Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Just a quick idea I thought of- sorry if it's insubstantial.

Black Ops get Covert Ops cloak

Black Ops get the ability to fit a clone vat bay with a limited number of clones (10 at most)

Black Ops get a small Fleet Hangar

Black Ops get a Ship Maintenance Bay (say 2 cruisers) only able to accommodate 'stealth ships'

(Stealth Bombers, Covert Ops, Expedition Frigates, Astero, Stratios, et cetera)

This would make Black Ops into stealthy and mobile fleet ships, with the ability to bring in reinforcements effectively and quickly.

Tell me your thoughts, or your own idea!

I know what you're saying, but I was talking more about a total repurpose and an entirely new function if that happened- like what they did to marauders.

But I agree with what you're saying here.

The only thing Black Ops need is a use in WH space. Solve that puzzle and you get a cookie.

The only thing Black Ops need is a use in WH space. Solve that puzzle and you get a cookie.

The only thing Black Ops need is a use in WH space. Solve that puzzle and you get a cookie.

I'd love to see them repurposed into proper dps ships. As a former Redeemer pilot, I would have loved the covops cloak. It sucks when your cover gets blown because you.... enter warp. Since my experience is limited to the Redeemer, let me propose a potential change.

8/4/7 6 turrets (maybe on the abaddon hull, oooohhh)

Amarr Battleship Bonus:
7.5% to large energy turret rate of fire per level
10% to large energy turret optimal range per level

Blackops Bonus:
20% reduction in targeting delay after decloaking
7.5% reduction in isotope consumption for covert jump portal generators.

Role bonus:
Can fit covert ops cloaks
Reactivation timer for cloaks reduced to 10 sec.

50mbit/s bandwidth, 75 m3 drone bay.

Enough PG to squeeze on mega beams, (or mega pulses and a moderate tank). Poor alpha, but good for sustained sniping. Good maneuverability, speed, and targeting range. Moderate sensor strength.

Just my .02 isk

Giving it a small fleet hangar and the ability to refit from might help in that regard, but then it would need to have something removed from it to counterbalance since for a covert fleet that's potentially quite a powerful ability.

The last thing BlOps need are nerfs in any other areas.

Yes, Black Ops definitely need some attention; the main problem with them is the lack of role focus. Some (like the Redeemer or Window) are trying to achieve a purpose directly on the battlefield, similar with recons by having an electronic warfare or damage related bonus. On top of that, they also are trying to fulfill a fleet support role with their cyno capability, which is quite in contradiction with the previous one.

And they aren't great at both: their raw HP is quite lower than tech 1 battleships (and tech 2 resistance boosts aren't stellar either), have less turret and missile hardpoints than tech 1 counterparts and remain more expensive to run, which doesn't make them appealing for direct engagement purposes. They also lack autonomy in their support role, as they are quite short ranged, fuel hungry and this issue is amplified by their small fuel bay forcing them to rely on other ships to resupply frequently during an operation.

The current plan is to take one these two listed roles out of the Black Ops ship class and reshape them to do the remaining one well. If they are disruption ships using EW, they should have more presence on the battlefield for their pricetag. If they are support tools for surprise attacks and small gang movement into enemy space, then they should have the proper bay, range and tools to do so accordingly.

The role dropped out of the Black Ops would then be moved to a new class in the tech 2 battleship range to replace for the loss.

We acknowledge some entities out there are using Black Ops with great effect when backed up with the proper organization, structure and out-of-the-box thinking to make use of them in unorthodox situations. While we don't want to take that away, Black Ops should be more effective without such heavy commitment into them (a statistic query we ran at the beginning of this year shown there are more Titan than Block Ops pilot on TQ). They should be great force multiplier tools for small groups to take on larger ones by surprise, and should be able to do so relatively well without relying on a dedicated support structure.

So, when would this be coming out? Unfortunately, not for a while. As explained in the various blogs before, our current priority is to fix tech 1 ships as a whole before moving to more advanced hulls. That is because we need a solid frame of reference to rely on and compare hulls to before we can move to more delicate and complex ships, like Black Ops or tech 3 hulls.


Also don't forget this is just our long term plan for now, and things may change in the future. In all cases they are not forgotten, but will take time to get to.

Hope that helps!