Player Features and Ideas Discussion

So I was drinking, as I am prone to do while roaming, and started thinking about destroyers. Why destroyers, I do not know. Anyways, as I was thinking, I thought about how their uses are, at the moment, somewhat limited. You have your Tier I Destroyers, and Tier II Interdictors. No, obviously interdictors fill a niche role and are very good at what they do. But what about destroyers in general? Here is what I propose:

1. The development of a new module, the Flugzeugabwehrkanone Gun, or simply, the Flak Cannon. What it would do would be based on a similar principle of a smartbomb combined with a missile. Now, everyone knows that missiles are technically static objects that CAN be damaged/destroyed and outrun with a fast enough ship. And smartbombs have an AOE damage radius around the host ship. So what if these were combined? A charge, with a limited flight time, fired in a particular direction, that when it explodes deals AOE damage? So what would be the good of this module, you ask? Well, for one, it will add a level of realism to the game as larger fleets start using this module as a defensive screening weapon for damaging/destroying incoming missiles/drones. For two, a gang of destroyers wielding these weapons could wreak havoc upon frigate gangs. They could also fill a multipurpose utility ship role as fast attack ships useful for damaging or destroying enemy frigates/interdictors, while at the same time returning to a friendly fleet to provide covering fire.

2. The development of a Tech II class of destroyers, Gunboats. Simply put, they should be fast and maneuverable, but lack the defensive capabilities that say, an Interdictor, would have.

So, what are your thoughts on this? And if you think it's garbage, tell me why you think so. Thanks for reading, EVE community.

its a crazy idea but i like it. Could be balanced by keeping the direct damage and aoe damage separate, and possibly a function of ammo. Also a counter to drone clouds, either logi drones, sentries, or assigned lights, or fighters. AOE damage needs to hit allies however (even if you can't damage yourself).

This just sounds like a destroyer with the bomb launcher of the stealth bomber. You have described an interesting purpose for a new bomb type however. Perhaps a new bomb with a fraction of the flight time and increased speed to go the same distance, combined with very low damage but perfect application like a smartbomb to take out targets like missiles and deal damage to drones. And also maybe adding a Tech 2 destroyer that has a bomb launcher without the stealth of a stealth bomber might be interesting.

theres one key problem i see with this... it would eliminate projectile guns and hybrid guns. what you are proposing is a good idea, but theres no need for tracking. now obviously these flak cannons would fall under projectiles (maybe hybrids) and therefor no one would use small autocannons or artillery, because the AOE effect would eliminate the restrictions of tracking. obviously, the upgrade over tracking wouldnt be that significant over small guns, but you cant really add a small gun without making a med, large and even capital size guns. with medium and above, EVERY ship would be using them, because like i said, eliminates the tracking limitations of current guns. its a good idea, just not really feasible at this time.

It depends on the specific mechanics.

The idea of the flak cannon works for me, and I'm fine with adding a role bonus to make them only useable on the older model destroyers.

The first thing is to make them direct target so that they are vulnerable to Ewar like most weapons, unlike bombs. That being the case, their mechanics would work more like missiles than a turret. Keeping in mind that the ships they are intended for will fit 8, the reduced damage from speed and such instead of tracking mechanics will still work out pretty well.

Give them a much smaller radius, 2-5 K like a smartbomb. One thing this will do is make them horrendous drone killers---you just target a sentry ship, or any smaller drone in a swarm, and let loose with a full broadside. The result on stationary sentries in particular will be comedy gold.

If you really want to simulate flak, give them a random offset for the center of the explosion, something like 3/4 the distance of the explosion. The target will always be hit, but a full rack of them will generate a sort of irregular cloud of damage around the target.

I personally dislike special snowflake modules, even if it does mean I park my Kronos in the middle of every mission with a bare nod to having a tank and blap everything indiscriminately with either Null Blasters or Antimatter Rails, as my mood dictates. Things like interdiction sphere launchers, bastion, etc.. just make me itch.

I have no problem with Tech II ships bonused to take extreme advantage, such as the setup with Prototype Cloaks vs. Cov-Ops Cloaks.

I'd prefer to just see the flak launcher/gun be restricted to the current T1 destroyer older hulls, and then maybe a T2 line to really smurf it up.

It would expand the anti-frigate roll of the original destroyers by allowing a choice between focused damage using the current bonuses, which would favor blapping the frigates and even cruisers directly, and supporting the fleet by being more efficient against drones (which now nearly everyone has) and maybe incidentally even catching a few missiles here and there.

The way he describes it in the OP would be like a missile with an actual AOE damage effect.

I like the idea, but I'm pretty sure someone will shortly stop by to remind us why missiles don't already do this.

Something like a Flak gun could be a great Tool for firewalling!

I agree, except that mechanically, due to the area damage, missile mechanics would be more appropriate than gun mechanics. even if the damage is instant instead of dealing with flight time the damage mitigation should work like missiles since tracking and such would not really apply. Otherwise it has to work like smartbombs with extremely poor damage to make up for perfect accuracy, maybe factoring in tracking in the offset I described with the possibility that the offset be greater than the radius of the explosion.

Perhaps a similar effect could be generated by a T2 destroyer that provides a boost to smartbomb range and damage. The smartbomb mechanics themselves would do a lot to prevent these ships from being too over powered in the role as you can't cluster them, they would have to stay at range from friendly ships, and they would still be vulnerable to long range direct fire weapons and getting capped out. No changes to current mechanics, no new hull model, simple role bonus, challenging and innovative deployment of the ships in combat roles for screening drones and close range frigates from allied ships.