As I've progressed through tier 2 in my escort, I've found myself with the conundrum of how I should spend my skill points in regards to my science officers. In Open Beta Mask Energy Signiture was massively overpowered, and hence a core skill for any escort captain in PVP. Currently that skill is of no practical utility. From what I understand this is a known issue and is not working as intended. My question is, what function do you intend MES to have? What should we expect MES to be able to do? Is it intended to be a situational skill with primary utility in PVE? Is it intended to have utility in PVP? The reason I ask is that MES alone defines how we build and spec our ships. Without effective MES, survivability is of primary importance; both in terms of how escort captains equip their ships, and in terms of how our teammates equip theirs. That is fine if that's the road we're intended to go down, but since we can't respec I want to make sure I'm spending my points (and picking rewards) on items and BO skills that will be of use to me down the road. I hate to put it in WoW speak but, are we rogues or are we fury warriors? It's actually a big difference.

I would appreciate your feedback and any guidance you may provide.

Regards,
Groovulous

Very good post. As an escort captain i too would like to know what is planned for MES.

Yes, I know. That wasn't my question. In MMOs skills get nerfed and buffed in the search for ballance. I would like to know what the intended power of MES actually is. If you know the answer to that question, then you'll know whether or not the skill has utility for you in the long run. Not just whether it makes sense for you in a particular release build.

What do you really expect as an answer to the question?

The only thing you could get is an "We are aware of a potential issue with the power and are looking at the relevant data. We take balance seriously."

Probably not. But I'll never get an answer to a question I don't ask.