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[Joshua]

Particle Chargers (and the like) could modify the energy and heat cost of firing weapons instead of having a direct, more than nominal cost.

Rationale: Turning them on in rounds when you're firing and off otherwise is boring.

[Kyzrati]

Well in general you don't need to toggle these, except under certain scenarios where your build just barely produces enough energy to support itself. I know I just keep them active all the time on my builds, unless I'm running shields (though what parts need to be toggled can vary greatly across builds and strategies).

But in any case this is not an issue with Particle Chargers specifically--a number of different utilities fall into the wider category of "you should probably turn them off if you're not actively using them." So really they could all be examined together in this category to see if there is a better solution. (This was a topic of discussion that began here on the forums back in early alpha, but was put off since it would need to take into account potential future utilities, and other changes that might come to utility mechanics in general.)

That said, in general I'd prefer to continue using the concept of upkeep where possible, as resource management is what ties a lot of the parts together in a more dynamic system.

[Joshua]

Well in general you don't need to toggle these, except under certain scenarios where your build just barely produces enough energy to support itself. I know I just keep them active all the time on my builds, unless I'm running shields (though what parts need to be toggled can vary greatly across builds and strategies).

Fair enough! I do tend to run very close to the red on energy usage. Mostly out of a preference for stealth, and trying to evolve as many utility slots as possible to hold the supporting utilities (sensors, scanners, optics, hackware).

I will give a shout-out here for the probably underappreciated Structural Scanner: knowing instantly where hidden doors are can be very helpful in the later levels.

[Kyzrati]

Ah yeah, I figured you were running stealth. In general speed/stealth involves more min-maxing and toggling--it's essentially an integrated part of the style and you'll need to do it even for your propulsion at times anyway. With regard to Particle Chargers, at least you're generally not doing as much fighting with a build like that!

I will give a shout-out here for the probably underappreciated Structural Scanner: knowing instantly where hidden doors are can be very helpful in the later levels.

Heh, another believer! There have been a few good players who swear by it, that being the main reason (although it comes with other nice perks, too), but a lot of players don't seem to think much of it, or at least prefer other utilities. I guess I'm one of them--the few times I've stuck with it I've loved it, but in general I don't bother attaching it over other utils.

Maybe it's because with a faster build you can take advantage of existing doors rather than making your own (which could slow you down), whereas with a slower combat build I'm happy to just whip out my melee weapon and make my own door, and the biggest advantage to structural scanners is then just knowing whether enemies can flank you or not. I'll definitely have to play with them again some time.