Bounty Hunters

Just an idea that has been floating around in my head: what if we completely removed the bounty hunting class? The bounty hunting skills would be attributed to the combat class, some making it into the slist while most become feats. This way a combat main would be defined by the feats they choose, incorporating some elements of the bounty hunter but not having the full gambit of player killing skills and wouldn’t be an overpowered feature since there are only 3 feat slots.

What I described could look something like this:
Skills
-doorbash moved to level 100 combat skill
-claimbounty moved to level 100 combat skill
-advanced unarmed moved to level 115 combat skill
-vibroblade mastery moved to level 120 combat skill
-unarmed mastery moved to level 130 combat skill

Feats
-track moved to level 100 combat feat
-true examine moved to level 115 combat feat
-poison weapon moved to level 135 combat feat
-limber/sprint combined and moved to level 135 combat feat
-backstab/circle combined and moved to level 140 combat feat
-ambush moved to level 140 combat feat
-lunge moved to level 145 combat feat

Ideas, comments, concerns, suggestions?

I could get behind this. In all honesty, poison weapon should just be axed. It’s fairly pointless.

I’m still opting for a forcepike skill called thrust now that circle is limited to blades only. Then making combat QUITE viable against bher even for people less practiced as others. Just saying one last thing. I liked weapon skills being in different classes. It gives more racial diversity in my eyes. More total things for the Immortals to adjust and set on races is good in my eyes. Since it creates definitive racial differences.

Lol Smugglers should have the vibroblade stuff if that’s so!

I never quite understood why claimbounty was put to such a high level. I mean, was there more to claiming a bounty than dragging a corpse/person into a bounty office? Yeah, that level thing could mean knowing where a bounty office is, but if that’s the case the offices shouldn’t be clearly marked. It should be a flag that only people who’s BH (or combat skill) is high enough to use claimbounty. If you ask me, claimbounty should either be a regular command or a low level skill, like level 1 or 2.

Claimbounty is also pointless. Drag a person to a ship and murder/perm them, or blow them up in space. Any way you kill them will net you the bounty.

I don’t think the system NEEDS to be changed, but it’s sort of an interesting idea and doesn’t seem to make things too much worse. However, I don’t think they should all by default be transferred to combat. What does tracking and examining and acrobatics (sprint/limber) have to do with strictly fighting? Why have doorbash and blastdoor in the same class? Even claimbounty I feel like would be more a slicer or diplo thing if BH wasn’t a class.

Claimbounty isn’t pointless when you need to perm someone on the run that you’re not at war with, bypassing safe room flags.

Edit: INCREDIBLY situational of course, but that’s what claimbounty is for 100%.

For the purpose of making the combat class diversified by forcing each character to specialize, yes, they all need to be transferred to combat. Tracking and examining and sprinting all have to do with soldiers who picked up a very special skillset in order to have an advantage on the battlefield/over those they’re trying to capture. Though it’s true that Track and True aren’t exclusively related fighting, which is why they are placed at lower level; considering that, maybe limber/sprint should be low as well. Doorbash and blastdoor are not the same thing, I’d place them in the same class because one is a low level skill that isn’t quite as good as the other (it damages you, it damages your equipment) but any avatar’d combat main would be skilled at kicking in doors.

I don’t know why claim bounty is so high, but in my mind it’s because you have to have certain credibility as a known hunter in order to slay someone on the spot.

I, too, would like to see weapon skills for other classes but I don’t have any ideas on what or how.

I have to strongly disagree with this idea. Bounty Hunting skills are so powerful you can’t be a forcer and bh main, you can’t clan, you trade that for the advanced combat skills. Giving them to all combatants would negate that aspect of control. Why not make smug and espi one class? Engi and sci? Diversity makes it so no one person can do everything. Espi mains can get smug/espi/sli maxed from a few races but sacrifice their combat. Bh mains can get bh/com maxed from a few races but those are limited in other areas. Making bh/com one class makes it much easer to get a single char able to do most anything.

If the bounty hunter class got removed how would everyone get their carapace gear?

The proposed change would actually promote more diversity, which lotj sadly needs. If everyone is the same damn race because all the other ones have crap levels, then at least they can have different choices of skillset.

cnemus you should try reading the OP before commenting

How. Would. We. Get. Carapace?

Well I suspect we’d first complain about it, then shit all over the person who gets said tentacles for people and then we’d buy the carapace anyways.