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Spreading these out to force players to unlock less desirable nodes tells me that there are either way to many different skills, or that 91 is way to many skill points. My Jagers and Catapults do not need more arm movement, but I have to unlock it to maximize torso yaw and speed. I'd rather see these nodes aligned similar to the weapons nodes - more or less linear with access to them near the top of the tree.
2. Unlocking all nodes to bring a mech up to the current "Mastered" rating (the full Agility and Mech Operations tree) is 65 total nodes. That leave 26 nodes to "quirk" or "module" your mech. The nodes in these 2 trees are essentially make up what we have right now, minus the Mastery module slot.
26 nodes isn't bad, but the fact you have to wind your way down a convoluted skill tree, taking skill nodes you don't want, makes that number a hell of a lot smaller than it actually is. To unlock Radar Derp and Seismic Sensors, you have to burn 19 skill points, taking several Target Info Gathering, Sensor Rage and Target Decay nodes. If my mech doesn't require lock on to hit something (sniper mech) why would I care about boosting my sensors?
Theoretically, 26 nodes should be the equivalent of 5 modules, with each module having 5 "levels." It would be totally fine IF you didn't have to wind your way thru a tree unlocking unnecessary skills to get to the ones you wanted. On a mech with 5 module slots, I am able to equip Radar Derp and Seismic WITHOUT having to equip Target Info Gathering or Target Decay first.
At least Advanced Zoom has only 3 nodes to unlock before you have access to it. Unlocking a total of 4 nodes to get my "module" is perfectly acceptable. Radar Derp and Seismics? 19/2 = 9.5 nodes per "module." Reduce that down to 5 per "module" and it would be better.
3. The weapon tree looks better. The initial appearance is awful, but upon closer examination, I see several positives in there:
a. Range, Velocity, Heat and Cooldown nodes that affect all weapons are a great idea.
b. You can see definite paths in the tree. Laser Duration almost a straight path down the left side (though 10 levels is a bit much). 4 of 5 Gauss Charge move linearly down the right side.
c. The filler nodes are less worthless than the filler nodes in the other trees because they are global Heat, Range, Cooldown and Velocity nodes, which are always useful.
The biggest question I have: why are the UAC jam chance nodes clustered at the bottom and blocked in by LBX spread nodes? Jam chance is a skill that shouldn't be clustered near the bottom. These nodes should be available every 3 nodes on the right side. Same with LBX spread - any reduction can be beneficial. These nodes should be bypass-able (If I am running non-Ultra or LBX ballistics, I don't need either), but they should be available earlier and more staggered through out the tree. This is the type of skill that can be built up over time - there's no reason to lock it at the bottom of the tree where a player will try and grab all of them at once.
4. ECM shouldn't be a skill. It's hardware. Believe me, I'd love it if my PC could eke out 22.5% more performance the more experience I had with it, but that doesn't happen. ECM needs to be removed from the skill tree and ECM should stay as it is right now.
My message to PGI:
I know you think this will promote build diversity and all that, but eventually, there will be a "meta" skill tree that everyone will build towards. Stop trying to force diversity upon us - we're not stupid. The beauty of the current skill system is it's ease of use. The beauty of the current module system is it's ease of use. I don't have to "buy" something I don't want to get to what I do want in the current system. You need to try and keep it that simple.
Edited by Agent1190, 26 April 2017 - 05:19 PM.
