Ship's Ultimate Discussion

From the latest KS Update #16, we can see that Ultimates will be coming to the game and I for one can't wait to see them in action. I do acknowledge that everything is a work in progress, but I do have some concerns and suggestions and would like to present them.

Problems

So we see in the latest update an Ultimate in action, specifically the static overload Ultimate which gives your ship strong lightning guns that arc pretty far and has great damage, and honestly looks amazing. Here's the issue, the Ultimate itself is exactly that, a strong lightning gun. Assuming the lightning gun makes a return, and given there are rarities in the game, what's gonna ultimately differentiate this Ultimate and a legendary lighting gun which could do exactly the same thing. Do we want Ultimates to be stronger versions of existing weapons? Let's say the lightning gun doesn't return and is restricted to an Ultimate, then is this what we really want?

The next case is the ARC-9000 Ultimate from KS Update #15. Same issue applies here. Why have this as an Ultimate if it already exists as a secondary weapon which also gives the option to have it in multiple rarities with a range of differences in how it plays. But just like the previous example, if this isn't something we can craft and is simply an Ultimate for a heavy class ship, do we want it to be restricted?

Ultimates should be powerful and unique and not simply be a buffed up version of something that already exists.

Suggestions

On the steam page of ES2, there's a screenshot that shows an Ultimate called Quantum Tethering. Now this looks absolutely phenomenal and is worthy of its Ultimate name. You select a single enemy as a Tether. Now all enemies that are close to this Tethered enemy will now be connected. Any damage you deal to this Tethered enemy will also go to all the enemies that are connected to it. The more enemies that are connected, the more damage everyone receives. Not only is this unique, its also strong enough to not be implemented into an existing feature like a device and thus is perfect as an Ultimate and only as an Ultimate.

We also see from KS Update #16 that a heavy class ship could have an Ultimate that makes it's shield reflect incoming attacks. This needs to be taken carefully as this is also an idea that a legendary shield could have as one of its passives granted maybe a certain chance of attacks will be reflected but still. This could work as an Ultimate, but I personally think it'd work as a passive on a shield. Really depends on how much this Ultimate can offer.

Here are some of my suggestions of something that would be worthy of an Ultimate. This takes the idea of the previous example Quantum Tethering, but instead makes the player ship into a Tether. Now any drones or allies nearby will now be connected to you. Each of them will now be insanely buffed. This would be perfect for a gunship build with like 5 different drones helping you. In ES1 drones were pretty easy for the enemies to take down, but this Ultimate would give them the boost they need.

This idea is taken from Borderlands 2. There's a class called The Siren who's 'Ultimate' is to throw an energy ball that will suck in enemies that are close by and damage them whilst providing other things such as the ability to heal yourself. This could work perfectly as an Ultimate in ES2. Imagine a heavy class build where you use this Ultimate to pull everyone into one spot, and then ram them with your ship. Or you could use it to line up the perfect shot for your heavy missiles or an ARC-9000. It also works as the perfect crowd control to help you escape.

What other ideas do you guys think would work as an Ultimate that doesn't simply replace an existing mechanic nor be a buffed version of an existing weapon?

Conclusion

Ultimates need to live up to their name. They need to be strong, feel unique and be fun. They shouldn't be a stronger version of things that already exist. They shouldn't be weak enough that would make us see their use as a passive in the best of equipment (legendary rarity). They shouldn't restrict something to being an Ultimate if we had the ability to use them/craft them in ES1. Thanks for reading.