[Suggestion] The Catalyst needs a activation key

Hey forum!

It's been a very, very long time since I last signed in on the forum! So hello everyone , it's nice to be back!.

I've spend some time playing the release update and I've been thinking about the Catalyst. I love how it works, but for the moment I think it's a bit to easy (?).

My idea comes after some great time in Halo. In Halo, for a Halo to be activated, the person needs the Index Key. With this key the user will be able to active the weapon and turn it on standby, ready to fire.

For Planetary Annihilation the player will still be able to build the Catalyst towers, but when build, they will all be shutdown as the inner core of the planet hasn't been activated.

To activate the weapon, the player will have to find the ''Key'', which will be randomly hidden on one of the many planets in the current system. I haven't thought about how to find it, but I have a idea how you reclaim it. Reclaiming will be the same as with things like trees, but instead of a couple of seconds it will take 5 min (?) to reclaim the key.

This is my suggestion. I'd be happy to hear what more experienced players think of this!

You build catalysts to avoid taking other planets. The whole idea behind blowing up the planet instead of invading it is that a ground invasion is messy and takes a lot of time.

The general idea behind the catalyst is fine, it just needs (economic) tuning. Right now, 5 catalysts are built almost as quickly as the same number of Halleys, with a much higher damage potential. The Annihilaser is a proper game ender without a means to counter it - now it just needs the right price tag.

I would say that the catalysts need to be a bit more expensive to build, considering that they unleash such a powerful weapon.

Id like a longer charge up time to fire, possibly, or having the catalysts be overloaded and vaporized after use, so that no metal may be recovered from them, forcing players to start from scratch.

I think there needs to be a cool-down... of which there are numerous ways to enable. The entire game is now all about building the catalysts as fast as possible. It ruins the long-term strategy of the game. Amazingly cool, and fun... but far too OP as it currently stands.

Going back to the original idea of the planet (metal or super weapon) - what if using the catalyst had a long cool down and removed all metal spots from the planet. Thus you sacrifice economy for the laser.

Interesting idea...

Honestly, I think its fine as is. Sometimes games can get long and tedious, its nice to actually have a game ender. Besides, having it be so potient creates some new strategies for the game. Do you rush to claim it as your own and then try to defend from everyone else? Do you race to disable it with tons of nukes, smash a planet into it, or sneak your orbital lasers in to destroy the enemys catalysts.

If feel there are too many people too quick to pull out the nerf bat just because something is powerful. Try it bit more and see...perhaps even try some new tactics?

There is still time to stop the key from turning.

NOOOO. Makes no sense.

Chills down my body. God I love the Gravemind.

What it really needs is a voice, that says the following, Warning, warning, orbital death ray charging. Voiced by John patrick lowrie.

Obviously later, it will remark, Warning, Orbital death ray ONLINE.

The first time it could have a shorter charge up time, well it would have the same charge up time every time. But once you fire it, you would see vents on the metal planet that open. to vent access waste heat, that would add more time before it could be fired again.

or you could force it and have a risk of overload, and the metal planet might blow up

That's not something the commanders would do, I would just have them build a super expensive sixth building that is a huge reactor of some sort.

make it more expensive, if you let your opponent build the catalyst is your fault losing.

No offense, but this argument is made all over this forum, and I disagree with it... strongly. A war has many fronts and strategies, and making the war all about a battle over a single weapon limits the overall strategy entirely. Personally.... I would prefer the game be more about strategy and less about rushing as fast as you can through a build order and towards a laser.

If he gets the laser should I pay a price... yes... a painful price... sure... should I lose the entire solar system within a minute... no.

God I love Halo. <3

Orbital death ray would be they SSX. And there's already an alert for Catalysts anyway.

It'd be pretty silly if the giant planet-sized superlaser weapon didn't already have a reactor inside it somewhere.

A reactor that is a spark, that starts up the one inside it. lol

So the metalplanet reactor is actually organic?(Or just uses a supercomputer that need hundreds of terrawatts worth of energy to start the big reactor.)

Humans build the death star / metal planet. In fact, Darth Vader build it.

Many garage door openers have a voice system. WARNING ORBITAL GARAGE DOOR IS OPENING; STAND CLEAR!. WARNING!.

Its just what we humans do we give machines voices.