Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Why would this be moving around, considering it wants to deploy and activate non mobile assets?

Unless you choose to abandon these, it will be needed to recover them after the fact.
Once it reaches the location to begin deploying items, there is no stated value to separating them.
They only object to having duplicates in range of each other, often enough.

In fact, having a variety of them together allows benefits to be layered and work together.

For reference:
Mobile Cynosural Inhibitor
Two minute activation time, 100KM effective range

Mobile Depot, each version has 1 minute activation time

Mobile Micro jump unit
1 minute activation time

Mobile scan inhibitor, 30KM effective range
1 minute activation time
(Having a few of these completely off grid might be advised, so the item itself is not self defeating)

Mobile Tractor unit, 125 to 175KM effective range
1 minute activation time

The rorqual teaches us that a loot pinata is avoided for exposure, so a vessel with the combined potential benefit to deploy all of these would definitely be a high priority target.

If it becomes impractical to expose, we know where that leads.

Deploying and destroying non mobile assets. It's purpose would be to both anchor things quickly and to destroy anything anchored by the enemy. If the demo charge is a super long range weapon, it would be insanely OP, so it must instead be something that you have to get close to use.

Also, scooping objects usually doesn't happen until after the battle is over. First, many deployable objects that have been released recently are one-time-use. Cyno jammers, for example, can't be scooped and self destructs after an hour. Second, the objects that are reusable wouldn't benefit from a stationary ship. It's hard to put up disruption generators in strategic positions when you can only drop them in one place. Once they are up, by design they are going to be there a while. If you wanted to take them down quickly as well, you would just use interdictors. Finally, yurts only allow the ship that dropped them to refit. They are rarely used in combat, and when they are, everyone uses their own.

The siege-mode engineer would introduce a lot of problems and inconsistencies without providing any real benefit at all.

I was thing of the combat engineer ships being more like the Hobarts Funnies from WWII, very capable in specific situation but pretty useless otherwise. So pos/module laying fits well at reduced times to deploy, armoured demo charge laying ship could work too (with appropriate trade-offs). It could be designed as the first ORE Tech III ship, with susbystems bonusing the more engineering based tasks (demo charge would be a heavily bonused damage but heavily nerfed range smart-bomb role for instance)

One at a time.



The suggested role and bonuses of this ship deal with just about everything you mentioned here. Yes, a whole fleet of ships coordinating drops could be more efficient, but that's not really what T2 ships are all about.



Again, this argument could be made for every T2 ship in existence. What's the point of a hulk when a bunch of ventures can mine just as much? What's the point of an Ishtar when a pair of Vexors can have the same effect? T2 ships aren't win buttons, they are specialized for a certain role. This ship is specialized for the building and clearing of structures. More ships could do the job, yes, but this can do it better.



This is very true. A subcap combat ship with a maintenance hangar would be an excellent addition. I'm pretty sure this has been suggested quite a few times though, so I imagine CCP has a reason for not introducing it. If this was a possibility though, I'd be all for it.



This applies to any ship in a fleet. Killing logistics first means the enemy ship can't rep. Killing tackle first means the enemy ship can't hold you down. Killing DPS first means they can't break your tank. Killing this first means your structures will be safer. I think you're overestimating the priority that an FC would put on killing this. Part of target calling is balancing the factors of what will and won't have detrimental effects on your fleet comp. Sometimes that may lead them to call this primary, sometimes it wont. Gimping its stats to prevent it being targeted in a fleet fight is a massive overreaction to a nonexistent problem.



It's not meant to be exposed by expectation. Not having powerful DPS in a fleet setting doesn't make you exposed. If that were the case, logi would be useless. A fleet is effective because of it's overall utility and leadership, not by the individual stats of any one ship in it. Logi and Ewar ships are both present in fleets with little to no armament or defensive mechanic. However, they're still extremely important to an effective fleet. This would be no different. It gives the fleet utility, and if the fleet is good, it will defend this ship just as it would any other asset.

This ship isn't meant to be a win button or a defensive juggernaut. It's meant to provide new roles in a variety of situations. Including a complicated defensive mechanic that grants little to no added utility isn't all that useful and would make the ship much more difficult to balance in gameplay. You have a very interesting idea, but I feel it would be ineffective to try to for it into this situation.

Ok, you are comparing the ship to a logi. That's not a good comparison.

The logi can only benefit a number of ships equal to how many reppers it's cap can sustain. Sure, it can swap which ships it helps, but it never can help more than a handful on it's watch list.

As to T2 ships being specialized, yes, and more often than not they are specialized in ways that cannot be duplicated effectively.
This can be, regarding deployable items.
That means it needs to be notably more efficient, or why bother?

As to a subcap with a maintenance hangar, that is not being suggested here either. Giving a Yurt the ability to support multiple boats makes the Yurt more effective. The engineer boat isn't refitting anything, but it can operate that Yurt better than others.
The ability to take a separate deployed object, and make it more effective, THAT is a T2 kind of special.

Comparing the mass killing of logistics class vessels to this, again, seems off. This engineer boat implies more of a booster level role, in that it is placing deployed objects where they can be used. Having it's presence make these deployed objects more effective also makes sense.
BUT, unlike a logi, it's role is PASSIVE, just like a fleet booster. A logi needs to be active, and directly target and maintain cap use so it can keep the reppers working.

The repeated use of logi comparisons seems a mis-match to me. Most of these deployables are exclusive to only permitting a single item in a range beyond what would make sense for many fleets.
Like a booster, only the most effective engineer on the field would be of any value, the others being unable to deploy duplicate items by virtue of it's presence.

Maybe our definition of fleet is not matching here. I am thinking something more along the lines of 50 ships or less, and effectively mobile. Maybe you are considering something along more epic lines, where presence is such that all ships are not even on the same effective grid for everyone involved.

that actually made me understand that demo charges are better off staying as bombs launched from stealth bombers.

+1 I like any ideas making structure deployment more involved.

I am pushing for a version of this that is something like space engineers using ships to construct structures instead of people. A new line of medium-heavy tanker building ships that specialize in building with space arms and small drone bays. One person can build something small in a few minutes where as building a station would take one person much longer. Team construction and demolition firms would be born.

Bringing mines back would certainly give combat engineering a new and impressive role. I don't know why exactly they were removed though, so I don't even know if that's a possibility.

V cool - I'd vote for the name Samson in recognition of your fantastic idea.

Little off topic, but could you link that? I honestly didn't know there was any lore that explained why my ships slow down :P

Back on topic though, yeah, if there was a way to make the demo charge only be able to target anchored structures, that would be ideal. As much as I love the idea of a fleet of combat engineers finally getting even with a dreadnought, I'm pretty sure that would break the game.