Player Features and Ideas Discussion

something like a fire wall made of smart bombs?

It didn't exist.

Really? You're going to bring "Missile Command" into this discussion?!

Like an Aegis frigate Type 45 destroyers I'm guessing, designed for anti-missile and anti-aircraft warfare (so anti-missile/bomb and anti-drone/frig in this game). I've no problem with adding ships with a defined role if it means more mixed fleets but will they be used?

defenders are useful if you have the range, where as npc use them all the time because they have the IWIN button and can down missiles at point blank, player defenders need a lot of range to detect and intercept. but i dont see a reason for antimissile capabilities as no one uses them as a fleet doctrine to face in mass, you just have the occasional solo pilot or a drake fleet.
This would have been more useful during the time of tengu vs drake fleets

to have any chance of fairness you know these lasers' (if they existed) recycle times would be horrendous, right? Horrendous to the point you'd really be better off with the advised firewall.

Or else the claim ccp hates missiles would turn from rumor to solid fact.

You see...missiles don't play traversal games. They come straight in. Even lacking tracking they'd be easy targets. Since this seems to be an automated system (you can't lock onto a say ravens cruise salvo)....it also be e-war proof. Kind of a stacked deck there against missiles really.

Just like Battlecruisers use medium guns (except for the ones that can fit larges).

Dessies can fit medium guns. They just don't have the PG necessary to fit more than one. Given the limited number of highs, mids, and lows it shouldn't be an issue to give them enough PG to fit 3 medium guns. This would essentially be an Attack Battlecruiser but specialized for killing bombs (with moderate DPS against ships) instead of having massive BS damage on a fragile BC hull.

Definitely a stacked deck against missiles.

Negatives against missiles:

1. Flight time leading to damage delay
2. Ability to "firewall" or use defender missiles. Would be a huge factor in super blob fights (if people used missiles)
3. Most targets require a Target Painter to deal effective damage, seems to be more dependent on this assistance than turret systems. (speculation)
4. Trivial to speed tank (tradeoff with guaranteed hit positive)
5. Long reload times, meaning even less effective DPS. (tradeoff with selectable damage positive)

Positives for missiles:

1. Guaranteed hit (tradeoff with speed tanking negative and can be negated by "firewalling"/defender missiles)
2. Selectable damage (tradeoff with long reload times)
3. Transversal to target and velocity (of your ship) is irrelevant.
4. No cap use.

In PVE many of the negatives become less of an issue (damage delay, firewalling, TP vs point) and the benefits become more worthwhile (selectable damage). In PVP the negatives are crippling, especially as the conflict scales up.

Anyway, I think we're talking about defense against bombs, not missiles in general. The thing is that defender missiles are way too passive. Firstly, it's boring. Who wants to sit around in the "Press F1 to not die" ship, unable to contribute to the fight because of the reload delay? (nobody, that's who) At least the DPS grunt gets to lock targets and watch them die. Secondly, it's because defender missiles are dumb. By that I mean they go straight toward the nearest hostile object. If a wave of bombs is coming in and you're firing defender missiles, you're sending your entire volley at a single bomb. With damage delay you might even send two or three volleys at it! With my point defense dessie idea, pilots can do meh damage to ships while keeping an eye out for the need to overheat their locking modules (please don't burn out your mouse) and defend the fleet.

Ok I'm gonna update some descriptions and bonuses. Tell me what you think.

Concept:
This ship class is the only one with the ability to lock active bombs. Their sensor strength starts low but is heavily bonused, giving them 1s to lock a bomb with Point Defense Destroyer V and Signature Analysis V. A restricted number of medium guns/missiles allows for rapid alpha killing of bombs, while keeping the ship from dominating frigates, destroyers, and cruisers with face-melting DPS. When the bombs launch, the Point Defense squad must lock them up and destroy them before they detonate.

Potential Traits:

   Aegis (T2 Catalyst hull)

Gallente Destroyer bonuses (per skill level):
     10% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret optimal range
     5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret tracking speed

Point Defense Destroyer bonuses (per skill level):
     50% bonus to targeting speed
     7.5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret rate of fire

Role Bonus:
     Can lock bombs
     75% reduction to Medium Hybrid Turret reload time
     XX% reduction in Medium Hybrid Turret powergrid requirement

3 high slots (3 turrets)
2 mid slots
3 low slots

210mm Scan Resolution

Amarr: Vallation (T2 Coercer hull)
Minmatar: Kamikaze (T2 Thrasher hull)
Caldari: Pitohui (T2 Corax hull)

Here is the graph I used to come up with the scan res and targeting speed bonus. The cool part is that without any modules/links/implants you MUST have Point Defense Destroyer V to get under the 1s server tick mark. With a 30% boost (from a Sensor Booster II), you get under 1s from PDD IV but not III. It encourages people to train that skill and unlocks flexibility at each level. Especially when you have to sacrifice one of your valuable mid slots to do it. This might need to be toned down to account for links/implants.

I tried to make it effective vs bombs but not overpowered vs other ships, hence the medium guns but only 3 of them. Also there's no way a single Point Defense Destroyer could stop a normal wave of bombs by itself, meaning you're going to need at least 2 and probably 3. Again, this is just a concept and the numbers could and probably should be very different.

Also, it might be beneficial to put these in the same warp-speed class as Battlecruisers, meaning cruiser blobs wouldn't be able to travel fast with bomber defense and could still be countered by bombers. This would also reduce the tendency to treat this ship like fast-tackle. (lore: because the PG to fit the oversized guns is being drawn from the warp drive.)

This is the first time I've tried to cook up a new ship class even to this rough degree of detail. Are there any glaring issues? Would you fly this ship? How would you tweak the numbers to improve it without making it OP against frigates through cruisers?

Firestorm network similar to that of GDI's in Tiberian Sun?