Ok, let's talk battle suits. How many of these do you see on a day to day basis? I personally don't see more than one or two people a week wearing them. Why? For one, the suit I wear (QL 55) increases nano costs by 130%, ouch. Two, while the suit does have nice standard AC stats (melee, projectile/impact, energy) the others are kinda low. Third, wearing the suit flogs your evasion stats into submission, so even though the AC on the suits usually forces the MoB into it's minimum damage bracket, you're gonna get hit so may as well get used to it. That being said, I love 'em. I personally feel that no other armor is as visually impressive. Now all that needs to happen is for Funcom to bring the substance up to the same level as the form. Better yet, let's kill two birds with one boulder. Even though soldiers are going to be getting new nano's next patch (so i've seen in other posts, nobody shoot me if i'm wrong on this) we're still the bastard offspring in AO. Everybody (at Funcom) knows we're here, but nobody wants to acknowledge our presence. Let us speak of twinking battle suits. Ok, Funcom reduced the penalties on tank armor last patch, reducing the nano cost in a big way, etc. I'm going to now list the ideas for twinking the battle suits.
(1) Looking at the description on the battle suits, I feel that an increased nano cost is fitting. But what is the cost on tank armor now? 30% or something in that range? Why not knock the nano cost increase down to 100% on the battle suits? 130% strikes me as a bit excessive. As the tank armor covers roughly 30-40% of a character's body, good idea keeping the nano cost relative 'cause the added protection should come with a cost. Battle suits cover 100%, keep the above trend going.
(2) As stated above, battle suits kill evade stats, how about battle suits proc'ing a HP buff? Seeing as whoever wears a suit is going to get hit every time, the proc'd buff would even the playing field. While we're on the topic, let's take a look back at point #1. With the increased nano cost, buffing is an expensive proposition, why not have the suits proc other buffs as well?. Perhaps a reflect shield and AC buff as well depending on the type and QL of the suit. That would leave the person wearing the suit with the option of casting other buffs (quickshot and precognition come to mind) without having to wait to recharge their nano's 3 or 4 times to get all their buffs done.
(3) Integral weapons in the armor itself. Different guns for different types. A novaflow in one model, shotgun in another, plasma projector for heavy weapon freaks, so on and so forth. One stop shopping. Get your guns and armor in one package. Of course I realize that this will result in the cost of the suits going through the roof, but nothing is free...
(4) Here's the biggie, make them soldier only. Give us something distincitive that we can call our own. You see a big warbot running around, you know that an engineer is around, ditto those satanic balloons MP's use for pets. You hear a program being cast and something gets zapped for a crazy amount of damage, odds are there's a NT nearby. You get the picture.
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