Squad Leader Archive
Thread: Why fixing Squad Leader can fix other professions too.
Thul - nice post and great ideas
I am one month old to both swg and the intrepid server and mastered marksman, scout, and squad leader. I already broke up scout and about to for marksman.
However i dont want to break up Squad Leader, but i must admit I am very frustrated by how much mind these (in my opinion - lacking) skills require and then truly do not counter any enemies stregnth(s). The return on mind investment (RMI - LOL)is very low and I can now see why few master it and fewer keep it for long. We can only hopethat one day we can partiallyrepair our own minds...or you know what...let us play a basic instrument or something (i dont know...whatever).
To boot, we do not take advantage of other professions' skills, nor is any skill (retreat or steady aim especially)we canoffer a very intelligent solution to the problems we all collectively face hunting, badging, etc. These skills often ignore the stregnths and weaknesses of our respected group memebers, does nothing to enhance them,and does has very little real impact on the fight.
Go to your local dantooine mining outpost on any server and start asking around...do you prefer a squad leader over any other profession leading your group...nobody cares, heck I dont now that I have the master title. And why not skills that impact target npc's differently...creature vs. humanoid npc advatages/disadvantages in attacks or defenses...perhaps faction questing, badging, etc. will impact its effectiveness.
Im going armorsmith to make lots of cash and learn more about crafting in this game. I've decided to keep Master Squad Leader for awhile. Its the only one im keeping for awhile b/c it is my hope that it will get better over time and that I have something meaningful to offer when I am in a combat group. But Im afraid I wont be much help, but better than not having something like it at all? Not good enough...
And what a kool rp class, for those that do...not with anything else besides /sysgroup. Taking a bunch of professions that cant hold their own out there alonebut can when a Master SL is behind them...now that is storytelling, that is fun.
SOE developers...Please make Master SL more fun and worth playing...thanks again Thulium, I want every one of your ideas in a Master Squad Leader.
I think all the suggestions have been spectacular. However, I'm a simple kinda guy, and there is one thing that in itself would make me totally excited. I'm sure its been brought up before, but I'll do it again. Give Squad Leaders NPC Troops. What is a SL if not the Creature Handler of Humans, haha. The system could easily work like the CH, as you gain more skills you can control more troops. Weaker troops like foot soilders would have a low Difficulty level, while stronger ones like NPC Commando's would have a much higher difficulty. The Squad leader could use his normal abilities, even at times when he can't find a group. Plus, it seems to balance things a bit. Droid Engineers will soon have Combat Droids as Pets, CH's have a whole slu of pets to choose from, if the SL were given troops, it would seem to cover the three main bases. Droids, Creatures, Humanoids.
If this were to be considered, they already have a template to base it off of in the Faction Troops. Just make them Generic, and give us a few more of them, haha. Thanks
. And thanks to everyone else who cares enough about the profession with the awesomest titles in the game to post here and let me know that I'm not the only one in the game who mastered this prof because I wanted to, rather than because my holo said to (I swear, I think there are only three MSLs on Tarquinas, myself included!)
whippet wrote:
Hey everyone, I'm not a squadleader, but i hunt with renkesson. I notice while working with him that he can use his /boostmorale to share my mind wounds (I'm a CM/DOC) which I get alot of as i like tanking brawlers vs krayts/Nightsisters /giggle.
But it only seems to share out my primary pools wounds and my focus and willpower still wind up trashed completely, is it mean't to work like this? Or should it distribute wounds to the secondry pools as well? It would be great if it did and would allow the basically crappy CM mind heal to become a heluva alot more useful, I find its only really viable atm with entertainer buffs so that you can max out your wounds and then still have your normal ammount of pool leftover. Trouble is getting entertainer buffs is hard work with only AFKentertainers left in the game, at least they're all AFK when you need one!.
How about a change to this so that it would share the focus/willpower wounds I accumulate so damn fast?
Krys'fyr, GoRE Tarquinas
I remember when i was a SL (about 7 months ago)There was a bug where if you were grouped with a droid you could share wounds with a droid but the wounds wouldnt go into the droid. so effectivelyyou boost morale a few times and you can fully heal your group (cept for like 10 wounds). You could also use this to heal an AT-STs wounds.I am sorry to say thiswas the only useful SL skill. That worked for about 3 days before they hotfixed it (strange thats some bugs in this game last for for MONTHS (singing mountain clan cave, defense stacking) while others are insta hotfixed) but after that if you were grouped with a TKM he could meditate and suck up woulds that way has the same effect just takes longer.
Well said, fellow squad leaders!
I'm new to the game, but have always enjoyed the classes that sacrifice the most, to benefit the more, so naturally I went the same way as many of you; suffering my way through Survival which I just don't see as a logical prerequisite to squad leader, as there is no mention of any similar skills in the SL profession. So, ranger yes, squad leader WHY??
Now, unlike a lot of you I'm combining swordsman with squad leader, because I feel while in the fray of things you get a better idea of what we're not hitting but should be. So, imagine my disappointment when volleyfire is just.. utterly.. USELESS as it barely itches any selfrespecting monster and using it a few times all but drains my mind, even when heavily intoxicated on quality beverages.
Rally is hated. Steady Aim is a joke, form up is virtually useless, and so far RETREAT is the only really usefull skill I have.
The Squad Leaders greatest strength is to make hasty retreats.. well, not what we use it for but you get the point.
That's just wrong.
A lot of SL enthusiasts have come up with some downright ingenious suggestions which I would be surprised not to see in the next major patch.
Now, add to the fact that SL literally SUCKS UP skillpoints you would expect a little more for your money, wouldn't you?
Whilst under the command of a squad leader as opposed to not, I would expect:
Overall high temporal buffbonus to all statistics for the melees during combat, call it Legion. You have to be pretty damn inspiring to tell a fencer to go poke that sleeping Krayt Dragon, even for an imperial SL. Maybe make it more efficient if there are skilled chefs among you. A wellfed army is a strong army.
Higher rate of fire, more action points and higher focus for the ranged ones, call it Precision, a leader should inspire order, at least an imperial one, so higher precision + maybe greater output of weapons shouldn't be shunned either.
Greater range and speed for healers, call it Readiness, A SL, at least an imperial one, would have superior control over the battlefield and what flanks have fallen and are in dire need of medics.
And for the love of god, don't kill the SL's for doing their jobs. On a sidenote, the carabiners seems to be having the same problem , so if anyone should understand our pain it's them.
Can't you just imagine the starting scene on Gladiator when Maximus is peptalking his troops and all that.
"What we do today will echo through eternityyyyyyGAAH" - *PLUMP*, Maximus falls incapacitated to the ground exhausted by his heavy endeavour.
The End.
I like the idea but I think that instead of actually moving other players the SL should provideevery groupmemberwiththeideal rangeof thierweapon (i.e. with a message saying "you ideal ranger is 32m. You are 20m short"). or something like that. Some of the group members might stay back because of low HAM and wouldn't like to be "pushed" forward.
Thulium wrote:
Got another idea to throw out there. Yes, this does come close to the squad "puppeteer" type idea, but bear with me...
/getinposition
This new Squad Leader skill allows the Squad Leader to direct a member of his/her squad to a position at the ideal range for their weapon.
Melee fighters usually have the idea of getting into range as their first priority already, so perhaps a quick burst of speed is what would help them the most. But for all the ranged combatants, this command would move them forward or back from their target until they are at the ideal range for their currently equipped weapon.
A smart fighter may already know what their weapons ideal range may be, so this will most greatly benefit inexperienced people in your group...but speaking as a Pistoleer, I think I would appreciate if my Squad Leader had the ability to push me in the right direction to get the most out of my gun.
irott wrote:
Well john... here is how I see the /aimfor command working (Thulium might have a different view ^_^ ).
Say you have a group of 5 people in your group including yourself. 3 of your squadmembers use pistols while one uses a carbine. The pistols are dropping the Health HAM bar but with with carbine packing more of a punch its dropping the Action HAM at almost the same rate as the Health. So do a /aimfor on the action or leg or whatever it would be set as and watch that green bar drop. All it is, is a /vollyfire (one use) that targets a specific HAM bar. Its not high damage so its not going to be overused. It just gives a tactical advantage in certain situations. SLs need to know their groups abilites so they can direct... and lead.
Thule you might want to explain your version in detail if it is different than mine.
The /aimfor command could also make all group members target one pool (health because of the larger target i.e. torso) for 5-10 secs. Then in those 5-10 secs every shot would hit health (even headshot and legshot). I know that would make a powerful ability and maybe it should be limited to once per 10 mins. It would be great for those almost impossible targets