Warfare & Tactics

Hey folks. I've been reading up a lot on missiles lately, and the general opinion is that they're excellent for PVE, but largely outmatched in PVP. My question is this: for those that use missiles in PVP, why? Do you enjoy them? Do you hold out hope and use them, hoping they will be on-par with instant damage weapons someday?

For myself, I use them because I have no problem adjusting my fits ant tactics so make up for the strengths and weaknesses of missiles.

Anywho, share your thoughts!

The only people who claim missiles are not good in PvP are either complete noobs, mildly ********, or a bit of both.

range is also a con due to flight time

The biggest pro to missiles is that they don't care about range.

The next best pro is selectable damage type.

Biggest con is that missiles have flight time. So damage is never applied instantly like turrets.

Another big con is that fast ships can outrun missiles.

They can also be destroyed in-flight ala defenders (lol) or firewall smartbomb ships.

In summary, missiles have their pros and cons as stated above. They apply consistent though delayed damage across their entire range, and are immune to weapon disruption. FoF missiles are available. Though they pretty much suck.

There is one big issue that needs to be pointed out: stealth bombers.

Bombers are ALL torpedo-slingers. This is imo the biggest single selling point to missiles.

You should ask those that been kyted to death by.

Hookbills/Hawks/Caracals/Navy Caracals, Tengu's and Nano Drakes, how easy it's to get in your optimal range.

Rocket Frigates are exremly nasty.

and if you request a search with key words (Drake, Tengu and Heavy Missles) you'll find quite soe people seem to beleve they are O.P.

Personaly I think they are very good for certain situations, just like every other weapon.

......

TLDR : It's swings and roundabouts.

Am sure i've missed some more but.....

Pro's:
- Missiles have better damage projection > i.e they will do fuller damage (minus signature/speed/resistances etc) to maximum range. Missiles will hit a ship with the same sig/speed/resistances for roughly the same damage (allow for some minor random 'hit' variation) whether that ship is at 10k or 40k range. Turrets don't work in this way and will generally suffer a reduction in damage at greater distances (presuming everything else is equal). A turret wont hit the target at 40k range as hard as it will hit the target at 10k range (presuming everything else is equal).

- Rocket graphics look AMAZING > Pure space game P * rn. Just look at them. Pew, Fizz, Boom!!! (Explosion coloured to damage type!) Just thinking about the lil beauties makes me wanna quit my job and go log in for some pew. (IMO *The* single best game change in the last 3 years.)

- Auto-targetting missiles - These dont require a lock on your target to fire and are therefore usable if/when your ship is jammed. As medi says, you cant choose your target and they are not *amazing* but at least its an option, and an advantage that turrets don't have. I try to carry some (although in practice am too busy ECM raging to bother to reload).

Cons:

- Delayed damage > Missiles have a flight time. It takes time for your missile to reach the target (you can see this with the missile graphics) and it takes time for your damage to be applied. They don't hit and apply damage instantly as guns do.

This has two side effects:
i) You have wasted/ineffective damage > If your in a gang the target might be dead by the time your missiles actually get to it .You can counteract this to some degree by judging when to stop firing and switch targets yourself. This is not fool proof and should be avoided solo/small gang.
ii) Your enemy knows your missiles are coming. They will have additional time to react (activating hardeners, de-activating MWDs, aligning out, calling for reps, etc) and generally to appraise the situation. You have less 'surprise factor', particularly compared to Artillery turrets that have instant damage and a high Alpha (see link below). Unaware enemies will make a lot more mistakes than aware enemies will.

(This is why missile ships are generally considered sub-optimal for sniping. )

Am sure someone will have all the maths on this available. To my simple mind, its the principles that are important primarily to understand. When you understand the principle, a feeling for applying that principle and the underlying formulae (nerd mode) and its practical application to teh game will be easier to develop.

Some links that may/may not prove useful to you:

http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Alpha_damage
http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Missile_Launchers
http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Missile_Launchers#PvP:_The_Delayed_Damage_Problem
www.google.com

o7

Well as of today missiles are planned on being nerfed to hell so looks like you won't be playing with missiles in pvp.

Missiles are not being nerfed to hell. Heavy missiles are being nerfed to hell, and Tracking Disruptors will now be effective against missiles, but every other missile type besides Heavies are getting a huge buff in addition to the penalties being removed from T2 missiles. Light missiles get the biggest buff, and Tracking Enhancers and Tracking Computers will work on Missiles, so there's that.

Overall, this will be a substantial buff to missile users. Well, except for people who fly Drakes, Tengus, Caracals, Cerberus, Rook, Onyx, Nighthawk and any other ship that uses (used) Heavy missiles.

I would assume people fly HML Caracals because Light missiles and Rapid Lights as they are now are awful and HMLs are not. However, the buff to Light Missiles coupled with the nerf to Heavies means that Caracals fit with RLMs will be very deadly especially to Destroyers and Frigates and should get a lot more use.



HAM Drakes with Precision missiles and a TE + TC or 2x TE will be miles and miles away better than HML Drakes if this change goes live as planned. They'll have nearly the same range as an HML Drake with significantly more DPS at long range and the ability to switch to Faction or T2 Fury at near range for an even bigger DPS advantage.