I've been playing it a lot lately (duh ) and the only thing I don't like is the pilot skill randomization.
I feel that those should've been either fixed or selectable by the player.
They should be well balanced anyway, so it's not like the player would get some advantage? (Aside from not pulling his hair out because he keeps getting skills he doesn't want )
The problem with that is that there aren't enough learnable skills to begin with. I think there's just 4: +1 reactor, +1 move, +2 HP, and +3 grid defense. Pilots frequently end up with the same skillset at level 3 (aside from their uniques) as it is, and if you cut back to 3 skills there's almost no point in even assigning 2 randomly.
To the devs: as a quick fix I would suggest letting pilots get the same skill twice. That will raise the number of combinations from 6 to 16 with no further effort. I'd still try to add 1 or 2 more, though.
I would like to be able to choose skills, say between two offered. It would allow to steer builds a bit, perhaps even open up a grid defence build where all Mechs get +3....
But admittedly, it would require having some more pilot skills, with the current selection it is fairly straight forward.
I never said +1 Reactor was OP. I said it was the best option. Best =/= OP.
All I'm saying is by making them random, you get a bit of the "working with what you have" that was my favorite part of FTL and is my favorite part of ItB. Removing that will make the game worse, in my opinion.
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Maybe it should be for the Special Pilots; the ones you get from Time Pods or Perfect Islands can stay the same and your starting pilots don't get any choice in what Skills they get...
And perhaps even allowing the same Skill twice so you can potentially get 2 Reactor Power from one person or two extra movement.
But that's just wishful thinking and I like the current system. As 5thHorseman said, being given a choice would remove the randomness and probably make the game worse.
I know its early, but I'm sincerely hoping that Subset releases an expansion a la FTL Advanced Edition. Although I am generally very happy with the options, randomization and balance of the game, it wouldn't hurt to have several additional learned pilot skills and options to make pilot randomization more interesting and investment oriented.
) and the only thing I don't like is the pilot skill randomization.
