Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Not really, but okay, a Nomen is better at being a Vagabond than a Vagabond courtesy of scorch.

While, theoretically, Autocannons can kite Blasters and can Brawl against Lasers, in reality this is only true as long as the minmatar hulls are able to dictate range.
There's one Tech 1 Cruiser of the Minmatar being able to effectively kite, that's the Stabber, and even on point-blank range there are T1 frigates that have a higher threat-level. If that ship has to kite it gets even worse, as the dps applied onto any target is something a Condor could do, too. At greater ranges and at higher velocity. Without the tracking-****.

Then keep in mind that now, there is the Thorax and the Omen, achieving very similar mobility to the Stabber. And trust me, these 2 cruisers definately don't suck!
Flying a Rupture feels like flying a Maller back then, the Stabber Fleet got a SIgnature Nerf making it less viable in Brawling (still good, but not awesome), only the Scythe Fleet looks good, and that is because it's more versatile than a Myrmidon.


Speaking of the Myrmidon: Some time ago, the weapons-to-go on the Myrm were Autocannons.
These days are over. And when even the Myrm doesn't use autocannons anymore, that really means they're in a bad shape!



TL;DR:

Autocannons would be GOOD, if the Minnie Ships would be good.
Minnie Ships would be GOOD, if they still were the most mobile ships.



Soooo....

Either bring back Winmatar Mobility, or buff Projectiles.

you said it yourself, less dps, more range and with better tracking. oh and selectable damage types and immunity to neuts.

tell me what your null dps does to a kitey ishtar gang compared to EMP or Barrage? or IN-MF does to a brawl gang with geddon support.

@SMT

again youre thinking of 1v1 situations.

many, MANY ships fit neuts. there is a very healthy neut vexor navy/ishtar/geddon/prophecy meta out there. And when your fighting for territory rather than a 1v1 you dont always have that luxury of 'Oh well i can see on D-scan you've countered my ship so ill just leave now'.

The sheer versatility the autocannon provides, that sweet spot middle ground and robust resistance to neuts is an excellent conservative choice when you cant always pick your fights and dont know what youre coming up against.

You come with brawlers? ill pull range, i dont need to refit nor even swap ammo save to poke your resist hole
You come with lasers? ill close range and brawl you down, again i dnt really need to refit change ammo.
You come in a shield ishtar? Thats ok you're still in fall off, i still track ok and i can poke that resist hole.
Your gang is heavy on neuts? That's alright, wasnt using that prop mod when im scrammed and webbed anyways and logi keeps me alive.

other weapons dont have these 'on the fly' answers. so yeah, if you know what youre fighting and can pick those fights, by all means pick the right weapon for the job.

But if you dont know what the enemy are bringing before you have a chance to refit or reship, and you dont have a choice as to whether you take the fight or not because youre needed to defend something more meaningful than your killboard, then auto-cannons (along side missiles) are an excellent choice for being a jack of all trades, master of none.

TL:DR
the strength of autocannons is changing tactics on the fly and being difficult to counter.

AC's may not be as good as other weapons when they are at their best, but they are a whole lot better than other weapons at their worst.

Something to do with overloading AC's maybe?

Double AC's overload bonus? Somethingsomething Minmatar have madmaxnitrotech etc.
Make it so you can repair 100% damaged AC's? AC's are easier to fix on the fly than lasers/hybrids/launchers. :ducttape/WD40:
Half their heat damage and/or heat emission stat?

Good Morning,

I would like to propose a change to Autocannons that I feel would add a bit more balance and make them and in turn Minimitar ships a bit more viable.

So Lets talk about Autocannons compared to the competition. They have some advantages, zero cap usage, selectable damage type. The trade off is lower overall DPS and mediocre tracking and damage projection. Lasers have higher DPS and projection, while blasters do significantly more DPS, with better tracking. One would expect that autocannons would fall somewhere in middle of the damage/tracking/projection equation but they fall short in just about every category. A medium blaster loaded with null can just about outperfom a medium autocannon in every category.

My fix would be a simple one, extend the falloff of autocannons by 20-30% across the board. I feel that with would bring a bit more balance by increasing the damage projection of Minimatar ships without being game breaking.

Any feedback is appreciated.


Badman

So don't engage them at 20 km.

TL;DR
people underestimate the ability to disengage.