Droid Engineer Archive

No not that execution ... I still have hope that the tyranny will crumble. With the current implement of the Droid Engineer Profession in SWG, one could easily find many faults. My intent of this Thread is to allow players to express how they would like the rebirth of Droids and the Droid Engineering Profession back into the Galaxy. Cause personally I feel the current system is too broad yet limiting at the same time. O_o_O This thread should be a complete thought of what you think the Profession should be.

My idea was posted as a reply in another thread that inspired this mind, that dissapeared without the attention I would have liked for it to get. I'll be modifying what I first wrote some. I feel this could be used as its own thread, allowing others to offer ideas for their own system, add opinions and detail possible specific modifications to the current or player made system.

Just some simple rules: (Follow if you want )

Your system should be considerate of other classes as much as possible. To maintain balance.

Imagine most of the current wishlist is implemented and functioning.

Provide some explanation to any contributing information.

Flame as little as possible. No matter how unjust or foolish an idea sounds. Critique it with courtesy.

Have fun? Not much to talk about on this board as it's become a waiting game. So hopefully this will help the board, and maybe the Devs can read some ideas to jumpstart their own.

Now for my Idea:

*Little Rant* Is the game set in the best timeline possible? Titles of the chapters that create the world we play in. "A New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back" ... How fitting for the current state of the game, Star Wars Galaxies.

Completely revamped the Droid Engineer system: (Read the following as a WHOLE please.)

What makes Star Wars, Star Wars? Jedi, Bounty Hunters, Smugglers and Droids. As such, most of these elements should be the top of the food chain. (There are other things that greatly display what is Star Wars but, these relate most to the game right now... To an extent.)

Like Bounty Hunters, I'd like to see Droid Engineers become an Elite Profession (If that's the term when the prerequisite is 2 Master Novice Professions. It may be Hybrid, a lot of terms are being thrown about.)

Master Artisan and Master Marksman.

Two complete professions that I feel would compliment my idea for Droid Engineering fully. There should be a Profession for Master Artisans in my opinion.

As such, Droids should be an additive. Not a replacement, remember we are playing a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) Most of these ideas are based off others that would improve the profession (Specific Use Droids). I think some ideas some people are throwing about (Surgical Droids healing in the battlefield, Harvester Caretakers, Entertainer Droids) are just trying to monopolize the game by being able to replace people with Droids. However, I feel that those ideas should be watered down to what I feel Droids should be. From the examples I've given: Surgical Droids (Only Droid with the ability), allow Medics/Doctors to be able to heal close to or as good as if a Medic/Doctor would in a Hospital outside of a city (even better healing when used IN a Hospital). Harvester Caretakers could relay the Status window to you through to your Datapad. (With the Droid being within the range of the harvester. And a Patrol Circuit that you can tell it to advance to the next point through the Datapad) Entertainer Droids could act as Jukeboxes or Amplifiers. Allowing Entertainers and Bands to heal others more quickly inside Catinas. Also, being able to heal as good or equally outside of Catinas with a Droid as they would inside a Catina without a Droid (street performer). Bands should stay in a Catina to fulfill the buildings purpose. Just a few ideas some people may have suggested already, there are many great ideas already posted by others.

Being able to create these Utility Droids should be derived from the Artisan Tree (logic on this is fuzzy, but it's needed). Such Droids should be made available to everyone who can afford one. No certifications to use Utilities unless the Droids are Profession Specific.

Now for the Marksman tree... This may not bode well with some people. This tree should relate best with Combat Droids and maybe those Droids that are required to enter dangerous situations. "Know your self to know your enemy." Creating Weapons should require experience in their purpose. As it takes experience and responsibilty to be able to know how to use such things properly. Even more experience to be able to implement them onto others or for others. Human Aiming could relate to tuning a Droid so he is able to hit a target with accuracy. Knowing what the Droid will be used to fight against and the terrain will be travelled. Just a few examples on how it can relate.

Much like the limitations Creature Handlers have with their Certification System, Combat Droids should follow, to a different extent. As Droids can't and shouldn't have a real Creature Level, and Droids can be programed I feel the use of Combat Droids should be limited to Skills. With arguments saying Programmed Droids should be for everyone, there has to be a limitation to Combat Droids in my honest opinion. They are in the end, Weapons. I feel one Combat Droid should be the limit to compliment any profession. To prevent the great depression that followed the Advanced Pro-Bot nerf, being able to use one Combat Droid should be certified when someone fills one Skill Tree. (Such as Rifles/Pistols/Carbines 4, etc. across all starting Professions.) Droid Engineers could offer 2-3 different types of Combat Droids at this time to Novices. These droids could be 500-1000 HAM Combat Droids with some 50-100 Damage, to compliment the seasoning player and not replace him. Offering adequate defence for those Non-Combat professions as well. These could be the Pro-Bot, Advanced Pro-Bot, and the Battle Droids from Episode One.

Well, we could have at least 1 Combat Droid for starting players... A Mouse Droid with a toaster slot and a Pistol mounted in it.

*This Paragraph will be off topic talking about balance and another profession, it's meant to help everyone in the best way I can think of.*

Now I know a few people can say "Why not just get a Creature from a Creature Handler or Bio-Engineer?" Comparing my first set of Novice Combat Droids are pathetic compared to Tameable Creatures. Personally, I feel that Pets and Creatures should be two separate catagories.Tame Pets should be the novelty for Non-Creature Handlers. Tame pets should have much lower HAM, and be Passive. They can help and protect their owners in a dangerous situation yes, but not replace them in the battlefield unless you are are a real Creature Handler. For Bio-Engineers to have a business... Allow them to genetically engineer Chibi Rancors! (*Imagines a Chibi Rancor holding onto a rioting Mouse Droid as they play Bull Rider Rodeo. *) With a wide variety of other Creatures to be engineered to Pets. Being able to alter their Size, Colour and stuff. Tailors can make Chibi Pet Clothes! (*Becomes giddy at the possibilities.*) Allowing Pets to do more tricks and possibly slightly slower the effects of battlefatigue. Now to not limit Bio-Engineers to just that... Allow them to improve and create genetically engineered actual Creature Handler Creatures to improve or "restore" Tame Creature Stats and such. As to ridding the problem of everyone becoming a Creature Handler to be able to solo, maybe make their Creatures less "ferocious" once tamed. For balance issues and return the game to what it is, a Star Wars MMORPG. Bio Engineers can try and restore the Creatures wild savage instinct abilities by genetic alteration. Such as a Creature Conscious to protect it's master if the enemy is not attacking them. Being a Master Creature Handler should reward a higher possible Creature Limit. To prevent dabblers from being just as good as Masters at their profession.

Anyway... The previous is a totally different discussion.

Continuing on with Droid Engineers and extend the use of Combat Droids, a multi-leveled Certification system can be used. Once any person becomes a Master of any Novice Profession or Novice of an Advanced Profession, this could unlock 2-3 more types of Combat Droids that are usable. Maybe 1k-2k HAM, 100-250 Damage Droids. Maybe Super Battle Droids, Basic Droideka, and another one (can't think of anymore). And to further advance this idea we could allow Masters of an Advanced Profession (Pistoleer, Commando, Tailors, Chefs, etc.) unlock 3-4 more types of Combat Droids. Though I would feel that Non-Combat Professions only able to unlock 1-2 of these Advanced Combat Droids. These could be the 2.5k-4k HAM, 300-450 Base damage droids. Maybe, Regular Droideka, Assassin Droids, and another. Maybe as an extreme stretch, allow a +1 Droid Entity Certification at a Master Advanced Profession. Limiting a Droid to one throughout the majority of the game to preserve balance. Personally I feel Droids should be a seperate entity from Creatures and Pets.

Thats how I wish Combat Droids should be, Utility Droids should be for everyone. Combat Droids for those who can handle themselves in game, and in battle. Now for the actual Droid Engineer Profession. Droid Engineers should also be able to create Combat Droids with different properties of attack (acid, heat, energy). Completely rework the trees. (Personally, I don't enjoy Dabblers as I feel it can ruin the economy and cause problems within the profession itself.) Having to master two Novice Professions will hopefully weed out 75% of those who want the best and only the best for themselves. The Method below may cut an additional 20% of those from the first.

Four Trees: The current Droid Production and Refinement Trees should be merged. Fixing the purpose of Experimentation with it. (Able to produce higher quality products and experiment). Blueprints should stay but, be exactly that. Blueprints. Lets say you need Blue Prints 1 and Production 1 to make some above basice Utility droids and basic Combat Droids. (Keeping in mind and thinking that different droids inherintly serve different purposes.) Novice Droid Engineer could be able to produce Mouse Droids who lower Maintenance fees for Houses for example. I havn't put much thought in Novice Skills. For the other 2 trees: One Tree could be "Modules and Chassis Refinement." Extra Abilites that can be added to Droids and Chassis Refinement for the ability to increase the structural capabilities for Droids. The other Droid Tree could be Droid Armour/Weapon Experimentation/Refinement. Allowing this tree to help improve both the Combat Droids and some Utility Droids. (Surgical Droid in the field who have Armour 4 for example.)

Now for finally reaching Master Droid Engineer, after what would be a good implementation to allow all levels able to make a profit, thus lowering the necessity of 'The grind'. Master Droid Engineers should get a +1 Droid Entity, if other Advanced Master Professions dont get this. +2 Droid Entity if they do. Enabling a Master Droid Engineer the ability to have 1 more Droid out then others. This being one of many benefits of being a Master. (Which I feel should apply to other professions as well.)

Specific Droids for Droid Engineers.

Utility Specific Droids for Droid Engineers can help increase the quality of experimentation and creation of Droids. Just one example.

Combat Specific Droids for Droid Engineers: High end deserving power Droids for those who, are in my opinion the only true Artisan class who should be able to be called the Combat Artisan. Maybe 4k-4.5k 400-500 Damage Droids.

Advanced Droideka, Hailfire Droids, Dark Troopers, and some others. Keeping it balanced though of course.

The attacks on the Combat Droids should maybe range in the speeds of 5 Seconds per attack on lower tech Combat Droids to a max of 2 Seconds per attack on elite Combat Droids. The damage I've listed with my ideas would be the Min-Max and not the Average. They should be reduced with protections against their enemies as to not be totally over powered. Maybe as an added feature, able Combat Droids to have a Special Attack that takes certain ammuntions that must be refilled.

Droids in General:

Droids suffer permanant damage that only Droid Engineers can repair with the help of a their Repair Droid. Instead of becoming (this is an example) 80/100(100) HAM. When Droids get damaged, they imediately go to 80/80(100). Metal cannot regenerate. This in turn produces a sure fire market for any level of Droid Engineers whos repair skill should remain constant throughout the advancment of the job, again to avoid the necessary grind. Of course it should cost resources as well as a Craftable Droid Repair Kit to repair and earn some Droid Crafting Experience. To keep business for all droids. Make it so that only 90-95% the total HAM can be recovered whenever they are repaired. 80/80(100) to 95/95(95)

I think the whole profession needs to be redone.

Make each droid unique, and remove modules. Or make cetain modules fit on certain droids. Like medical modules only go into surgical droids, etc...

A whole set of combat droids, with Advanced Droidekas with shileds being the top of the line. Make them as powerful if not more powerful then CH pets.

The more advanced the combat droid, the more resource intensive they should be. Yes its that way now, what I mean is, make Advanced Droidekas as resource intensive as say a Binary Load Lifter.

Remove Binary Load Lifters, or give them some practical use.

Make experimentation as affective as a Master Artisan.

Last but not least, have everyone able to have more then one droid out.

OMG Sin.. that is an awsome idea, that is a lot like I had in mind (except the marksman thing, not sure what I think about that).

Good job as always

At the very least, droids should have certs for certain modules. MSE droids should only be allowed level 1 and 2 modules. ADV MSE's up to level 3. R5's up to level 4. etc.

Specific chasis could have "bonuses" for certain classes of module. Maybe Treadwells'sgive a +15% effectiveness to crafting modules or BLL'scan stack (legally)multiple storage modules...

There are a lot of ways fixing the DE profession could go, short of throwing the whole thing out and starting over.

Having said that tho'... when I first heard of the DE profession, I thought it would be the crafter's equivalent to the CH profession... with DE's actually USING combat droids in the field. Go figger.

(sorry. incoherent rambling. need more coffee. )

Aww... /bump

Really wish the devs would read something in this forum.

I hope you'll forgive me I mess up something, or say something that's plain obvious,but I'm not a DE; I'm just a starry-eyed SW fan, who thinks you DE's deserve some lovin', and that the rest of us should get to see Droids done right.

That being said, I have just a couple of things to add the nice post above, which included many points that I hoped for, (i.e., entertainer droids to boost healing ability of entertainers, having players fulfill certain combat skill requirements to use certain levels of combat droids or more of them)

Here's just some random brain dumps:

On Droids in general...

On Combat...

--In my humble opinion, Probots have been done wrong from the beginning. They were never meant as "Combat Droids", but as Scouts ("Probe Droid"). This would mean that they'd be used to scout enemy installations, and perhaps be modified as an advanced, and more dangerous, Fugitive Tracker droid.

But what of Combative droids, then? Well, there's so many to choose from in the EU, its amazing so many of them haven't been added already!

*Fromm Tower Droid --- Limited offensive, butEXCELLENT for guarding/patrols.

* G-2RD Guard --- Bodyguard and sentry duties

*S-EP1 Security --- Bodyguarding, security, patrolling; highly advanced abilities include: lethat/nonlethal force, emergancy medical care, vehicle operation, and vulberabilities for thousands for alien species (VERY nice)

*501-Z Police Droid --- Ideal for PLayer city law enforcement

* Mark IV Sentry Droid --- "Classroom squeelers of the robotic world", reports crimes, then whisks away to the nearest law enforcement officer. Could alert nearest Player city militia members/law droids of crimes. (Such as attacking player structures in a player city, or it's militia members)

*IT-O Interrogator --- Could be used by BH's for tracking down NPC bounties when used on members belonging to the same faction as the BH's mark. ( Swooper NPC- "I'll never tell you anything!" BH Uses IT-O on Swooper. Swooper NPC "Uh, I think I saw him somewhere in Bestine....Ooh, I feel sick....what was your name again?) Would help add more of an investigative feel to being a bounty hunter, if it could work. OK, so it's not exactly combat, but BH's would use them.

*Guardian Droid --- Looks like abig, evil canine-droid; "designed...to be the ultimate protector, companion, and freind"

On "Helping around the house"...

--- It seems that R-series and repair droids won't come in handy until we have significant things to repair, such as vehicles and starships, which will make up such a huge part of the economy when they come in. They almost seem wasted now.

Oops, accidentally posted before I was done, sorry

Anyway, back at it.....

I just think that the R-series and repair droids will shoot up in popularity, as soon as we get vehicles/vessels, especially if the Devs implement a system allowing them to maintain our rides, as well as make emergency repairs, that will make life easier (and cheaper) for owning these types of droids.

*U2C1 House Keeping droid --- Would reduce/negate building decay

*3D-4X Administrative droid --- Leave in house/shop, could have player made "Converse" options, act as vendors, can also act as translators if later on Devs make languages more difficult to learn. Could also help with buildin decay, as they're essentially "Butler Droids"

*SE4 Servant droid --- Similar to the above droid, they're hard-wired with culinary arts matrices, making them ideal for chefs, could help them make food/drinks.

*R-10 Household droid --- Looks like a thigh-high MSE with a drink tray/serving arms. Could be "loaded" with food stuffs and drinks, retrievable by guests (Maybe they could even be "tipped?). Also, help with building decay.

*Asp (Labor droid --- "For most galactic citizens, hardly a day goes by when they don't cross paths with an Asp" Does a little bit of everything, ".from repair to maintenance to sanitation to delivery". Could help with building decay, good for personal use, and for Mayors of player cities.

*City Maintenance droid --- For use of player city mayors, keep public buildings in good conditions

Well, thats enough for that

My Idea is a variation on Sin's:

Keep the requirments for Droid Engineer the same. Ad a bunch more combad droids to the list using many of the ideas already posted and include a certification system. Devide combat droids into 3 diffrent catagories Low, Medium and High. Lower level droid certs can be used my the Marksmans and Brawlers of the game Mid Level certs are used by your elite professions such as Bounty Hunters, Rifelment, Rangers ect...

Now your High level droid certs are for your new Elite class "Combat Droid Specialist" or something much more cooler sounding. This class requres Engineering IV and Rifle IV (beacuse this character would probably attack from a distance while his dorids go in and attack) as requirements. The tree would be:

Branch 1 Droid Certs:

This is where the specialist gets better certifiactions as he or she advances up. They also are allowed to call up to 3 doids at 1 time at the top of the tree.

Branch 2: Droid Attack methodss

This is where the specialist gets special moves such as DroidBleedShot, DroidAreaAttack and yes even DroidKnockDown.

Branch 3: Droid Defence and Repair methods

This is where the specialist gets special skills to defend him or herself with thier droids. They also get skills such as HealDroidAction and HealDroidHeath since currenlty there is no way to heal a dorid in combat. Also the specialist is able to craft (for lack of a better term) "Droid Stimpacks" so other people may heal thier dorids in combat

Branch 4: Droid Grouping tatics.

This is where the specialsit gets grouping skills such as GuardGroup. Grouping bounuses apply to all droids in the group to encurage other people bring thier combat droids with them (and hopefuly increasing sales to us Droid Engineers)

In a way this is kind of sounding like creature handeler but with droids but I don't think creature handelers have special moces as listed in branches 2 and 3

I would pick this profession up in a second.

Nostradamus Smyth

Droid Engineer

And on with the show! Seriously, just let me know if you want me to stop, and I swear I will, without any fuss. After all, I'm just a silly Marksman.

On Droids in general...

I just have this silly idea that, people should be allowed to own more droids than they currently are allowed, based on the premise that there are plenty of droids that could be doing things that don't involve traveling everywhere with the owner. Heck, even the older (and cheaper) model medical droids couldn't move at all!

So, perhaps owners could have a certain number of companion droids, and then a seperate group of Installations droids, programmed from the beginning to be either one of the two, if it's a type that's capable of both.

Example: Bob the BH wants a probot and Fugitive Tracker droid to assist him in his work, but would also like some extra droids for his garage, his ship, and around his home. (Bob is an excellent host, and wouldn't want to embaress himself if guest come over with a messy home ...

So Bob purchases his 2 Companion droids for finding his marks, and then the rest are Installation droids. He gets an R-4 to put in his garage for his Speeder, an R-2 and a LE Repair droid to stay on his ship, and an R-10, a U2C1, and a 3D-4X for his home. As an after thought, he also gets an older, stationary 2-1B Med droid to stay on ship, as he may be away from a decent Medical center on some planets.

I can understand having a limited number of droids at our immediate disposal while traveling, but this way we could have plenty of droids to handle other tasks that would allow the droid market to really take off. I dunno, just an idea.

And while we're on the subject of droids in general, I just have to put this in, so please forgive me; I simply don't believe that droids/creatures/troopers/AT-ST's should be able to be taken out of your back pocket, at anytime, like some perverse "Bag of Holding". Sorry, but perhaps later we can keep some in our vehicles,("Now, R2, I want you to behave while I'm gone, and stay here in the speeder like a good little droid, while I go get a drink.")

Mostly, I think you should be able to store Faction pets at Faction HQ's, creatures at "Pet Sitters" that would be in every city, or any of these things in our homes, with the addition of guest rooms, cages/pens, and garages. And Lord help us if they ever allow people to store a swoop bike on our DATA PADS.

If the Dev's want player cities to develop on any level, I just believe that there should be some incentive to owning to home, such as storing our belongings/pets/droids, helping out the architechs; Then, players will be more inclined to move to a player city thats safe and well run, and can protect their interests.

And when we travel, there could be a pop-up at the travel terminal that asks, "Will you be traveling with any guests/luggage/vehicles/pets?" And have a limit on the size of vehicles/pets that public transports would allow, giving people a reason to use player owned transport services, or buy their own ships. The players with ships, for paid transport or personal use, would then have varying-sized "holds" on their ships, allowing them tocarry certain amounts of cargo (i.e., Maybe they could transport 50 R2's, but only 2 Rancors.) Then, the public transports would charge a bit extra for the "luggage", after allowing us to choose what we're taking from the local "Pet Sitters", Faction HQ, or our home, if it's in the city. Maybe it'd be harder for Rebels to transport their Faction Pets in some locations, so they'd be more inclined to utilize PC travel services....say, travel services could be a nice little business when SE comes out!Ok, I'm done with that now, and I apologize. (But not really )

Knives: Yeah, I was having problemswith Master Marksman as aprerequisite myself. I feel that some sort of prerequisite should be in place to make Combat Droid Crafting viable. Would just having "Ranged Weapon Support" still be too much? If not maybe just have Master Artisan I suppose.

Gun Fodder: Excellent suggestions for various types of Droids, if 1/3 of that list is introduced, I'd be a happy DE.

Not to sound like an attention (word goes here). I'm feeling the need to post this in the General SWG Discussion forum. With the response that Holo gave about adding a Droid Handler profession, it honestly scared me with the ideas they're thinking about. Of course, I can expand my post here to include the ideas that were replied. Maybe make it a General Discussion with further class issues by expanding on the cliff note of BE and CH. Among others.

If you see a similar thread to thison the General SWG Discussion forum, please dont hate me. I just feel some well thought ideas offered by people can really help the devs. Allowing everyone to join in.

I didn't even know they were talking about a Droid Handeler profession. I thought i had an unique idea.

If anyone can't tell by my recent posts im wating for something HUGE to download and im passing the time

Nostradamus Smyth

Plzurpilot: Now your High level droid certs are for your new Elite class "Combat Droid Specialist"

I don't recall me saying there should be a new profession for just Combat Droids, I was saying maybe add something like what you described to the current Droid Engineer. Serving two roles.

Not ragging on the idea of a Droid Handler Profession but, I feel that further stetching out the Droid Engineer class can only do more harm then good. Anyway, I think something is better than what we have now.

I like your idea about giving Combat Droids special attacks and grouping tactics very much. Having 3 Combat Droids out would be defeating (in my opinion) in the end, and maybe discourage grouping.

If anyone can't tell by my recent posts im wating for something HUGE to download and im passing the time

Heh, I think we all are.

Just personal opinion on a possible Droid Handler Class. It justgot me thinking that maybe the SWG engine is limited to having4 types of characters in the game. Playable Characters, Pets, Spawned Enemies and NPC's.

Gun_Fodder:Thats anexcellent idea for Installation Droids.An idea on how it could work in game. Allow structures to have the ability to holdInstallationdroids. Sort of binding a Droid Entity to a House.Meaning a Player can have a droid with him at all times, and allow a structure to have one also.Now I dont know how how the game would handle it. Maybe give the Architects an ability to add a Droid Circuit Section when crafting a house. Vents for Mouse Droid travel for example. Also, add an add-on for a house thats specifically for Droid Storage that Architects could build for a house also. I likeyour idea of changing the way we store large items in the Datapad.