TL;DR: The NSO are allegedly for solo players but lack competitive hardware for some specifically solo playstyles. The availability and acquisition process for tactical items needs a well conceived rework to make the faction appealing; as any player experienced enough to have even used the tactical slot will feel short-changed. I want to play on the NSO but I'm struggling to find reasons. I started playing my NSO character to take advantage of the double XP event and my membership to get it up to my standards for effective solo play, as the NSO are intended. I quickly realized how critical multiple tactical items are for high level play, and I need to know if I can even acquire them. I know I can spend certs to lock my NSO character to a faction, then join an outfit (negating the solo freelance intent of the NSO), but then can I acquire tactical gear? I don't actually know. If I can, do I keep the gear if I then unlock my NSO character from a faction to be freelance again, like I want to? It seems a little embarrassing that it's so unclear that I have to ask. Notes on some relevant playstyles: I want to Cortium Bomb unsuspecting tanks and help bust sunderers, and aside from attacking players bases the Cortium Bomb's only use is this kind of solo play (that and trolling spawn rooms as bases flip, please fix by making spawns no-bomb areas). When delivering sunderers it's important I do the most I can to harden my spawn logistics the best I can as a solo player and the Hardlight Canopy is critical. The Ordnance Dampener is an important tool to assist in room holds, and the Flash XS allows for some creative gameplay opportunities that are just kind of depressing to not have access to as an experienced player.
Yup they really screwed NSO over by deciding to not allow us to access important tools THAT WERE WORKING PERFECTLY FINE. I really don't get it. I loved being able to call down a javelin for fast travel, or save up and be able to call down sunderers, but then Wrel decided to put a big "OH YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT ANYMORE" message over the outfit page (For some ***** unknown reason, I guess Wrel just has a burning need to ruin things unnecessarily. ..) unless I join one of the main factions (in other words unless I remove the unique aspect from NSO.) Well no, how about you give us back our outfit screen and let us decide how we want to play... Since I am refusing to leave my NSO solofit I still have access to the 'tool' slot stuff since I still get merit when base capping, I just can't build any new anvils which is an absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary limitation.
There's very little reason, and even less with the latest bug that prevents NSO from pulling vehicles from anywhere other than warpgate. As a NSO main and ONLY, I made the mistake of putting the time into NSO and am too casually lazy to commit to an Empire Specific troop. Don't make the same mistake I made, don't waste money on paid services to DBG, until these bugs are worked out. Considering there are bugs for NSO that are going on almost a year, it's safe to say you're better off F2P. No customer likes to pay for access to content that is subpar and broken. At a minimum, for balance of the game, NSO SHOULD be equal, but alas, it isn't. Too many inequities to endure for a new/ or non-paying customer. Enjoy your Empire Specific Tanks, Fighters, MAXes, Vehicle Weapons, etc... that are superior in most ways.
