The Coronata really does need some changes
Sins Forums
The coronata is still lagging behind the other titans IMO. The recent changes really haven't done much to address the real issues. The problem has never been that the cornata is "slightly" lacking in firepower as the recent small damage buffs imply. The coronata's firepower is and always has been pathetic- the thing is it is pathetic by design. The Coronata is supposed to be a support titan so they should stop trying to fix it by buffing it's weapon damage and make it a better supporter by buffing it's abilities.
Right now the coronata is a one-trick pony- Suppression Aura is amazing, but in terms of it's 3 basic abilities that's all it has going for it. Subjugating Assault while a very cool idea has a number of issues(I'll discuss these later in the post) and Unity Mass is pretty much the Ragnarov's snipe only inferior in just about every way. This overdependance on suppression Aura as principal contribution of the coronata also creates a situation when the Coronata is faced with opponent that suppression Aura doesn't effect(strikecraft and starbases) where the coronata just doesn't contribute nearly as much as other titans who remain useful against all opposition. This is most notably a problem in assaulting starbases- the advent has always had trouble with hard targets and yet the more offensive/expansionistly minded faction(the loyals) get the titan does doesn't help in knocking out hard targets blocking their expansion.
Specific Ability Discussions:
Subjugating Assault:
The Problems:
1). Not very reliable in it's effect. The conversion chance is small enough that the ability is rangery- sometimes you get a quick couple conversions, other times you waste AM for 30 seconds without a single conversion. Also Still a bit too AM-cost heavy, especially considering the unreliability
Also I really liked the way Sareth01 restated this problem so I'm quoting him with regard to the same general issue:
The main reason subjugating assault fails is that the average Coronata titan lifespan in the endgame isn't that long(once shields are popped this ship is essentially dead)With guardian/halcyon/progenitor support it becomes almost unkillable. So by itself it is almost useless. Using time as the main variable means that this ability will never really scale very well past a certain point in the game(Titan kill speeds get faster, Subjugation time stays the same...). Large fleet battles require a LOT of conversions for there to even be a noticeable impact on the outcome of the battle. Considering the player has little control over which weapon bank fires at which target(only primaries), the conversion rates should be drastically increased at ability levels 3-4. This would maintain balance in the early game(fewer conversions), yet once the titan gets leveled up it will start to mind control your whole fleet, and quickly. Players would already be warned of this ability because the bells toll out your doom(coolest ability of this titan). When the doom bell tolls, and this is a high level titan, you might think about RUNNING!
As it stands I only "toll the bells" to psych my enemy out, this ability does little to actually change the outcome of most any large endgame battle.
If this ability remains as weak as it is, the coronata's endgame fleet support will still only really exist with the planetary takover ability, and only be constructed for the purpose of quick advent takeover of planets in the endgame.
2). Does nothing against capitalships, strikecraft, or structures. This further contributes to the problem created by Suppression Aura where there are whole subtypes of enemies(most notably strikecraft & structures) which the coronata doesn't do much against. If the enemy only brings carrier frigates and capitalships to the battle and parks the carriers o nthe far side of the gravity well ready to jump out if necessary, this ability suddenly becomes useless(and it's not like this strategy is bad in general).
Possible Solutions
1). Have Subjugating Assault only drain AM when it converts an enemy. this would at least prevent it from becoming purely a waste of AM when you're unlucky. The devs have access to the conversion chance so they could easily make it so on average it's the same AM drain as now per attack, but all of the colst happens when conversions are made
Additionally less abstract proposition by Volt_Cruelerz which looks pretty good to me:
Chance to Convert: 8.5%/11%/13.5%/16%
AM Cost per Shot: 7/6.3/5.7/5
2). Add a secondary effect with the same chance of occurring as the conversion chance which may occur when attacking structures & capitalships. Perhaps an AM drain? That would certainly fall into the coronata's current role as a debuff-support titan
Unity Mass:
The Problems:
1). This ability is basically Snipe, only with 1/2 the range, a 3x longer cooldown, and a rather large requirement of nearby frigates to deal it's full damage. The range aspect is especially troubling as if used on a fleeing target coronata is not already facing, the slow turn speed of the coronata means the target is often out of range before the coronata is facing in the right direction.
Possible Solutions
1). The simple route beyond that would be to just reduce the cooldown to perhaps 15 seconds or so.
That said since the Advent loyalists are supposed to be the offensive/expansionist faction as as I mentioned earlier have trouble with hard-targets, I'd prefer something alone to lines of inctead reducing the cooldown to 20 seconds(rather then 15), but having the damage of Unity mass increased by 33% when used on targets with module armor. This would make the ability really shine when assaulting starbases, an area where previously the coronata was rather lackluster due to suppression aura not affecting structures.
Conclusion
These changes would fix the coronata's cheif problems. Like all titans it would be broadly useful(as the subjugating assault change would give it some additional usefulness against capitalships & the Unity mass change would give it greater usefulness in assaulting starbases. In a nutshell this is what the Coronata needs- at present it's biggest problem is that it's a bit situational due to Suppression Aura & Subjugating Assault both only really affecting certain types of ships.
The Suppression Aura damage debuff could always also be extended to affect starbases or strikecraft, but I left that out of my suggestions as Suppression Aura is already an outstanding ability and I thought it's be better to buff the abilities which are subpar.
Anyway, discuss.
.