Shock Trooper - Part II

[Penumbral Thahd]

This is an effort to focus the inquiry from my other topic. What reasonably could be done to 'fix' the shock trooper, if it in fact needs fixing, while still keeping in the spirit of the character?

[*i]

I think giving it a higher HP gain (not as high as a Servile) and perhaps bonus resistances to the usual nasty things.

[Synergy]

My apologies to you, PT. I didn't mean to hijack your original thread.

 

-S-

[Mea Tulpa]

I'm not really sure what could be done, aside from giving it rather large bonuses in some area. The "problem" is not the class so much as the game balance itself. Melee is less versatile than magic and not any stronger. Magic can support creations and melee basically can't. So creations + magic will always be better than creations + melee, unless there are really gross bonuses involved.

[Delicious Vlish]

Give the shock trooper a massive bonus with exploding creations. Not that it would really do any good. Exploding creations are pretty much worthless and a danger to your self.

[Randomizer]

A shock trooper won't be able to train as quickly in mental and blessing magic as a lifecrafter, but by choosing the right creations and using items like the captain's shiv and boots all you really need to do is concentrate on mental magic. With enough creations you don't have to get mass madness and charm to convert the opponents to your side. A force of 5 tier 3 and 4 creations will work fine on mass energize.

 

I'll try it next week and handicap myself with a pro-Shaper path with no canisters and only Shaper approved creations.

[Mea Tulpa]

The issue isn't that the Shock Trooper is unplayable, it's that it has no useful advantages over other classes -- it's entirely suboptimal.

[Student of Trinity]

Is it suboptimal even in its own niche? That is, does it give a playing experience that can be duplicated, except with the game being a bit easier, with another class? Or does it give a somewhat harder but distinctive way of playing the game?

 

I'd tend to expect that latter, since it should have the Int and Essence to make the sort of really large creation army only a Lifecrafter can match. A troop of fewer and smaller creations, such as most classes can manage, may be great, but it's a different game to play. And then the ST would be differentiated from the LC by having a much more combat-involved PC.

[Lilith]

I suppose the ST's niche, if any, would be "missile shaper". But I'm not sure how useful that niche is, or even how good the ST is at it compared to a lifecrafter, especially since you'll still want blessing and mental magic.

[Randomizer]

A shock trooper is a different approach to playing. ST and warrior are for the player that wants to fight and not use spells. A few powerful creations that don't need to be healed all the time and you get to spend your time hacking away.

 

With the number of items that give blessing magic +2 and less powerful mental magic, you can run a powerful character. It's just a different emphasis.

 

An infiltrator and a servile are both the combination of spells and fighting where you don't need support creations except in a few special areas. Lifecrafters rely on an army and use spells to power it. Those three classes are all overpowered even facing the armies of hostile creations in the Fens and certain other areas.

[Mea Tulpa]

The thing is that those are two different legitimate strategies. A Lifecrafter is a worse singleton than a Servile, period. A Servile is a worse pack leader than a Lifecrafter, period.

 

A Shock Trooper is a worse singleton than a Servile, period, and a worse pack leader than a Lifecrafter, period. He can be a different sort of pack leader, but it's just a suboptimal version of the same basic strategy.

[Randomizer]

A servile and an infiltrator are not meant to be pack leaders although an infiltrator has the essence to do it. A lifecrafter and a shock trooper are not meant to be singletons, They are designed to summon an army and then lead it by different means. The warrior is the left over guardian in the middle with a little better ability to summon creations than in the earlier games.

 

The idea is that they are optimized for their playing styles. Although a servile is the closest to a generalist in this game since he can run by himself or lead a few powerful creations in the endgame.

[Delicious Vlish]

My 2.0 Shock Trooper that I took completely through the game was missile based. Shaper aligned.

 

I had a Warrior as well... And sadly, the Warrior was MILES ahead of the Shock Trooper. But I can't say why for sure.

 

My Shock Trooper had Fire, Battle, and Magic shaping all raised to six and used items to boost creations levels when creating. Hey, cheap skills, you should use them... Right? RIGHT? WRONG.

 

My Warrior mostly used items to shape the higher level creations like Wingbolts and stuff... And all those skill points were better spent in other places.

 

My Shock Trooper didn't have enough strength or dexterity. Had to keep pumping int to make sure I had enough essence to create and heal my army. With about 10 in to int, I barely had enough essence to create a Cryodryak, a dryak, and a few wingbolts. Endurance was pathetic. Skills were spread to thin.