1.11

NPC Classes

Capacitor speed and Overshield reductions, Kensei speed and damage reductions, Mesmerist Mirror Image and NARCISSUS nerfs, and light Zealot Overshield refinements.

Capacitor

Finally got a chance to playtest this class myself; my key takeaways were “wow this gives out a lot of Overshield”, “Arc Feedback is hard to track”, and “wait why did I give this thing 6 Speed?” The below changes address my findings.

Capacitor Stats

• Reduce Speed from 6 to 4.
  • I initially put Capacitor at 6 Speed so it could easily line up its Line shots, but I think now that it could accomplish something similar with just 4 or 5. Going low to 4 for now.

Arc Feedback

• BREAKING: Removed, replaced with Power Surge.

Power Surge

• New base feature! Supercharge an ally with existing Overshield so their weapon attacks gain the AP tag as long as they keep Overshield.

Quickening Bolt

• Change to remove granted Overshield, but instead target an ally with existing Overshield.
• Remove the Overshield tags as a result.

Amplifier Drone

• Remove Limited 2 tag.
• Limit number of drones deployed to one at a time.
• Restrict effect to Capacitor’s allies.
• Reduce bonus Overshield from +2 to +1.

Kensei

Kensei has been found to be demanding to deal with. This can be good (it’s an exercise in projected threat, after all), but in its current iteration it can quickly pivot from one location to another thanks to its speed and ability to quickly drop its Sheathed stance with no enemies around. Plus, its damage is a bit high for all the flexibility it has, even though it’s telegraphing its heavy hit. These changes aim to dial back some of Kensei’s pressure while retaining some edge to its Charged attack.

Kensei Stats

• Reduce Speed from 5 to 4.

“Minuano” Kinetic Saber

• On Charged profile:
  • Replace Accurate and AP tags with Reliable 3/4/5.
  • Reduce damage from 10/14/18 to 8/10/12.
  • Add Shredded condition on hit until end of scene.

Mass Driver Sheathe

• Change the action to unsheathe from Protocol to Quick Action.

Mortal Draw (Ultra)

• Remove “Shredded until end of scene” clause due to redundancy with Kinetic Saber changes.

Mesmerist

Mirror Image

• Reduce initial Mirror Images from 2 to 1.
• Restrict trait to trigger only 1/round.
• Reduce maximum mirror images to 3.

NARCISSUS Override

On paper, this tech seemed fine. In practice with a buddy to lock down the affected target, it was oppressive. Reducing duration and action cost will rein this in.

• Changed from Full Tech to Quick Tech.
• Changed On Hit effect duration from “until end of scene” to “until end of target’s next turn”.
• Removed on miss effect.

Prism

Prismatic Projector

• Reword so that an old projector must be destroyed before placing a new one.

Zealot

The Overshield applied by Fanatical Charge gives the Zealot a little too much survivability now that Fanatical Charge no longer has Recharge. Reducing the values (and other values with similar spreads, to reduce number complexity) to let the Overshield feel good without being oppressive.

Fanatical Charge

• Reduce Overshield from 2/3/4 to 1/2/3.

Brand the Heretic

• Reduce Overshield from 4/6/8 to 3/5/7.

Martyrdom

• Reduce Overshield from 2/3/4 to 1/2/3.
• Reduce Burn from 2/3/4 to 1/2/3.

Optional Rules

Actions

Object Handling

• Allow object handling to be initiated with either a Protocol or Quick Action instead of just a Quick Action.

Miscellaneous

Allied Arcing

• Change so that line of sight is required to the ally with line of sight to the target.
  • In practice, the “requires an ally who has line of sight” was basically “no difference from normal Arcing”. This change aims to actually add a meaningful restriction to Arcing by “daisy chaining” line of sight.