Player Features and Ideas Discussion

So I got to thinking about the lack of a hard counter for a bombing run against a major fleet. IRL, if we were to compare SBs to submarines (stay hidden, massive damage, etc.) then where are the anti-submarine destroyers or frigates in EVE? No major fleet IRL operates without a bunch of small ships that exist purely to counter such a tactic, using sonar and depth charges and the like.

So, my idea is to use the newer destroyer hulls and give them an ability to decloak ships, within a very short range, say 5 km, absolute max. This could be done passively, but I prefer the use of a sonar-like module that you would have to pulse. The idea is that for major fleets, you would need a couple squads of these orbiting the fleet anchor at 50 km or whatever, trying to beat the bombers to the punch.

Presumably, these ships would get a fitting bonus like covops ships for this module, and in my mind they would get speed or sig reduction bonuses to avoid damage- the goal is not to worry too much about other ships, but to find the bombers before they find you. As for weapons, cut out some of the high slots (say down to 4-6 instead of 8), so that they don't overlap completely with vanilla destroyers, and I would prefer if they were turret based, rather than drones or missiles, so that once they see the bombers they can quickly apply damage.

As for the module itself, it would be high slot - lows for moar speed, mids for seebos so that they can instantly lock anything they find.

Thoughts?

Well the idea isn't so much to counter AFK cloaking. I've got no problem making people twitchier when other wise they would be sitting risk free wanking off isk. It just seems to me, with the recent Halloween war, that almost every major fleet engagement someone gets welped by bombers. I just think there should be a counter beyond "hope that no one accidentally bubbles us as we flee"

As for new thread, just wanted to see if it could stand on its own

Smartbombs, anti support ships, not getting your fleet bubbled, using bubbles to screen for the bomber warp ins.

Bombing runs are also not particularly easy to execute well.

Obviously the solution is to nullify SB

This wouldn't necessarily end ambushes - it just gives fleets to option to try and find them. It's another way of prepping for them. Send out the scouts and these guys, hope they find something. If not, well maybe you missed them cause of the short range of the module, or maybe there's no one there. If you do catch someone - hooray, your planning paid off, and you've escaped a trap.

Posting in a stealth 'nerf cloaking' thread.

Oh. Then I don't understand... You're suggesting a change to automatically remove the ONLY defense option SB have: their cloacking ability. And also vaporing their only effective tactical option: the chance to decide IF and WHEN to engage. How is this balanced? I missed that part.

ceptor with drone cloud. Go have fun. You shouldn't get anything more effective than that. It doesn't matter if its a completely futile gesture. That's how it should be.

I'd agree with the sonar thing with a little tweak. The module does not deactivates the cloak, it just shows there's a cloaked ship within it's effective range. You're also unable to lock the cloaked ship.

But... gl trying to develop any idea regarding cloaking mechanics. I give it two hours before this thread is swarmed by trolls and then locked.

Oh, well, in that case, guess what?

CCP put it in years ago, with a range of 2.5km.