Noob Questions - Ferians...

[Fossaman]

Given the number of ferian colonies you're likely to find in any given game, farming is not really necessary. You just have to kill them all.

Of course, that raises a few other questions, like: Why are you committing genocide? That's kinda not okay.

[Aeonic]

And, why don't the Ferians send a massive fleet to destroy you for the atrocities you've committed against them?

[Atarlost]

Making mining viable in the endgame means removing the ferians. Right now they're everywhere where there are asteroids and missing an asteroid and hitting a ferian or having a ferian run in front of you is catastrophic, and they should reasonably guard their asteroids even if they don't yet.

So Ferians crowd out mining. Ranx farming has been nerfed so ferian exploitation is the only "combat" track. Mining, though, goes against the grain of the game. You're building up to fight the Iocrym. The game should be pushing you down the combat track so that you're not blindsided if it's your first time getting that far and you haven't spoilered yourself on the forums. Mining is, on the freighter, incompatable with the combat track. You just don't have enough slots and while the ferian torch can be an okay weapon for the sapphire and wolfen it's too short ranged to be a secondary weapon. It's a good tertiary for plasma damage, but the freighter doesn't get a tertiary weapon. That means mining is for freighter players who have already farmed ferian warriors for a ferian plasma cannon. The Wolfen and Sapphire can't really spare slots for a miner's hold.

Now something like a mining auton that picks up ore with the efficiency of a miners hold, but does not mine for you would make mining viable in the saphire and wolfen, but the freighter still doesn't have the weapon slot to spare for the torch.

If you give every high WMD weapon mining then mining can be viable late game. For the freighter. Nobody else can really afford the miner's hold this late though. The opportunity cost of a cargo hold is usually unacceptable with the new enhancer devices. It used to be a second patcher arm or fifth weapon in the Wolfen. Now it's your first patcher arm or your bushido enhancer, and you can't use the cargo space you've got already unless you want the turning rate of a freighter. Sapphire it's your third weapon or a precious enhancer. Sometimes that's viable, but usually only if you're playing the sapphire like a freighter, in which case why not play the freighter.

I'd really, though, prefer payed escort missions or attack missions. There's no reason the Ringers and Teratons shouldn't have rogue elements, or have trouble with the Ares or Ranx and want inconvenient stations removed. These aren't mutually exclusive, but I think mercenary missions fit better with the direction the game goes in Heretic.

[Song]

yah. There's no point in mining when you can blow up ferians...

Mind you....I did slap a +150% speed enhance on a ferian plasma cannon in one of my "cheat to see what weapons I might try on the next proper playthrough" runs, after getting bored, and found that finding out if asteroids have ore gets much.....easier...



(I lost the SRS on this by twicthing my hand before saving the screenie (hence the white), but there is a LOT of junk coming off that asteroid. No ore, but other asteroids gave me some stuff )

Now, if only I'd upgraded armor and shields so I didn't keep on nearly killing myself with the debris....


And if only mining was so easy and un-mindless-boredomy the rest of the time.....

[Aury]

If it were that easy, it would need to be low-return (ie, lots and lots of low grade ore, rather than the small amounts of high grade ore like now)

[schilcote]

I have to agree with Atarost on this issue, being insanely boring shouldn't be the balancing factor. There should be some sort of fun involved. Somehow. Lemme think.

[Song]

....Hmm. Higher value would be good in the present form. As it is, mining < Ptreavores < Ferians for getting money/rins in the mid-late game (Ok. By the time you get pterevores, you shouldn't need any more cash...but it's way more fun than MINING...)

Plus maybe something a tiny bit like the pterevores.....except, while it's an organic life-form, it's a lifefrom that spawns and shoots at you when you shoot its asteroidy home....

But they'd have to be seriously tricky to be *fun*.....and that might make mining even LESS attractive....

Simply cutting the number of ferians might help....but not that much. But as it is, it's hard to even fire a plasma torch TWICE in an asteroid field without getting a few warriors after you....