Borg Diamond: More optional abilities?

posted on December 6th, 2009, 12:26 am

I recall in the previous ship descriptions from the old Beta 2 that the Diamond was down as a "command ship" for Borg fleets. Was thinking; perhaps giving it several special weapon pods to choose from (much like the holding beam and order from chaos pods) could be a representation of that. So each would grant a certain ability which provided bonuses for other Borg ships in the vacinity.

One i had in mind was an adaption pod like the Adapters' that boosted the resistance of nearby Borg ships against a species you had seized the mixed-tech off. Another could be a special weapons recharger like the Harmonic defender had in Vanilla AII, which the assimilation player would find handy when using his special weapons.

The flaw, which i hope would balance the concept enough, is that the diamond has to be there for these abilities to be used, and the enemy can just focus on destroying it out and so deny the Borg its abilities.

Not a solid concept yet, so feel free to add comments or take the ideas further if you wish.

posted on December 6th, 2009, 12:51 am

Well, I believe since the Command Cube will be the real "command ship" for Borg fleets, you would expect to see more specials on that vessel. However, that is for a as yet undecided patch as far as I understand it. I agree, more specials (maybe 1 more) on the Diamond would be nice, but I think it fulfills its purpose quite well right now.

The special weapons energy recharger sounds quite nice in general  . Could give some late game oomph to the Assim player most definitely (and make the Diamond more worth building for that avatar, rather than the current Assim --> Pyramid --> Cube glut.

posted on December 7th, 2009, 6:48 pm

Well, I believe since the Command Cube will be the real "command ship" for Borg fleets, you would expect to see more specials on that vessel.

So the Borg Command ship has more specials than a Borg Support ship, like the Sovereign Class (Federation command ship) has more specials than a Norway or Canaveral?

posted on December 7th, 2009, 6:49 pm

what if there was to be tactical armor on a diamond?

posted on December 7th, 2009, 6:53 pm

So the Borg Command ship has more specials than a Borg Support ship, like the Sovereign Class (Federation command ship) has more specials than a Norway or Canaveral?

All I know is that the Command Cube is like those seen in Best of Both Worlds and First Contact. It will be much more powerful (and bigger) than a normal "voyager" cube (the current cubes in the game) and serve as a command and assimilation platform. It will also be ridiculously expensive. I only assume that it will have more special weapons. In case you haven't realized, your analogy is fairly inaccurate given that the way Borg support units work - none of them have three levels of support powers. Since the Command Cube is supposed to be special - not just a bigger Cube - I assume that it will get some nifty abilities as well. It should be arriving in a few patches.

posted on December 7th, 2009, 7:14 pm

All I know is that the Command Cube is like those seen in Best of Both Worlds and First Contact. It will be much more powerful (and bigger) than a normal "voyager" cube (the current cubes in the game) and serve as a command and assimilation platform. Since the Command Cube is supposed to be special - not just a bigger Cube - I assume that it will get some nifty abilities as well.

If it's like them then it shouldn't get any specials, they never used anything other than Cutting Beams and Torps. Even when things went bad for them in FC.

your analogy is fairly inaccurate given that the way Borg support units work - none of them have three levels of support powers.

I never really thought through that one...

On a side note: Why are the Borg Cutting beams renamed Energy Phasers?

posted on December 7th, 2009, 7:17 pm

Aren't high energy slicers the cutting beams?  The Energy Phasers are just their normal weapons?

posted on December 7th, 2009, 7:17 pm

As Mal said, perhaps because the cutting beam is a special weapon - the Slicer

If it's like them then it shouldn't get any specials, they never used anything other than Cutting Beams and Torps. Even when things went bad for them in FC.

We only have it from the perspective of the Feds, who's to say the Borg didn't use some nifty things while they were off screen etc . My point is that anything goes, we are allowed to be creative.

[Tyler]

posted on December 7th, 2009, 7:21 pm

Last edited by Tyler on December 7th, 2009, 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Aren't high energy slicers the cutting beams?  The Energy Phasers are just their normal weapons?

As Mal said, perhaps because the cutting beam is a special weapon - the Slicer

The Slizer is a beefed-up Cutting beam, the normal one is what they fire all the time in game and the show. Except Voyager, but who cares about Voyager?

We only have it from the perspective of the Feds, who's to say the Borg didn't use some nifty things while they were off screen etc . My point is that anything goes, we are allowed to be creative.

...True, but not using any when dieing and only using them when regular weapons are sufficient is rather inefficient for them...

posted on December 7th, 2009, 7:45 pm

Except Voyager, but who cares about Voyager?

  Without Voyager there would be no Cube besides the Command Cube.  Without Voyager there would be no Diamond.  Without Voyager the Sphere would simply be regarded as an escape pod.  Without Voyager there would be no Nova class or Prometheus class.

    Give props to Voyager   They made the Borg into a galactic force instead of movie monsters that, for some reason, only ever send one giant ship a couple times and can't figure out why it doesn't work.

  Oh, also there would be no Species 8472 

posted on December 7th, 2009, 7:49 pm

Without Voyager, the Borg also wouldn't have lost their standing... Without Voyager, they'd still be Star Trek's version of the Janitor from Scrubs...

[Phoenix]

posted on December 7th, 2009, 10:30 pm

Last edited by Phoenix on December 7th, 2009, 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

... for some reason, only ever send one giant ship a couple times and can't figure out why it doesn't work.

Yeah that always made me wonder. Send two cubes which subsequently get destroyed in separate incidents and all of a sudden The Federation is the Borg's greatest enemy barring Species 8472 and perhaps Species 116 due to their unusually high resistance. If I was King of The Borg I'd send a THOUSAND cubes just for the pain in the bottom for having to replace the two I'd lost; but then... If *I* were King of the Borg I wouldn't have lost them in the first place because I'f have sent a thousand cubes in the first place! It's not like they can't afford it . Whoever heard of the Borg having to deal with a Credit Crunch afterall.

I'd love it if the Borg had to take out insurance;

Insurance Salesman, Derek: So you'd like to take out insurance on a vehicle? What kind is it?

Borg Queen: It's a cube...

ISD: Registration?

Queenie: 262144

ISD: Oh is that a black one with the chromed "tactical" finish?

Queenie: Yeah, how'd you know?

ISD: We have our ways... That'll be 12000 Dilithium and 12000 Tritanium please..

Queenie: What?! That's more than my Cube cost!

ISD: That's what you get for wasting a cube... TWICE. Tell me how that went again?

Queenie: Well uh.... umm, the driver of the first one fell asleep at the wheel. The second one was taken out when a Quantum Torpedo found it's way into an exhaust pipe no wider than 1m, which lead directly to the core. The third, fourth and, now that you mention it, the entire Unicomplex and Transwarp Network were taken out by one ship.

ISD: ... ... I'm afraid we don't insure idiots that could pull defeat from the jaws of victory.



EDIT - back on topic... Yeah, I quite like the Diamond the way it is. Might be cool to have some more Special Abilities but I'd prefer to see these as becoming available in response to how the enemy attacks you and as kind of countermeasure abilities depending on the style of attacks you face.

posted on December 7th, 2009, 10:41 pm

The '1 Cube at a time' is most likely just arrogance; they view the Federation as inferior and don't learn their lesson. They are remarkebly arrogant for a race with a machine mind...

If it wasn't for Jean-Luc 'Chuck Norris' Picard, both of those Cubes alone would have done the job alone easily.

posted on December 7th, 2009, 10:55 pm

Another possibility is that the Borg are farming the Federation, forcing them to improve their technology at an increased rate only to be hit by a massive wave of Cubes when they hit a technological dead end. Why waste resources on research when you can have somebody else do it for you?

Anyway, more abilities for the Diamond would be nice, especially since it's supposed to be a support ship.

posted on December 7th, 2009, 10:57 pm

So obviously, the correct answer is to wait a little while for Picard to die.  Then...the worst wake ever.

"I'm gonna miss the old ma-AGH!"
"You will be assimilated.  Resistance is futile."