimal. The ability to hang back and recuperate is a huge boon.

 

Personally my go-to support build is the T3 scout, largely because I'm incompetent with bombers. And while I don't put up eye-popping numbers in that thing, it has absolutely swung close matches. Tensor alone makes a huge impact, not to mention the value of a well-placed/timed repair drone with ammo.

Edited July 10, 2015 by MaximilianPower

[Gentleman_snow]

Hey, don't knock the Clarion. It's got a specific use, but used well it can really boost your team and get a few kills to boot. Not everything in GSF is bloodshed when objectives are involved.