Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Warning! Not tl;dr friendly!

Dust 514 approaches and from what we can see there is little we can do to influence a battle other than give money for supplies or orbital strike the hell it's very existence like a child with a magnifying glass burning the hell out of a colony of ants. I thought of a way for EVE players to give allied Dust players a hand and make the battles that take place on planets a shared experience.

The Bombardment Ship.

A Tech 2 Variant of the Destroyer

Like it's sister ships, it can sport a set of 7 to 8 turrets (or possibly missiles for the caldari ship). It will have a damage bonus of 75% with another 25% per Bombardment Ship level. giving it a bite that even tech 1 cruisers will have to be weary of. It's tanking abilities will also be impressive for a ship of it's size.

But what will be it's trademark feature is it's ability to rain tactical middle fingers down on whoever the Dust mercs point to. Let me explain how I think it should work. These ships also have the ability to fit 4 different special weapons. 3 long barreled turrets, a rail gun, a beam laser, and an artillery gun; as well as a special launcher. Of course that means you're sacrificing DPS, but 3 to 4 turrets( or launchers) with a 100% to 200% dmg bonus can still give a good right hook. The special turrets by the by, will be half the size of small turrets. Given how big a small turret is compared to the size of a human, small turrets would be overkill.

In order for these special weapons to be fired, the ship must be in the upper atmosphere of the planet ( granted that CCP is still up for atmospheric travel). Dust mercs must also have a coms dish set up somewhere on the battlefield. Dust mercs then use the dish to bring up a map of the battlefield, they choose what weapon they want fired and where on the battlefield they want it to hit. When a location has been chosen and locked on, a bracket with the weapon requested as it's name, will appear that the capsuleer must target. If the Dust mercs have a Mobile Command Center deployed then the commander can access the coms dish remotely. The EVE player then fires one shot from the weapon requested and the bracket goes away. A few seconds later, the shot hits and the Dust players watch the pretty colors. After a cooldown period, another bombardment can be called.

Of course, if someone doesn't want the enemy Bombardment ship to be there, then planetary defense missile batteries are a perfect way to let him know he isn't welcome. Also, it won't be the only ship that can cruise the planet's skies. There are also pirates and war targets to consider, a single well fitted cruiser can take advantage of the reduced DPS. The odds will be against the Bombardier.

Anyone, even the guys that called in the shot, can be effected or killed. Only members of the same corp or alliance can target these brackets. Or if the terms of a contract allow the aid of a Bombardment Ship then the contractor or a member of his corp can aid the non-allied mercs that accept said contract. Nobody can just sit around a planet and shoot at random signals that pop up.

Turret Effects-

Rail Gun: Used to stun the enemy and disrupt their weapons, very dangerous to vehicles. Instant kills a merc if close enough to the impact. Mercs within the effect radius are temporarily disoriented by the kinetic shock wave for 3 seconds, weapons also jam and need to be fixed, they can do this by reloading (no ammo is lost). Vehicles are instantly destroyed if hit directly regardless of defenses. If right next to the impact, the vehicle is moderate to lightly damaged depending on size and defenses; movement speed is reduced as well as turning speed for 10 seconds. 5 seconds if within shock wave radius.

Laser Beam: Calling a beam is a little different than the others, you can chart a short path for the beam to travel or just have it hit one spot for the duration (using the coms dish). Good for clearing an alleyway or taking out enemy auto turrets and other installations (maybe even the enemy's coms dish). The beam stays active for 4 seconds. Instant kills a merc if hit directly, severely damaged if right next to the beam. Vehicles can be either destroyed or damaged depending on how long the beam hits and factors from defenses.

Artillery Gun: Wider instant kill radius for mercs, also sends out a large amount of shrapnel in random directions that can deal severe damage. Best choice for anti personnel, anti armor not so much. Instant kills mercs within kill radius. Shrapnel dmg depends on where the shrapnel hits and what armor is being worn. Vehicle damage when hit directly is moderate to severe depending of type of vehicle and defenses, small vehicles may be instantly destroyed. Shrapnel does nothing to heavy armor but will lightly damage small vehicles.

Missile Effects-

The EMP Missile is intended to temporarily disable electronics, this includes gadgets, auto turrets, locking systems, electronic warfare modules, anything along those lines. It has the widest effect radius considering it's a freakin' missile. Instant kill radius is about as wide as the artillery. Electronics within effect radius are disabled for 10 seconds. However, due to the very wide effect radius, there's a high chance it will hit friendlies. Vehicles are destroyed when hit directly, light damages if near impact, no damage in effect radius. Mercs are killed if close to blast, they receive very little damage within effect radius.

Tell me what you think. Am I aiming too high or can you see this in the EVE Universe's future?

If you don't like the damage bonus then this thread has some ideas ---->http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=856362