Does anyone know if the devs are looking into fixes for issues regarding how easy it is now to gain entry into hostile POI's? I haven't played for many months but I was surprised that they have apparently made 2 changes which makes getting into a hostile POI very easy. I play on the Official US server. #1. Ride your bike right up to it. I've mainly been attacking Zirax buildings. The base guns do not seem to activate until you interact with the base, so I just ride right up, blow up the door and now the base is active, but since I am already inside, the insta-kill cannons on the base are no longer a threat. #2. Trench/tunnel right to the base. If you die after the base has become activated, then all you have to do is dig yourself a tunnel back to the base. In the past, you could not drill anywhere within a certain radius of enemy POI's and I don't know why they would have changed this. Far too cheesy now.
I like your plan of attack and will use it in the future. I have not found killing POIs easy and the lack of FPS style AI and mechanics makes it even worse (i.e MOBs shooting through walls, etc)
They have removed deadly turrets from drone bases or other such POIs so approaching or entering these compounds should be much easier now. I was able to quickly neutralize opposition at the drone base of my starter planet (vanilla SP game, medium combat difficulty setting.) with only a HV with armor steel but without shields having 5 miniguns and 1 artillery canon, I had to retreat only once to make manual repairs. In general though, you should get the difficulty that is indicated in the POI name that starts with 'Lev[x]...' where the higher x is more difficult. This doesn't necessarily account only for the entry in the POI but should be the overall difficulty you should expect. Now, is it so in every case? I don't know, also I never have seen a level 4 or 5 POI yet - if they exist they shall not be a piece of cake. If you want a hard game then play Reforged Eden.
Hi mate, what is wrong with digging a tunnel? Its been an effective tactic for hundreds of years. Why remove it and remove a choice of a way you can take down a POI. Same goes for your potion 1. Variety is the spice of life. You do not need to do these two options, if you don't want to. Let people choose which way they want.
The now standard two layers of bottom armor redesigns make sapping harder and the inclusion of magnesium powder to the recipe for explosives in reforged & reforged eden makes it more costly but still an effective and, as @Spoon points out historically accurate/practical evolution of combat to avoid the withering fire of emplaced weapons and troops. It infuriates someone who develops a sequence oriented POI when players do an end run or uses lateral thinking to solve a multi-step problem (="why admin cores") but really challenging puzzles frequently have multiple solutions and shifting criteria. The single point of failure "core" to entities in the game creates the deterministic speed run mindset to neutralizing POIs- making it so you could install backup cores or input randomness (phantom cores) could address that. I read a short story many years ago about children who wanted to keep the slow kid out of their club so they devised a test involving a hammer hanging by a thread with a disassembled ladder wrapped in chicken wire and secured with a lock with a hidden key- crack open the walnut on the floor and you can join. The boy walked into the room, took in all the bits of the puzzle, smiled at the smirking kids watching him through the double hung window which he then proceeded to open and then slam shut on the nut. Puzzle solved. The only part that feels cheaty to me with using a tunnel is digging a low one next to the floor and going into third person so you can clip your vision into the base and locate the exact location of the core and potentially hidden loot.
Not played since 1.2 so I can't comment on how easy it is now. With a game like this, the good thing is you can make it as hard or as easy as you want, with POI's. Unless you get a POI with an admin core, which then forces you to take the "corridor shooter" route, which to me is boring as you don't get a choice on how to play it. One of the reasons why I gave the game a rest. I can't understand the mentality of people who want to force people to play a sandbox game a certain way. The whole idea is to have multiple ways of doing something and let the player choose.
Yes, this. There should be "something for everyone". The interest and skills in game combat vary from player to player. This should be kept in mind and that Level designation is a good way to do it. Go nuts in the highest level designs but do have plenty of choices for the lower levels, too. Story campaign missions are another thing, though. There you should be very careful how difficult you make things and how the challenge level progresses with the story. Side mission POIs are all optional. You can do them or not as you choose but campaign story is for everyone so some care is needed there. As an example of what I think is either "too hard" or at the "wrong time" is the ship Ilmarinen. Now, that's a *good* design and it's very well thought out. However, the problem is that it either comes too soon in the story line or alternatively there should be some "optional completions" how to do it. Now there's a huge difficulty spike at that point in the story. I'd move it further in the story line to be done later. Or, if it better fits the story at that point, then modify the design a bit. For example, there could be a shorter and easier route to complete it but with lesser rewards, and then the optional "full thing" that gives you all the monsters and all the rewards.
