Test Server Feedback

I just logged on to test the new Marauder changes and the web nerf the Paladin received.
It is now impossible to hit a frigate, even with dual faction webs. Believe me, I tried.

I don' t know if the same applies to the Kronos but good luck seeing the Pali solo in a Plex or clearing a WH site. It doesn't help me if it hits harder when it can't hit the actual target. Oh, and no, I don't want to use drones, they are slow and die far too quickly in WH space.

Please consider removing the tractor bonus and putting back the web bonus.

If the drone bays were large enough for lots of spare drones, it wouldn't be so bad. Light drones aren't the end of the earth etc to loose occasionally. However with the tiny drone bays present this presents a real issue.

Yes, because no one has heard of anyone having multiple accounts, pvp or otherwise.

In any case, to follow up on some of the other folks, the drone bay was shrunk from 75m3 to 50m3 so if you now have to carry small drones to deal with the frigs, you can't carry anything else.

I'm not entirely sure what this web change was supposed to accomplish. I understand you want to have a mini-dread with a short(er) siege/bastion cycle but you are pushing these ships to an even smaller niche. Why would I consider taking a 1B+ ISK ship into a fight when interceptors can now be on top of me in seconds...

I had no issue blapping frigates with a blaster Kronos last night, no webs. I'll be testing a pulse Paladin tonight. I expect to have no issues, and even if I did, you've got an MJD bonus for a reason. Just lock up all the frigates, MJD out to range and blap them.

EDIT: PVE focus, obviously.

Or perhaps you should fit something that tracks a little bit better than a Tachyon. Try pulses. You've got Bastion to increase their range pretty significantly.

I can't use Scorch (Or T2 large lasers for that matter), but a little poking around in EFT revealed that Scorch and Microwave have roughly the same range, with a slight advantage to Scorch. So I took my Paladin out with four m4 Megapulses fitted, MJD'd away from the station to not clog up the undock and turned on the Bastion module.

Even though my skills aren't enough for T2 large lasers, my supporting skills are pretty top-notch and so I'm fairly confident in the numbers I got.

With no tracking or range mods fitted, I can get Microwave L to have an optimal of 69km and a falloff of 81km in Bastion mode. I have Sharpshooter IV and Trajectory Analysis IV.

I would estimate Scorch to be 72km optimal and 81km falloff in Bastion under my skills, and 75km/~83km optimal/falloff under all relevant Lv5 skills.

Just got on then. 97km optimal (!!!!!) with Mega Pulse & Scorch on my Paladin. Web bonus was swapped out for an optimal range bonus, and I don't miss it one bit.

Using one tracking enhancer, one tracking computer, and one optimal range rig.

lol check again because that's not true, Ultraviolet got 99km without mods and in Bastion not multi...


Vargur desperately needs another med slot, Kronos need it, Paladin seems ok, golem could get another low slot, that's how bad they're balanced, especially Vargur is bad...

To be fair, you're trying to fly new marauders the same way you fly the old marauders when they're really not the same at all. You're fitting and flying the ship as if it has a web bonus when it doesn't. You may need to look into a new technique, such as adding a web-bonused combat ship or two that isn't a Paladin or using that MJD bonus to keep the small ships where you want them. Short-range weapons do reach ridiculously far now that we have Bastion.


I wanted to say this, but the thread you posted didn't seem to be an appropriate place for it so I'll say it here:

The last time we saw the Marauder Rebalance™ adjusted to suit the needs of Incursion runners, they ended up being complete trash that was useless for anything except Incursions and maybe wormholes. They had a web bonus that made no sense when paired with having a MJD bonus - even the Golem had a web bonus for some reason. They had T2 resists on the hull itself which were inferior to the resist profile they currently have in Bastion mode. The Bastion module added no resists. They all lost their hull bonuses to local rep, effectively forcing you to either use Bastion for the rep bonuses or have RR. It was so terrible that CCP quickly canceled Version 2 and stopped replying in the thread for at least a week.

It may sound confrontational, but if the Incursion-runners who pull in hundreds of millions of ISK per day need to fit their ships differently, fly their ships differently or even get new ships entirely in order to let Marauders become better than what they currently are on TQ then that's something I can see as reasonable.

Your fleet is highly refined and heavily min/maxed and optimized for its task, which means it's extremely vulnerable to even slight changes in operating conditions. Your operating conditions are getting changed. You'll need to adjust. Attempting to fly the same way you've always flown will definitely make these ships look nerfed, as they simply don't work the same way they used to anymore. You already have evidence of that from your last testing session. For the next session I would strongly urge you to try flying with the ship's new form in mind rather than trying to shoehorn it into the flying style you currently use.

The "small niche" that CCP seems to have always wanted for marauders is a solo pve boat. All of the bonuses have always pointed towards that. Now with their ability to use the bastion module to multiply their tank and lose incoming RR abilities, it solidifies that role. There is no npc frigate in the game that 5 light drones can't kill with webs on it (this is assuming your dont have large guns that can already track webbed frigates).

This isnt a wonderboat that is going to have a large number of applications. They seem to want it used for MJDing in missions/plexes and sniping targets down as they approach, and if you happen to get caught by a scramming frigate( rare) the drones are there for that purpose alone.

If you use short range guns and forego a MJD, losing your drones and getting tackled a risk you take. The web bonus may return, but IMO it makes them too powerful in PVE comparing them to pirate BS (already OP) and I welcome the change.