Player Features and Ideas Discussion

This thread is not to advocate for hunting cloaked ships, removal of local chat, or anything that specific.

It is instead, to compare notes on what we consider fair for cloaked combat, and how it will play.

For my entry, I would suggest that it rely more on psychological head games than anything else.

Cloaking is about information manipulation:

A cloaked vessel enters the system, and finds their target.
(The presumption of local not sounding an alarm is being made here, just go with it for now)

The ship find's it's target, and fires a sensor blanket at it.
(Specialty module: The cloak can now use scripts, so that a target ship is denied accurate sensor information. The cloaked vessel which used it is no longer cloaked to anyone else, however!)
The blanket requires the cloaking vessel to get within 10km of the target vessel to use, and does not require conventional target lock. It will only affect a single vessel at a time. Target lock by the cloaked vessel after does not alert the blanketed ship.

The cloaked vessel employs it's energy vampire and neutralizer.
What was the balance tradeoff for cloaking? In the end it was that cloaked vessels could not maintain any form of cloak with direct damage weapons. That means no missiles, projectile weapons, lasers, at all. Drones are a grey area, in that you can have drones that don't do direct damage, such as ECM and webbing. They can webify, but not point. Most choose not to webify, since that only gives targets a faster exit.

Next up, the cloaked vessel hits its target with a guidance scramble. All of it's targeting systems are penalized to 90% loss of range.

Now, keep in mind, the target can leave at any point, but they may not realize they have a reason to leave.
Unless they notice their cap draining, (debuff icons will appear, but will they notice them in time?), only the debuff icons give any indication there is a problem.

At this point, any number of things can happen. The cloaked vessel cannot kill the target, but it can leave it in bad shape.
If the cloaker's buddies show up first, that target is dead.
If the target plays dumb, and sends for help, then they might have their own friends show up first.

With local on delay or similar, they won't know until more ships arrive, but who will they be for?

I just don't see cloaking staying the way it is.

That said, I keep hoping for something more interesting. Ghosting a system for hours on end under threat of a hot drop just doesn't feel like where it should be.

I need to get into more group bomber action, admittedly. I am pressed into solo flights mostly by circumstance.
(RL aspects make roams challenging to catch, bad timing)

Short of when I do missions or help on mining ops, I always fly cloaks.

I am frustrated by the hot drop mechanics, however. Operating solo or in pairs, it's frustratingly difficult to hunt when people get safe the moment you appear in local.

What about other ideas on what cloaked piloting could be like? I am pretty sure I am not the only one who sees possibilities for this ship type.

That's cool, and I am not trying to debate hot dropping here at all. I just don't see cloaking tied to that under ideal circumstances.

The cool part is that what you enjoy about the current version is probably not at risk. Worst case you just have to let local know you are there to be feared, if it doesn't directly advertise you being around.

Oh sure, there is a laundry list of things that are needed, depending on who you ask.

With local, you may be hidden, but they always know you are there. Makes cloaking kinda like wearing a towel over your head, with a ravenous bugblatter beast of traal around.

Does anyone else have a vision of what cloaking could be like, under different circumstances? (Just changing necessary details, don't turn us all into gummy bears here...)

My views on this run pretty deep, when i first started playing i wanted to be a cov-ops specialist, but with the current way that local works, everyone knows your there. I don't think local should be removed, as that's what WH space is for, and the general lore of it is that the neocom provides a communications network for all pilots. I always thought the specialist ships should have an additional role bonus, i.e. while your cloak is active, you don't appear in local chat. think of it like 'running silent'. As soon as the cloak comes off, you reappear in local.

It would fix the 2 major gripes people have with the class of ships. you cant afk cloak in the traditional sense as no one will see you tucked up in your safe, and for the active covert ops pilot, you can actually sneak up on someone.

also an attentive pilot ratting or whatever in the system will still get a warning you've come in with the gap between you jumping into system and getting the cloak active, you'll flash up in local, they just might not know when (or if) you leave if their not watching for the flash in local as you de-cloak to jump out.

~Arrakis~