All right, I didn't mean to trash-talk you play here if that is how it came across here. The fact that the no shield run didn't use the start loadout doesn't contradict that the starting loadout is boss-killing material. You'll need shields to make it work and I probably stress it so much because I had this neat run once that was a pure Stealth B slog, but I stuck to the starting guns and eventually pulled off a win with basically the gear I started with. I still think this is a pretty unique thing this ship has going.
Also overall my judgement on ships in generally wouldn't be that harsh. I think all vanilla ships have a clear identity and are viable, but have be seen as hand crafted challenges that the player has to deal with. But hey, time to be constructive: How could Stealth B'S load out actually improve assuming that it is indeed that bad that it really needs to be changed. My self-imposed loadout rules are:
a) Loadouts can only use CE gear, no vanilla stuff mixed in
b) Ships should be as close to their original loadout and playstyle as possible
c) Only AE ships can use gear that uses AE mechanics or weapon types
d) Loadouts should showcase the range of gear and play styles that CE adds, therefore its best if each loadouts uses different types of gear
I know, this really narrows down the possibilities. Part of the problem is that CE doesn't add that many high tier beam weapons and none really compares to the Glaive. I guess Maul instead of Naginata would improve the ship, cause you can cripple enemies more effectively. But then Zoltan B should get a different beam weapon as well, cause we don't need two ships showcasing foucus beams. Also Ifrit could be dropped from the loadout, but that is basically just an economic downgrade for the ship and the mod no longer showcases stealth missiles. Another way to change it might be giving it Bardiche and Oni as well as more ammo to start with, which would make the ship way more agile, but would compromise its original glass cannon play-style. Oh and Zoltan A already uses Bardiche, so thats not really an option anyway...
Captain Trek wrote:And its "suppression" is lacklustre at best simply due to its weapon's low DPM. It just does not perform and whilst I'll agree the Zoltan B arguably needed a nerf from its vanilla form, this was way, way too much.
Ok to clarify, when speaking about suppression I mean its ability to damage individual systems and keeping them damage. Pike deals more overall damage to ships, but less damage to individual systems. From my experience that allows Pernach to better suppress enemy offence. It also needs less ion support to deal damage through shields. I admit the loadout isn't as a good as vanilla, but its ion damage is actually slightly better than vanilla and it can deal it with less weapon slots used. But again, I'm open to suggestions taking the above rule-set into account. Back in the days that ship started with two Ion Bursts I and two Hasta. As you can imagine that was fun for the moment, but way to strong. It also had this weird meta to it where you tended to feel really comfortable with the ship as it is, till you suddenly realize that you can't reliably kill things anymore in Sector 6 or 7. And then its to late and you go against the boss with two Ion Burst I and realize that doesn't really cut it against its shields.
If we switch Stealth B to Maul then Zoltan B could go back to a Hasta combo I guess. One Ion Burst I and two Hasta for example, or Ion Burst II and one Hasta. Or two Ion Burst I and one Hasta, giving it way more ionization and decent damage. I still think this is pretty strong considering that 150-250 scrap allows you to reliably acquire boss killer artillery. You are of course right that the ship isn't economically strong, but those expenses aren't out of the question and you have Zoltan ships to start with on top of all that.
Oh and on the topic of unavoidable crew deaths: I do agree that those are questionable from a design perspective. Although part of the deal there is that they are to some extend avoidable by choosing to not go to the sector types where they are present and treat them as part of the risk associated with their respective sector type. But yeah, I understand that they might seem unfair at times, so a while ago I made the
No Traitor Patch for some guy on redit, feel free to use that. To some extent they are there to keep players on their toes even when everything plays out fine, this comes into play in CE Infinite especially.
Anyway, let me know what you think.