Player Features and Ideas Discussion

No one is hand loading these missiles or projectiles.

I find it more strange that projectiles take 2x longer to reload than hybrids.

Why only five?

You were using the capacitor regen matrix, weren't you.

Could you perhaps post these kills to evekill or battleclinic?

Bouh, you are right about the lasers, but this is more of the mechanic of how they are flown I reckon. They are very different than hybrids, and something I will be looking into more, as I personally love flying a kiting Omen, but I want to research more the best way to fit and fly it, as it does seem to have some quirks regarding tracking DPS and ranges. I think its more about flying it a certain way, and relying less on an orbit. That is my initial hunch.

But given what I've shown you previously with a Thorax, if you compare it to the HAM's, then once a frigate is webbed, AB, MWD or not, its still going to hit very well as long as I've loaded the right ammo for the range. It can also reach much further than the HAM's if you're going for Rails (which is the best bet honestly).

150 dps might not seem to bad, but that is still far less than either the blasters or rails, by a large margin.

One thing that I have to make clear, is that Hybrids were buffed a while back - I think it was Crucible - in fact I'm certain it was, and rails got a fair bit of love at all sizes, which is one of the reasons why the Naga became the de-facto Attack Battlecruiser in bigger fleets.

A target painter typically has a better effect on HAM use, than webs though, as the issue with HAM is one of hitting smaller signature targets. If I used HAM Caracals, and I have several times, then the Bellicose was standard to have along in the gang for its TP bonus - as well as the fact its a very good missile boat in its own right.

But clearly, HAM's are still nowhere near as effective as rails in the game right now. They are far better than Heavy Missiles, but against frigates, in a mixed gang where a frigate wouldn't be able to stay 500m range off of everything, so there is always a gang mate hitting it perfect a few KM away from me - so its just going to melt.

As for the Caldari being able to use the Hybrids as well, there are indeed some options there for sure, and stuff like a Merlin is actually a nice frigate. I have tried the Moa a lot in my gangs when the T1 cruiser changes came out, and in many ways it looks like a great boat. It can reach a very high EHP, fit a MWD, and with Blasters, reach similar DPS numbers to a Thorax, with the added advantage that they reach further.

In practice, I found that due to their large signature, especially when getting in range, that everything shooting it, applied perfect DPS. So even though the EHP looks great, the reality is it melts pretty fast. I had some very close fights with them, but overall we lost more than we won. A particular nasty ship for sure was the Ruptures, because they could keep at range from the Moa's long enough, while the Moa was desperately trying to close range and still apply damage.

Fitting an active tank to a Moa is doable, but its not really its role and almost certainly you're going to have to give up the point slot to make the active tank decent. If I was to use them again, I'd probably go EHP but shove in an ASB to give it a bit more survivability.

Naturally, as a resistance boat, its very good when being repped by logistics, and frankly its far better than its big brother, the Ferox - easily one of the worst BC's out there - which is a pain to fit and still, in small gangs, doesn't have the mid slots and fitting to work as well as Minmitar. Before the T1 BC changes - you couldn't even fit a Ferox with all its guns and a shield buffer tank - at least it can do that now, as they bumped the powergrid up.

The problem for Caldari in the sort of PvP you are engaged in, is that they are not really designed for small gang, faction warfare. They are designed to be backed up by logistics ships. That is really their modus operandi and all their fittings and bonuses absolutely suggest that is their role. They are a great brawling race when backed like this, which is what stuff like the Moa is meant for - and they are a great race at applying damage from range, but at dramatically reduced DPS when it comes to the missiles.

This wouldn't be such an issue if the long range heavy missiles actually did the DPS that they are supposed to (It isn't a lot to start with) but it don't hit well at all, so are completely useless compared to gunnery.

Given that I've tried to run a Caldari only corporation - and I mean - EVERY freaking ship in a fleet Caldari - then I really sense Caldari pilots frustration and there are some issues to be ironed out. But I also against changing Caldari into something else. If EVE becomes too standardised and too general, it will become boring.

It wasn't long ago, that Drakes once ruled the vacuum, so its fair to say, it wouldn't take to much to make Caldari decent again.

* Fix Heavy Missiles ability to hit targets - and Precision Heavies SHOULD and used to hit frigates and need to do so again.
* Give us both the Original RLML and a new burst/swarm whatever you want to call it - even with its 40 second awful reload - but as a choice - not an enforced nerf for something that was only acceptable before.
* Increase (i.e. nerf) Light Precision missiles explosion radius by 5%, so they can't hit an AB Frigate almost perfectly by standard.

Now that the new RLML has been out for a few weeks I must say that I'm very glad I lost my last Caracal and I won't be using the ship or the missile system any time soon.

For those of you interested, here's the killmail:

https://zkillboard.com/detail/34898660/

For the purpose of this reply I would ask everyone to ignore the fact that we ran into an ambush. I don't want to discuss the wisdom of engaging a fleet three times the size of our own [we all know the answer to that,] I only want to discuss real PvP situations and the viability of RLMLs as a useful platoform.

Here are some details. I have Light Missiles trained up to level 4 as well as Caldari Cruiser. All my missile support skills are also at level 4. I wouldn't claim I'm good at missiles in general, but I think that's at least half decent for a fairly low SP character.

Here's how this fight went down:

FC calls primary. We fire. Primary catches reps, we switch fire to secondary. Secondary catches reps, we switch target again. We fire and my launcher runs out. I hit reload and try to warp off. I spend the next 10 seconds trying to get away before my ship explodes. This is a full 30 seconds before my launchers would have reloaded. I don't think this is by any means a unique situation.

I've experienced this similar situation [I have been trying to kill off that Caracal for weeks before it actually happened,] with smaller gangs. Basically the RLML is useless if there are more than two [maybe three] targets on the field. The chances are that you'll have to hit reload after the second one goes down. At that point you have to make a choice to either stay on grid and only be useful as a target for your enemies, or warp off and risk getting separated from your fleet.

Trying to reload while warping between gates is not a very smart idea either because you pass through most systems under 40 seconds and if you jump through a gate before you reload, you have to start the reload cycle all over again.

I've also ran into a situation where we were running a gate camp [or at least waiting at a gate.] We managed to kill of a few smaller ships, but the question is what do you do when you have let's say 3 missiles left in your launchers? Do you hit reload and wait 40 seconds, potentially missing kills [or applying DPS,] or not have enough ammo for a bigger engagement and then try to reload halfway through the fight?

I know it has been pointed out that you can degroup your launchers and manage the reload of each launcher individually. This means that even under ideal situations you would have around half of your launchers firing, the other half reloading, effectively cutting your DPS in half. I think that's a terrible tradeoff to achieve some measure of sustained fire.

Lastly, I've gotten on killmails where the target was destroyed before my missiles hit it [which is by no means a new phenomenon, wouldn't be fair to attribute it to the RLML changes.]

Additionally, just for fun, I tried running a few level 3 missions with a RLML Caracal setup [I can solo level 3s easily with a HAM Caracal.] The performance was pretty dismal. You can take out a few frigate size ships, but even level 3 Cruiser sized NPCs can tank RLML because the ammo in the launchers is not enough to kill them and they almost completely regen before your launchers reload.

Considering I'm very confused about the changes to the RLML, I'm hoping someone will enlighten me in terms of what am I doing wrong and how this weapon system should be used. I personally can only think of the drawbacks.

If anyone thinks it's a viable screen/anti-tackle platform, my experience has taught me otherwise. An arty fit Rupture is far batter at that role [don't want to compare it to an Instacane as that's a BC hull] considering artillery has high enough alpha [with close range ammo] to volley a T1 frigate [or bomber.]

Needless to say, I'm very disappointed in CCP pushing forward with their idea unchanged despite the ample feedback from the community.

Since that time, there have been many changes, including buffs to all sorts of fast cruisers with high dps, the introduction of attack bcs, a nerf to all resist bonuses and buffs to battleships.

Even if the hml and drake nerfs were reverted in their entirety, there have been buffs to many of the things dangerous to drakes.

inB4tenguisoverpowered

This is the RLML I would solo in now (if I REALLY had too - I don't, so won't). Its completely laughable, but with it, you can kill whatever frigate, if its stupid enough to hang around for 8 seconds and can hopefully doesn't have more than three points on it. Its completely gimped in so many ways, but the mechanic and reload of the RLML means its probably its best option. I wouldn't bother with DPS drones - you'll be warping off in 50 seconds so why bother. ECM ones in case you have three points on you.

[Caracal, Strangest Cruiser in EVE]
Warp Core Stabilizer II
'Halcyon' Core Equalizer I
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

10MN Microwarpdrive II
Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 200
Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution Script
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Faint Warp Disruptor I

Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Inferno Precision Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Inferno Precision Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Inferno Precision Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Inferno Precision Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Inferno Precision Light Missile

Medium Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Medium Targeting System Subcontroller I
Medium Targeting System Subcontroller I

Hornet EC-300 x2

Given you have so much ISK to burn...

Send me 1 million ISK and I will send you twice as much back! lol

Exactly the argument about Torps......basically the discussions was that torps have to remain crap ~because bombers~.

The last 100mn AB Tengu I saw I tackled with a bomber long enough for the fleet behind me to catch up, didn't even lose my hound of that tells you anything.