Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Prior to the Retribution update, NPC's did not switch aggression once targeted on the first player in the area. This change was for the most part good when it comes to improving the PVE experience. In particular, it added an element of randomness and unpredictability for the player fighting the NPC's. I could no longer send in one tank ship to take all the aggro, then bring in as many max-DPS ships to kill everything, or bring in a remote repair ship without having to worry about its local tank.

It also fundamentally altered another aspect of Eve, and in this regard I think the changes were less positive. It vastly increased the difficulty of solo anti-ratter operations. I'm not alone in this - for example there is this nice old thread bemoaning the change from nearly 18 months ago.

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=203437

Thus far, no significant changes to NPC AI have been forthcoming. So, when I attempt to go for a kill anywhere that NPC's are involved, I immediately have to deal with the fact that I am the new "bright shiny object with electronic warfare" and deal with all the NPC's trying to kill me, in addition to the player's best efforts to kill me. Never mind that the player I am attacking is at -9.99 standing to those NPC's and three seconds before I decloaked or warped in, he was happily murdering them by the bushel.

This may not matter that much when I have a gang behind me, but for a solo player, particularly a stealth bomber or recon ship, it often spells the end to the action. Even if I have fit everything to deal with the player's ship, I still have to deal with the NPC's. Try doing that in a stealth bomber against an Ishtar or Dominix.

Since I think this is a problem, I'd like to propose a couple of potential solutions. CCP should implement one or more of these options to improve Eve.

Option 1: CCP could add pirate faction ship skins for stealth bombers, force reconnaissance, and Black Ops ships (and maybe eventually for other ships). Not only would these look awesome, they would also make the rats not hate your ship. These would, as far as I know, be the only ship skins to give an advantage to a ship that was more than cosmetic. That fact alone makes them controversial. Consequently, these skins would come from NPC drops and LP stores - rather than the NEX store. Basically it would work as follows: if I get a Guristas Manticore skin, I put it on the ship. Now, when I am inside a complex or on a gate or in a belt, Guristas NPC's will not target me unless I engage them first or unless I remote assist another player who is aggressed toward or by those NPC's. I could then use my Guristas Manticore inside of Guristas anomalies, complexes, and missions to assist my beloved NPC friends against ratters. Just like that, solo hunting in a stealth bomber or recon ship becomes a viable option again. Of course the Manticore is not the ideal choice for hunting Guristas ratters, but that is a trade-off I have to accept. Or, perhaps all pirate faction NPC's would recognize a "fellow pirate ship" come to assist them based on that skin.

Option 2: CCP could add pirate faction militia corporations - faction warfare for pirate factions. For instance, all players in the Guristas militia corporation would not be targeted by Guristas NPC's, except in self-defense. Militia members aggressing fellow militia members, Guristas NPC's, stealing resources from belts in Guristas space, or directly assisting those aggressing them would suffer vastly increased standings losses towards Guristas. Failure to maintain 8.0 faction standing (or some similarly high amount) would result in the player being kicked from the militia corporation at the next downtime and banned from the corporation for thirty days. All pirate faction militia members would be persona non grata in high security space.

Option 3: CCP could add a module that acts as a pirate ship transponder. This should probably be a high slot module, to prevent mining ships from wanting to fit it. When activated, this module prevents NPC's from targeting the player's ship. This module cannot be activated by any player with an NPC aggro timer and deactivates as soon as the player gains an NPC aggro timer. Remote repairing anyone with an NPC aggro timer automatically causes an NPC aggro timer for the assisting pilot.

Option 4: CCP could fix NPC AI so that NPC's can recognize that the "enemy of my enemy is my friend," at least temporarily.

Any or all of these options could be implemented to improve the viability of solo anti-ratting hunting and increase risk for ratters. Personally, I think Option 1 and Option 4 are the best.

so in short, you want risk free ratter ganking?

As someone who rats in null sec, a lot, I think I know a lot more about the risks of ratting in null sec than you do. There are two sides to every coin. There is me, -9.99 to every pirate faction in whose space I have ever spent time, with the "Elite Carebear" certificate to match, and my ratter hunting character, who has never shot a single rat. Right now, the balance is way in my favor.

The risk in this situation should come primarily from the opposing player. Have you ever tried to solo an Ishtar - the dominant ratting ship across Eve - in a stealth bomber? With the right fit and skills and no rat interference, it is still a tall order.

It would appear that the School of Applied Knowledge is thoroughly against making ratting in null sec slightly more risky. What say the actual null sec residents?

this just means that a bomber its not the right tool to fight an ishtar, because you have an hammer you ask that the whole world be remade into nails basically.
just switch to a more apt tools for the specific need.

Sure, I've tried using different ships. What truly solo ship do you recommend for roaming deep in solo space to successfully catch and kill ratters? Not "solo" with neutral scout and off-grid booster, but really solo. A good T3 could do it now, but prior to the NPC aggro change, you could use a stealth bomber or recon ship. I'd just like to see those days return.

...and you're think the npcs are the issue.

that's not what bombers are for.
you want an assault frigate(assuming you want to frigate) with high resists,small sig and good great tracking
and possibly drones of its own for killing ishthars solo.

Why can't you wait for the NPC to be dead before uncloaking or at least for less to be on the field?

In my experience, most people don't rat for very long with a neutral or hostile in local. If you are hunting solo, you often have to take the ratter as you find him. Most people POS up as soon as you enter local. Those who don't are totally AFK or very reckless. Trying to wait for the optimum rat spawn means you probably won't even get off a shot.

They really are quite solid. Pretty easy to make a 500+ DPS cloaky proteus, with 500+ EHPS on an AAR (for 70-90 seconds), and 75k EHP before boosts. More boosts and rep if you can specifically gear for a particular damage type (Proteus have insane innate kinetic resists, pretty easy to hit ~3000 EHPS and 450k EHP against that damage type).

The only standing downside to the Proteus, and really anything other than a bomber (including a Stratios) is that nastly 5-6 second sensor recalibration delay. That's what makes bombers so amazing for ganking, even solo. They can uncloak and instantly lock and scram a target. I've caught an interceptor hacking in a data site before with a bomber. No way you can do that with a Proteus or Stratios, unless said Inty was simply afk.

It's solid, but Covops frigates still have the 5-6 second sensor recalibration. Only bombers don't.

I did see a very nasty rocket Nemesis build that almost caught one of my scanners, however. Non-torp fit bombers and still be quite mean.