Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Would be nice if the Retribution got an extra 2.5% to its tracking bonus... or a third mid slot for a tracking computer...

At the moment whenever a frigate gets within 700 meters it's impossible to hit the damn thing.

How would you feel about them giving the same treatment to the vengeancei that they did with the Sacrilige, namely rolling the cap bonus into the ship, giving it equal opportunity for long range, and a velocity bonus with some extra fitting space to boot?

Spot on about the wolf btw; No self-respecting tackle frigate should be limited to 2 mid slots.

AFs have been kicked in the balls repeatedly by speed creep. Many of them are now slower than fast cruisers, and the general buffs to cruisers since the Crucible have left most of them in the dust in other respects as well.

They're not unusably bad like many ships pre-Inferno/Retribution, but chances are that if you're using an AF, it's because you like flying it and not because it's really the right ship. They're fun to use, but right now they're a toy.

Strange that, whenever I get a plex intruder stealing my loot its an Ishkur ... gotta get myself one of those.

Anyway, I think the OPs observation is very limited and the conclusion therefore faulty.

Assault frigates in their current state really serves no role whatsoever. They are squished in a bizarre role between destroyers and Interceptors and has especially been considered an outdated relic of old after the buff of t1 frigate and cruiser hulls a while ago.

Role bonus of 50% signature radius reduction with mwd is a cute little perk for HAC's but really serves only as crap for an assault frigate since they cannot serve as heavy tacklers in the same manner as HAC's can I rarely if ever see an mwd fitted assault frigate buzzing around in Eve. They lack speed, capacitor, and agility, interceptors and faction frigates serves this role to a way greater extent with more agility and speed on their hulls than that of an slow and dumb assault frigate.

This ship class is made for afterburning but in its current state it gets outmaneuvered by just about any t1 frig out there, not to mention the faction ships. A great addition for all assault frigate classes would be to drop the whole mwd bonus which in my eyes is utter garbage .. and replace it with no less than 25% increased afterburner bonus, or if not give the ship higher base speed. Their weak capacitor should also receive some love in order for them to utilize more out of their already fairly fragile defenses. A bonus per assault frigate level to localized repair systems amount should also be something to consider.

Which was my point, that those observations are as subjective as my experience and cannot be taken as fact. And all conclusions should be taken under this premise ... for an objective discussion. Not This, this, this and therefore that.


This is something I can follow and agree with...

Alright let's have a go at this. My two cents:

Hawk - Probably the most dominant brawling frigate in the game in its AB+Scram+Web w/ dual MASB configuration. The flipside of this is that anything with a microwarp should never have to fight one, because they're very slow.

Harpy - Seems fine, and people calling for increased mobility want to have their cake and eat it too. It already has one of the strongest buffer tank in the class, it has incredible damage and application. Buffing its speed puts it way over the top imo and destroys the balance of it.

Wolf - I use a Wolf often, I think it's slot layout is great and synergizes perfectly with its bonuses. It doesn't need a web because it can hit fine even if it's being scram kited. The lots-of-lows-at-the-expense-of-mids thing is a running trait with the Boundless Creation line of ships so the 5-2-5 slot layout makes sense to me.

Jaguar - My baby. I think it could use a little more speed (not a lot, just enough to do 1200 m/s under AB with one polycarbon, which fits with the Thukker theme of speed, not to mention the ship's in-game description). What I think it really NEEDS though, is to have its silly optimal bonus switched to falloff. Optimal bonuses don't make sense on a frigate-sized projectile weapon system. Other than these 2 nitpicks I think the Jag is great right now.

Enyo - It's a monster. Its bonuses make sense and it's a very good ship, I don't think any changes are needed.

Ishkur - The Ishkur needs something to set it apart or at least help it out right now. It's tough to fit decently sized rails to it with an mwd, it's outclassed by the Worm and to some extent by the Algos. I think this ship needs another look.

Vengeance - People lament the lack of damage in this ship and honestly I just don't feel for them at all. It's effortless to get a crazy strong cap-stable tank on it and it's slow like an Amarrian ship ought to be. It doesn't need to be fast because rockets don't need to control range once scram is applied. If you want more damage, fit that way. I don't think it needs a buff, unless I'm presented with convincing evidence to the contrary.

Retribution - Katia suggested giving it drones. I think that's crazy. Ships seems fine. The epic Amarrian T2 resist profile alone is enough reason to use this ship.

I use the AC Jag so we're going to have differences of opinion on this.

However, I would say that while the falloff bonus helps both arty and AC fits, the optimal bonus helps arty fits and does absolutely nothing for AC fits, and that is the problem. I agree that the cap could be better.

Eh...

Mobility is definitely the biggest problem they have, but their issues are broader. Granted, much of that could be addressed by toning down cruisers, but AFs are still kind of incoherent. "Clumsy superfrigate" is not a great role (especially when non-clumsy superfrigates are also available), and is one that overlaps a lot with destroyers and interdictors.

I'm a little torn on the AFs. I've enjoyed the Hawk recently but had pretty similar over all fun flying a Hookbill tbh. I think one of the earlier comments that the AFs in general were in a slightly odd place is pretty accurate.

Not sure what to do to make them "feel" better. As a class they certainly aren't bad (some clearly better than others) but they don't really stand out either.