Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I've seen plenty of discussion already calling for interceptor rebalances. However, most of the ideas have called to nerf the ships, rather than introduce a counter. CCP has a history of wanting checks and balances to accompany their balancing efforts. So why nerf a ship when instead you can add a function to another ship to help counter them?

The solution to this question is the Heavy Interdictor aka Hictor. The Hictor was introduced as a way of tackling Supers with their infinite point. Recently, they received a "buff" to bubble size with the introduction of T2 Warp Disruption Field Generators. They allowed for bubbles with a 48km diameter with max skills. However, while the bubble is up the hictor cannot receive remote assistance, making it tricky to manage the bubble cycles while in a fleet engagement. This causes it to be used less when tackling fleets of enemy capitals- the ship of choice being their cheaper interdictor counterparts with their ability to put up many bubbles before their demise. Even deployable bubbles have made the use of a hictor relatively obsolete in gatecamps.

The reality is that most people will train into a Hictor and leave their Heavy Interdictor skill at level IV. It is already a very long train for a Heavy Interdictor. Couple that with an even longer train to obtain a a T2 warp disruption field generator, many will not spend the additional 25+ days it takes to get HIC V.

Those who trained into a maxed out heavy Interdictor should have their excessively long training rewarded with a unique ability added to T2 Warp Disruption Field Generators: The ability to stop nullified ships, including both T3 and Interceptors. A nullified T3 or interceptor will still retain their ability to warp through deployable bubbles, warp disruption probes, and even T1 Warp disruption field generators, while also adding a bonus ability to the active pilot flying a fully trained Heavy Interdictor.

If it is felt that the size of the Hictor bubble combined with the ability to stop nullified ships would be OP, then an alternative would be to add a special script for the bubble that would create a "layered" bubble. This would produce a smaller bubble that would be capable of catching these nullified type ships.

This change allows for a forward progression of the ships and their defined abilities, both for the Interceptors and Heavy Interdictors, without breaking the balance too far in any one direction. A hictor does not have the ability to solo any of these ships, and would retain their role within fleets. Additionally, the presence of this bubble is not a hard counter to nullified ships as there are plenty of ways to still escape. Interceptors can still burn out of the bubble or gatecrash faster than most ships can lock them, and nullified T3s can still fit a cloak with the right subsystems. Scanning a gate prior to warping to it is always an option as well. Either way, it would be a positive change without breaking mechanics.

Giving this advantage to hictors and hictors alone would be pretty interesting. However making a unique role bonus based on getting the hictor skill to 5 is silly, that bonus is fine. It would clearly be something related to the hictor module itself.

Training skill to level 5 does not mean you are entiteled to unique ability reward, it is usually just small upgrate few % here and there. CCP made interceptors bubble immune for reason. Why on earth they would give weapon that will stop that ability? We all know everyone will use nullified stopping bubble. It would make more sense to remove bubble immunity from interceptors rather than continue arms race. So no thank you.

You have a good idea, I think if there was a module that you could fit to nullify warp bubbles I would agree with your point, but its only 2 types of ship. The reason most people aren't training to level V is because it only gives a little bit of a bonus, most people are happy with level IV, but if level V gave the ability to stop EVERY ship that passed through it would cause a lot more people to add level V to their skill queue. I think for the time being things should remain the same, but if more ships become nullified, then you might have the right idea.

The Range reduction. That is the key, I think. I've been reading this thread, see-sawing back and forth, but reducing the range to be a very specific tool for specific interdiction(Not just another thing to Easy mode on gates) is what really makes this idea seem legit, I think.


Reduce the range of the bubble, and make it require the best of heavy interdiction skills and you'll get a +1 here. :)

I'm surprised more people aren't against this.

Yes, please take away one of the unique advantages of these two ship types, they don't need it. And please, make it so only someone who puts an inordinate amount of time into training Heavy Interdictors can have this incredibly powerful ability.

Eeeeh... No.

I'd rather see the T2 bubble preventing ships to cloak within its radius, giving a chance to people to lock and point cloaky nullified T3 before they warp, rather than a straight-on disabling of bubble immunity.

You see, bubble immunity is here to counter interdictors, heavy interdictors, and bubbles. It is a counter to these three. You cannot counter a counter with what this first counter was countering ! (If you see what I mean... ^^)

no

I fly nullified t3s a lot, but I also flew cloaky stuff for a long time before t3's were around, so I consider nullification (on t3's at least) to be sort of an unnecessary luxury that just allows me to lazily warp gate to gate. If it was solely given to hictors, and especially if it involved a script, its not the sort of thing that I think would adversely affect me too much.