The more that's revealed the less likely it looks like were going to get Aleph support in our sectorial. I feel as though we should have heard something by now. I mean, It's still possible we'll get maybe one unit or two, but not the abundance I once thought. I'd be surprised if it's another gun platform. I suppose it could be another MSV piece though, maybe a decent hacker. As for our surprise unit, I think that was the mounted montessa knight.
OT The Black Friar seems like a viable platform for the KHD, but I wouldn't keep my hopes up for an infiltrating OS with it. Actually, as far as MO goes, as soon as I've seen the Aspara I thought:" this is the perfect unit to end up in MO, a bread-and-butter, no frills KHD unit with no marker state and no mean to get in the middle of the board unsupported, that needs a knight escort and whose only strong points are its WIP 14 and a boarding shotgun. Not broken, hard to master and could also leverage from the Fusiliers with Deployable Repeater in MO." This also got me thinking that for some reason the Military Order doesn't seem to like working with Aleph, apparently, as it's the only PanO sectorial that does not borrow troops from the AI. I wonder if this "distance" has some kind of fluffy explanation or if it will have an impact on the BG in the future.
Actually not, if I had been running a HI I would probably still take Fusilier HD for occasional fairy dust. If someone wants to hunt my lone fusilier hiding in deepest hole in DZ, he is welcome to do so. I rarely have a repeater coverage in midfield (where my HI/TAGs can be) so that this OS KHD won't help too much (as it probably never leave DZ). Also currently there is no way of linking any OS hackers/special profiles, so KHD probably wouldn't be able to link (unless bigger changes are coming to MO). Like a likanble MSV 2 (because Deva's can do that, and they are doing that cheaper ^^).
Personally, I'd rather see a knight profile with a White Hacking Device for MO than a KHD. KotHS with a WHD would be really interesting just for the pseudo-SSL2 plus holo-echos. I'd take that, even with just the combi+DEP profile, and I think it'd open up some new and interesting types of lists for me (specialist LT option even?).
WHDs are a peculiar piece of equipment, because most of the time it's far easier to avoid hacking attacks by simply not taking such hacker. But I must say that a HI with WHD has its merits.
I'd rather have them cost another point or two. Or maybe not allow REMs. Maybe even both. But I think the problem is mostly on the AHDs not having a lethal attack to respond to a KHD.
Biggest issue isn't that AHDs don't have a lethal attack but how lethal KHDs are: Brainblast is B2 Dam 14 and suffers Firewall MODs. Trinity is B3 Dam 16 Sshock and doesn't suffer Firewall. That's effectively +5 DAM in a lot of normal engagements. AHDs not having a lethal response is fine, if they actually had a decent chance of surviving the attack. Oblivion is seriously annoying as an ARO, and Carbonite is a decent choice for survival. KHDs are some of the most lethal weapons in Infinity. I'd look look at that first.
Ah, but having a KHD will allow me to use Bulleteers without fear of my fusilier easily exploding to a KHD. An Bulleteers are SO good. I guess I underestimate how well 5 man knight links work even without KHDs. Stealth is such a key ability, MO would probably be pretty crippled without it. Heck, the fact that they have stealth might be the reasoning they don't get a KHD or tinbot. I just really want a KHD anyway so I can abuse Bulleteers more easily.
There's a compound issue of khd getting mods or high burst and special ammo on every program while also having very high damage values. Few programs can boast the raw reliability or effectiveness of these things. Not to mention lightning and maestro throwing 6 point swings into the mix and proliferation beyond khd. I played against Aleph tonight and got reminded why I hate PanO hacking so much, it's a God damn joke. Were stuffed full of ahds that we can't bring to the table because 30+ points gets fried with laughable ease and our best counter is the hexa who has 0 bts, no upgrades and average wip. Our best hacker is the fusilier because he's cheap and he buffs. CB needs to overhaul hacking again because KHDs and their programs have pushed hacking off the table in a meaningful way.
Best PanO Hacker for Supportware is actually the EVO. Breakwater is a solid ARO vs Surprise Redrum (it increases the odds of a null result, which is what you're really after) and WIP13 BTS6 isn't awful. Add 2 Flashpulse bots and a Pathfinder and you have an excellent second order pool for ARO and anti-camo duty.
Onyx Contact Force ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1 Bit Hacker (UPGRADE: Expel) Submachine Gun + Pitcher, Deployable Repeater + KISS! / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 19) KISS! Adhesive Launcher / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) 0.5 SWC | 19 Points Open in Infinity Army
I almost wouldn't be surprised if they upped the damage of khd to kind of account for firewall mods. Then just decided to straight up ignore them.
Sounds reasonable. I'm generally pro-KHDs ignoring Firewall MODs; it forces thought when placing Repeaters. This is a good thing. Well except for the fact that Repeaters are actually quite expensive. 3 Dep Reps are 1pt and a Short Skill to place, a Fast Panda is 2pts and a Short Skill to place, a Pitcher is 1pts/~0.5SWC and a Short Skill to place with ~25% odds of failure, a Repeater is 3pts. You already pay a lot for the benefits of Repeaters. Particularly when, quite often, they're of marginal utility. I'm increasingly thinking that Hacking needs to be re-evaluated from the ground up. The core mechanics are fine but a lot of the edge cases are pointless bloat and I don't think Hackable and Hacking Equipment are necessarily well priced.
Fun fact: KHD is 3pts, 0SWC, while AHD is 6pts, 0.5 SWC. Like who thought that would be a good idea? Usually hackers are really expensive, except for KHD, which is dirt cheap. Maybe CB just wanted Pano HI/TAGs to be safe by invalidating AHDs.
The problem with hacking is that it's so offensively powerful against legitimate targets and defences are hard to establish but legitimate targets are few and far between, and there's a rock missing from this game of paper and scissors. If you get an AHD near a TAG it can more than make it a paperweight, the TAG can be a massive liability. If your opponent has a KHD then your hackers are dead meat. The solution that the game presents is therefore... don't play that game. Don't take hackable stuff and only take KHDs for basically easy kills if your opponent has hackers and/or classifieds. What needs to be the case is that AHDs need to be actively desirable, giving them either more powerful effects against non-hackable targets and/or making the hackable trait a discount to cost which means that you'll see more HI, TAGs and REMs and therefore want an AHD. Then KHDs are a good way to deal with that threat, and then you make regular, defensive and EVO Hackers more powerful when it comes to defending your own hacking assets. The fix is therefore relatively simple, make superior SHIELD programs that look more like Kaleidoscope and U-Turn vs hacking attacks, make the "hackable" trait a discount on cost, and give AHDs a program that's good against anyone and/or improve Spotlight as is. Personally? I like the idea of a CLAW program that allows you to make a discover attempt ignoring MODs within your hacking radius against camo and such, but there are various possible options. If the hacking situation evolved to the point where people were saying "I want to take a HD, an AHD and a KHD" in relatively standard lists in order to deal with regular threats and cover tactical bases, that'd be awesome. As it is, more than 1-2 hackers is a rarity (and most of them will be KHDs if there's more)
* Kaleidoscope as a Shield-1 Supportware rather than EVO. * Give HI a ~3% discount for Hackable and EM vulnerability ie a ~30pt HI would be ~1pt cheaper. * KHDs at 4/0, AHDs 4/0.5, HDs 6/0.5, DHDs 2/0, WHDs 4/0.5 * Make DHDs and WHDs more widespread. People should want to take DHDs because they're a cheap and give you decent defensive options with U-Turn, Hack Transport Aircraft and Kaleidoscope. While WHDs give you all that an pseudo Sixth Sense. * Add the following to Shield 2/3 programs Requirements "An enemy Hacker activates inside your Hacking Area". This means that you can pre-emptively declare a Shield program; however may mean that you lose other ARO options. *Remove Possession, make Overlord a CLAW-3 upgunned Oblivion (vs G:RP TAGs as an equivalent to Expel) and give Total Control EM ammo (but make it less reliable than Basilisk and Carbonite). Possession is one of the jankiest interactions in the game, particularly when combined with suicide by falling. You also need to play the the programs a bit to simplify the maths: IE both Trinity and Skullbuster as DAM14 B3 and just change the Ammunition. Every program should have a clear role. I also think making Spotlight B2 would be a good change and Hacking immune to Symbiomates.
