Invisible Attackers?
raptureswild:
Quote from: J. M. Pescado on 2008 October 16, 19:02:45
This effect has been seen to occur in all games, Trek-related or not, where any attempt to fire on a player while invisible essentially renders invisibility a pointless drain on your power resources while doing absolutely nothing to obscure you from any decent player. In short, you look really stupid and ineffective and fool no one. This is pretty much why the idea never really resurfaced again after STVI: Since it seems unlikely based on how we know research and development WORKS (where once something is known to be possible, it is quickly independently rediscovered), it is most likely the case that the idea was quickly discarded as a bad one as people figured out how to trivially counter by simply shooting at where all the shooting comes from...something any snot-nosed 12-year-old can figure out.
Extremely good point; however, if one were to use the jsalemi tactic and run around screaming your head off while using ranged attacks, this significantly decreases the target's chances of having successful aim at attacker.
Anyways. Problem continued, except pretty much every creature this time was invisible. It's not a stealth attack, it's my piece of crap computer. Yes, I was incredibly wrong, and yes, I almost threw it across the room (never again will I buy a $2800 gaming laptop - it's a $2800 PAPERWEIGHT).
J. M. Pescado:
Quote from: raptureswild on 2008 October 17, 04:01:04
Extremely good point; however, if one were to use the jsalemi tactic and run around screaming your head off while using ranged attacks, this significantly decreases the target's chances of having successful aim at attacker.
This works best if you have a weapon that has a low rate of fire but very high damage, as frequent shooting will continually reveal your position. Conversely, it fails against enemies that have a high rate of fire, as they can continuously hit you, revealing your position by you being hit. This is quite apparent in Netrek, where once I find you by FIRIN' MAH LAZOR, you are DEAD!
Dopp:
Shields in Trek negate most of the benefits of a first strike. If, like a submarine torpedoing a battleship, a stealth bomber dropping a nuke, or a sniper picking off a target, most targets die in one or two hits, stealth of the Trek variety becomes more useful. However in Trek, even the smallest shuttlecraft can survive a few direct hits from a battleship, especially if main characters are on board. Being able to move unseen is still a pretty big military advantage though. I suppose stealth is also useful for dropping mines (must be cloaked themselves, of course), running away (blockade runners), suicide attacks with really big bombs (preferably the type that make suns go nova), ramming, shooting and scooting with weapons that don't give away your position as easily (like a carrier launching fighters from long range, or some sort of time delay missile), or, if you are facing an enemy who outranges you, getting in close before decloaking and fighting on more equal terms (aka 'grabbing the enemy by the belt', see Korean War).
I use stealth in creature stage to avoid fights not in my favor. Useful for ambushing unwary Alphas taking a leak alone in the woods.
J. M. Pescado:
Quote from: Dopp on 2008 October 17, 05:58:53
Shields in Trek negate most of the benefits of a first strike. If, like a submarine torpedoing a battleship, a stealth bomber dropping a nuke, or a sniper picking off a target, most targets die in one or two hits, stealth of the Trek variety becomes more useful.
Oh, first strikes in Trek definitely exist, and stealth is definitely useful: A sufficiently stealthy alpha-strike can easily flatten your opponent before he can even put up defenses, but they are NOT, however, very useful in a running tactical engagement that has already started. Incidentally, other players really, really hate it when I cheapshot them like that, a feat they can never reproduce due to my raging paranoia. But it's not paranoia when they really are out to get you!
And yes, stealth in creature stage is useful for avoiding fights not in your favor, such as the invariably annoying early-game "nest migration" when the your creature's nest is suddenly forcibly moved to godknowswhere with absolutely no clear path for GETTING there. Use of stealth as a fight-avoidance technique has limited value with a large pack, though, as SOMEONE always manages to wander too close to something. It also stops being useful again once you start adding other creatures (generally Rogues) to your pack, as you pretty much never encounter fights not in your favor when your party is 2 or 3 rogues.
Faizah:
Even if the migration path is clearly marked and devoid of mountains and things that want to eat you, that's no guarantee that it'll be at all useful.
I had one with a very clear path on the mini-map... leading directly out to sea. I couldn't even see the nest from the shore, the 'migrate this-a-way' line just kept going, way past the chomp point.
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