Uprising 1.8 Cold Feet: Must Have Caldari Commando

So after logging many more hours in the current Amarr Commando suit using the Rail Rifle/Shotgun setup, I've decided to ditch my plans for skilling into Caldari Logistics in favor of Caldari Commando.   I am not ready to give up inside-out play style I have recently grown to love.  I am still training into Gallente Commando for more in-your-face DPS.  This will give me more versatility on the battlefield, something I am always looking to increase. 

My current plan for tomorrow is to train both commando skills to level III.  After a week or so of field testing, I will likely train one of them to level V.  The fourteen-day event will give me ample opportunity to decide.  With the way bonuses will now be attached to dropsuit skills, it is important to cap them out.  With commando suits, more dropsuit skill means more DPS.

I predict the Caldari Commando will be the flavor of the month die to the bonus to rtange weapons.  I usually try to avoid such setups, but I believe this is my only option to avoid throwing away all the SP I have put into the Rail Rifle.

I am legitimately looking forward to the patch tomorrow.

Respec Decisions

Uprising 1.8, set to launch March 25, will add more content and change the game more than any patch since DUST 514 was officially launched last May.  There will be eight new racial suits, as well as nerfs to weapons and equipment designed to increase specialization through dropsuit bonuses.  As a result, Time-To-Kill (TTK) will be going up due the focus being shifted to heavy suits.  Oh, and scout suits will be able to cloak and nobody knows exactly how that is going to play out.  As a result, CCP will be refunding every DUST merc's skill points in the Dropsuit Command tree.  After the patch, I will have a little over 10 million SP to play with.  This is what I have decided:

 (Note: All changes referenced can be found in the Uprising 1.8 Patch Notes)

Gal Heavy Supremacy 

Both the commando and sentinel suits are set to become the major infantry players on the battlefield.  With the Caldari Assault suit getting its shield extender bonus whacked and light weapons getting a healthy nerf to the tune of 8-16%, the medium assault suits are going to have a much harder time killing before being killed.  With a 2% per level damage bonus to their racial light weapons, the new DPS king is going to be the commando.  The TTK increase is also going to turn sentinel suits into monsters.  The light weapon nerf helps enough (with no word of a heavy weapon nerf!), but the big guys will also be receiving damage resistance bonuses geared towards the expected incoming damage from enemy races.  I want to be fully skilled into one type of heavy suit after the patch to take full advange of these bonuses.  I'm going with Gallente for both sentinel and commando.  Here is why:

Besides saving 273.6k SP to cross train into another racial heavy tree, I feel both Gallente heavy suits have the edge over most of their competition in widest range of scenarios.  The Gallente Sentinel is the only version with two types of armor resists, its armor tank being the key advantage of the sentinel suits.  The resist bonuses are also against the type of damage done by the Rail Rifle and the Combat Rifle.  Although both of those weapons received sizable damage nerfs, I predict they both will be used extensively with their respective commando suits.  Given the primary role of the sentinel is to take and control small areas, those specific armor resists are enough to outpace the Amarr suit which has a slightly higher raw armor pool.

I ruled out the Minmatar Sentinel right away.  Its tank is too close to some commando suits and the speed bonus seems silly.  The Caldari Sentinel's one-second shield recharge delay definitely looks intriguing.  However, I'm looking for something capable of in-your-face fighting for my sentinel, so I'm going Gallente.

I gave the Amarr Commando some serious time during last weekend's Million Clone Challenge and liked the playstyle quite a bit.  I went with the Rail Rifle/Shotgun combination to utilize both long and short range tactics.  With the racial damage bonuses coming, at least one of those weapons would suffer.  Substituting the Assault Rifle for the Rail Rifle, I believe I can mimic the setup I experimented with and receive the bonuses to both of my weapons.  Another upcoming change is that weapon proficiency skills will only apply to shields or armor depending on the weapon type.  The Gallente weapons I plan on using will have their proficiency bonuses applied to shields.  This gave me pause, especially when it came to the shotgun.  However, the shotgun is not receiving a damage nerf so I believe it will perform roughly the same as it does now, just not as well against armor.  The other key damage nerf is the one to damage mods, bringing the complex boost much closer to the basic version.  The extra high slots in the Caldari and Minmatar versions do not allow them to outperform the Gallente and Amarr Commando suits enough to make them superior solely due to damage mod stacking. 

The major wildcard is what I believe will be the new flavor of the month when Uprising 1.8 is deployed: Caldari Commando.  With the Caldari Assault suit going the way of the dodo, I believe you will see most of the shield tankers utilizing the Rail Rifle with the Caldari Commando suit for the damage bonus.  The Rail Rifle holds its own at short range, but it outperforms the competition at medium-long distances.  So who will slay this beast?  Well, the Amarr Commando will benefit from a laser rifle damage buff and can hunt Caldari Commndos who are sniping.  However, with the Assault Rifle and Shotgun also very effective against shields, I contend they could hold their own against the Caldari version in the open, and outclass it up close.

Minmatar Haxor

Although I have a separate scout-only character on another account, I haven't trained heavily into the skills needed to be successful in a light suit on the DUST battlefield.  However, I want to have a nice scout loadout in my pocket to adjust to changing situations while playing the Skirmish game mode.  More specifically, I want a scout that can decloak at a control point, hack it before the enemy can respond, then run away like wuss.  Speed hacking may be a nice exploit using the 5% hack time reduction the Minmatar suits will enjoy.  They also get a 10% base bonus compared to 5% for the other scouts.  I think I can reap the benefits of such a setup by just training to Minmatar Scout III, saving me some valuable SP for other areas.

Bi-Logi-Curious

I love my jack of all trades Gallente logi setup.  It has advanced uplinks and nanohives, as well as a basic repair tool.  I can jump into any public match that is not a total facestomping and have a blast playing support, helping my team achieve victory.  The proto version of that suit can absorb much more damage while turning the tide at a control point.  The changes to both equipment and logi bonuses makes support roles much more specilized, forcing me to make some tough decisions.

The new Gallente Logistics bonus is to active scanners, which like other equipment is receiving a nerf.  This makes Gallente logis the best scanners in the game, a crucial element for squads to succeed in DUST.  The people I play with know this, and I anticipate we'll have our fair share of high level scanners.  The same can be true for uplink droppers, that bonus going to Amarr logi.  Many in my alliance have the Anniversery Edition Amarr suits, and the path of least resistance will be training into Amarr Logi for uplink spam.

That leaves Caldari and Minmatar, and I think I may may be training both.  Caldari seems like it will be the most useful because of the bonus to nanites, which allows better ammo as well as armor healing hives.  It is definitely more versatile.  However, with the rise of the heavy suits armor logi may become very important.  The repair tool is getting a range and repair amount nerf, which leveling into Minmatar Logistics can more than make up for.  I enjoy the playstyle of the repair tool, and it will be very hard to use without the right dropsuit.  I will very likely train both to level three, then figure out which prototype variant I want for important matches.

 

What DUST Can Be - Part 1: The Core Game

There is a spectacular thread on the DUST-O forums started by a key member of my alliance sometime last week.  It began as a manifesto dealing with why DUST 514 fails to draw the attention of the EVE player base and what can be done to have DUST resemble some of that game's strong-suits.  The discussion evolved into a much broader range discussion as to the future direction of DUST, culminating in a brilliant Q&A on the fantastic Dusters blog earlier in the week.

I want to take a different approach to these issues.  Instead of dealing with the comments as line items, I am going to tackle the discussion from different angles in each post.  Hopefully, I can show how many of these issues exacerbate the failings of DUST 514 to build certain segments of the player base. I'll start with the broadest of categories: the game itself.

I have done a lot of flying around to the DUST NPC systems in support of "a thing" of which I am not at liberty to address.  Something I have learned from visiting these systems surprised me quite a bit.  In nearly every system, no matter what time of day or day in the week, a near majority of DUST mercs in local have been playing for less than a week.  I would say that brand new players are always a plurality, but sometimes a system will have more players who have been in DUST 514 for close to a year.

The good news is many people are trying out DUST 514 for the first time every day.  This throws mud in the eyes of all of us who think being a PS3 exclusive stunts the game's potential growth.  The bad news is DUST has players giving up on the game at just as high a rate, before they invest serious time and money into the shooter.  Going on the assumption that the overwhelming majority of people who briefly try then leave the game have never played EVE Online seriously, I'm willing to state the core issue the game faces isn't including all the bells and whistles EVE has or the EVE-DUST link.  It is providing a compelling, diverse experience to the shooter fan.  Don't get me wrong, all of the other stuff can make DUST 514 a unique, engaging experience that can take it where no other FPS has gone.  However, for the game to truly grow it needs to plug the newbie drain.  So for the first installment of this series, I will be addressing what I believe is the achilles heel in regards to DUST 514 growth: the core game.

Game Modes

So where do we begin?  For starters, there needs to be more than three basic public game modes.  Even if you consider Skirmish, Domination, and Ambush three different modes, a serious problem exists where DUST players project power in nearly the same way no matter the mode.  If you can queue-synch two squads of tanks and prototype infantry, it is rare you will stumble upon an opponent who can counter you.  EVE Online has restrictions to prevent this from happening, and the result is a wide range of PvP experience unlike any other game out there.  The same needs to be true for DUST 514.  Being primarily a lobby shooter, there needs to be game modes with objectives, restrictions, and map layouts designed to cater to specific areas of ground warfare.    

I would start by having a game mode geared towards infantry.  I believe this is an immediate need and crucial in keeping newer players engaged.  Someone on the DUST-O forum brought up the need for player training as evidenced by "the blueberries aren't getting any better".  My findings in the merc home systems refutes the notion that these blueberries are typically the same idiots running around.  In fact, they are mostly newer players who lack the SP and gear, losing to squads who have the backup needed to field expensive gear in a profitable manner.  I would also contend most people have played FPS's and have watched enough war movies to know the basics of infantry maneuvers.  Taking cover and flanking are basic concepts that if you are not familiar with, DUST does a good job in stressing their importance.

The problems arise when you are simply outgunned by superior prototype gear.  Worse still, you can be engaged in an engrossing firefight for the first few minutes of a match, your heart is racing as you do everything you can to support your team, and then a tank saunters up behind your position.  It kills everyone in your squad followed by everyone who spawns thereafter.  Then two bombardments in quick succession.  Game over, man.  If that were to happen once every fifty matches, it would be awesome to see and would give newer players something to aspire towards.  The problem is similar things happen in most public matches.  The newer player gets the feeling of being vastly outgunned over and over and over again.  Is it a wonder the turnover rate is so pathetic?

My ideal public infantry mode would consist of two major restrictions: no vehicle drops and no proto-gear.  Some people may freak out at the notion of such restrictions.  However, the sandbox that is EVE Online is filled with barriers to allow for diverse gameplay.  From capital ship travel restrictions to CONCORD npc's killing Hi Sec gankers, CCP has installed artificial modifiers to vary the gameplay and give players options on how they want to live.  For my theoretical infantry mode, battles would take place in areas someone does not want getting reduced to rubble.  CONCORD would supposedly have land-based missile installations ready to shoot down armor reinforcements.  The corporations doing battle would be using material fabricators with limiters, making any sort of prototype unable to materialize.  That would be the fluff explaination for the game mode.

On a more tangible note such a mode would fill a valuable gap for players with under 6 million SP, before they are even close to being useful to a proper PC outfit.  Players stocked with advanced gear will still have an edge, but the gap will be much smaller.  For the newer player, they have short to mid term training goals so they can be among the most well-armed in that mode.  They can work on their hand-eye coordination while figuring out how the game works without getting face-stomped in half of their matches.  For seasoned players, it would be a mode to go into solo and have a good chance in winning, or at least have a reasonable impact.   They would have the advantage of having proficiency skills trained for more weapons, but their advantage would be limited.

The tradeoff would probably have to be a reduced paycheck at the end of each battle.  It only makes sense that less risk equals less reward.  I would wager most people would use advanced gear a more since they wouldn't have to fear tanks or proto-gangs tearing apart their moderately-priced suits.  That could be good for the overall economy.  For maps, I would use the smaller ones already in use.  It could also be a catalyst for future map designs, especially city or interior maps where you wouldn't have to worry about tanks and dropships lagging up the joint like we see in some of the current city map sockets. 

In my opinion, this kind of mode would make the newer player experience appreciably better, increasing the retention rate.  I would still keep Ambush as a free-for-all mode with better payouts, but I think this infantry mode or something similar is crucial for the game's future.

On top of this mode, the game could offer even more which are geared towards other battlefield roles.  An obvious one would be larger maps with destructible objectives, making tanks the focus.  How about a mode with maps where you need dropships to get around?  Fights in space stations?  On water?  The point being various game modes would allow for certain battlefield roles to excel.  The current situation forces an impossible game balancing act with the battlefield makeup near limitless in every game we play.  Giving infantry, tanks, and/or aerial vehicles a mode to shine in would make game balancing a lot easier to refine.

PvE

Players have been asking for PvE since before the game was deployed.  I think most people believe CCP can plop PvE down as an alternative to public matches.  The problem with that is it would severely alter the destruction portion of the economy.  If you want a player market sooner rather than later, you do not want an unlimited PvE mode in DUST 514.  I believe the same goes for group PvE.  If a large portion online players were doing something besides playing PvP, the queues would be much slower, making things even worse.

The solution to this would be to first introduce PvE into the game by way of missions, similar to storyline missions in EVE Online.  The way it works in that game is in order to gain standing with a faction through mission running is by running 16 missions of the same level with any npc corporation in said faction.  This opens up a storyline mission, which gives out a boost in faction standing to the pilot when completed.  For DUST, I could see a system by which mercs gain points with CONCORD (or some other entity) through the normal course of playing the game.  Maybe have it where points are gained through a system with weighted contributions from WP's, kills, kill assists, etc...  For the average player, I'd try to make it so they would get a mission every two hours, maybe cap the number of missions awarded per day and/or make the missions use/lose.  The point being DUST mercs aren't spending more time doing PvE than they are engaged in PvP.

For the missions themselves I prefer the linear type like in Warframe, especially for single player.  However, I have no idea what CCP is thinking in regards to PvE.  They told us about rogue drone hunting over a year ago, but it never materialized.  I think what most people are hoping for from PvE is a break from the PvP grind every so often, and nothing that will break the current game experience.

Bounties   

Bounties may fall into the "make DUST more like EVE" category, but I think it is a simple enough feature that could spice up the core gameplay.  How I believe it should function is an icon would appear in your HUD when you look at an enemy player that has a bounty on their head (it could be an icon over their head, but that would create too much clutter in my opinion).  EVE Online figured out a fairly decent payout method and I would look to that for inspiration.

The wrinkle I would have is the color of the bounty icon would change based on how expensive the loadout they are wearing or the vehicle they are driving, with payouts adjusted accordingly.  What's the use in paying out a bounty if the target realizes everyone is shooting at them and fields nothing but militia gear?  That being said, bounties could alter how effective your enemy is by making them suit down, making it a metagame victory.

Other versions of bounties could be Faction Warfare versions with LP payouts, and "wardecs" where corporations pay their members who kill their enemies.  Anything similar to what I am suggesting in regards to bounties would spice up the DUST experience quite a bit.

Conclusion

CCP is currently working on implementing the full line of racial dropsuits.  From there, it is anyone's guess.  The core game needs work, and I would wager their internal numbers show it.  The suggestions I made above would go a long way in making DUST 514 a more compelling experience for the average PS3 owner looking to cook fools and blow things up in a futuristic environment.

There's so much more I want to get to in regards to this discussion, stay tuned for future installments.
             

   

 

Assault Suits Won't Be OP - Now What?

I was getting set to write a post on my process of thinking for how I wanted to spend my 3+ million SP when Uprising 1.8 is deployed.  To be honest, my mind had already been made up.  The Minmatar Assault Suit was slated to get a bonus to light damage mods.  Coupled with my need for a faster proto-suit to compliment my Gallente Logi during Skirmish battles, it seemed a lock.  However, with Chinese mega-siesta over for the year, CCP Saberwing posted on the DUST-O forums what they are now thinking for the medium suit bonus changes:

Assault [5% reduction to PG/CPU cost of light/sidearm weapons]
- Caldari Assault: +5% to reload speed of hybrid railgun light/sidearm weapons per level.
- Gallente Assault: 5% reduction to hybrid - blaster light/sidearm hip-fire dispersion and kick per level.
- Minmatar Assault: +5% to projectile light/sidearm and +1 to Minmatar explosive weaponry clip size per level.
- Amarr Assault: 5% reduction to laser weaponry heat build-up per level.

Logistics [5% reduction to PG/CPU cost of equipment]
- Caldari Logistics: +10% to nanohive max. nanites and +5% to supply rate and repair amount per level.
- Gallente Logistics: +10% to active scanner visibility duration and +5% to active scanner precision per level.
- Minmatar Logistics: +10% to repair tool range and 5% to repair amount per level.
- Amarr Logistics: 10% reduction to drop uplink spawn time and +2 to max. spawn count per level.

That really puts a monkey wrench into my plans.  Originally, the Minmatar Assaults were to be given a 2% boost to light damage module efficacy per level, which would be a 10% boost at level 5.  One of the benefits of Minmatar Assaults is they are nearly as fast as Gallente Scouts.  In fact, the new Amarr Scout, unless they change the base stats, will be slower than the Minmatar Assaults.  The game mode for Planetary Conquest and Faction Warfare is Skirmish.  More often than not, the maps are large and speed is extremely important.  Given the Minmatar Assaults were going to become fast, overpowered shock troops from Hell, I was chomping at the bit to skill all the way into them.  Now I am not so sure.

One of the reasons CCP backed out of the original assault bonuses is they seem ready to address the short Time-To-Kill (TTK) issue in DUST 514.  By giving bonuses to damage or tank buffer to the primary damage dealers in the game, there is no way to fix TTK.  The longer Assaults are there, the faster people drop.  In other words, TTK is being addressed by making Commando and Sentinel suits superior to Assault and Logistic suits in a firefight.  Still another way to look at it is they are fixing TTK by reducing how long Assaults are able to stand there cooking fools.

Aside from those who thought CCP was never going to touch your Minmatar Logistic hacking bonus, few are taking issue with Logis becoming more of a specialized role.  However, when it comes to Assaults people are going to be surprised at how marginalized they will become in infantry brawls.  They are the most easily accessible battlefield role and I believe the game is leaning towards making the more heavier suits superior, at least when it comes to a 1-on-1 standoff.   This will later be balanced by making the heavier suits more expensive.  That's my theory at least.  We'll see when they finally deploy Uprising 1.8.

Which leads me to another issue.  CCP Saberwing also alluded to the deployment date of 1.8 to be close to Fanfest, which begins May 1st this year.  I will easily have 4 million more SP by then.  It makes more sense to have already deployed all the new suits weeks before Fanfest, have something to pat themselves on the back during presentations, and then have a big announcement during the festivities concerning a brand new expansion with PC 2.0.  That would allow for the proper amount of feedback like they have done during the past two deployment cycles.

So for now, I am planning on having around 5-6 million SP to be used on a new proto-suit the day Uprising 1.8 comes out.  I am now giving very serious thought to spending it all on either a Commando or Sentinel suit.  I have to study it more, but if I go Sentinel, it will be either Caldari for the shield buffer, or Gallente for the specific damage resists.  If I go Commando, I'm leaning towards Gallente or Minmatar for Assault Rifle/Shotgun or Combat Rifle/Mass Driver combinations respectively.  (Proposed bonuses here)

In the short term, I'll likely spend a few 100k SP to get advanced Gallente Scout suits.  I already have advanced Shotguns so I can use that if my team needs speed in a skirmish match.  With the direction I think the game is headed, my plans for ruling the battlefield with a squad of Minmatar Assaults may be ruined.              

CCP Got Triple SP Week Right

I wasn't able to play DUST for real world reasons from Thursday until Monday morning.  Having plugged in a 7-day Omega Active Implant to take advantage of the triple skill point cap, I was a bit worried.  Here's why: 

The first time I participated in Triple SP Week, it was purely three times your normal SP with three times the cap.  That led to an insane amount of people AFK'ing and making a stupid amount of skill points.  I'm not too ashamed to admit I "worked on my sniper technique" as I was new to the game and wanted to skill up without spending too much isk.

The second time I participated in the event it was horrific.  CCP's solution to the AFK'ers was to triple the cap, while doubling the amount of SP derives from warpoints (WP) in a given match.  Now, I have a talent for whoring WP when I want to.  My main build is Gallente logi and I carry advanced uplinks, nanohives, and a cheap repper when I am running around solo.  I also have a fitting with six uplinks (four deployed at a time) in case my side is getting trounced and I want to capitalize on the rout.  Needless to say, I'm usually at or near the top of the scoreboard in public matches.  That being said, in that triple SP week I was getting less than double the SP (more like 50% more) than what I usually received.  This led to an insane amount of grinding without reaching my cap.  I actually stopped playing DUST for a week or so due to burnout.  Don't worry, I still performed my log-ins for the 6k SP.

This time around, I think CCP got it right.  In the weeks prior to this, I was getting my cap in 3-4 days without issue.  It helps that I play nightly with my alliance and get a bunch of SP without thinking about it, but it usually comes down to one "intense" day of playing, one moderate day, and then a game here and there.  When I loaded up the PS3 for my day off on Monday, I was shocked at how fast the SP was flowing.  Most games I was getting over twice the normal SP.  That's because the SP derives from WP was five times the normal amount.  Time in game is still the main driver, especially in the longer game modes.  However, I really noticed the difference in Ambush.  That game mode (often shunned due to newbs v proto-stompers happens way too often) usually serves best for isk-grinding versus SP acquisition.  However, WP becomes a bigger factor in these shorter matches and I was getting over triple the SP from what I normally would in this mode,.  Granted, it was hit or miss with SP payouts ranging from 2k to 10k depending on who was in the match.

So I wound up making cap, receiving six weeks worth of SP due to the Omega Implant.  I'm all set to add a second full prototype suit to my arsenal when the new patch is deployed.  I may even have enough to go proto-heavy by then.  I had a lot of fun burning down some of my A-1 Heavy Frames over the past two days, making the grind so much more enjoyable.  Speaking of which, I may put up a guide on how I whore warpoints.  Maybe not, too many concubines spoils the soup as the saying goes.

Anyway, I can't wait for the patch and will be posting about how I plan on spending my 2.5 mil+ SP's when I make a decision.  So Kudos to CCP for listening to player feedback and rewarding those actually play the game right and support their teammates.  Even those who do it just for the bling.
   

Solution To The Amarr Assault Nerf: Heat Sinks

One of the few casualties of the proposed dropsuit overhaul and expansion is laser-based weapons.  The Scrambler Rifle being the most notable in that class as it is quite a versatile and deadly weapon in the hands of a skilled player.  The Amarr Assault suit will be dropping the 5% decrease in heat buildup per level in favor of a 5% boost to active armor repair modules per level.  Active repairing for a role that relies on speed and in your face firepower seems a bit ridiculous.  However, since the Amarr suits come with the highest amount of base armor, it is probably the only race that could pull it off.

The Scrambler Rifle is one of the four major rifles in the game, and is currently widely used.  I only have experience with the Collector's Edition version, which is basically a free basic version.  Same goes for the Amarr Assault suit I use, except I do have that skill trained to level one on that character.  My experience using it is only about a month after my main account is SP capped, but I do have to say I like the weapon a lot.  Most face-to-face encounters I will either win or lose based on when it overheats.  If I had the suit skill trained higher, it would be a different story.  SOme people I play DUST with boast of how many rounds they can get off before overheating and my thoughts are that it seemed a bit overpowered.  That may be why CCP is doing away with the bonus.  Players can run around in cheap suits reaping the benefits of rarely overheating, which isn't thpoint of the Scrambler Rifle mechanic.  Still, many people have said they will be dropping the rifle, which is too bad given how unique it is.

For a solution, I would look to a module in EVE Online: the heat sink.  In that game, the heat sink acts as a damage and rate of fire bonus pretty much the same way other damage mods work.  The heat sink is specific to Amarr laser weapon, and this proposed DUST mod would work in a similar fashion.  DUST damage mods fit in high slots, different from EVE.  I would put heat sinks in DUST low slots, allowing for maximum versatility for Amarr suits (which typically have the least amount of module slots).

For stats, I would have basic heat sinks come with a 3% heat buildup reduction, followed by 6% for enhanced, and 10% for complex.  I would also introduce a skill for the mod, put it in the Engineering or Weapons Upgrade tree.  Each skill would add 2% to heat sink module efficacy per level.  Using stacking penalties, that would give a maximum of 26.84% heat reduction for someone wearing a Prototype Amarr Assault suit with three complex heat sinks in the lows.  That is slightly higher than the maximum current reduction, but it would be costly to run that build.  For more economic suits, the bonus is much less.  However, it would still be enough to keep the scrambler rifle viable without being overpowered.

The addition of heat sinks would also benefit the Scrambler Pistol and Laser Rifle.  With the new heavy suit variations coming soon, it is only a matter of time before a heavy laser weapon is introduced.  Is it worth sacrificing an armor plate for a heat sink?  That is something I would enjoy figuring out.   

Proposed Cloak Mechanic And Scout Changes

Following the assault and heavy changes announced last week, CCP Remnant leaked the way cloaking will work as well as the scout suit changes:

* The cloak field is a piece of equipment.

* When selected the cortex is raised and you press fire to activate it.

* Once activated, it goes away and your weapon is raised. You can switch to other weapons/equipment while cloaked.

* You cloak. The amount of "shimmer" is increased as you move so standing still you will be nigh invisible, but when moving you will be noticeable to an extent. When cloaked, you obviously have no chevron or health bars, but the enemy reticule will flash red if you run past it.

* Cloak can be deactivated by selecting it and pressing fire.

* Once deactivated or it runs out it will start to recharge.

* Firing a weapon while cloaked will rapidly deplete the cloak field (a single shot from a sniper rifle, for instance, will decloak you)

* You can only fit one cloak field at a time.

The ability to cloak will add a lot of survivability to the scout role.  Currently, they get eaten up at range.  If the enemy cannot see you, they won't shoot you.  There will need to be new tactics to develop to utilize this ability.  I think their main prey will be medium suits as heavies and commandos will have the tank to take a shot or two after decloak and then burn down the scouts.

Amarr Scout
Scout Suit Bonus: 10% bonus to PG/CPU cost of cloak field per level.
Amarr Scout Bonus: 5% reduction to cloak field cooldown per level.

Caldari Scout
Scout Suit Bonus: 10% bonus to PG/CPU cost of cloak field per level.
Caldari Scout Bonus: 5% reduction to firing cloak cost per level.

Gallente Scout
Scout Suit Bonus: +10% bonus to PG/CPU of cloak field per level.
Gallente Scout Bonus: 5% to dropsuit scan radius and 5% reduction to scan profile per level.

Minmatar Scout Skill
Scout Suit Bonus: 10% bonus to PG/CPU cost of cloak field per level.
Minmatar Scout Bonus: 5% to melee and nova knife damage per level. 

The interesting change is swapping the profile bonus for the cloaking skill.  This will make scouts easier to see on scans and dropsuit radar.  The Gallente scout keeps its bonuses, making it the best in my opinion.  I'll have to see how practical cloaking is before seeing if the Amarr or Caldari scout is worth it.  Maybe they will have superior base stats compared to the Gallente version to compensate?  We'll see when the patch is deployed.

Overall, I am excited about the buff scouts are receiving.

New Dropsuits, Weapons, and Bonuses on SiSi

The development process for Uprising 1.7 was seen as mostly encouraging to the DUST community.  We saw roughly two months of open and transparent discussion in regards to the all-important vehicle overhaul.  Since that patch was released nearly a month ago, many were worried about the lack of information concerning Uprising 1.8.  Due to how little we knew, many assumed it was going to be a balancing patch with a few tweaks here and there, probably relating to vehicles and how fast you can blow them up.  That all changed today with the news of widespread changes posted to Singularity, the EVE Online public test server.  

These changes could always be adjusted, delayed, or removed.  Here's the list:

Amarr Commando
Commando Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to reload speed of light weapons per level.
Amarr Commando Bonus: +2% damage to laser light weapons per level

Amarr Logistics
Logistics Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to PG/CPU cost of equipment per level.
Amarr Logistics Bonus: 10% reduction to drop uplink spawn time and +2 to max. spawn count per level.

Amarr Sentinel
Sentinel Suit Bonus: 5% resistance to blast damage per level
Amarr Sentinel Bonus: 3% armor resistance to projectile weapons, 2% shield resistance to hybrid - blaster weapons.

Caldari Commando
Commando Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to reload speed of light weapons per level.
Caldari Commando Bonus: +2% damage to hybrid - railgun light weapons per level.

Caldari Logistics
Logistics Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to PG/CPU cost of equipment per level.
Caldari Logistics Bonus: +10% to nanohive max. nanites and +5% to supply rate and repair amount per level.

Caldari Sentinel
Sentinel Suit Bonus: 5% resistance to blast damage per level.
Caldari Sentinel Bonus: 3% shield resistance to hybrid - blaster weapons, 2% shield resistance to laser weapons. 

Gallente Commando
Commando Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to reload speed of light weapons per level.
Gallente Commando Bonus: +2% damage to hybrid - blaster light weapons per level.

Gallente Logistics
Logistics Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to PG/CPU cost of equipment per level.
Gallente Logistics Bonus: +10% to active scanner visibility duration and +5% to active scanner precision per level.

Gallente Sentinel
Sentinel Skill: 5% resistance to blast damage per level.
Gallente Sentinel Bonus: 3% armor resistance to hybrid - railgun weapons, 2% armor resistance to projectile weapons.

Minmatar Commando 
Commando Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to reload speed of light weapons per level.
Minmatar Commando Bonus: +2% damage to projectile and explosive light weapons per level.

Minmatar Logistics 
Logistics Suit Bonus: 5% reduction to PG/CPU cost of equipment per level.
Minmatar Logistics Bonus: +10% to repair tool range and 5% to repair amount per level.

Minmatar Sentinel
Sentinel Suit Bonus: 5% resistance to blast damage per level.
Minmatar Sentinel Bonus: 3% shield resistance to laser weapons, 2% armor resistance to hybrid - blaster weapons.

There's a lot to digest here.  Logistics are getting bonuses to actual logistical stuff.  Gone is the Minmatar Logi speed hacker, replaced by quite a few tears.  Seriously, who thought that bonus would last on a logi suit?

We are getting six new heavy suits, which is exciting.  Many people are calling for a complete universal respec.  Personally, I'm expecting a respec for all points into heavy suits either in the next patch or after they round out the heavy weapons.  Hopefully, that will occur by 1.9.  One of the cool things is the damage to blasts on all of the heavy suits, allowing them to better stand up to vehicles.  The weapon-specific damage resists are neat, I like how they apply to either shields or armor.  They would be even cooler if the assault bonuses were not universal to all weapons:

Caldari Assault
+2% to light weapon RoF bonus per level
+5% to HP bonus of shield extender modules per level.

Gallente Assault
+2% to light weapon RoF bonus per level.
+5% to HP bonus of armor plate modules per level.

Minmatar Assault
+2% to light weapon RoF bonus per level.
+5% to damage bonus of damage modifier modules per level.

Amarr Assault
+2% to light weapon RoF bonus per level.
+5% to repair rate of armor repair modules per level.

Just a quick glance and it seems Minmatar has taken the assault crown from the Caldari suit.  I think the new bonuses distance them from their logi counterparts, something that was needed.  I wish they had specialized the RoF bonuses to certain weapon types.  That way, favored suit types could be countered by the new heavy suits merely by looking at the opposing team on the field.  You can still do that, but it usually takes dieing a few time.

There are also two more sidearms in the mix, a SMG variant and the Bolt Pistol.  However, I think I can speak for the community in that we want to see the three racial heavy weapons.  Here's hoping they are unique and not just larger caliber rifles.

The racial variants for the Commando suits let me down a bit.  Yes, I do like how they are giving bonuses to weapon types.  It's just that I was holding out hope each race's commando would do something cool like run what would be considered auras in other games, make it more of a leadership role, etc...

Other than that, I happen to like the changes.

Starting Out In DUST 514: 0 SP Dropsuit Fits

DUST 514 can be harsh for the new player.  While EVE Online is unfriendly to those starting out due to its complexity, DUST matches are loaded with experienced, high SP players prepared to ruin your day.  The fastest way to close that gap is to level into the proficiency skill for the weapon of your choice.  Then begins the slow grind into better dropsuits and modules.  That grind is necessary to rule the battlefield in the long run, but for the most part you won't notice your gear helping your gameplay on a day to day basis.  This is especially true if you screw up and waste your SP experimenting with different archtypes and play styles.  I cannot express how important it is to conserve your SP until you know exactly what kind of DUST player you want to become.

DUST comes with four starter fits.  The great thing about those fits is they are completely free.  The bad thing is you wouldn't be caught dead fitting better suits in a similar fashion.  You can replace the mods and weapons on those fits if you chose, but you can not remove them to fit something better in a slot elsewhere.  While you can use those fits to rake in some quick cash to pay for skill books while you learn how to work the controller, they offer nothing in terms of showing how you will be fitting your dropsuits to fill battlefield roles later on in the game. However, there are ways to mimic useful loadouts using dirt cheap militia gear.  Although the range of selection is limited, and the fitting requirements are more restrictive than basic gear, there are ways to fit your dropsuit in order to test out different styles of gameplay without using a single skillpoint.  Here's a handful I came up with:

Medium Suits       

Shield Assault

Militia Caldari Medium Frame

Militia Assault Rifle

(Sidearm Empty)

Militia Shield Extender

Militia Shield Extender

Militia PG Upgrade

Militia Drop Uplink

(Grenade Empty)

Cost: 2855 isk

Assault suits are tough to mimic as you will be the weakest assault suit on the field.  The PG Upgrade is there in order to fit the Drop Uplink.  The reason being, uplinks are the easiest way to earn WP, giving higher isk payouts at the end of the match.  So while you take your lumps trying to become a solid line soldier, you will do so with a fatter wallet.

Armor Assault

Militia Gallente Medium Frame

Militia Assault Rifle

(Sidearm Empty)

Militia Armor Plate

Militia Armor Plate

Militia PG Upgrade

Militia Drop Uplink

Cost: 2975 isk

Shield tanking is typically better than armor tanking when it comes to infantry.  This loadout is designed to show you the difference, especially when it comes to the speed drawback.  However, the armor buff may lead to winning encounters you typically wouldn't win in a shield suit.  It also approximates the feel of a commando suit, albeit with far less shield buffer.  A local repairer does fit in the place or an armor plate.  However, buffer is usually preferred when going forward in battle.   

 Anti-Armor

Militia Amarr Medium Frame

Militia Swarm Launcher

Militia Submachine Gun or Scrambler Pistol

Militia Light Damage Modifier

Militia Light Damage Modifier

Militia Nanohive

Militia Locus Grenade

Cost: 3055 isk

There is a starter anti-armor fit in the game, but this one is much better.  AV got a nerf in Uprising 1.7, so you definitely need the damage modifiers.  This loadout also features a nanohive for reloading your swarm launcher.

Sniper

Militia Amarr Medium Frame
(Sidearm Empty)
Militia Sniper Rifle

Militia Light Damage Modifier

Militia Light Damage Modifier

Militia Nanohive

(Grenade Empty)

Cost: 2605 isk

Again, there is a free sniper fit already in the game, but this one hits harder and allows you to reload.  Unlike the other fittings, this one is designed to test out the sniper lifestyle more than it is a serious fit.  Advanced snipers should have more self-protection and survival options in their loadouts.

Remote Armor Repper

Militia Minmatar Medium Frame
Militia Assault Rifle
Militia Shield Extender
Militia Shield Extender
Militia Light Damage Modifier
Militia Repair Tool
Militia Locus Grenade

Cost: 3180 isk

This is a decent all-around fit with some survival in mind in order to test out the remote rep.  Swap the repair tool for a nano injector if you like.  Logi suits start off with 2-3 equipment slots in their basic suits and it is impossible to mimic it with militia gear.

Light Suits

Shotgun Scout

Militia Gallente Light Frame
Militia Shotgun
Militia Submachine Gun
Militia Profile Dampener
(Equipment Slot Empty)
Militia Locus Grenade

Cost: 2510 isk

Scout suits require a considerable amount of role-specific SP to become beasts on the battlefield.  You MUST know you want to play primarily as a scout before spending the skillpoints.  This fit will allow you to experience and figure out how to get in close and blow the enemy's head off (and usually dieing seconds later). 


Faction Warfare Scout

Militia Minmatar Light Frame
Militia Shotgun
Militia Submachine Gun
Militia Cardiac Regulator
Militia Codebreaker
Militia Nanite Injector
(Grenade Slot Empty)

Cost: 2465 isk

Although scouts tend to be atrocious in a firefight, one thing they excel at is creating havoc in Skirmish matches.  As a result, the above fit is the only one I would recommend using in Faction Warfare matches.  The Cardiac Regulator is to help cover the most amount of ground, the Shotgun is for shooting someone trying to hack in the ass, and Codebreaker helps you steal those points for the good guys.  The Nanite Injector could be used to save valuable clones, and I left the grenade slot blank as you will probably do a lot of team-killing with them, something unique to FW matches.

Heavy Suits

Forge Gunner

Militia Amarr Heavy Frame

Militia Forge Gun

Militia Submachine Gun or Scrambler Pistol

Militia Heavy Damage Modifier

Militia Armor Repairer

Militia Locus Grenade

Cost: 2710 isk

There are no Militia Heavy Machine Guns, the infantry weapon for heavy suits.  In order to try them out, you need to skill into Gunnery V, and then Heavy Machine Gun I.  That is a considerable amount of SP when starting out.  Although this suit is for the Forge Gun, you can still sample the feel of the lumbering beast and see how you like it.  The gun itself is a mighty AV weapon, so you can always use this as a 0 SP fallback option is enemy tanks are becoming a problem. 


In conclusion, the aim of these fittings is to allow mercs to sample different play styles before committing to a specific training route.  All of these suits are cheap and allow you to die over and over and over while still making a decent profit, especially in Ambush matches.  Spending SP to get into basic equipment may allow you to fit in an extra mod, but your performance gain may not be even noticeable.

As I mentioned earlier, the quickest way to close the skill gap is to get a rifle proficiency trained.  I advise the first thing you spend SP on is getting the three other rifles not available to level one (Scrambler, Combat, and Rail) and play around with them in place of the Militia Assault Rifle.  Pick the one of the four you like the most and train all way up until at least proficiency II before you even start your core skills.  

Introduction

Greetings, Space Jerks. Welcome to Enlightened Indoctrination, a blog about both of CCP's games taking place in the New Eden cluster: EVE Online and DUST 514.

I am Dirk Smacker, member of Enlightened Industries (ENL-I) in EVE, and CEO of Enlightened Industries (ENL-D) in DUST 514.  I have been playing EVE for nearly four years now and have done close to everything there is to do in that game.  I have been playing DUST since late May when the cost of a used PS3 became low enough to justify the purchase in order to play a singular game.

This blog will mainly cover DUST 514.  I believe there is more room in the community, and there are several facets of the game that interest me which I don't see many people discussing.  However, these are exciting times in EVE for ENL-I so the occasional war update may sneak its way in.

So strap yourself in for an incoming wall of text while I am motivated to pontificate.  I hope this marks the beginning of an exciting journey.