Squad Leader Archive

Recently hit master and here are my impressions:

group melee defense and group missile defense - do these even work? If so, they seem very weak.

/sysgroup - better than it sounds, especially now that %TT works. I use it in my macros to keep my group updated as to what to expect.

group terrain negotiation - better than it sounds. Try running non-scouts over mountains for 15 minutes before you get it, and after. The funny thing is even they will immediately notice and comment on it, and love it. It's just a shame that above 50 terrain negotiation seems virtually useless, so those with ample scouting get nothing at all.

group burst run efficiency - What?? Can there be a poorer skill than this? You probably burst run a couple times a day, so a couple times a day you are able to use an already cheap ability a little more cheaply. That would be like having a gun that allows you to fire off a specialmovie at half cost once per day. Woopie. Make this allow you to burst run somewhat longer or more often and it might count for something.

boost morale - Oh wait, there can be a poorer skill. It's boost morale. This only slows down the time it takes for a good doctor to remove all wounds in a group. My doctor friend can remove virtually any number of wounds from a single stat to a single person in one shot, so spreading them around just makes this slower. This skill is only useful if someone has a completely debilitating number of wounds, and this only happens when they are a) a fool or b) hit by a disease from a creature such as the borple life sapper, and there is no doctor around. If you want to make this skill useful, make itaverage out a single one of the HAM bars at random of all group members and have a long reuse timer (similar to the burst run reuse timer). Then for instance, if half the group is out of mind, you could use it and hope that you are able to lend them some from the other half the group. The randomness and use timer would be there for balance.

steady aim - Not something I ever use. If I'm going to spend pool on something, it's not going to be just to slightly enhance my ability to aim the next shot. If I was leading a group of snipers perhaps...but SWG combat does not quite lend itself to that. (unless I'm missing something about aim)

retreat - Good in theory, not so good in practice. Very expensive and burst runs everyone BUT you. Halve the cost or make it include you. I do like that you can use it on distant members when they are in trouble though, but the duration is very brief.

rally - As Volatris has talked about, this disallows many otherwise routine actions like harvesting. Otherwise it seems not bad.

volley fire - I like it, though it's not something you can afford to use often. I'd like it more if I could set it so that I'd be included in the volley, but I guess I can achieve something similar with a macro. Thematically at least it's appropriate.

form up - Does not appear to work on pets last time I tried, and often does not work at all when you yourself are dizzy. Very rarely use it - stun is not that serious...dizzy seems somewhat more serious, but is rare.

Many of these things have been said before by others, but bear repeating.

Phantros (Master Squad Leader / Master Creature Handler - Lowca)

"steady aim - Not something I ever use. If I'm going to spend pool on something, it's not going to be just to slightly enhance my ability to aim the next shot. If I was leading a group of snipers perhaps...but SWG combat does not quite lend itself to that. (unless I'm missing something about aim)"

One thing I would add to this that perhaps is implied but not explicitly stated:I think the real problem with this sort of skill is that Squad Leader XP is not tied directly to the use of our skills. For instance, if I were to earn XP by using this skill in battle, I would be willing to sacrifice a round of my own damage in order to improve the aim of my party members, even if only slightly. However, since my XP is tied only to my own damage, then I'm hurting my own XP for a minimal benefit to the party.

I realize this is an underlying theme in nearly every SL thread, but I consider it to severe enough to merit another mention.

Stumpfrowe of Kettemoor