Push abilities are unnecessary

[HuntinDarkness]

I've Just completed the game the first time through as the Machinist. Not once did I feel it was necessary to use or upgrade their push.
I've only play on normal so far so maybe it will see more use in higher difficulty but It didn't feel like I needed to use it at any point.
Is there anything that can be done to make it feel more important to the gameplay?

[Lego]

I almost agree, the Push for the operator never gained me enough advantage, even after spending skill points upgrading it! I feel like I always ended up rolling poorly with my re-rolls and it would have been better off just ending the cycle.

[Sly_Boots]

I've used and benefited from the Machinist push ability a few times, using it to turn a 2 into a 5, and then being able to use that for a skill check I have a +1 modifier for, means it's an additional guaranteed successful roll for that cycle, and recouping the stress earned for using it.

[TheFourteen]

In general it feels like a lot of unnecessary systems have been bolted on. I hope CS3 goes back to the simplicity of CS1. I don't know what all the talk about the first one "being easy" is about – it's a narrative game, I'm not playing it to be challenged. I'm playing this to chill out and enjoy the story, not to feel stressed or irritated.

[BigAlzBub]

The machinist power is awesome. Take a +1 to the dice, -1 stress on positive result, -stress on Neutral/Positive outcomes and you have a super powerful ability, you can turn even a 1 into 4, which only has a 25% chance of a bad outcome, if you gain a +1 in a skill you can't fail to remove stress, because the +1 will make the 4 a 5 which only has positive or neutral outcomes. So you not only get at worst a neutral result, you overall can rid yourself of point of stress above and beyond the one you gain to push. I did an entire run without any of my dice breaking, I actually missed a minor goal (make repairs) because my dice never broke.

[Krag]

I picked Machinist as well in my Dangerous playthrough and the push skill is the first thing I maxed out and I must've used it almost every turn of every contract.

[Cornelius Backgammon]

I have to say I had precisely the opposite experience, I only managed to complete most of the contracts through operator push.

[Dailao]

Originally posted by TheFourteen:

I hope CS3 goes back to the simplicity of CS1. I don't know what all the talk about the first one "being easy" is about – it's a narrative game, I'm not playing it to be challenged.

Exactly, I don't understand either. Some games are there for the atmosphere or the story, not for the challenge or the combat.

[dustman]

Failing in CS may open new story branches. Beauty of RPG as genre is that, unless power-gaming, failing is part of story. Even untimely end may feel rewarding.

[MarkDarkness]

I think Push has been useful for the Mechanic.