I am well aware there is a formula. BUT.There is no difference between a hand adjustement and a formula made for only one profile. Plus the fact there is a formula does not mean there are no adjustements, you also need to take into account how the formula is used. An example ? "Armor is expensive" but thorakitai only costs 12 pts for ARM3. "But they have a discount because they have SMG and frenzy". And why do they have those point saving things ? Because someone decided they would have them ... A formula is just a tool, not some sort of godly blessing that magically grant fairness.
Even if specific point cost of a rule is unique to a profile, it doesn't mean formula is. Fir example, if 360 visor costs [factor]*[base profile cost], it's the same formula every time even if points are different. Difference between that and hand adjustment is that formula means different designers will come up with the same cost for the same unit, which is important for cross-factional balance, especially since it's not uncommon that different people may write different faction. Practically though, you are 100% right that in the end profiles exist as a whole, and minmaxing some while bloating others can get you results little different from pulling points outta... Well, you know.
I'm not so sure about that, looking at the cost of the Zhencha. It's HI, ARM3/BTS3, 1W+NWI, Camo+Infiltration, and is 37pts for the FO/BSG. That makes it 10pts more than the Guilang FO/DepRep (SK, ARM1/BTS0, 1W). Note that the Zhencha is NOT shock-immune, so it appears to have all the HI vulnerabilities with no up-sides.
Or compare to Dart. Now, the Zhencha does have what I'd like to identify as a discount due to being Hackable when comparing to Dart since ARM is a lot more expensive than Bioimmunity and a Viral bow, but it's not something I'd call "significant" nor "sufficient". We're talking about something in the realm of 1-3 points.
It is known that some abilities are too good for their cost (Symbiomates, Jumper...) while others are too expensive for what they do (Regeneration). Instead of hand-adjusting points of each profile, we know that what Corvus does is assign some unercosted or overcosted skills as a tool to balance profiles.
I'm not sure anything combined with Symbiomates will ever be overcosted. Stupid things break the game.
Symbiomates should just be removed from the game completely. I don't see how it could ever be a balanced and good mechanic. It's just one of those mechanics that is a can of worms that should never been opened.
Well, it's clear that they were supposed to be Tohaa versions of TinBots, just not identical (otherwise they would be TinBots). A different design could be to have them give the user a personal nimbus zone (so still useful even on the Sukeul) until they have taken a hit (making them vulnerable to DTWs).
Really only played Ariadna, but my top 3 are; 1) Vet Kazak w/ T2 Rifle + X-Visor :- cos when he's on suppressive fire with SS Lvl 2, he's a ****er to shift. 2) McMurrough :- "McMurder", 'nuff said. 3) Tricky, either the Wulver T2 Rifle; or the Highlander Grey T2 Rifle :- both really come alive in fireteams. The former has 2W, Stealth & Climbing+, whilst the latter has a weapon for just about every occasion. Yeah, I'll admit it; I love me T2 ammo :-)
