Bio Engineer Archive
Thread: So DEs might have a droid mini-profession at master.. then we want a mini-CH one
Tal-N wrote:
That's not the case. the way things are being dictated to the DE's right now is that they won't be able to use the combat droids they make, that they'll be included in a droid handler class all of its own. I don't know where you get this Mini-class Idea from. That also means that neither you nor any other class EXCEPT the droid handlers will be able to use these new droids either. On the DE forums, for months now there have been ideas and plans kicked around for broad spectrum certification systems that would allow anyone to have similar or equal access to any and all of the droid that could be produced, but that apparently has been deemed as being unbalancing. personally, if everyone has the exact same advantage, i don't see how it's unbalancing, but I'm only opening myself up for flames, so I'll say no more on that.
To correct or confirm any information here, A DE does not absolutely NEED to take master artisan any more than a BE NEEDS to have hunting skills. But it makes as much sense for a DE to be without master artisan as it does for a BE to not collect organics. Master artisan components are absolutely necessary for virtually every single droid and component a DE can make. The course it looks like they're taking with DE is to make them have the same relationship to droid handlers as you have to creature handlers.
Repeat: Droid Engineers will be DENIED the use of their combat droids. they will NOT gain increased combat skills.
o boy what a can of worms theyve opened this time....
cant wait to see how this one shakes out
tell ya what i think, tho;
if DE's get to build AND run their own high-lvl (and i believe from what ive read that the devs are thinking in the 40-70 range ) droids, for basically the skill points involved with one profession, then the game metrics are gonna be FREAKING HILARIOUS w/in 2 weeks of implementation
ByygPapa wrote:
o boy what a can of worms theyve opened this time....
cant wait to see how this one shakes out
tell ya what i think, tho;
if DE's get to build AND run their own high-lvl (and i believe from what ive read that the devs are thinking in the 40-70 range ) droids, for basically the skill points involved with one profession, then the game metrics are gonna be FREAKING HILARIOUS w/in 2 weeks of implementation
Well, DE was another profession ranked with BE of "I want to do that when they've fixed it".
If I can have DE and use combat droids..........
I'm sorry, but as an unrecovered pet addict, if this happens it'll be bye bye BioEngineer and the whacko, "look what they did this week" crafting system and hello MCH/MDE "instant army".
And I get to keep my vendor.
And surveying.
And Master CH.
And can get my raw materials in quantity without mortgaging my soul for them.
And master 3 elite professions if I so choose.
And the downside is ????????
Tal, I don't think you can compare the reliance on factory made component to the reliance on harvested resources. The market for these two things are very very different. Personally, as a combat-less BE I really don't feel like I have a problem buying everything I need. And on the flip side, I really doubt that many BEs who do have big bad combat skills are able to supply everything they need.
You can say combat, I can say MA, you can say doctor, I can say armorsmith. This is kind of a pointless argument. Suffice it to say, both these occupations require a lot of skill points to be functional. But your characterizing them as being "cheap" (skill point-wise) is very very naive.
lol, that is THE question isn't it. I don't pretend to have an answer to that. I'm just goint to wait and see how it all turns out and then take advantage where advantages can be had.
Talthazar wrote:
So who should get combat droids?
OK, I am gonna jump in here and give the Droid Engineering perspective, from my point of view, and the history of what has happened so far.
Before progressing further, there is one thing that you must understand - almst every DE assumed that new combat droids would not be above CL20 - CL25.
First of all, there has been some debate for months now on whether everyone should be able to use the new combat droids when they come out, or whether it should be just Droid Engineer.
The majority (though not all) DE's wanted everyone to use the new droids. So, we spent months discussing it, and of this, one solution that came up was a certification system. Basically, this system would be applied to all professions, and the higher you were in your profession, the more cert points you would get. Note that ALL professions would accumulate cert points, though, in general, the combat ones would get more than the entertainer and crafting professions.
We beat this idea to death, and then waited for the devs to respond to something.
Well, recently, Thunderheart came along and said, hey, I hear you all want a Droid Handler profession!
What, we cried? Who the hell said THAT? We wanted certs (some said that DE's only should be the only ones who could use the droids). Now, remember, we are still thinking that we are talking about pre-nerf probots and such as the combat droids. Furthermore, at this point, it became apparant that origionally, the devs were going to make combat droids DE only, and make DE a hybrid crafting/combat class. But in the DE polls, it was shown that most DE's want to be primarily crafters.
No, says Thunderheart, that won't work. Skill points and experience must be spent.
OK, says we, but here is the thing. We want to be able to use our droids. And if we master artisan, we just don't have the points. (Note: there is not a single advanced droid that does not take master artisan parts). So, what can be done?
So, we fell back into the debate about DE only vs some sort of DH profession vs trying to get some way to get the cert system to work, while waiting for an "uberpost" that was promised for several days ago....
Out of this came the idea for a mini-tree.
Now, and this is important - the droid mini-tree would be available to ANY class! Or it would be the way most of envision it. Perhaps branching from any master profession bubble.
Teemo wrote:
My friend is a Droid Engineer, and we have discussions about our professions all the time. To be an effective Bio Engineer, you need Novice Scout, Novice Medic, O-chem 4, Hunting 4, Exploration 4, Master BE. An effective DE needs Master Artisan, Master DE. The skill-point values are very close, but I think Bio Engineer requires a bit more.
The trick to DE, however, is to simply factory all your Master Artisan components, then drop Master Artisan all together. Save a good schematic, some resources, and Master Artisan isn't even needed.
Just FYI, I burn about 1200 GP modules and 800 EMM modules, 60 AS made component segments, and a few arch made power cores a week. True, I could hire a master artisan on a weekly basis... but then, you could have someone go do all your sampling for you, too 
By way of example, just the chasis for an advanced R3 droid takes19 master arch made components, many of them factory made (for the dual, identical droid brains, each of which takes 4 EMM's and 4 GP's)
With this said, I was one of the strong proponents for a cert system that spanned all the classes.
Speaking for me personally, and not the DE profession as a whole (though, a good number agree with me), I would like to see a system whereby everyone can use the new combat droids - even if this means that they are not as powerful. The mini-tree idea is perfect for this. I would also like to see all the module ideas that we have had in the DE community get implemented - this would help everyone
While some DE's still want to see the DE profession become a combat / crafting hybrid, as it is obvious the devs were thinking, many are striving to come up with ideas that allows everyone to have these droids.
Ok....cry me a river, then build a bridge and get over it. As a DE our profession is the ONLY profession to get completely ignored since this game has come out. The ONLY thing the devs have done as far as DE's go is nerf Probots. Now the devs are FINALLY looking at us and you have everyone else crying about it. MMORPG'ers are such whiners sometimes.
Besides, if they gave BE's a "parallel" ability with what they want to give DE's, then why not give everyone the same thing? Heck, why not just get rid of all the professions and make one profession? Professions are there to be different. Personally I can't stand that the combat professions are so similiar. There is no real definition to them except what weapon they use. The skills, for the most part, are the same. And it's because of in large part the whining that goes on.