#2 overall average gauntlet score
#1 SCI/CMD Roll
#2 SCI/DIP Roll
#14 DIP/CMD Roll
His stat allocation is comparable to Assimilated La Forge (three fairly high rolls with none particularly standing out).
The problem with fitting him into my current composition is that:
SCI/DIP is covered by Locutus (#1 in that category, marginally better))
SCI/CMD is "covered" by Kahless (Surak would be a clear upgrade here)
DIP/CMD is covered by Kahless (#8 in that category, ~10% higher average roll)
So, the slot Surak is competing with is Kahless. Replacing Kahless with Surak absolutely tanks my, already weak, CMD/ENG and CMD/SEC (which used to be a strength) with the only real plus being that he strengthens SCI/CMD.
I suspect people with already strong gauntlet crews will, as I am, struggle to find a spot. A lot of the other best-in-slot characters just overlap a bit too much for him to be that useful without a trait advantage of some sort.
However, if you're missing a Locutus or Kahless, odds are this guy will be a great add to your squad. Like Mirror Picard before him, I think DB did a good job of creating a character that was difficult for already strong players to fully utilize, but lower-power players will be able to pop him right in.
I'm all for more competition in the gauntlet
I’m 99% certain that Yarnek has a better minimum, average, and maximum SCI/COM proficiency than Kahless. I don’t have Kahless but the base proficiencies on my Yarnek before starbase bonuses are as follows:
COM - 191-440
SCI - 304-584
So unless Kahless has a COM roll at or above 495-1024, Yarnek is still #2 behind Surak for the SCI/COM combination.
I did not claim Kahless had a strong SCI/CMD, he simply is the "best" at it in my strongest crew setup:
Kahless
Locutus
Gangster Spock
The Caretaker
Guinan/Inquis Troi
My bad, I thought you were speaking in general terms rather than just for your crew.
I dunno how much control dB have but I think the trick is to make sure their traits rarely come up, and for ones “not-quite-as-good-but-similar” to come up more often
To be honest in the beginning yeah walls of a certain character irked me somewhat but then whats the difference between:
A wall of a particular card or 6 impossibly strong different cards? The only way to increase variety of cards is add more with same/similar proficiencies - but the end problem will remain the same - you will see the same ones over and over again.
But we all know what the problem is the moment you climb high enough or get a good run going, there are no more whipping merchant card to pick on - be honest, that's the problem you have with gauntlet.
[was on Sabbatical/Hiatus] Currently a trialist at Galaxy SquadronSTAY SAFE and KBO
Redshirting = sacrificing a character? How does this help win in gauntlet?
It doesn't help win, but it doesn't necessarily hurt. My point is that it's possible to rank high and even win without continually spending merits on refreshes.
We all prob have been losing matches to opponent with worse stats anyway.
Why do we still bother comparing crews?
DB and its gauntlet algorithm is better, the best, and the beast!
If you are NOT complaining about gauntlet, you prob have a very low bar and very low expectation (about this game - not reflection of real life ofc) and nothing is wrong with that... because whoever complaining but still playing are the losers (like me). and of course the house/DB is always the winner until majority of people fed up and abandon the game.
Yup. It's true. First with destroying the balanced ENG gauntlet (went from having ~5 viable competitive options to just 1) and now they are disrupting SCI even further. And that's not even accounting for just how much this affects in game progression!
I've started seeing multiple Caretakers as well, it's only going to be a matter of time before you see walls of Caretakers, Suraks, Picards and Guinans, and the Gauntlet will be pretty much homogenized. The only variance will be Mirror Phlox versus Defensive Phlox from time to time.
I'd hate to start advocating for banning certain crew in the Gauntlet, but it feels like we're getting to that point. Or at least have different tiers like the arena where only certain crew are allowed.
It's gotten to the point that if I see a CMD Gauntlet, I just skip it entirely.
I skip every COM gauntlet. Although, in my last MED gauntlet, I got 3 COM to every 1 MED.
I, too, skip CMD gauntlets. The walls of Peccard, Kahless, Gowron, and I am sure will be there soon walls of Surak, are relentless.
Yup. It's true. First with destroying the balanced ENG gauntlet (went from having ~5 viable competitive options to just 1) and now they are disrupting SCI even further. And that's not even accounting for just how much this affects in game progression!
*sigh*
Oh, When will they ever learn?
I feel like it's worth noting that while they did sort of unbalance ENG by quite a bit, by adding a crew with an eng max prof 230 points higher than the previous best ENG max prof (North Star Tucker), they didn't quite do that with Surak and sci.
Surak's still 5th in maximum sci proficiency. Not precisely gamebreaking, though I suspect a big problem is his availability.
He will be seen lots in the gauntlet. Which is nice for variety. I'm seeing walls of Caretaker, Picard, Guinan, Kahless, Locutus, Phlox, Seven, and now Surak.
All we need is a few more Eng characters and there'll be quite the mix. The only way to deal with walls is by adding different crew that break them up a bit. The Gauntlet was already broken: at least for people like me, and I'm glad to see new crew that can stick it to the ones I was never able to get, simply because I started the game too late.
I didn't get Guinan and I don't believe that Caretaker will ever come to me.
It took me months to get Guinan and I'm truly surprised to see so many Caretakers already in the Gauntlet. I don't have him, either, but he is a big 'want' for me, for voyages as well as the gauntlet. I've got honor waiting especially for him...
Mirror Picard was bad enough for the gauntlet. Now Surak is on par with Locutus, better than Yarnek, and EVERYONE will bring him! Walls, walls, walls!
CMD+SEC = walls of Picard
MED+DIP = walls of Guinan
And now...
SCI+CMD = walls of Surak
SCI+DIP = walls of Surak
Not to mention Mirror Phlox. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Thanks for making the gauntlet even more unplayable, and even more of a merit sink, DB.
I don't think that walls are a bad thing. If you have that crew member then there is a 50 50 shot at beating them. Go with the wall member that brings the greatest reward. Everyone else will be doing the same and the top players will be dropping. Correspondingly if you are in the lower rankings you are safer.
Mirror Picard was bad enough for the gauntlet. Now Surak is on par with Locutus, better than Yarnek, and EVERYONE will bring him! Walls, walls, walls!
CMD+SEC = walls of Picard
MED+DIP = walls of Guinan
And now...
SCI+CMD = walls of Surak
SCI+DIP = walls of Surak
Not to mention Mirror Phlox. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Thanks for making the gauntlet even more unplayable, and even more of a merit sink, DB.
I don't think that walls are a bad thing. If you have that crew member then there is a 50 50 shot at beating them. Go with the wall member that brings the greatest reward. Everyone else will be doing the same and the top players will be dropping. Correspondingly if you are in the lower rankings you are safer.
Bring on the Wall.
50-50 shot the first time, then comes exhaustion. So really does limit how long you can 'play'....
Mirror Picard was bad enough for the gauntlet. Now Surak is on par with Locutus, better than Yarnek, and EVERYONE will bring him! Walls, walls, walls!
CMD+SEC = walls of Picard
MED+DIP = walls of Guinan
And now...
SCI+CMD = walls of Surak
SCI+DIP = walls of Surak
Not to mention Mirror Phlox. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Thanks for making the gauntlet even more unplayable, and even more of a merit sink, DB.
I don't think that walls are a bad thing. If you have that crew member then there is a 50 50 shot at beating them. Go with the wall member that brings the greatest reward. Everyone else will be doing the same and the top players will be dropping. Correspondingly if you are in the lower rankings you are safer.
Bring on the Wall.
50-50 shot the first time, then comes exhaustion. So really does limit how long you can 'play'....
Yes, but so what? A 50 50 shot at winning 250 nets on average 125. This is better that an 100% chance of winning 65, say. Either way the crew member is reduced by 1 fatigue. The average return on hitting the top of the wall is often better than a sure bet and subsequent successes with that crew member. When you loose the 50 50 that's ok too because your not wasting merits by refreshing and time by only completing a number of sure bets. Walls tend to happen towards the end of the gauntlet so the there is still plenty of streak gathering earlier in the gauntlet.
Mirror Picard was bad enough for the gauntlet. Now Surak is on par with Locutus, better than Yarnek, and EVERYONE will bring him! Walls, walls, walls!
CMD+SEC = walls of Picard
MED+DIP = walls of Guinan
And now...
SCI+CMD = walls of Surak
SCI+DIP = walls of Surak
Not to mention Mirror Phlox. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Thanks for making the gauntlet even more unplayable, and even more of a merit sink, DB.
I don't think that walls are a bad thing. If you have that crew member then there is a 50 50 shot at beating them. Go with the wall member that brings the greatest reward. Everyone else will be doing the same and the top players will be dropping. Correspondingly if you are in the lower rankings you are safer.
Bring on the Wall.
50-50 shot the first time, then comes exhaustion. So really does limit how long you can 'play'....
Yes, but so what? A 50 50 shot at winning 250 nets on average 125. This is better that an 100% chance of winning 65, say. Either way the crew member is reduced by 1 fatigue. The average return on hitting the top of the wall is often better than a sure bet and subsequent successes with that crew member. When you loose the 50 50 that's ok too because your not wasting merits by refreshing and time by only completing a number of sure bets. Walls tend to happen towards the end of the gauntlet so the there is still plenty of streak gathering earlier in the gauntlet.
im seeing walls sometimes as soon as 8-10 hours in.
And only offense is decreased by fatigue. Next time youre not a full strength but the wall is.
Just means less time in gauntlet or DB getting their wish of more DIL spent.
I didn't get Guinan and I don't believe that Caretaker will ever come to me.
It took me months to get Guinan and I'm truly surprised to see so many Caretakers already in the Gauntlet. I don't have him, either, but he is a big 'want' for me, for voyages as well as the gauntlet. I've got honor waiting especially for him...
I think a lot of people are just now breaking the pinata on him so to speak. I didn't think I'd see him for a while (if ever, I never did luck out and get Locutus), but I lucked out and got The Caretaker maybe a week ago.
I'd hate to start advocating for banning certain crew in the Gauntlet, but it feels like we're getting to that point. Or at least have different tiers like the arena where only certain crew are allowed.
You might want to take a break then if the Gauntlet is tilting you to even consider crew bans. I have worked very hard to raise the crew I have, countless chrons, countless credits, countless replications, and even some dilithium. Sorry but I'll be damned if people whining about their gauntlet experiences with walls renders all my hardwork on those crew to where they become completely unusable.
It occurred to me that one possible way to help rejuvenate the Gauntlet, especially since the horses are firmly out of the barn with Mirror Picard and now Surak, is to introduce trait penalties.
So in addition to certain traits adding a bonus to your crit chance, other traits impose a penalty on your overall skill proficiency. Say, 5% each.
Mirror Picard would have a 45% crit chance but also a 10% deduction to his overall proficiency scores.
It might not make a huge difference in the course of actual matchups, but it could nudge people to choose different crew, and break up the walls of duplicates that most everyone agrees are a problem.
I've mentioned this before too and I think it absolutely needs to be how we handle gauntlet, not banning certain crew >.>. Because introducing trait penalties can solve most of the problems with crew walls and it also lets other less selected crew shine brighter than they normally would.
For example, Gladiator McCoy is a completely valid crew member for gauntlet, he's strong in MED and rather strong in SEC too. Sadly, I rarely choose him because I know that even if he has a bonus, Mirror Phlox and Defensive Phlox can destroy him without any bonuses. But even if McCoy didn't have any bonuses and went up against a -25% penalty Mirror Phlox, I'd throw my Bones into the gauntlet way more often.
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His Gauntlet stats are good for sure, but I'm not sure they're broken... Mirror T'pol could keep up, especially with a crit bonus or two
The difference is Mirror T'Pol was event crew like a year ago, and few people have her or are willing to bring her. Surak is basically free, and a week from now he will be dominating every gauntlet.
Surak is great in the sense that he's worse than Locutus, Seven and Daystrom. Oh wait, that's not very good is it?
He has very solid gauntlet stats but there's a sufficient variety of good SCI gauntlet characters that he might not make the cut all the time.
Honestly, the only broken Gauntlet character is the Caretaker because there is nothing in game that's comparable to him. ENG was always the weakest Gauntlet stats and then he jumps in with one of the best Gauntlet rolls in the game.
there are no single skill rounds in the gauntlet. the matchmaking algorithm doesn't pick opponents randomly. it cherry picks the strongest pairs out of about 40 players in your rank range, and most of the time finds the 6 players with both skills of the round well covered and builds a wall for you.
Surak holds the #1 spot for CMD+SCI, making Yarnek, the ex-champ, virtually useless. and Yarnek, is still a pack-only character, i believe. people have dumped loads of cash to obtain him and cover CMD+SCI.
Surak also holds the #2 spot DIP+SCI, only slightly worse than Locutus, which is still an unobtainable character, other than a rare Borg pack or the 20,000 round gauntlet reward. he was available in the first 6 months of the gauntlet, of course.
all the people that have been around that long and enjoyed getting a few solid wins by bringing Locutus to the gauntlet are slapped in the face by a FREE character that's nearly an exact match. and yes, you might as well airlock Yarnek at this point too.
Surak also manages to rank 14th in the DIP+CMD pair, giving him a 3rd solid pair, that with a matching trait or two can become on par with Founder's average.
solid all around! #2 gauntlet character overall! and FREE! that is unprecedented. all the prior mega event crew have been decent at proficiency, but nothing to write home about, all with just 1 strong pair, not 3! if this guy was a top 1000 reward, i would've never started this topic, but he's FREE! roughly 50,000 people will own him! gauntlet will never be the same again!
The point is that some of us have worked on collecting top gauntlet crew for a while. It's not about which 5 crew you bring, it's about the abundance of strong opponents brought by everyone and their mother, and they might not even have any immortalized purples in their first couple of months of playing, but they do get a strong proficiency legendary crew with no effort.
The matchmaking, of course, throws you against a wall of these well equipped noobs, conveniently skipping the players that don't have that particular skill pair well covered. It's been harder and harder to keep a steak going without wasting a motherload of merits, and now Surak will contribute to that dynamic even more. Borgie's CMD+SCI will be absolutely useless. Locutus DIP+SCI advantage will be gone. Pretty sure throwing Kahless against Surak at CMD+DIP will be a high risk. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Ugh!
I'm sorry you have to deal with so many plebs and noobs that only have a handful of good crew but enjoy being able to do decently well in the Gauntlet.
Is that seriously your complaint?
The walls are annoying because it makes you waste merits skipping them. Saying that the real problem is newer/F2P players get strong gauntlet crew too easily is fairly mean-spirited towards newer players.
umm, no. ironically, those beginners and F2P(and i haven't dropped a cent on the game myself in over a year), they will end up even worse off than they ever were in the gauntlet. their top crew - Surak - will ALWAYS face the exact same Surak at all his pairs.
the most rewarding way to play the gauntlet is keeping a streak going. actually winning it or even ranking top 10 is pointless. starting next week you can say goodbye to long streaks. redshirting it, like some have described here, will be the only way to play that makes sense. unfortunately that kills your chances at the Caretaker and whatever else is in the streak rewards. you will only net positive merits, and that's much less than what we used to be able to get throughout a 48 hour gauntlet. it's sad really.
whether DB thinks this "gift" will encourage spending or not, i imagine they're winging it with this addition. my prediction is that it will turn away many players from the gauntlet entirely. restoring a character for dilithium just to face a wall of the exact same characters doesn't make any sense as a purchase in the game. oh well, the feature was fun while it lasted.
Mirror Picard was bad enough for the gauntlet. Now Surak is on par with Locutus, better than Yarnek, and EVERYONE will bring him! Walls, walls, walls!
CMD+SEC = walls of Picard
MED+DIP = walls of Guinan
And now...
SCI+CMD = walls of Surak
SCI+DIP = walls of Surak
Not to mention Mirror Phlox. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Thanks for making the gauntlet even more unplayable, and even more of a merit sink, DB.
I don't think that walls are a bad thing. If you have that crew member then there is a 50 50 shot at beating them. Go with the wall member that brings the greatest reward. Everyone else will be doing the same and the top players will be dropping. Correspondingly if you are in the lower rankings you are safer.
Bring on the Wall.
50-50 shot the first time, then comes exhaustion. So really does limit how long you can 'play'....
Yes, but so what? A 50 50 shot at winning 250 nets on average 125. This is better that an 100% chance of winning 65, say. Either way the crew member is reduced by 1 fatigue. The average return on hitting the top of the wall is often better than a sure bet and subsequent successes with that crew member. When you loose the 50 50 that's ok too because your not wasting merits by refreshing and time by only completing a number of sure bets. Walls tend to happen towards the end of the gauntlet so the there is still plenty of streak gathering earlier in the gauntlet.
im seeing walls sometimes as soon as 8-10 hours in.
And only offense is decreased by fatigue. Next time youre not a full strength but the wall is.
Just means less time in gauntlet or DB getting their wish of more DIL spent.
Either way the 'so what' I say... WHAT! to.
I'm not sure what you are saying. If your crew are low they are low irrespective of whether you are hitting a wall or not.
Best advice I can give is 'Do not care.' Seriously. If you want get the max out of the gauntlet then that is by far the best strategy. Results vary. That the point. The skill or strategy is to maximise the average, not maximise every gauntlet.
What irritates me is using my mirror Picard against someone else's mirror Picard that has much lower swing stats and get beaten by a long shot. This turns Gauntlet into a coin toss game without a lot of strategy. Either you flush all your merits by cycling through walls of Mirror Picard, Locutus or some other common Gauntlet card or you do the 50/50 coin toss and throw your mirror picard up against another and hope the RNG critical are in your favor.
My guess is he was supposed to be purchased with 100K honor, and be comparable to Kahless. But, someone in the office said, "hey, I know... let's use him on a vulcan event, and put Captain Bev in the honor store".
My guess is he was supposed to be purchased with 100K honor, and be comparable to Kahless. But, someone in the office said, "hey, I know... let's use him on a vulcan event, and put Captain Bev in the honor store".
I have that sneaking suspicion too. Because his card appeared in the vault right around when DB was saying they were planning to put out a new honour hall card back in December. Then Surak disappeared from the cryo vault until now.
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Captain of the voyage vessels: Queen of Bashir, Landsknecht, and Sunspear, the first luxury starship cruiseliners.
Amenities include wifi, fully-functioning holodecks, a full-service bar, 3 party decks, a Trill spa, and a business centre.
Fun fact: The ships are propelled by bouncy castle technology.
Mirror Picard was bad enough for the gauntlet. Now Surak is on par with Locutus, better than Yarnek, and EVERYONE will bring him! Walls, walls, walls!
CMD+SEC = walls of Picard
MED+DIP = walls of Guinan
And now...
SCI+CMD = walls of Surak
SCI+DIP = walls of Surak
Not to mention Mirror Phlox. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Thanks for making the gauntlet even more unplayable, and even more of a merit sink, DB.
I don't think that walls are a bad thing. If you have that crew member then there is a 50 50 shot at beating them. Go with the wall member that brings the greatest reward. Everyone else will be doing the same and the top players will be dropping. Correspondingly if you are in the lower rankings you are safer.
Bring on the Wall.
50-50 shot the first time, then comes exhaustion. So really does limit how long you can 'play'....
Yes, but so what? A 50 50 shot at winning 250 nets on average 125. This is better that an 100% chance of winning 65, say. Either way the crew member is reduced by 1 fatigue. The average return on hitting the top of the wall is often better than a sure bet and subsequent successes with that crew member. When you loose the 50 50 that's ok too because your not wasting merits by refreshing and time by only completing a number of sure bets. Walls tend to happen towards the end of the gauntlet so the there is still plenty of streak gathering earlier in the gauntlet.
im seeing walls sometimes as soon as 8-10 hours in.
And only offense is decreased by fatigue. Next time youre not a full strength but the wall is.
Just means less time in gauntlet or DB getting their wish of more DIL spent.
Either way the 'so what' I say... WHAT! to.
I'm not sure what you are saying. If your crew are low they are low irrespective of whether you are hitting a wall or not.
Best advice I can give is 'Do not care.' Seriously. If you want get the max out of the gauntlet then that is by far the best strategy. Results vary. That the point. The skill or strategy is to maximise the average, not maximise every gauntlet.
I've never spent dil in the gauntlet.
Ill try smaller words this time,
Wall is only 50-50 first time.
Wall after that not 50-50. Offense fatigues.
You say "So what?" I say.. Irritating and not as fun.
The "Stop caring" leads to apathy and less play in general if more aspects of the game get to the 'stop caring' angle.
Surak also holds the #2 spot DIP+SCI, only slightly worse than Locutus, which is still an unobtainable character, other than a rare Borg pack or the 20,000 round gauntlet reward. he was available in the first 6 months of the gauntlet, of course.
all the people that have been around that long and enjoyed getting a few solid wins by bringing Locutus to the gauntlet are slapped in the face by a FREE character that's nearly an exact match. and yes, you might as well airlock Yarnek at this point too.
I don't understand this mindset whatsoever. I have Locutus of Borg. I lucked into him. It wasn't some hard-earned reward that was promised to remain invincible ad infinitum. Why should* he be invincible, for that matter? I've gotten an entire year of dominance out of him. If he should be dethroned, so be it.
I certainly don't feel slapped in the face by Surak being released and made available to pretty much the entire player base. On the contrary; I suspect a large part of the player base has instead felt slapped in the face every time they've run afoul my Locutus that I didn't deserve any more than they did, but I got and they didn't.
Also, it's not like he's been rendered wholly worthless here, for that matter. Here are the instances of their respective traits to date, with a notation of how many times that combination has occurred in Schedule A
BOTH
Communicator x8
Cultural Figure x10
LOCUTUS OF BORG
Borg x17
Brutal x15
Cyberneticist x15
Diplomat x10
Duelist x5
Human x12
Surak also holds the #2 spot DIP+SCI, only slightly worse than Locutus, which is still an unobtainable character, other than a rare Borg pack or the 20,000 round gauntlet reward. he was available in the first 6 months of the gauntlet, of course.
all the people that have been around that long and enjoyed getting a few solid wins by bringing Locutus to the gauntlet are slapped in the face by a FREE character that's nearly an exact match. and yes, you might as well airlock Yarnek at this point too.
I don't understand this mindset whatsoever. I have Locutus of Borg. I lucked into him. It wasn't some hard-earned reward that was promised to remain invincible ad infinitum. Why shouldn't he be invincible, for that matter? I've gotten an entire year of dominance out of him. If he should be dethroned, so be it.
I certainly don't feel slapped in the face by Surak being released and made available to pretty much the entire player base. On the contrary; I suspect a large part of the player base has instead felt slapped in the face every time they've run afoul my Locutus that I didn't deserve any more than they did, but I got and they didn't.
Also, it's not like he's been rendered wholly worthless here, for that matter. Here are the instances of their respective traits to date, with a notation of how many times that combination has occurred in Schedule A
BOTH
Communicator x8
Cultural Figure x10
LOCUTUS OF BORG
Borg x17
Brutal x15
Cyberneticist x15
Diplomat x10
Duelist x5
Human x12
Ever since Locutus was removed from the gauntlet, his presence in every gauntlet thereafter has been gradually declining, thanks to each group of 200 players being diluted by newer players that never had the chance to "luck into him". This slowly, but surely alleviated the abundance of Locutus Walls for his 3 pairs, and out of 6 offered opponents for those pairs we were getting at least a couple that weren't him lately. And lucking into him by playing the original gauntlet religiously isn't the same as getting him in a mega event. He wasn't free like Surak, and certainly didn't flood the gauntlet within a week, like Surak will. The walls just got new fuel. Welcome to the year of hell.
Surak also holds the #2 spot DIP+SCI, only slightly worse than Locutus, which is still an unobtainable character, other than a rare Borg pack or the 20,000 round gauntlet reward. he was available in the first 6 months of the gauntlet, of course.
all the people that have been around that long and enjoyed getting a few solid wins by bringing Locutus to the gauntlet are slapped in the face by a FREE character that's nearly an exact match. and yes, you might as well airlock Yarnek at this point too.
I don't understand this mindset whatsoever. I have Locutus of Borg. I lucked into him. It wasn't some hard-earned reward that was promised to remain invincible ad infinitum. Why shouldn't he be invincible, for that matter? I've gotten an entire year of dominance out of him. If he should be dethroned, so be it.
I certainly don't feel slapped in the face by Surak being released and made available to pretty much the entire player base. On the contrary; I suspect a large part of the player base has instead felt slapped in the face every time they've run afoul my Locutus that I didn't deserve any more than they did, but I got and they didn't.
Also, it's not like he's been rendered wholly worthless here, for that matter. Here are the instances of their respective traits to date, with a notation of how many times that combination has occurred in Schedule A
BOTH
Communicator x8
Cultural Figure x10
LOCUTUS OF BORG
Borg x17
Brutal x15
Cyberneticist x15
Diplomat x10
Duelist x5
Human x12
Ever since Locutus was removed from the gauntlet, his presence in every gauntlet thereafter has been gradually declining, thanks to each group of 200 players being diluted by newer players that never had the chance to "luck into him". This slowly, but surely alleviated the abundance of Locutus Walls for his 3 pairs, and out of 6 offered opponents for those pairs we were getting at least a couple that weren't him lately. And lucking into him by playing the original gauntlet religiously isn't the same as getting him in a mega event. He wasn't free like Surak, and certainly didn't flood the gauntlet within a week, like Surak will. The walls just got new fuel. Welcome to the year of hell.
Good timing for Annorax to come into the game then!
. . .
Surak also holds the #2 spot DIP+SCI, only slightly worse than Locutus, which is still an unobtainable character, other than a rare Borg pack or the 20,000 round gauntlet reward. he was available in the first 6 months of the gauntlet, of course.
all the people that have been around that long and enjoyed getting a few solid wins by bringing Locutus to the gauntlet are slapped in the face by a FREE character that's nearly an exact match. . . .
As someone who played gauntlet everyday since it was created, often placing in the top 10, but never won a copy of Locutus, I'm thrilled to finally have access to a character that can compete on one of those skill combinations. Anyone who has had Locutus for the last year has had a huge advantage in gauntlet for a long, long time. Be grateful for the time of dominance you had, and stop whining.
Comments
My bad, I thought you were speaking in general terms rather than just for your crew.
TEH CANONZ
A wall of a particular card or 6 impossibly strong different cards? The only way to increase variety of cards is add more with same/similar proficiencies - but the end problem will remain the same - you will see the same ones over and over again.
But we all know what the problem is the moment you climb high enough or get a good run going, there are no more whipping merchant card to pick on - be honest, that's the problem you have with gauntlet.
Understood, thanks!
Why do we still bother comparing crews?
DB and its gauntlet algorithm is better, the best, and the beast!
If you are NOT complaining about gauntlet, you prob have a very low bar and very low expectation (about this game - not reflection of real life ofc) and nothing is wrong with that... because whoever complaining but still playing are the losers (like me).
*sigh*
Oh, When will they ever learn?
I, too, skip CMD gauntlets. The walls of Peccard, Kahless, Gowron, and I am sure will be there soon walls of Surak, are relentless.
I feel like it's worth noting that while they did sort of unbalance ENG by quite a bit, by adding a crew with an eng max prof 230 points higher than the previous best ENG max prof (North Star Tucker), they didn't quite do that with Surak and sci.
Surak's still 5th in maximum sci proficiency. Not precisely gamebreaking, though I suspect a big problem is his availability.
All we need is a few more Eng characters and there'll be quite the mix. The only way to deal with walls is by adding different crew that break them up a bit. The Gauntlet was already broken: at least for people like me, and I'm glad to see new crew that can stick it to the ones I was never able to get, simply because I started the game too late.
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It took me months to get Guinan and I'm truly surprised to see so many Caretakers already in the Gauntlet. I don't have him, either, but he is a big 'want' for me, for voyages as well as the gauntlet. I've got honor waiting especially for him...
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Likewise
I don't think that walls are a bad thing. If you have that crew member then there is a 50 50 shot at beating them. Go with the wall member that brings the greatest reward. Everyone else will be doing the same and the top players will be dropping. Correspondingly if you are in the lower rankings you are safer.
Bring on the Wall.
50-50 shot the first time, then comes exhaustion. So really does limit how long you can 'play'....
Yes, but so what? A 50 50 shot at winning 250 nets on average 125. This is better that an 100% chance of winning 65, say. Either way the crew member is reduced by 1 fatigue. The average return on hitting the top of the wall is often better than a sure bet and subsequent successes with that crew member. When you loose the 50 50 that's ok too because your not wasting merits by refreshing and time by only completing a number of sure bets. Walls tend to happen towards the end of the gauntlet so the there is still plenty of streak gathering earlier in the gauntlet.
im seeing walls sometimes as soon as 8-10 hours in.
And only offense is decreased by fatigue. Next time youre not a full strength but the wall is.
Just means less time in gauntlet or DB getting their wish of more DIL spent.
Either way the 'so what' I say... WHAT! to.
I think a lot of people are just now breaking the pinata on him so to speak. I didn't think I'd see him for a while (if ever, I never did luck out and get Locutus), but I lucked out and got The Caretaker maybe a week ago.
You might want to take a break then if the Gauntlet is tilting you to even consider crew bans. I have worked very hard to raise the crew I have, countless chrons, countless credits, countless replications, and even some dilithium. Sorry but I'll be damned if people whining about their gauntlet experiences with walls renders all my hardwork on those crew to where they become completely unusable.
No, no ma'am, absolutely not an option.
I've mentioned this before too and I think it absolutely needs to be how we handle gauntlet, not banning certain crew >.>. Because introducing trait penalties can solve most of the problems with crew walls and it also lets other less selected crew shine brighter than they normally would.
For example, Gladiator McCoy is a completely valid crew member for gauntlet, he's strong in MED and rather strong in SEC too. Sadly, I rarely choose him because I know that even if he has a bonus, Mirror Phlox and Defensive Phlox can destroy him without any bonuses. But even if McCoy didn't have any bonuses and went up against a -25% penalty Mirror Phlox, I'd throw my Bones into the gauntlet way more often.
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there are no single skill rounds in the gauntlet. the matchmaking algorithm doesn't pick opponents randomly. it cherry picks the strongest pairs out of about 40 players in your rank range, and most of the time finds the 6 players with both skills of the round well covered and builds a wall for you.
Surak holds the #1 spot for CMD+SCI, making Yarnek, the ex-champ, virtually useless. and Yarnek, is still a pack-only character, i believe. people have dumped loads of cash to obtain him and cover CMD+SCI.
Surak also holds the #2 spot DIP+SCI, only slightly worse than Locutus, which is still an unobtainable character, other than a rare Borg pack or the 20,000 round gauntlet reward. he was available in the first 6 months of the gauntlet, of course.
all the people that have been around that long and enjoyed getting a few solid wins by bringing Locutus to the gauntlet are slapped in the face by a FREE character that's nearly an exact match. and yes, you might as well airlock Yarnek at this point too.
Surak also manages to rank 14th in the DIP+CMD pair, giving him a 3rd solid pair, that with a matching trait or two can become on par with Founder's average.
solid all around! #2 gauntlet character overall! and FREE! that is unprecedented. all the prior mega event crew have been decent at proficiency, but nothing to write home about, all with just 1 strong pair, not 3! if this guy was a top 1000 reward, i would've never started this topic, but he's FREE! roughly 50,000 people will own him! gauntlet will never be the same again!
umm, no. ironically, those beginners and F2P(and i haven't dropped a cent on the game myself in over a year), they will end up even worse off than they ever were in the gauntlet. their top crew - Surak - will ALWAYS face the exact same Surak at all his pairs.
the most rewarding way to play the gauntlet is keeping a streak going. actually winning it or even ranking top 10 is pointless. starting next week you can say goodbye to long streaks. redshirting it, like some have described here, will be the only way to play that makes sense. unfortunately that kills your chances at the Caretaker and whatever else is in the streak rewards. you will only net positive merits, and that's much less than what we used to be able to get throughout a 48 hour gauntlet. it's sad really.
whether DB thinks this "gift" will encourage spending or not, i imagine they're winging it with this addition. my prediction is that it will turn away many players from the gauntlet entirely. restoring a character for dilithium just to face a wall of the exact same characters doesn't make any sense as a purchase in the game. oh well, the feature was fun while it lasted.
I'm not sure what you are saying. If your crew are low they are low irrespective of whether you are hitting a wall or not.
Best advice I can give is 'Do not care.' Seriously. If you want get the max out of the gauntlet then that is by far the best strategy. Results vary. That the point. The skill or strategy is to maximise the average, not maximise every gauntlet.
I've never spent dil in the gauntlet.
I have that sneaking suspicion too. Because his card appeared in the vault right around when DB was saying they were planning to put out a new honour hall card back in December. Then Surak disappeared from the cryo vault until now.
Captain of the voyage vessels: Queen of Bashir, Landsknecht, and Sunspear, the first luxury starship cruiseliners.
Amenities include wifi, fully-functioning holodecks, a full-service bar, 3 party decks, a Trill spa, and a business centre.
Fun fact: The ships are propelled by bouncy castle technology.
Ill try smaller words this time,
Wall is only 50-50 first time.
Wall after that not 50-50. Offense fatigues.
You say "So what?" I say.. Irritating and not as fun.
The "Stop caring" leads to apathy and less play in general if more aspects of the game get to the 'stop caring' angle.
I don't understand this mindset whatsoever. I have Locutus of Borg. I lucked into him. It wasn't some hard-earned reward that was promised to remain invincible ad infinitum. Why should* he be invincible, for that matter? I've gotten an entire year of dominance out of him. If he should be dethroned, so be it.
I certainly don't feel slapped in the face by Surak being released and made available to pretty much the entire player base. On the contrary; I suspect a large part of the player base has instead felt slapped in the face every time they've run afoul my Locutus that I didn't deserve any more than they did, but I got and they didn't.
Also, it's not like he's been rendered wholly worthless here, for that matter. Here are the instances of their respective traits to date, with a notation of how many times that combination has occurred in Schedule A
BOTH
Communicator x8
Cultural Figure x10
LOCUTUS OF BORG
Borg x17
Brutal x15
Cyberneticist x15
Diplomat x10
Duelist x5
Human x12
65% Gauntlet - 1 [Borg, Brutal, Human x4]
45% Crit Chance Gauntlets - 0
SURAK
Desperate x21
Hero x4
Inspiring x8
Telepath x6
Vulcan x8
45% Gauntlets - 2 [Cultural Figure, Inspiring, Klingon x6; Cultural Figure, Inspiring, Villain x2]
Gauntlets where each has one of the three skills that the other does not have:
Brutal [Locutus], Desperate [Surak], Villain [neither] x3
Desperate [Surak], Duelist [Locutus], Klingon [neither] x1
*Edited because I'd originally apparently written "shouldn't" when I obviously meant "should".
Ever since Locutus was removed from the gauntlet, his presence in every gauntlet thereafter has been gradually declining, thanks to each group of 200 players being diluted by newer players that never had the chance to "luck into him". This slowly, but surely alleviated the abundance of Locutus Walls for his 3 pairs, and out of 6 offered opponents for those pairs we were getting at least a couple that weren't him lately. And lucking into him by playing the original gauntlet religiously isn't the same as getting him in a mega event. He wasn't free like Surak, and certainly didn't flood the gauntlet within a week, like Surak will. The walls just got new fuel. Welcome to the year of hell.
Good timing for Annorax to come into the game then!
As someone who played gauntlet everyday since it was created, often placing in the top 10, but never won a copy of Locutus, I'm thrilled to finally have access to a character that can compete on one of those skill combinations. Anyone who has had Locutus for the last year has had a huge advantage in gauntlet for a long, long time. Be grateful for the time of dominance you had, and stop whining.
Captain Level: 95
VIP Level: 12
Unique Crew Immortalized: 525
Collections Completed: Vulcan, Ferengi, Borg, Romulan, Cardassian, Uncommon, Rare, Veteran, Common, Engineered, Physician, Innovator, Inspiring, Diplomat, Jury Rigger, Gauntlet Legends