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You know how people say Microphasing Aura is worthless?

By Volt_Cruelerz on June 20, 2012 8:18:04 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Volt_Cruelerz

Join Date 06/2008
+89

It is.

I just got done running a series of tests and all resulted in the same thing: MPA sucks.  All the following were done with all research in a VR vs VR mirror and no micro whatsoever at a star (increases AM regen and reduces hull regen).

I tried 1v1 Skirantra with MPA vs Skirantra with no abilities and same SC configuration (all bombers).  They died within a second of each other, inferring that MPA had no real effect on the damage output of the SC involved.

Next, I tried other fighter configurations.  If fighters exist, it will slightly help out the bombers.  Very slightly.  The two Skirantras were only separated by a couple hundred health points.  Enough to not blame phase missile chance, but not enough to make it considered helpful.  After all, the enemy ship didn't have any ability so winning by a tiny margin says something about how weak this is.  I tried various SC configurations with low level Skirantras and all resulted in low margins of survival for the one with MPA against the enemy mirror Skirantra whenever fighters were involved.  This is presumably because there was something shooting at them.  MPA appears to do nothing to damage output and instead focus on durability.

Then, I tried some more realistic situations.  I knew that RC would overpower either of the other abilities so I figured I'd try one Skirantra with level 4 RC & MPA while the other has level 4 RC & SB.  Neither one had Replicate Forces (not that it would have mattered as it was a 1v1).  Scramble Bombers quickly allowed the Skirantra with it to gain air superiority and took down the Skirantra with MPA easily, only suffering about 15% hull and 35% shield.

Last, I hoped that MPA might be saved when dealing with fleets, so I pitted new Skirantras with the above characteristics against each other, each one escorted by 3 LF, 5 LRF, and 5 flak.  Because of happenstance, the MPA Skirantra's escort was in a slightly better position than the Scramble Bombers Skirantra's.  It didn't matter.  Once again, Scramble Bombers demolished the Skirantra with MPA and the result was a total loss for the MPA side.  No ships on the SB side were killed.

So to summarize, don't ever get MPA.

 

26 Replies
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Reply #1
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
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June 20, 2012 9:05:00 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

I already decided on a rework for it long ago...currently using it as an AoE that increases PM bypassing (concurrent with other changes, fear not), but I'm not too happy with it and am looking for other alternatives that don't step on the uniqueness of other redone abilities...

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Reply #2
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
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June 20, 2012 9:17:01 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

I know a lot of people did, but I didn't think anyone had ever actually tried it.  Definitely sticking this in the next version of Rebalanced Races...

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Reply #3
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
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June 20, 2012 9:52:30 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Volt_Cruelerz,
reply 2
but I didn't think anyone had ever actually tried it

I'm not aware of any tests posted on the forums that are as thorough as yours, but small quickies I'm sure were done by a few...

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Reply #4
Pen1993
Join Date 03/2008
0
June 20, 2012 9:58:46 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

...and I've sworn by that ability for years...

But just out of curiosity, what happens if the escort also included light carriers?

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Reply #5
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
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June 20, 2012 10:31:08 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Not likely to change.  MPA only results in a marginal boost to durability which honestly isn't conducive to LC spam because the Skirantra has to be near the SC it affects, not the LC who own them which means that for the ability to have any affect, it would have to be near the enemy fleet, not a good idea for a carrier if you're spamming LC.

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Reply #6
Astax
Join Date 04/2003
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June 21, 2012 10:59:30 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

It's terrible.

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Reply #7
Pbhead
Join Date 12/2008
+62
June 21, 2012 11:03:05 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

but. of all the capital ships in the game. it is the skirantra that NEEDS a buff.

 

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Reply #8
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
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June 21, 2012 11:06:45 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Pbhead,
reply 8
but. of all the capital ships in the game. it is the skirantra that NEEDS a buff.

Lol.  True.  That said, there's no point in having an ability if it is completely inferior to all other abilities a ship has and will never get a point invested in it.

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Reply #9
Pbhead
Join Date 12/2008
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June 21, 2012 11:09:45 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

but what you are forgetting is howthings stack. when you have your 2000 supply strip powered fleet, with 100+ sc squads, it might ben then worth while to put a point into this.

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Reply #10
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
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June 21, 2012 11:24:48 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

I still disagree.  The improvements in durability are minimal from what I've seen.  At the point you're talking about, you're going to have such overwhelming numbers that you're going to mop the floor with them one way or another and the fact that if you go heavy on the LC's and are sucking up 700+ fleet capacity, you're probably investing less in other frigates, meaning that you'll be very heavily invested in capitals which means you'll be avoiding direct confrontations which isn't conducive to a unit which is better at healing it's allies from behind than being on the front lines which is where it would have to be, otherwise the SC go out of range of MPA and nullify it's already marginal use.

If you really want to establish air superiority, just bring another Kortul instead of a Skirantra and let the Skirantra you've already got hang back with it's going to be of more use anyways.

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Reply #11
Sinperium
Join Date 02/2010
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June 21, 2012 11:44:56 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

It would be useful if it was like the titan's in-system phase jump and you could manually jump selected squadrons the same way.

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Reply #12
bilun
Join Date 02/2012
+36
June 27, 2012 8:45:33 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Meh, it sucks, but all the Shirantra's other abilities are strong, so the ship is plenty strong overall.   Same reason I'm not sure I'd endorse buffing the Advent Rapture's Vengeance ability- it' sucks, but the Rapture already does so much so well with it's other abilities.

 

Not to mention vasari bombers are already the most dangerous(due to phase missiles) and hardest to kill(high HP so resistant to Anti-strikecraft AoEs).  Honestly I'm not sure giving the Vasari fleet a strong strikecraft boosting Aura is very conductive to balance as a result.  If it were to  be buffed as a result I suspect it would need to be limited to the Shirantra's squads only, rather then having fleetwide buff potential as it does now.

 

Personally I'd prefer to focus buffs on the capitalships that need them(Kol, Revelation, Desolater, ect....)

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Reply #13
Tohron
Join Date 11/2008
+3
July 11, 2012 8:59:03 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

How about it making it an ability that gives fighters that would die a chance to "teleport" to skirantra - in practical terms giving reduced construction time and no AM cost to the next ship built from that squadron?  Just throwing it out there.

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Reply #14
CoronalFire
Join Date 07/2012
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July 11, 2012 9:02:28 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

I didn't think carrier caps used AM to rebuild SC.

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Reply #15
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
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July 11, 2012 9:10:20 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Light carriers and hangar bays both use AM to rebuild SC....SBs, caps, and titans do not...

The AM cost is specified in by the entity that creates it so it is moddable...

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Reply #16
ituhata
Join Date 02/2011
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July 11, 2012 9:16:59 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

I don't really care for the ability as there are better abilities to spend points on for both advent and vasari carriers but have you done any testing with them going up against Kol Flak Burst? Might be a 50/50 shot on timing but if you observe bombers load launching you could phase them out of flak range, making it at least situationally useful. 

 

Just a thought, never tried or tested it. 

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Reply #17
Volt_Cruelerz
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July 11, 2012 9:22:30 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Flak Burst deals damage instantly, so MPA would do absolutely nothing against it.

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Reply #18
boshimi336
Join Date 03/2008
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July 11, 2012 10:51:46 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Hmmm ... I've always put points into it after scramble bombers ... probably explains a few things.

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Reply #19
ituhata
Join Date 02/2011
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July 11, 2012 11:22:37 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Volt_Cruelerz,
reply 18
Flak Burst deals damage instantly, so MPA would do absolutely nothing against it.

 

I realize that, that's why its very situational, most likely useful against autocasting capital ships, rather than an intelligent player who would more than likely trigger it before the bombers release their payload. I just wonder what the effectiveness would be of dropping payload and getting them out of flak range, increasing the overall longevity of the strike craft. That is also assuming MPA range would be enough to clear flak range, I seem to observe the distance to be very small. 

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Reply #20
Volt_Cruelerz
Join Date 06/2008
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July 11, 2012 11:49:55 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Autocast vs player wouldn't make much of a difference.  The teleport is so seldom that I really doubt it would do much.

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Reply #21
ituhata
Join Date 02/2011
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July 11, 2012 11:55:21 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Oh, I was having a blonde moment, for some reason I was thinking it was an ability one could control. Disregard. 

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Reply #22
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
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July 12, 2012 2:00:02 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting boshimi336,
reply 19
Hmmm ... I've always put points into it after scramble bombers ... probably explains a few things.

Well it does help your crops grow faster....

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Reply #23
boshimi336
Join Date 03/2008
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July 12, 2012 4:21:17 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Pudding!

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Reply #24
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
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July 12, 2012 4:37:07 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Pudding doesn't grow on trees, you silly....

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Reply #25
boshimi336
Join Date 03/2008
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July 13, 2012 12:17:42 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Seleuceia,
reply 25
Pudding doesn't grow on trees, you silly....

 

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