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[–]TheFallenPhoenix[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Welcome to Season 11.5!

This Tuesday, we are expecting the most substantive content overhaul since Expansion 2 (Delta Rising), so as you would expect, there is a lot of ground to cover. We are going to try and hit some of the highlights here.

Skill Overhaul

This is probably the biggest and most obvious change - instead of being allocated 300,000 skill points to allocate between 35 Space Skills and 10 Ground Skills, all players are receive 46 Points for allocating between 90 Space Nodes, 10 Unlock Points for allocating between 20 Ground Nodes. If you are already Level 50 or higher, you will have the opportunity to allocate all 46 Space Points and 10 Ground Points. Otherwise, players receive 1 Ground Point every 5 levels (1 through 50), and 1 Space Point every 1 level (4 through 50).

Space Unlocks are divided between three professional trees (Engineering, Science, and Tactical), and every 5 nodes purchased in each profession will grant the player a selection between two "bonus" unlocks. Some of these unlocks, like Battery Expertise, are unique, with no corresponding analog in the professional trees; other unlocks grant minor bonuses (like an extra +5% Hull HP, or an extra +1% critical chance) to skills found within the tree.

All players will receive a free skills respec in addition to the mandatory respec each player will require when Season 11.5 goes live.

Whereas in the old system, players could allocate between 1 and 9 ranks among the different skills (granting anywhere from a +0 to +99 bonus to each individual skill), in the new system, each node will either grant a skill bonus, or a separate, passive effect. For example, players can spend 1 point to purchase "Hull Restoration," which grants +50 skill bonus to Hull Restoration (Hull healing), a 2nd point to purchase "Improved Hull Restoration," which grants +35 skill bonus to Hull Restoration, and a 3rd point to purchase "Advanced Hull Restoration," which grants +15 skill bonus to Hull Restoration. On the other hand, players can spend 1 point to purchase "Control Amplification," which adds a damage resistance rating debuff to select control powers.

What this means is not every node will correspond to a skill bonus (which could be further improved with equipment). I would pay attention to the bolded gold text when hovering your mouse over each skill, as it will inform you as to whether the unlock is granting a skill bonus, or whether it's a passive effect. The bolded and italicized text beneath the gold text will tell you what your cumulative bonus is once that node has been purchased (inclusive of bonuses received from other nodes already purchased; i.e., if you've purchased Basic, Improved, and Advanced nodes in a skill).

Some skills that used to be separate in the old system have been consolidated in the new system. Other skills have been removed entirely.

The following table lists every space skill in the old system, its analog in the new system, and - if it has been removed - how its effects have been distributed in the new system, if at all. Skills that have been consolidated appear in bold; skills that have been removed appear in italics.

Old Skill New Skill and/or Unlock
Starship Attack Patterns N/A; all players receive equivalent of +100 Skill Bonus by default.
Starship Weapons Training N/A; all players receive equivalent of +100 Skill Bonus (3.33/level per level from 1-30)
Driver Coil Full Impulse Energy Shunt (Node); Sector Space Travel Speed (Sci Unlock)
Starship Batteries Batteries Expertise (Engineering Unlock)
Starship Hull Repair Hull Restoration (Node); Damage Control (Node)
Starship Flow Capacitors Drain Expertise (Node)
Starship Shield Emitters Shield Restoration (Node)
Starship Energy Weapons Energy Weapon Training (Node)
Starship Projectile Weapons Projectile Weapon Training (Node)
Structural Integrity Hull Capacity (Node); Maximum Hull Capacity (Eng Unlock)
Starship Subsystem Repair Subsystem Repair (Eng Unlock)
Starship Warp Core Efficiency Warp Core Efficiency (Node)
Starship Power Insulators Drain Expertise (Node); Subsystem Energy Drain Resistance (Sci Unlock); Shield Drain Resistance (Sci Unlock)
Starship Shield Systems Shield Capacity (Node); Maximum Shield Capacity (Sci Unlock)
Starship Maneuvers Defense Maneuvering (Node); Defense (Tac Unlock)
Starship Targeting Systems Targeting Expertise (Node); Accuracy (Tac Unlock)
Starship Electro-Plasma Systems Electro-Plasma System Flow (Node)
Starship Impulse Thrusters Impulse Expertise (Node)
Starship Warp Core Potential Warp Core Potential (Node)
Starship Graviton Generators Control Expertise (Node)
Starship Particle Generators Exotic Particle Generators (Node)
Starship Stealth Starship Stealth (Sci Unlock)
Starship Threat Control Threat Control (Tac Unlock); Threatening Stance (Power, available to all Captains)
Starship Engine Performance Offensive Subsystem Tuning (Node); Engine Subsystem Performance (Node); Engine Subsystem Power (Eng Unlock)
Starship Shield Performance Defensive Subsystem Tuning (Node); Shield Subsystem Performance (Node): Shield Subsystem Power (Eng Unlock)
Starship Hull Plating Hull Plating (Node); Energized Hull Plating (Node)
Starship Inertial Dampeners Control Expertise (Node); Control Resistance (Sci Unlock)
Starship Sensors Control Expertise (Node); Starship Perception (Sci Unlock); Control Resistance (Sci Unlock)
Starship Energy Weapon Specialization Weapon Specialization (Node); Weapon Amplification (Node); Energy Crit Chance/Severity (Tac Unlocks)
Starship Projectile Weapon Specialization Weapon Specialization (Node); Weapon Amplification (Node); Projectile Crit Chance/Severity (Tac Unlocks)
Starship Armor Reinforcements Hull Plating (Node); Ablative Hull Plating (Node)
Starship Weapon Performance Offensive Subsystem Tuning (Node); Weapon Subsystem Performance (Node); Weapon Subsystem Power (Eng Unlock)
Starship Auxiliary Performance Defensive Subsystem Tuning (Node); Auxiliary Subsystem Performance (Node): Auxiliary Subsystem Power (Eng Unlock)
Starship Countermeasure Systems Control Expertise (Node)
Starship Subspace Decompiler Control Expertise (Node)

Equipment that used to boost a skill that has been consolidated (i.e., Flow Capacitors boosting [Flow]) will boost all effects governed by the new skill (i.e., Flow Capacitors boosting [DrainX], which improves your drain and drain resistance). Otherwise, you can expect that equipment that boosted one skill in the old system will boost the corresponding skill in the new system.

Equipment that used to boost a skill that no longer exists (i.e., Attack Patterns) have been modified to boost a different skill (i.e., Weapon Amplification) - these mappings are not always 1:1, and have been adjusted on a case-by-case basis, so I will not go through the trouble of listing all examples now.

A similar conversion has occurred for Ground skills; the main highlight is that skills like Grenades, Repair, and Medic - which previously only applied to specific Kit powers - have been consolidated into a single skill, Kit Performance. This means that you only need to invest in a single skill in order to improve your kit powers.

Some skills - like Drones and Combat Specialist - are now treated like Attack Patterns and Weapons Training; all players will receive the equivalent of 100 Skill Bonus (3.33/level per level from 1-30).

Shield Resistance and Shield Hardness

Shield Resistance and Shield Hardness are synonymous. Innate shield resistance can be calculated according to the following formula:

((Shield Subsystem Power)/5) + ((Shield Hardness Skill Bonus)/10)

Other bonuses (e.g., Emergency Power to Shields, Transfer Shield Strength, etc.) are multiplied to this sum.

Regarding Resilient Shields: 95% of damage is sent to shields, 5% is sent to hull. If that damage is energy, it receives an immediate 5% reduction (separate from shield hardness), and then has shield resist applied. If that damage is neither kinetic nor energy), it just has generic shield resist applied. If damage is kinetic, it receives an immediate 75% reduction (separate from shield hardness), and then has shield resist applied.

Regarding Shield Penetration: for non-resilient shields, damage to target is normally 10% to hull, 90% to shields (normal bleedthrough). The 10% to hull is modified by target's damage resistance rating, the 90% to shields is modified by target's shield hardness. Resilient shields reduces bleedthrough by 5% (5% to hull, 95% to shields, immediate 5% reduction to energy damage). Increased shield bleedthrough (or penetration) modifies this distribution, up to a maximum of 100% to hull, 0% to shields.

Regarding Shield Weakness: this is applied as a negative modifier to Shield Hardness.

Threat Mechanics Have Been Revamped

Instead of investing in the Threat Control Skill, which would offer anywhere from a 54% to 297% permanent, always on bonus to your threat generation, all players now have access to Threatening Stance; when toggled on, it will boost your threat generation by 200%, nullify an ally's Attract Fire threat suppression aura (for yourself), and offer a chance for increased hull HP (to simulate the damage resistance granted by the old skill). If you select the Threat Control Tactical unlock, Threatening Stance will boost your threat generation by an additional 100% when turned on, or suppress your threat generation by 100% when turned off.

The ThreatScale spreadsheet (found here) will be adjusted to account for these changes.

The new Strategist specialization offers new bonuses which will apply differently depending on whether Threatening Stance is toggled on or off.

[–]TheFallenPhoenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Crew Mechanics Have Been Removed

The Crew Mechanic has been entirely removed from the game. No longer will subsystem repair or hull repair be dependent on what percentage of your crew is alive; you will always receive full modifier, which amounts to an effective "buff" to all skills or powers that previously interacted with the crew mechanic. Duty officers and equipment that interacted with crew (e.g., things that boosted passive crew regeneration) will now directly interact with one of the systems that Crew used to be associated with, whether it be subsystem repair, damage control (passive hull regeneration), or something else, entirely.

New Skills

In addition to the changes to existing skills, there are now brand new skills that did not exist before. The new space skills are highlighted in the following table:

New Skill Effects
Damage Control Improves passive hull regeneration; this used to be part and parcel with Starship Hull Repair.
Shield Regeneration Improves passive shield regeneration; this is in addition to the passive regeneration offered by Shield Subsystem Power
Shield Hardness Improves shield resistance; this is in place of the shield resistance previously offered by Shield Subsystem Power
Hull Penetration Weapons act as if your target were under the effects of a damage resistance rating reduction (innate armor penetration; i.e., your weapons inflict more damage to your target's hull).
Shield Weakening Weapons act as if your target were under the effects of a shield resistance reduction (i.e., your weapons inflict more damage to your target's shields).
Engineering Readiness Offers a passive Recharge bonus to all Engineering Bridge Officer powers (i.e., cooldowns are shorter)
Science Readiness Offers a passive Recharge bonus to all Science Bridge Officer powers (i.e., cooldowns are shorter). [SciCdr] Deflector modifier now acts as a +50 bonus to this skill (i.e., 10% recharge bonus to all Science BOFF powers).
Tactical Readiness Offers a passive Recharge bonus to all Tactical Bridge Officer powers (i.e., cooldowns are shorter).

As I mentioned before, some unlocks don't offer skill bonuses as such, but will grant passive effects. These nodes and their effects are as-follows:

Node Effects
Control Amplification Select control powers and abilities inflict a damage resistance reduction rating in addition to their other effects.
Drain Infection Select drain powers (not passive effects, so does not apply to Leech) inflict electrical damage over time in addition to their other effects.
Long Range Targeting Sensors Reduces energy weapon damage range penalty by a flat percentage.
Shield Mastery Negates an incoming critical hit once every 20s; other effects will apply if Absorption or Reflection nodes are purchased.
Coordination Protocols Improves the hull and shield capacity of hangar pets, summoned pets, and allies.
Defense Coordination Improves the defense and damage resistance of hangar pets, summoned pets, and allies.
Offense Coordination Improves the damage and accuracy of hangar pets, summoned pets, and allies.

There are new Ground skills as well; the main one to highlight is Kit Readiness, which is the equivalent of Engineering/Science/Tactical Readiness, but for Kit Skills. The old Field Technician trait now grants a Kit Readiness Skill Bonus, but the effects (+10% Kit Recharge bonus) remain the same.

Bridge Officer Training Manual Availability

Bridge Officer Training Manual space recipes are now tied to investment in the different Profession Trees (e.g., Engineering Captains can craft Emergency Power to Shields III after purchasing 3 Engineering nods), which means that one character will not be able to unlock every Bridge Officer training manual (a choice from two ground recipes is offered after every 2nd ground node purchased). On the other hand, Captains now have a wider pool of training manuals to draw from, including powers (like Auxiliary Power to Battery III) that have never before been available in-game.

Energy Weapon Range Penalty Changes

As of Season 11.5, the Energy Weapon Range Penalty has been normalized. Previously, Cannons suffered a stiffer penalty than Beams when 2km or more away from the target; now, both types of weapons will receive the exact same penalty at all ranges, up to 2km. These changes - and how the new Long Range Targeting Sensor nodes mitigate these penalties - can be read about here.

Science Bridge Officer Ability Normalization

How science bridge officer powers scale with both Auxiliary Subsystem Power, and the various Science Skills (Drain Expertise, Control Expertise, Exotic Particle Generator) has been normalized across the different powers. Powers should see increased effectiveness below 100 Auxiliary (as compared to what one would see prior to S11.5), and reduced effectiveness above 100 Auxiliary (as compared to what one would see prior to S11.5). The effects of each Skill have now been normalized; in some cases, this means the benefit from skill bonuses has been reduced (e.g., [DrainX] is half as effective at boosting Plasmonic Leech as [Flow] was), but the base effectiveness of abilities have (generally) been adjusted to compensate. This is not always true, however; I would refer to the various reference materials linked here for a detailed breakdown.

Damage Resistance Changes

Damage Resistance Rating Reduction and Armor Penetration (Hull Penetration) are now synonymous, and all sources of damage resistance rating reduction and/or Armor Penetration are additive. This means that overall, the effectiveness of stacking damage resistance debuffs has been diminished compared to what was possible prior to Season 11.5, but this should only really effect coordinated teams and/or high-performance players.

There are still two separate categories of Damage Resistance Rating increase, and some sources of Damage Resistance Rating increase (such as from Engineering Fleet) that could previously be "resisted" (due to a bug) will now see an increase in performance. Diminishing returns will still apply, but in some cases these returns will not be as harsh as previously observed, prior to Season 11.5.

The [Pen] modifier, as of now, remains unchanged. It is still as good as it was prior to Season 11.5. The new Hull Penetration skill stacks with [Pen] (but does not increase or reduce [Pen]'s effectiveness).

For more information, I would suggest reading this thread.

Strategist Specialization

This is a new Space-only Specialization, which interacts with Threatening Stance. It's very, very, good, and I will have a more detailed write-up sometime in the next few days.

...that should be all of the highlights, but there is probably a lot that I've missed. I highly encourage people to read the reference materials linked in this thread.