Ships & Modules

I just don't see the point in the neut and nos bonus unless the range of them was made to work with the range of the webs, like if the Cruor could potentially have that 20km A-type nos. On the other hand if they are laser boats they really should change the Cruor's 5m3 drone bay and translate it into additional turret dps. IMO this is a much needed change for the Cruor. It would make it a little more workable, for sure.

I think they need to stick with the current design of the ships, which is long range webs, as well as strong energy draining. I don't think these ships should be drone boats, because that would infringe on the territory of the pilgrim, curse and sentinel a little. Granted , the blood raider ships would still have their own styles with the long range webs, but still I think that being an energy draining, long range webbing laser boat differentiates these ships and really gives them their own niche.

I think the nos range needs to work with the web range, that way ships like the Cruor could really utilize the energy draining capabilities without committing to scram range. The Ashimmu has decent nos range if you pay for an A-type it's 19.5km but since neuts and nos don't benefit from fleet links there is no way to get an inch further than that so I think the Ashimmu could also use some neut and nos range.

Maybe even a bit more web range on these, too. I mean a Rapier can web overheated to past 93km for crying out loud. The Ashimmu (and Cruor, and Bhaalgorn) can only web out to 46.9km overheated as far as I know. If that could get stretched a few km it would make a difference. The Orthrus can point your ass at 70km overheated and scram you at 26km.

Idunno

It seems that the most popular idea is that the Blood Ships should be able to use their neut/nos to the extent of their webs, but there is some fear that they'll become OP. Since the discussion has included the Ashimmu, I'll talk about it as well.

Ashimmu/Cruor don't have the option that Curse/Sentinel do: drones allow Curse/Sentinel to spend 1-2 low slots in order to get DPS and their projection is 60km with zero investment. You directly lose neuting power and tank in order to fit DPS on Blood Raider vessels, and even then the range is very limited.

After further discussion, I think two changes would help push Blood Raider ships into a better position:

1. More cap warfare range for both Cruor and Ashimmu, but with a larger bonus going to neuts as nos have deadspace variants with a lot of extra range.

Cruor -> 75% bonus to energy neutralizer range (11 - 13km), 50% bonus to energy nosferatu range (9.9 - 15km)
Ashimmu -> 37.5% bonus to energy neutralizer range (17.3 - 20km), 25% bonus to energy nosferatu range (15.75 - 24.3km)

Goal: Increase the synergy of the web range bonus and energy neut/nos bonuses without stretching into the role of other ships or competing in the same ranges. With both hulls, it reduces the amount of time spent in transit and allows more freedom to dictate range within web range. Remove tendency for neuting Cruor to sit helpless at 7-11km in scram range.

2. Stronger damage bonus for both Cruor and Ashimmu-

BOTH (100% currently) -->> 120% bonus to energy turret damage. [Overall, it is +10% laz0r DPS]
Cruor -> Drone(s) removed.
Ashimmu -> Drone Bandwidth lowered to 30mb. (Bay remains at 40m3)

Goal: Make the DPS competitive and perceived as a good tradeoff for the extra neuting power without adding any other application bonuses, to avoid stepping on the toes of kiters such as Slicer, Omen Navy Issue, etc. and also without adding free DPS in the form of drones that do not require the fitting investment that lazers do.

My concerns -- the Ashimmu might gain momentum as a kiter. While the Phantasm enjoys more DPS and (generally) sig tank in the form of a strong AB, the Ashimmu may prove to be a strong competitor due to its web bonus and neuting ability to shed light tackle. Cruor might become very difficult to fight as frigates don't generally have cap boosters, meaning only capless drone/missile boats would engage it.