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[Rubicon] Marauder rebalancing

First post First post First post
Author
Cade Windstalker
#3141 - 2013-09-08 00:11:53 UTC
Unforgiven Storm wrote:
I posted a couple of ideas for this re-balance, too big to fit inside the 5000 characters limit of a post, so here is the link.

http://thelazypilot.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/constructive/

its just one more idea.


So, couple of gripes with your post.

For a start you claim that CCP didn't anticipate how changing this ship would be viewed by the player base. Since their first iteration changed it very little, and the response on their second proposal from the PvE crowd that actually uses the thing has been echoing Ytterbium with "we don't need webs thanks but no" it's pretty clear that they do understand that people, even if it's not a majority, do use these ships for PvE.

Second, you reference the "real world" definition of "Marauder". Ship balancing by dictionary is bad policy. By the real world definition of "Marauder" any ship could be classified as one. Now looking at your points:


  • I'm going to (more or less) ignore the "remove the cool new bonuses" bit because that's down to personal preference. Personally I like the idea of deploying battleships.
  • The web bonus is only very marginally useful to PvE and is mostly used for swatting smaller ships in PvP making them more or less ineffective against any ship with such a bonus.
  • Light Drones! But then what's the point of the web bonus?
  • Adding a salvage bonus treads a little too heavily on the toes of the Noctis. This is supposed to be a viable option, not a replacement to the Noctis.
  • "Spider Tanking god-battleship" is, I think, still a concern. Just waving a magic wand over the hull and removing all its old downsides just turns it into a Battleship sized HAC.
  • The problem with the T2 resists vs the repair bonus is that they both benefit PvE, just different types. T2 resists are better for Incursions and Wormholes, a local repair bonus is better for Missions and Scan-sites.


As to the whole "make a new line of ships" argument, you do know the CSM have already seen at least rough passes of Bastion, right? Plus the first pass of Bastion was rather well received by the PvE community, it was the people who want this ship to be far better than it was going to be for PvP that objected. (aka the same crowd that cried about the removal of the web bonuses from the Kronos and Paladin)

I think my biggest problem with this is that it's nothing new and doesn't even feel like a complete proposal. All of this has been suggested before, generally multiple times and none of it is non-controversial.
Luc Chastot
#3142 - 2013-09-08 00:24:58 UTC
For all those arguing about the definition of the word "marauder", I'm pretty sure CCP's idea when naming the things was that the ships are designed to loot and salvage, on top of killing rats, so it goes very well with "to wander or raid in search of plunder". So yeah, Marauders are fine in this regard.

Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot.

Pi Selina
Midnight Oil Irregulars.
#3143 - 2013-09-08 01:20:11 UTC
Cade Windstalker wrote:

Adding a salvage bonus treads a little too heavily on the toes of the Noctis. This is supposed to be a viable option, not a replacement to the Noctis.



I don't think a Marauder will ever replace the Noctis for the general populace, the later coming after the previous for starters kinda makes that argument moot. But the Marauder is the alternative to re-docking your Pirate BS or Navy BS and returning to your mission to salvage. Those that bothered to hit Multitasking 3 (or 5 if they're running an Auto -Targetter) can vacuum as they go, or not have to Multi-Box.

I'm not saying I want tractors to 96km, but at least a healthy 60km would be nice to cover this proposed MJD strategy.

For the solo mission runner, the Marauder class should be the Apex ship.
Cade Windstalker
#3144 - 2013-09-08 01:29:48 UTC
Luc Chastot wrote:
For all those arguing about the definition of the word "marauder", I'm pretty sure CCP's idea when naming the things was that the ships are designed to loot and salvage, on top of killing rats, so it goes very well with "to wander or raid in search of plunder". So yeah, Marauders are fine in this regard.


You get a cookie.

Pi Selina wrote:
Cade Windstalker wrote:

Adding a salvage bonus treads a little too heavily on the toes of the Noctis. This is supposed to be a viable option, not a replacement to the Noctis.



I don't think a Marauder will ever replace the Noctis for the general populace, the later coming after the previous for starters kinda makes that argument moot. But the Marauder is the alternative to re-docking your Pirate BS or Navy BS and returning to your mission to salvage. Those that bothered to hit Multitasking 3 (or 5 if they're running an Auto -Targetter) can vacuum as they go, or not have to Multi-Box.

I'm not saying I want tractors to 96km, but at least a healthy 60km would be nice to cover this proposed MJD strategy.

For the solo mission runner, the Marauder class should be the Apex ship.


I kind of disagree with this in that a single ship should not eliminate choice when selecting a ship. The Marauders shouldn't try to be most viable for every form of solo mission running, that's somewhat impractical and would likely end up with them either being too good overall or not good enough at any one style to justify the cost or training.

Plus you don't need a salvage bonus for these to be good solo mission ships, the spare highs and tractor bonus already make them better than any other offering. Plus salvaging everything isn't a good use of your time if you're running like this. The only things that are going to be worth your time are Battleship wrecks, some of the cruisers, and anything with loot (because yay Meta 4). Having time for anything else probably means you're taking too long to clear the pocket.
Pi Selina
Midnight Oil Irregulars.
#3145 - 2013-09-08 01:53:40 UTC
Cade Windstalker wrote:


I kind of disagree with this in that a single ship should not eliminate choice when selecting a ship. The Marauders shouldn't try to be most viable for every form of solo mission running, that's somewhat impractical and would likely end up with them either being too good overall or not good enough at any one style to justify the cost or training.

Plus you don't need a salvage bonus for these to be good solo mission ships, the spare highs and tractor bonus already make them better than any other offering. Plus salvaging everything isn't a good use of your time if you're running like this. The only things that are going to be worth your time are Battleship wrecks, some of the cruisers, and anything with loot (because yay Meta 4). Having time for anything else probably means you're taking too long to clear the pocket.


Ok, I totally misread salvaging as tractor bonus. Tractor bonus I think needs to stay (at least), or be buffed to 150% (preferably).

Yes, no salvage bonus, my badBlink

But again, for solo missioning, a CNR with a little Noctis is exactly why I trained for the Golem,.. That and who doesn't like to utter "Torpedoes in the water!" In a terrible Ruskie accent, eh? Komrad?
MBizon Osis
Doomheim
#3146 - 2013-09-08 02:21:25 UTC
Cade Windstalker wrote:
Luc Chastot wrote:
For all those arguing about the definition of the word "marauder", I'm pretty sure CCP's idea when naming the things was that the ships are designed to loot and salvage, on top of killing rats, so it goes very well with "to wander or raid in search of plunder". So yeah, Marauders are fine in this regard.


You get a cookie.

Pi Selina wrote:
Cade Windstalker wrote:

Adding a salvage bonus treads a little too heavily on the toes of the Noctis. This is supposed to be a viable option, not a replacement to the Noctis.



I don't think a Marauder will ever replace the Noctis for the general populace, the later coming after the previous for starters kinda makes that argument moot. But the Marauder is the alternative to re-docking your Pirate BS or Navy BS and returning to your mission to salvage. Those that bothered to hit Multitasking 3 (or 5 if they're running an Auto -Targetter) can vacuum as they go, or not have to Multi-Box.

I'm not saying I want tractors to 96km, but at least a healthy 60km would be nice to cover this proposed MJD strategy.

For the solo mission runner, the Marauder class should be the Apex ship.


I kind of disagree with this in that a single ship should not eliminate choice when selecting a ship. The Marauders shouldn't try to be most viable for every form of solo mission running, that's somewhat impractical and would likely end up with them either being too good overall or not good enough at any one style to justify the cost or training.

Plus you don't need a salvage bonus for these to be good solo mission ships, the spare highs and tractor bonus already make them better than any other offering. Plus salvaging everything isn't a good use of your time if you're running like this. The only things that are going to be worth your time are Battleship wrecks, some of the cruisers, and anything with loot (because yay Meta 4). Having time for anything else probably means you're taking too long to clear the pocket.



Proponents of tractor beam bonus elimination have stated that have a 2nd ship (noctis) is the way it's done. Using a 2nd account or going back for the 2nd ship adds more time to missions for sure. I use salvage drones myself. Maybe they believe cutting a bonus they don't want frees up room for one they do want?
Personally my 2nd account started off as a noctis driver. After a awhile I came to realize that I still can't safely run a lvl4 and salvage at the same time. Having your single account have to go and get your noctis to come back and salvage/loot adds half again more time to each mission. Dual boxing with 2 accounts running a mission and salvaging on the other can be done but not all of us have the set up for that.
Adding the 4th high slot to the marauders as part of re-balancing them gives us a chance to see if expanding the salvaging/tractor beam bonus might be for the greater good. As the fastest way to salvage would be on the fly as you are making wrecks.
(Role Bonus:500% bonus to tractor beam range and 100% bonus to tractor beam velocity(orca) 100km
or
Marauder Skill Bonus:5% bonus to Tractor Beam and Salvager cycle time and 60% bonus to Tractor Beam range and velocity per level (noctis) 96km @ lvl5
or
Role Bonus: 99% reduction in the powergrid need, 50% reduction in the capacitor need, and 50% reduction in the CPU need of Capital Tractor Beams. They are able to fit Cap Tracks due to significant reductions in the powergrid, CPU and capacitor requirements for these mods.750pg,55cpu,100JG cap(like tier 3 BCs) 200km

one of these options would not be OP or harm the noctis's place as the preimant salvaging ship with 8 highs to do the job vrs the 4 of a marauder.
Mer88
Royal Amarr Institute
Amarr Empire
#3147 - 2013-09-08 02:43:15 UTC
i believe the original idea of the marauder was so that you can salvage loot and do the mission at the same time. This was the reason for such a long training time, but now with the intro of noctis, the newer players started to question the reason for long training time for marauder when other ships can do the same and better. I think it is only fair that the marauder get a nice boost to its salvage + tractor beams to keep the tradition.
Vivi Udan
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#3148 - 2013-09-08 04:57:17 UTC
Mer88 wrote:
i believe the original idea of the marauder was so that you can salvage loot and do the mission at the same time. This was the reason for such a long training time, but now with the intro of noctis, the newer players started to question the reason for long training time for marauder when other ships can do the same and better. I think it is only fair that the marauder get a nice boost to its salvage + tractor beams to keep the tradition.



The problem with a salvaging bonus goes against what eve is all about, which is flying one ship that does something well. AKA not allowing players to do ridiculous things like creating the ultimate laser fitted raven and have them survive.

Whether you use a Marauder for mission running or for 0.0 Ratting (which I have done and is quite tricky) you are naturally dealing with players who want a ship that is going to min/max. Because of this, the literal definition of 'marauder' fits the playing style of get in, get out, rinse and repeat. As stated before, tractor beams on marauders currently work for min/maxing when you use them on battleships and on other occasional high priority wrecks. To salvage, even in a Noctus takes time (with T2 salvage rigs and all skills 5, I could salvage any null sec site in about 4 minutes). To sit in a site with only 3 or even 4 slots for tractor beams and salvagers is going to take FOREVER, and so a salvage bonus is impractical.

The Mittani of House GoonWaffe, First of His name, King of the Goons and VFK, Master of griefing, Lord of the CFC, Warden of the West, and Protector of Deklein.

Cade Windstalker
#3149 - 2013-09-08 05:02:53 UTC
Pi Selina wrote:
Ok, I totally misread salvaging as tractor bonus. Tractor bonus I think needs to stay (at least), or be buffed to 150% (preferably).

Yes, no salvage bonus, my badBlink

But again, for solo missioning, a CNR with a little Noctis is exactly why I trained for the Golem,.. That and who doesn't like to utter "Torpedoes in the water!" In a terrible Ruskie accent, eh? Komrad?


BUAHAHAHAHA xD

I lol'd. Hard.

Yes, the tractor bonus needs to stay and I could certainly get behind seeing it buffed a bit, especially if the MJD bonus stays as-is. Overall it's just not a bonus that has any real effect in combat outside of PvE, it's something for after combat is over.

MBizon Osis wrote:
Proponents of tractor beam bonus elimination have stated that have a 2nd ship (noctis) is the way it's done. Using a 2nd account or going back for the 2nd ship adds more time to missions for sure. I use salvage drones myself. Maybe they believe cutting a bonus they don't want frees up room for one they do want?
Personally my 2nd account started off as a noctis driver. After a awhile I came to realize that I still can't safely run a lvl4 and salvage at the same time. Having your single account have to go and get your noctis to come back and salvage/loot adds half again more time to each mission. Dual boxing with 2 accounts running a mission and salvaging on the other can be done but not all of us have the set up for that.
Adding the 4th high slot to the marauders as part of re-balancing them gives us a chance to see if expanding the salvaging/tractor beam bonus might be for the greater good. As the fastest way to salvage would be on the fly as you are making wrecks.
(Role Bonus:500% bonus to tractor beam range and 100% bonus to tractor beam velocity(orca) 100km
or
Marauder Skill Bonus:5% bonus to Tractor Beam and Salvager cycle time and 60% bonus to Tractor Beam range and velocity per level (noctis) 96km @ lvl5
or
Role Bonus: 99% reduction in the powergrid need, 50% reduction in the capacitor need, and 50% reduction in the CPU need of Capital Tractor Beams. They are able to fit Cap Tracks due to significant reductions in the powergrid, CPU and capacitor requirements for these mods.750pg,55cpu,100JG cap(like tier 3 BCs) 200km

one of these options would not be OP or harm the noctis's place as the preimant salvaging ship with 8 highs to do the job vrs the 4 of a marauder.


I think you about hit the nail on the head with why people want the tractor bonus to go. They're PvP people who see it as a "bonus slot" that could be used for something "more useful" (to them).

I don't think CCP is actually counting it as an active bonus though since it has no meaningful effect on PvP. The MJD bonus is, essentially, the actual bonus along with the Bastion Module.

As to the exact nature of the bonuses, the Noctis should still be a strictly better salvage ship IMO, since that's its role. Similarly the tractor bonus and any hypothetical salvage bonus should stay as role bonuses and not really be factored to heavily into overall balance since they have zero PvP use and not everyone's going to want to make use of them.

Vivi Udan wrote:
Mer88 wrote:
i believe the original idea of the marauder was so that you can salvage loot and do the mission at the same time. This was the reason for such a long training time, but now with the intro of noctis, the newer players started to question the reason for long training time for marauder when other ships can do the same and better. I think it is only fair that the marauder get a nice boost to its salvage + tractor beams to keep the tradition.



The problem with a salvaging bonus goes against what eve is all about, which is flying one ship that does something well. AKA not allowing players to do ridiculous things like creating the ultimate laser fitted raven and have them survive.

Whether you use a Marauder for mission running or for 0.0 Ratting (which I have done and is quite tricky) you are naturally dealing with players who want a ship that is going to min/max. Because of this, the literal definition of 'marauder' fits the playing style of get in, get out, rinse and repeat. As stated before, tractor beams on marauders currently work for min/maxing when you use them on battleships and on other occasional high priority wrecks. To salvage, even in a Noctus takes time (with T2 salvage rigs and all skills 5, I could salvage any null sec site in about 4 minutes). To sit in a site with only 3 or even 4 slots for tractor beams and salvagers is going to take FOREVER, and so a salvage bonus is impractical.


If anything this is an argument FOR a salvage bonus since you're unlikely to rig the ship for salvage or have as many salvagers as on a Noctis meaning you're giving players the option of a meaningful tradeoff.
Shaden Nightwalker
Tryblium Sanguinis
#3150 - 2013-09-08 06:22:32 UTC
Besides the balancing, which I can not currently comment on because I was away for some time;

Please give the Golem a Tech 2 Rokh Model and make it go vertical when it transforms.

Battle Cube
Cube Collective
#3151 - 2013-09-08 06:41:20 UTC
you know, in reply to all the definition posts and etc... i just want to say that if ccp decides ti change the marauders name, and/or if they decide to change the marauders role dramatically.... it would be a bad decision to entirely alienate the fanbase of this ship, that is to say, for all of those who took all the time to skill into it are going to be disappointed if it becomes unusable or changes roles completely.

Iome Ambraelle
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#3152 - 2013-09-08 07:01:26 UTC  |  Edited by: Iome Ambraelle
There's a secondary aspect to tanking that very few people on here seem to be taking into consideration, and that is capacitor usage and stability. This may be because everyone seems to immediately throw out ASB as the solution.

You are correct that ~400/s effective rep is "enough" to tank any lvl 4. However, if you can only rep that amount you must run your tank mods constantly. If you bring 800/s effective reps, you only have to run the modules HALF the time. This allows you to pulse your modules and achieve a state of "simulated" cap stability. This concept is very important for weapons that require cap to use, lasers especially.

Yes, you can use cap boosters to run your guns and tank. However, having to head to Jita, or your local hub, to resupply every so often is a HUGE reduction to effective ISK/hour from missioning.

Having extra cap and greater tanking ability if needed also allows you to deal with unexpected guests in your mission space.

Edit: Has anyone come up with a fit using the v1 proposal that produces OP tanking ability if you only utilize a single ASB on the ship?

Shield Tanking - Why armor tanking can't have nice things.

Roime
Mea Culpa.
Shadow Cartel
#3153 - 2013-09-08 08:16:04 UTC
So many people who think L4s are the only form of PVE in the whole game.

.

Cade Windstalker
#3154 - 2013-09-08 08:27:06 UTC
Roime wrote:
So many people who think L4s are the only form of PVE in the whole game.


No, but they are the primary use of Marauders at the moment and a lot of us would rather that not be invalidated in the name of other PvE. Besides and honestly I'm somewhat wary of trying to get a Marauder to out-perform a Carrier in null or a T3 (for its mass) in a Wormhole.
Striscio
Doomheim
#3155 - 2013-09-08 08:30:05 UTC
Cade Windstalker wrote:

I would also like to point out that Eve Board is only tracking a small fraction of pilots in the game. We know there are around 500,000 active accounts in the game and looking at data from the last published Quarterly Economic Report shows that there are around 2 characters per account. This means that Eve Board is tracking only around 7.8% of active pilots, and since it doesn't represent a random sampling (you have to volunteer to give it your character data) it's probably not a statistically valid source anyway, meaning the actual proportion of people able to fly Marauders or close to doing so could be much higher or lower.


Indeed, I know for sure that mine and friends PvE alt are not on eveboard. Across 5 Account, there are 4 Marauders Pilots (some of them can even fly more than one race marauder).


Cade Windstalker wrote:
I think you about hit the nail on the head with why people want the tractor bonus to go. They're PvP people who see it as a "bonus slot" that could be used for something "more useful" (to them).

I don't think CCP is actually counting it as an active bonus though since it has no meaningful effect on PvP. The MJD bonus is, essentially, the actual bonus along with the Bastion Module.


Agree, the "pve integrated bonus" should not going to be weighted at all if they don't interact with PvP

The reason, a point i made some page back:
CCP might consider that Marauder skill is very intensive, not very diffused and advertised as PvE "top ship". therefore we are not speaking about "XYrace Battleship" or "XYrace Cruiser", people planned to fly a marauder and invested in a specific training path that lead to a single Ship. "compromising" one of this ships leave little to no alternative (not a multiple ships class as BS o Cruiser, yet not a prerequisite to go further).

This is not about "CCP ruined my ship" or "i don't want my SP touched", it's about EvE skill planning. Altering a ship play style it's "ok" during rebalance, like some bonus swap, EW switch ecc.. Drastically changing something that fit a precise purpose with no alternative it's a no go. I'm sure CCP can (and so did) collect data regard numbers, use and location of actual marauders.

The "perfect" idea, pve-wise, would be that the rebalance leaves PvE performance at least at the same level they were before the fix. For me the first version, as much as work were still needed on the bastion, was a closer iteration to this concept.

NOTE: i'm not saying "OMG!?! i want my sp back!!", just that as feedback the first version was more the right direction to work on.
Iome Ambraelle
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#3156 - 2013-09-08 08:31:03 UTC
Cade Windstalker wrote:
Roime wrote:
So many people who think L4s are the only form of PVE in the whole game.


No, but they are the primary use of Marauders at the moment and a lot of us would rather that not be invalidated in the name of other PvE. Besides and honestly I'm somewhat wary of trying to get a Marauder to out-perform a Carrier in null or a T3 (for its mass) in a Wormhole.


If the class can be enhanced in such a way that they become effective (not necessarily the best) for the other forms of PVE, I'm all for it. However, I agree with Cade that it should not come at the cost of losing the use it already excels at.

Shield Tanking - Why armor tanking can't have nice things.

Bienator II
madmen of the skies
#3157 - 2013-09-08 08:40:20 UTC
Random idea for a pretty cool siege bonus: mods dont take damage when overloaded.

how to fix eve: 1) remove ECM 2) rename dampeners to ECM 3) add new anti-drone ewar for caldari 4) give offgrid boosters ongrid combat value

Eridon Hermetz
Jump 2 Beacon
Deepwater Hooligans
#3158 - 2013-09-08 08:50:59 UTC  |  Edited by: Eridon Hermetz
and what about make marauders , like the name want to say , like a second line of black ops ?

small jump drive , T2 resist , cool damage , cool agility/speed (for a bs ofc) with the same cloacking ability than black ops we have , but cannot bridge but can lock covert cyno ?
that's would be the perfect ninja PVE missioner in 0.0/low sec (to do L5 for example)and you increase his pvp application in the same time

the bastion module must be create for a new tech II battleship class (like T2 abaddon or T2 Rokh) and make them like a REALLY mini dread to pos bash in empire or other
TravelBuoy
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#3159 - 2013-09-08 08:52:59 UTC
Every new CCP idiotism idea is rebalanceing ?

My favored maraduer stats is, their ridiculous low sensor strenghts.
11 for Vargur ? :P Megalol Nice PVP stat for dumbs.

"We also believe that designing them for a very specific activity doesn't fit the emergent nature of EVE, and as such we wish to expand their use to PvP as well." ROTFL

But now the new idiotism of CCP, create bastion modules for them aka. Siege mode:

" When in bastion mode, Marauder speed is set to 0 m/s, mass is increased by a factor of 10, cannot warp. Also receives a weapons timer that prevents station docking or gate jumping. Weapon time should not require the user to drop weapon safeties in high-sec"

This is the new ISK sinking idea ? Easy targets for SBs and fast billions sinking to refuse bin?
Bravo, the CCP can suprise me with their new and new dumb ideas.

Easy to say, go with this ship to pvping and when you lost an over 1billions value of ship u will see, which is the fast ISK sink and how can lost easier your money.
It is no coincidence that why CCP removed the plus tanking and resist abilities.
The full stationary marauder idea its a stupidity, easy prey for SBs and the users why would to use their easy destructable, high values unuseable ships on battlefronts ? If they want to make to "PVP compatibility" make lower marauder prices, boost their sensor strenght, because their strenght is ridiculous in present days and would be same without bastion mode too, give to them special bonuses, not this crap bastionary idiotism, where the ships stand at battlefront with 0m/s and easy prey for concentrated attacks.
The capital ships can die very fast in battle with much better HP in siege mode like as a BS and their prices not realy higher than a marauder.
A kronos is 1.1b such as Archon.
Cade Windstalker
#3160 - 2013-09-08 08:55:56 UTC  |  Edited by: Cade Windstalker
Eridon Hermetz wrote:
and what about make marauders , like the name want to say , like a second line of black ops ?

small jump drive , T2 resist , cool damage , cool agility/speed (for a bs ofc) with the same cloacking ability than black ops we have , but cannot bridge but can lock covert cyno ?
that's would be the perfect ninja PVE missioner in 0.0/low sec (to do L5 for example)and you increase his pvp application in the same time

the bastion module must be create for a new tech II battleship class (like T2 abaddon or T2 Rokh) and make them like a REALLY mini dread to pos bash in empire or other


Except that the current Marauders have absolutely nothing to do with cloaking, aren't terribly fast, and this would completely invalidate their use as PvE ships. If you want something like this post it in Features and Ideas proper as a Black-Ops BS idea, don't force it into the Marauders discussion.

Also there is a very good reason Bastion does not have a damage bonus and most of us who know of the current balance issues with Dreadnaughts (dread-blaping) don't want them to.