EVE General Discussion

Setting out the battlefield

Shield generators on planets which protect orbital assets: similar to the Death Star in Return of the Jedi. You have to disable surface assets in order to render orbital assets vulnerable. One option is to send in a DUST team, another is to simply pound the surface with a million DPS from your fleet of dreadnoughts and titans.

Orbital assets include offensive installations, each of which can itself be hacked by DUST or capsuleer forces. All orbital assets should be hackable: either to gain entry, steal cargo, shut down services or temporarily take over targeting systems. If I let someone near my POS long enough, they might steal the contents of silos, hangars, maintenance arrays, etc.

Each tile on the planet surface is associated with an orbital asset location: thus you can set up multiple customs towers to compete with each other, or you can place certain offensive installations in orbit to protect a particularly sensitive tile. One shield generator on the surface will protect a volume of space, similar to a POS shield but much larger.

The actual bombardment

I would set the situation up as follows:

1. Dust Bunny wants an orbital strike
2. Dust Bunny contacts someone strike-capable
3. "Launch coords" are transmitted, which gives the orbital strike contractor a warp-in bookmark to a suitable location (anywhere on the appropriate side of the planet will do, closer to that warp-in bookmark provides greater accuracy)
4. Dust Bunny confirms that orbital strike is ready (i.e.: can see the attacking dread or titan in orbit)
5. Dust Bunny lights up the target with the orbital bombardment equivalent of a target painter
6. Capsuleer sees target light up on planet surface, uses bombardment computer to lock on
7. Capsuleer fires a salvo
8. As long as the target is painted, the bombardment can continue
9. Repeat as long as target painter can be lit and assets are in orbit

I would also allow anyone with the appropriate hardware to lock on to the painted target. Perhaps lower grade target painters would themselves be targetable for bombardment. Note that decreasing accuracy might mean shots land further away from the target location, randomly wiping out friendly, enemy or neutral assets.

Thus the game assets required would be:

• Capsuleer weapons that are capable of orbital bombardment (lower damage, much further range, can only be activated with launch solutions provided by target painters), dreadnoughts have a specific siege module for bombardment which allows using e.g.: XL artillery instead of L bombardment cannons.
• Bombardment computer required to lock onto painted target (or target painter)
• Dust 514 orbital communications relay for (a) communicating with fleet in orbit and (b) relaying target painter signature
• Dust 514 bombardment target painter

The orbital communications relay wold be fitted to a vehicle on the battlefield, such as a specialist communications vessel of some kind, similar to a Command/Control/Communications ship in a surface fleet in contemporary navies. This might be the MCC, or a specialist vehicle that needs to be close to the target painter. Perhaps the painter is a second module that gets fitted to this vehicle along with the comms relay, similar to a Command Processor + Warfare link on capsuleer ships.

The basics are that orbital bombardment should work roughly the same way as cyno projectors/beacons and jump capable ships: once the target is lit, it's open slather for ships to attack the target or the painter. There might be special versions of the target painter for higher skilled Dust Bunnies where the target lock is only on the painted target, and only available to the fleet the signal is directly being transmitted to. This would be more like a "surgical strike" rather than "orbital bombardment".

Accuracy of orbital bombardment will vary based on capsuleer skill with bombardment weapons (or dreadnought bombardment siege module), dust bunny target painting skill, quality of painter, quality of orbital comms relay, quality of capsuleer bombardment computer, distance from capsuleer ship to optimal warp in location, and the use of tracking links or tracking disruptors on the bombarding ship.

It should be quite possible for bombardment to miss the battlefield entirely and land on another tile. The precision bombardment depicted in "Future Vision" should be possible for a capsuleer with all-fives in the necessary skills, using the best (T2? Officer?) bombardment computer, siege module and turrets. Bigger weapons have larger areas of effect, of course, so being bombarded by a highly skilled Moros using XL rails means that swathes of the battlefield hundreds of metres wide are being blown up: being a few tens of metres out in the targeting doesn't matter so much.

Anyway, there are my half-thought-through ideas. Hopefully some of this is useful in some way.

Was it discussed at Fanfest whether dust bunnies would have to wait for another team to enter a map before they could do their thing? What about whether the fight being won through attrition would necessarily mean that the mission ends? Would they have the map to complete on their own, or would they then simply face another group who would spawn in with fresh clone supplies?

I'm not sure that it would be meaningful if a Dust 514 group could "win" a map by loading up with tank & spank, when the objectives require hacking certain structures. Even if it comes down to "winning" through attrition, then switching out fittings to their run & hack gear, that still means that time is required to do the hacking while capsuleers are burning in orbit.

It would be even better if I could put time constraints on contracts: I want that orbital shield generator down in 5 minutes, so I can blow up the POCO and get the heck out of dodge before Pandemic Legion arrive with their super capital swarm (PL would arrive simply because I happen to have capitals sitting still for more than 20 seconds). It would take me a day of shooting to get the shield down with my capital "fleet" (of two Phoenixes).

Oh. How does missile bombardment work to planetary surfaces? :)


An alternate bombardment strategy: I warp to a planet, activate my bombardment computer. This brings up the tile immediately under my ship. I can change tiles by entering the appropriate launch code. The tile display is a stylised version of the terrain with key structures or locations marked on it. I can select any point on the map to which I will deliver my payload. If a target is painted (e.g: a sieged tank supported by logistics ships that are protected by terrain), it shows up in a selectable manner similar to structures, and I can lock that target and start bombarding away. Using the bombardment computer might deplete capacitor, or reduce space targeting range, number of lockable targets, tracking, or have other penalties.

Orbital Bombardmant. From how long it happends? I believe form few tousands kilometers? What about the best sniper in EVE - 250km(may be even little more). Obviously the weapons we know in EVE didn't have range for orbital bombardment. So we have 2 options here - module who boost regular weapons range, or just another type of weapon.


I think we can give a role to stealth bombers in orbital bombardment. Small role, but role. Why? Only big alliance usually have titans and have enough support to bring em on the battlefiled. So what is my idea for bombers. As they have an option to fit a uniq module - bomb launcher - give em an option to fit orbital bomb launcher. And give it reload time 3,4,5,6 minutes - it can be skill based. Calculate it - bombers to have an options for 3, max 4 strikes per battle.

What about the charges. I think about 2 options. Large area of effect with small damage - cappable to kill assault dropsuit but not heavy amarr(remmeber old doomsday area effect and doomsday proofed battleships :) ) and a focused charge, cappable to destroy weakest vehicles up to t1 HAVs.

Make charges expensive - 3-4 mil per unit. You want that orbital strike?Pay for it and pay well.

Make a delay for orbital bombs - 20 sec for example from launch to hit. Make bombers immobilised for 30 second after launch - give time for probe them and warp on them - let it have a counter measure

If regular bombers are nott good for it - create new tier bombers - orbital stealth bombers - 1 per race. Give every one of them speciffic bonus. Give em specific charge. Why to bombard only with damage. Bombard with Ewar bomb - for example - minmatar bomber can deliver a bomb with web effect for area 50x50 metters - for lets say 2 minutes. It can be used from deffence team with less number of vehicles but with a lot of forge guns :). Than attackers are forced to use infantry assoult or other tactics.

Imagine a bomb with something like napalm - strike with area of effect 100x100 with not alpha damage but constant damae every 3-4 seconds - like in recon 3 of 3 misiion

Ok, that is my vision for bombers - I hope you like it. I think it shall involve almost every eve player in orbital bombardment, not only big aliances.

Big aliances - they must use everithing from battleship to titan for orbital strike - they are big and they deserve it. But as we all know 3 bomb squads can send a lot battleship into oblivion with a well placed single bomb run. Making bs imobilized for some time after orbital strike make em perfect targets for bombers.

BS must use a module to boost their weapons range for orbital bombardment or completly new air-to-ground orbital gun. It is pilot descicion - fit 8 normal pulse lasers on a abadon or 1 orbital gun. So it shall need support.

Dreads and titans - i think XL turrets didnt have range for orbital strike - they need completly new siege module in order to do that. And rate of fire shall be let say 2 minutes - so for 5 minutes you can fire twice max

titans - they only can use judgment - nuke entire structure.

I would do it like this:

Planetary defence systems will protect against orbital bombardments, or will be very hard to penetrate. That would obviously be an expensive systems so only keyhold are protected with those systems.

Orbital bombarment could be used to clear drop zones for incomming marines, who will need to take out the defence before orbital bombardments can destroy other major defence systems.

Those FPS-ers have their objectives and need to get the hell out before they'll be roasted by their own bombers and the defenders have to get bthe thing up and running again or retreat to an other more protected area.

There should be an option ofcourse for defending forces to sabotage their own tower and run a bombardment on the attackers (destroying their own infrastructure allong with it ofcourse, but would be cool seeing the attackers running for a tower that just stops pulzing only to see fire and brimstone hitting down on them to early.

Hopefully it goes the other way, and Eve can leave some of the clone mechanics behind.

My idea was conceived to address the basic technical issues, but still leaves some things out (like how probing would work on ships orbiting a planet). The result, though, is something that resembles (structure wise) a deadspace complex with multiple points of entry.

Designing a system that encourages defense is important too, so being able to put up a line of defense "above" the planet that attackers would have to pass through is a needed feature.

Dang Gogela from yesterday... that was a good question! I don't know the answer...

How about a full battle report to know precisely what happened on the dust battlefield?

My 2 points:

1. Give us some way to 'blind' fire or 'miss' our targets Sure it'll be possibleby making our own dust characters to call in our own bombardments, but in the end that wont be nearly as fun and quite annoying. Of course, dont make it so that we can do it whenever-whereever, but making it so we can ONLY hit where the target is designated will also be...good...but not as good as it can be

2. This ones from a friend when I was talking about Dust. At the Fanfest, it was mentioned that it'll be possible to see which districts are under attack from eve, such as seeing explosions and so on from orbit. Now, how about also reversing this, and allowing ships in orbit (at least, if they're large enough) to be visible from dust, as well as possibly them exiting warp? There'll be nothing better than seeing Dust players fill their pants when their battlefield is covered in the shadow of a Titan leaving warp