Synedrion has Missing Niches in its Arsenal

Synedrion seems as if it has various niches that haven’t been fulfilled in its arsenal, that look like they were meant to be included, but got cut due to either technical, time or balance reasons.

These seem to be the following:

  1. The Synedrion Assault class only has one main weapon, the Deimos AR-L laser assault rifle, to choose from, when every other faction class has more than one main weapon to choose from.
    This leaves the Synedrion assault class uniquely underpowered in the late game due to being virtually ineffective against heavy armoured enemies, with Phoenix Project operatives wearing heavy armour being pretty much invulnerable to it even with the 1 shred per shot that the laser rifle has.
    The Synedrion assault class needs a second, late-game tech assault rifle that allows it to effectively fight heavily armoured enemies.
    A plasma or particle beam weapon, maybe? If Synedrion can develop compact fusion power cells, which it does routinely use as ammunition, it has the potential to develop some extremely advanced directed energy weapons beyond just laser weapons.
    A new late game assault rifle would still have to be balanced relative to the NJ piercing assault rifle though.

  2. In the Blood and Titanium DLC, Synedrion has the ‘Vengeance’ Bionic torso that grants melee proficiency and 1 AP reduction on melee attacks.
    But why would Synedrion develop a bionic augment that greatly improves a person’s skill in melee, when Synedrion doesn’t even have any melee weapons?
    In a Fig campaign news update and in the Phoenix Point art book, the Synedrion infiltrator was shown as being originally meant to use melee weapons in addition to other stealth-oriented weapons, but by the final release version its melee proficiency and melee weapons got cut.
    Does the existence of the Vengeance melee proficiency bionic torso mean that Synedrion could have melee weapons again in a future update?
    If Synedrion could get melee weapons similar to a System Shock style Laser Rapier and/or an advanced neural paralysis melee weapon superior to the Phoenix Neurazer, they could be very good options.
    Though they would need to be balanced relative to the Disciples of Anu melee weapons, as well.

  3. The infiltrator’s Styx torso armor looks like it has a grapnel launcher on its left arm, but the Synedrion Infiltrator doesn’t have any climbing abilities.
    In the Fig campaign news update that originally described the Infiltrator class, it was planned to have, quote ‘Grappling gear, ultra-thin climbing lines and retractable climbing spikes on hands and feet allow for navigating highly vertical terrain’.
    It would be cool if the grapnel launcher looking thing on the infiltrator Styx torso left arm could be enabled at some point to give the infiltrator a stealthy climbing ability that only it has, similar to how the Heavy class has a unique jetpack proficiency that allows it to use heavy armor jetpacks without fumbling.
    Being able to scale high obstacles and difficult terrain without breaking stealth, would be important to the Infiltrator’s battlefield role and purpose. Not to mention how cool it is to feel like you’re commanding what is essentially a high-tech Ninja.

  4. Will Synedrion ever get the UAV’s and canine UGV backpack drones that were originally shown in ‘the Science of Synedrion’ website news update?
    Those things look so cool and distinctive, and the battlefield utility and variety they could provide to the game might be immense.

What are your thoughts on these points?

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All looks fine, except assault rifle thing.

Many players consider Deimos as superior to other assault rifles. Along that assault can count on infiltrator to shred armor with drones. Or he can always double-class to infiltrator to have stealth attack which doubles damage. :slight_smile:

And only 2 other weapons for assault allow to deal with armor. Piranha which partly overcome armor, and Harrower which destroys armor. So Independent assault and Phoenix assault also don’t have proper weapons to deal with armored enemies.

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I meant about the Synedrion Assault class soldier when the player fights them in haven raids against Synedrion havens and when defending other faction havens against Synedrion forces. The Deimos Laser Assault Rifle is very accurate, even more so when combined with the accuracy bonuses the Synedrion Assault class soldier gets from the Phlegethon armour they wear, and it is a serious threat to the player’s operatives in the early and mid-game.

The Synedrion Snipers and Infiltrators each have more than one main weapon to choose from, that works well enough against Phoenix Project operatives wearing heavy armour. But the Synedrion assault class soldier feels left out in that regard, and while the Deimos Laser Assault Rifle is very accurate, it does have low damage and 1 shred per shot that leaves it without the punch to be a actual threat to Phoenix Project operatives wearing heavy armour or augmented with heavy bionics/mutations.

The New Jericho Assault class soldier has more than one assault rifle to choose from, the Disciples of Anu Assault class soldier has more than one shotgun to choose from, the Infiltrator, Snipers, Heavies, Technician, Berserker and Priest all have more than one main weapon to choose from in their faction arsenals. The Independent/Scavenger Assault class soldier only has one subpar assault rifle since their gear was deliberately set to be underpowered, low-tech and suboptimal for balance and narrative reasons.
Even Phoenix Project Assault class operatives have either an assault rifle or a shotgun to choose from in their early game arsenal, and can gain access to much more weaponry later in the game.

It just seems as if the Synedrion Assault class soldier is an odd exception for some reason, and I still think they could use a second, late-game assault rifle to fill the gap. Though I do have to admit, they can have up to three different types of faction hand grenades they can use, the NJ/DoA factions have only a single type of hand grenade each in their arsenals.

How about an assault rifle version of the stunning technology?

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A new Synedrion assault rifle that can inflict paralysis or stun damage even against heavily armoured enemies would certainly fit the missing weapon niche for the Synedrion assault class soldier. It would also fit with Synedrion’s more pacifistic, humanitarian and environmentalist ideology as well, since their weapon design philosophy seems to focus on non-lethal incapacitation of threats and/or extreme accuracy to minimise collateral damage.

The new Synedrion assault rifle could be either be an adaptation of Synedrion’s neural paralysis weapon tech, or maybe a new type of non-lethal directed energy weapon like an electrolaser or PEP (Pulsed Energy Projectile).

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