Utopia... or Dystopia?

Our First Real Super Store

By: George Argyropoulos

a/k/a Dragon_Bane   

I'm going to come right out and admit it. I didn't want to write this article. I'm a bit conflicted over this release. There are over 100 prizes and I went into burn-out mode trying to think through each individual prize. Instead of hitting every option, I'm going to do a quick once-over that only skims my thoughts and the prizes. Maybe I'll do a separate one looking at specific sections of prizes. Or maybe Robyn will. Or someone else may send in an article. We'll see... anyway...

Kixeye has gone ahead and implemented the Super Store they have alluded to over the past few months. I love the idea and for the most part it looks good, however, I wish they had included several lower FM prizes so players could 'catch up' there. That said, it is never a bad thing when players can increase their tech-depth and this seems like a great introduction to the Super Store!

The one big issue I do have is the cost of a hull (Icebreaker) that is, if history holds true, a tertiary level hull. If this hull performs as poorly as the Ironclad, this is an abominable release. I am all for releasing the 'auto' hull first, however, I have always maintained this should only be done with a respectable (read:CHEAP) cost so that the hull is available to a majority of players in order to increase engagement in the game/raid set. This is just logical reasoning.

Making this hull set essentially 120 million 105 million points for redemption is offensive. I can support this sort of cost for the 'skill' hull, however, this sort of pricing is asinine for a third string hull- particularly if it does not perform in function as well as the Tideseeker did. I hope to hell that I do not have the same feeling of disappointment building this fleet as I do over having built the Ironclad fleet, particularly because I'm going to have to spend those shiny tokens on building them for VXP weekend. Overall, I think this is a horrible, horrible idea.

That all said, the rest of this looks really good. There is some worthless fluff in here (like the Centurion), as expected, but there is some good tech to help people round out their collections.

Basics:

So let's start at the lower end. We are at a unique time in the Raid cycles. The April - June set is going to be Garrison targets and afterward our FM targets. To this end players should ensure they have something to enable them to participate in the next Raid set (which will in turn become our FM targets). The thought behind these selections is to grab what you need to do the current FM and to at least be able to grind out C sets in April at the minimum.

To that end- the Punisher and the Citadel are easy grabs in the FM. If you do not have these, make it a priority. After that, we want to get anything that will help you advance in the FM or possibly help you in the April Raid. We will look at items that we can equip to the Citadel and Tanks.

First, we have to grab what we need to equip the Citadel and the Tank. Many of these will also take out some of the roadblocks in the road to the Tokens.

Judgement Mortar - 900,000 - One of the best mortars in the game. This mortar is also in Prize Pool 4 in the FM which makes this even more of a deal at this price.

Explosive System IV - 600,000 - Another very good option for your Citadel and also in Prize Pool 4.

Zynthonite Armor D5-X - 2,000,000 - Given the current FM and the Cold Snap turrets in these targets, this makes an exceptional addition to your Tank.

Tideseeker - 500,000 - I have this listed because of two things; 1. Its ability to procure Uranium for you and 2. It is one of the best tanks in the game. At this price, this is a steal!

Middling:

That is the extreme low end. Next in line would be those that can get into the 50 million-ish range. If you can then your best options for the April raid at this point look to be the Generalist class hulls.

The Zelos still looks like the go-to Generalist hull for a tank and is still essentially the beefed up version of the Punisher. The new Empyrean looks like it may be a beefed up version of the Citadel, which makes sense if you are looking at past performance of the Zelos. If you are here, this is what you are looking for:

Zelos - 1,000,000 - Your Generalist Tank.

Empyrean - 15,000,000 - Your Generalist mortar-chucker.

Adapted Imperial Mortar D100-Z - 9,000,000 - Maybe a Heavy Weapon Mortar??

Trajectory Plotter - 6,000,000 - No friggin' idea. If this is a spread/splash special, you may have options and save some points.

Options:

Big thanks to Jefe, one of the Admins at the Battle Pirates Crib, for making a couple nice slides for the components. The green highlighted items are good deals. Another consideration is to try and kill off as much of FM Prize Pool 4 as possible to gain access to those sweet, sweet Tokens. (Side Note: Phalanx 4 is a mainstay of Tank builds. The sooner you gain access to that bit of tech the sooner your life becomes easier in the FM). Enjoy Jefe's hard work.

Achievers:

Clearly, the top prize is what we are meant to strive for. As you can see above, the Icebreaker is a rocket hull with appropriate bonuses. Without knowing more info about the hull or next Raid set, we are running blind. Again, the hull is locked behind a Fury Flagship (adding longevity to older hulls/fleets at the expense of dock space anyone?) the Generalist hull making the Icebreaker, a historically proven tertiary hull, a 90 million 75 million point grab. This is an issue. A serious one if this hull performs like the Ironclad rather than the Tideseeker.

The weapon and special are also doubled in cost from what we've come to expect of the top tier prizes. Again, given the hull and historical positioning, I'm not sure this is a good idea. Putting that aside- the new weapon has me a little concerned as well upon initial blush. It has less range than the Maelstrom V rockets, less one-shot damage but a lot more splash. Without more info I really can not form an opinion on this set yet. In a week or so we should have a better idea if this is even worth looking at, particularly if the incidentals such as reload and resistances are exceptional, which would be needed to raise this above its Maelstrom cousin.

Overachievers:

Now we get into the really expensive items. Charged armor anyone? 200,000,000 points? And it is the first application in the damages calculation so that it's 'shielding' is not worth as much as we'd expect at a quick glance.

Did I mention 200,000,000 points yet? Anyway... the way this armor reads (using the C1-M as the example) is that if you get a 40,000 damage missile hitting you, 37,725 damage is reduced, FIRST, and then the remaining damage is applied as before. Good, right? Maybe not. See, if you have say a Rhino spitting out 150,000 Penetrative DPS, this armor is going to help you for less than 5 seconds in battle and then become worthless. Personally, I think this is armor that is going to be required use to those players that are expecting to hit the S targets in April. It seems too easily countered in PvP and would take up slots that could be used to mitigate overall damage in other ways. I do love the zero repair time. Only time will tell if this is worth the exorbitant price tag.

Ok, that's it. First quick and dirty impression of the huge ass list. I'm burnt out on this already. I'll try to hit other aspects in another article or two. If there is something you would like to see addressed, leave a note below. For a copy of the prize list, Drizzit, an Admin over at BP on BV, made this handy PDF file. Thanks!!