Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Possible Droid Commander Skill Tree? (comments welcome)
If we are going in the direction of the Droid Commander/Droid Commander/Whateverwecallitthisweek Profession, I would much rather start outlining what I think would fit in with the model that the Dev's seem to want. If I'm going to be forced to swallow a bitter pill, I'd rather I choose the flavor
Anyway, I have some HUGE concerns about making this profession distinctly different from CH, but I think we have to give it a shot. What I have done below is quickly sketch out a very VERY rough outline of what the DC tree might look like, and some of the benefits/bonuses that the profession would bring with it. It's not complete by a long shot, but I think this is a good starting point for a discussion/debate/argument/knife fight. As the second part of this post, I will tell you what problems I'm having so you can see what I'm thinking of here. Anyway, without further ado, onto the skill tree sketch....
(1 skill point)
+1 called droid (combat) (3 max)
Increase droid damage 5% (max at master 25%)
Increase Droid attack speed 5% (max at master 20%)
(63 points for DC, 121 total skill points used, is this too low?)
(5 skill points)
Droid command-"power attack"(droid gets temporary increase to damage and attack speed (5-10%) for duration of timer. This would stack with the DCA increases creating a powerful attack and a type of "buff" for droids
(5 skill points)
+1 Called Combat Droid (max 2 droids called)
(5 skill points)
Max Droid Level 40 (droideka or equivalent)
(5 skill points)
Increase droid damage (+5%)
Increase droid attack speed (+5%)
(4 skill points)
Droid command-"beserker" (droid gets temporary 25% increase to HAM but battery charge is drained after command times out. 30-45 second timer
(4 skill points)
no bonus to called droids
(4 skill points)
Max Droid Level 30 (what should go here?)
(4 skill points)
Increase droid damage (+5%)
Increase droid attack speed (+5%)
(3 skill points)
Droid Command-"multiple targets" (droid is able to now attack several targets in a area in front of it now has AE attack)
(3 skill points)
+1 called non-combat droid (max 2 droids called)
(3 skill points)
Max Droid Level 20 (IG 88? Others?)
(3 skill points)
Increase droid damage (+5%)
Increase droid attack speed (+5%)
Droid command-"hit and run" (droid moves into attack range, fires and moves out of return fire range)
1 called combat Droid (CL 15)
(2 skill points)
Max Droid Level (DL) 15 (Roger/Roger? others?)
(2 skill points)
Increase droid damage (+5%)
(CL 13 Droid max)
max 1 droid called
Artisan-Engineer IV
(these make the most sense to me in the grand scheme of things)
(Would require 58 Skill Points to attain, is this too low?)
I still have some items that I really don't know how to get around, and I need some help trying to make something of them. Since you all are a lot more knowledgeable related to some of these issues, I am asking for your help. From my perspective, there are two ways to attack any problem. You can start where you want to be and work backwards, identifying problems that make something NOT possible, or you can start where you are and build to where you want to be. Since I'm a results oriented guy, in my case, I thought I would start where I want to be and work backwards. This isn't set in stone, but I think that if we start with what we want, it is always easier to modify it after some more research. Just my two cents
Anyway, I'm just throwing this out to all of you to see if it is even something that you all are interested in. Sooo, I'll let you all look/talk/discuss/argue with me/ridicule/tear me to shreads now! I know some of you are just dying to make me run crying to my momma about the "bad bad people" on the DE boards! Have at it guys and gals!
-What kind of xp would be used to work up the tree? can we use existing xp or some other type? creating a new type of XP is definitely a "bad thing" (TM).
-how do we make the tree more specialized/ distinct from CH? What can we/ should we/ would if we could add to this to make it distinct?
-are the amount of leftover skill pointsa concern to anyone? They are to me, but I need more information on what could be the possible consequences of lots of leftover skill points. Should we be using the starting points I outlined, or are there others that appear more appropriate?
-Since I'm not a big EU guy, I really am in need of some help identifying additional droid models that may/might be added.
-are the creature levels appropriate? are they too high/low?
-what am I missing/overlooking/ too stoopid to understand with how this works?
Discuss 
Message Edited by Micco30 on 04-03-2004 08:50 AM
Its a good start. I'd say the pre-reqs are right (or at the least, make the most sense). As for the rest of them, It looks like your working backwards from most other elite professions. Tier 1 skills are normally 5, 2 are 4, 3 are 3, 4 are 2, and master is 1. While I don't think things have to work this way, following something like the standard profession template would probably make things easier.
As to the CL level, with just slightly less points than CH (14 I think?) you could probably bump the max CL up to 50 or 60 (I think CH's get 70). While I do want to differentiate us from them, this is looking at overall strength (I think if you take ratios of skill points to CL it works out to be about 10 points CL difference).
Now on the the skills themselves. I like the programmer line, don't really think there's anything you need to add there, maybe tweak some of the numbers a bit. The director skill is a bit lacking, but I'll get to that in a second. If we can bump up the CL, we can smooth things out a bit with the trainer line. As it is a novice doesn't get anything a non-DC doesn't have. I'd say bump novice up to CL 20, then make it 25, 35, 40, 45, and 55 maybe for the trainer line 1-4 and the master box (numbers could be very flexible, but some kind of growth like that). Droid combat abilities looks pretty cool, though I'm not sure how the %'s would play out. might either need to be bumped up a little, or add in some other random skills there. Might be interesting instead of giving them bonuses to damage and speed to instead give them damage options, pool targetting, or skills like dodge or counterattack for the droid. That might be getting a bit too powerful though.
Ok, back to the director. One way we could differentiate creatures versus droids is to make droids more plentiful and less powerful. Maybe make the max controlled droids 8 or 9, but when your splitting the CL over them they aren't quite as good. You'd have to offer some incentive for people to have more than one max level droid out at a time though. We've seen with CH's that even though they can control 3 they'll pull the biggest one they can, and whatever else they can control.
So there's some thoughts, do with them as you will.
The big gapping problem I see is the "increased droid damage" and "increase droid speed" modifiers.Why/how would the DC have any effect on the speed or damage of the droid? Second, "Droid Buffs" should not be skills. Since you are based off of Engineering, you should have a craftable item that is installed onto the droid. Introduce various schematics for different buffs throughout the trees (shield generators,power supplies, cannon upgrades....etc). Tree naming probably needs a bit of work as well, as they don't signify any particular speciality of the trees.
JavelinCatcher wrote:
The big gapping problem I see is the "increased droid damage" and "increase droid speed" modifiers.Why/how would the DC have any effect on the speed or damage of the droid? Second, "Droid Buffs" should not be skills. Since you are based off of Engineering, you should have a craftable item that is installed onto the droid. Introduce various schematics for different buffs throughout the trees (shield generators,power supplies, cannon upgrades....etc). Tree naming probably needs a bit of work as well, as they don't signify any particular speciality of the trees.
I also agree with much Jenden said.
1) Absolutely right about notbeing able to "motivate" droids. Doesnt make sense.
2) Good idea about the upgrades....except they're not droid engineers. We make the droid,if they make their own parts it defeats the "purpose" of DE and creates the "imbalance" that alledgly exists with DE Hybrid. So what now they'll get a certification to use a shield? Icant even begin to think how our blob of a deed could handle that sort of information.
id like to be more constructive, but i get a headache wrapping my mind around the the idea of a DC. must be from my head banging the wall repeatedly.
Oh, and as this is a full profession now, there's no reason to hobble the CL. CL Max should be = to CH. is that 90?
A profession to control 4 droid types. whee. Maybe by space itll be 10.
Message Edited by Lonkley on 04-04-2004 11:23 AM
Droid travel speed needs to increase before anything else happens. Also what about the battle droids? They would be great even with 1/4 of the HAM the NPC ones had. Im not sure if they should go in level 4 and move destroyers to level 3, or the other way round.
Jnath wrote:
Droid travel speed needs to increase before anything else happens. Also what about the battle droids? They would be great even with 1/4 of the HAM the NPC ones had. Im not sure if they should go in level 4 and move destroyers to level 3, or the other way round.