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.