Armorsmith Archive

I hate to see a new thread become the old one it was referencing,with regards to the idea that armor should berevisedor not. Please read "A Composite World" and post there. There is some really, REALLY, great points on why all you see is composite and how we can change that. Different parts of the thread address several issues.

I could get into all the reasons and such but instead, Iwill beg that you read that thread 'please' before further comment on why these changes are possibly needed. You will also see that a majority of the posters agree that composite muchchange in some way.

I will post my thoughts on this part of the idea at a time when I have had a chance to think about it more.

I'm a big fan of more helmets. More helmets of each type would do a world of good in delivering variety to armor fashion. I honestly think this is a great bang for the buck.

Well.. now that we are finally back on track as to the topic of this post.. I've added a bit to the original post as submitted by StarchMonkey.. feel free to take a crack at the questions (edited into the top post).. They are all very good.

How do we increase usage of all armor types?

Personally, I think the ideas listed in the original post are a great beginning. The stats should be readjusted so the specials are all unique and their cap is on par with composite. Yes, composite is the "best" armor currently, but that does not mean it should be the best with everything. Each armor has to be unique and usefull in and of itself or why else would anyone bother?

How do we get people to use RIS and other uber armors and not keep them as decorations?

I think the first key here is to actually make RIS attainable. Then, it has to do something special and unique. Stun resist. AR:2.. those are just 2 examples. The reason it needs to be more attainable is simple. I spend months and months and millions of credits trying to build a suit of sub-par armor and the last thing I am going to do is wear it. Why? Because I'm not about to waste all of that hard work building the one suit of this stuff I'll probably ever make just to have ti fall apart after a few battles. I don't think anyone else would either.

Message Edited by RumblingSky on 04-02-2004 08:42 PM

Well, we need more diversity in our armors. The problem is composite is already the best resist wise, and even if it was nerfed we would have pre-nerf composite armor. Perhaps Armorsmith armor should instead not be only based on resists, but should also have stat mods. Certain armors could have a ranged damage mitigation, or a defense versus dizzy. This would increase the armor usage. Each armor would individually have a mod of +1 or +2 even. The componets for these could possibly be made for BEs. Or my idea might crackpot and in that case ignore it

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Epif wrote:
Well, we need more diversity in our armors. The problem is composite is already the best resist wise, and even if it was nerfed we would have pre-nerf composite armor. Perhaps Armorsmith armor should instead not be only based on resists, but should also have stat mods. Certain armors could have a ranged damage mitigation, or a defense versus dizzy. This would increase the armor usage. Each armor would individually have a mod of +1 or +2 even. The componets for these could possibly be made for BEs. Or my idea might crackpot and in that case ignore it

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Wow, that's an original thought. I kind of like it. Especially since I was disappointed when I tried BE Enhancements in Ubese armor when I first started making it. It could be limited like Tailor clothing also. That allows you to have 6 total skill mods (like a BE Enhancement with 2 skills and 4 sockets). Since armor has so many other functions (than clothing), adding Armorsmith skill mods could negate having sockets. For those who don't see the value in that, at least you're not spending hundreds of thousands of credits for attachments that die when your armor does. At the same time, perhaps the best bonuses could still come in attachments so that market doesn't completely crash.

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Mo-Ti wrote:

'snip'

While blast composite with a high base resist is extremely powerful, i personally am looking into making sets of ADV padded with 2 blast layers, to help me, a commando on the side of Armorsmith, with those At-sts.

'snip'

Natalya Ba-an

Master Armorsmith/Novice Commando/Intrepid

Message Edited by Mo-Ti on 04-02-2004 11:58 AM

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Now, I understand your idea here. But once you have made this two Blast layered padded suit. Then make yourself ablastlayered advanced composite suit. Keep base very low on layers, concentrating on blast and HAM. I am willing to bet that I can make a suit of composite that is under 100 difference on the HAM costs, similar Blast Resist of your padded, and a much higher overall Base than this padded suit of yours.

Message Edited by Shlo_mo_shun on 04-02-2004 01:08 PM

As an armorsmith beginning his journey to Master (the long way, by the way, no power grinding here...), I appreciate the efforts of this thread. It is definitely...strange, to say the least...to see so much composite in the game. Even 3-4 months ago, when I first started, it wasn't that prevalent.

Anyhow, my point...

I haven't seen any radical suggested changes posted thus far. However, I think Asmodeus' comments were blown off too quickly. He makes some VERY good points about educating the clientele. I firmly believe some changes to the armorsmith's items are in store, but ANY change in the current situation WILL require educating the "public" on all types of armor.

Keep it up, I'm interested to see what other ideas come of this. Many of my own thoughts have already been echoed above.

Why not have armor certifications like we do with weapons? You would get access to higher level armors as you move up through the combat professions. This would open a world of different armor styles and would greatly increase the variaty of armor seen in game.

Ment to add that also you could have profession specific armor for the elite professions, again increasing the variaty of armor avaliable.

one glaring problem is padded

everyone uses ubese, no one uses padded. Why notplay with changing padded? no one uses it so why do they care.

add an extra 10% to base, get a nice 50% base to everything with no vulnerabilities. Why not have this stun as special protection. most masters know there is a demand for stun layered composite, and it is usually around 37%. How many people would buy a padded helmet if it were 50% stun resists. Every one would have to have a padded helmet to go with his composite suit.,

More armor. I love making the wookie armor. It wasa great addition. Now some layered kashyyykian armor should be next.

Customers are the third part of this matrix. This problem is not so easily solved. As long as the customer asks the question, "What is the best armor?" armorsmithing will have a problem. Once the PERCEPTION appears of a "best armor", demand for that armor will grow, while demand for the "crappy" armor will diminish. This will happen even if there is a 1% difference in the armors.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the answer to this problem lies outside of the game system. This is customer education. Armorsmiths can do it right now. Most of you do. You know how much work that takes. This might be worthy of its own thread: better way to educate the customer.

Good luck, guys.

Nerfing Composite to make other armor types more desirable is not the answer.

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Egai wrote:
Why not have armor certifications like we do with weapons? You would get access to higher level armors as you move up through the combat professions. This would open a world of different armor styles and would greatly increase the variaty of armor seen in game.

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I'm actually a big fan of this idea. Especially with the elite professions having their own armor types. Mandalorian for Master Bounty Hunters, for instance. This would neccessitate a lot more armor being introduced to the game, but that is okay too.. it's also on our list. Personally, I think I would like to see Compo (as it currently is) on a Master Commando list, but that's just my first impression of this concept.