Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I think target painters and rigs are fine and don't need any adjustment (target painters already had a balance pass). I think the +5% damage to all heavy missiles and reduction in torpedo size were good improvements. I'm not even necessarily opposed to the stacking penalties that were introduced, as they have minimal impact.

I hate these new missile guidance modules.
They had potential with the original values, were still promising with the stacking penalties but were subsequently nerfed into the ground with the final unceremonious release.

These variables are already in the missile formula.

The reason that explosion radius is more prominent in the formula (and why it should be) is two-fold. First, no matter what - you will never (ever) be able to boost missile explosion velocity beyond potential target velocity. Even the use of stasis webs would not be able to entirely accomplish this against a fast ship. Second, there are numerous modules that have signature penalties that benefit missile explosion radius, including but not limited to: shield extenders, microwarpdrives, field extender rigs, hyperspacial rigs and inertial stabilizers.

One of the main methods to counter small signatures is through the use of target painters. Under your proposed formula, these would become effectively useless - not including rendering inert several target painter-bonused hulls and numerous tactics and strategies. Another consideration is that rigors currently cost more in terms of calibration (since they have more value), so this would not only completely destroy their market value - but create untold problems with how to remove unremovable rigs from ships or reimburse players in the tens of millions to destroy and replace these with flares.

While I appreciate that you're trying to participate in the discussion - it's clear that with this suggestion you don't have a lot of experience with missiles and/or understand the radically different missile-based hull bonuses. Mordu's Legion ships have between 2-4x the missile velocity of comparable ships - which means you'd never fly anything else.

There is a simple and straightforward solution to address the majority of deficiencies in missiles:
• Swap the explosion radius bonus between light missiles and rockets, and buff the explosion velocity on all medium and large missiles by 10%. This will improve (but not completely resolve) issues with applying damage to stationary or non-afterburning targets.
• Rather than buffing missile damage, change the minimum value in the missile formula from 1.0 to 1.1 to extend missiles the potential to deliver "critical" damage. This would be in scenarios where both the target signature radius and target velocity have been exceeded, and will typically only effect stationary or large targets.
• Missile guidance computers and enhancers need to be reworked.

6+ moths after release, i will say

I am personally not a fan of the way exp velocity is handled.
The fact that you can never get full application to a moving target is extremely annoying, especially when you consider we don't get wrecking blows and things of that nature.

These modules still need to be buffed, but...
...with a set of +5 missile implants, they do show promise in one configuration.

Scorpion Navy Issue
2x Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II (FoF)
4x Cruise Missile Launcher II (Fury or Faction)
Auto Targeting System II

500MN Microwarpdrive II
2x Adaptive Invulnerability II
Pith C-Type Large Shield Booster
4x Missile Guidance Computer II (4x Precision/2 Range scripts)

4x Ballistic Control Unit II
Damage Control II

3x Large Hyperspacial Velocity Optimizer II
.....

One of the drawbacks with missiles is that they're slow. Not artillery slow, but cruise missiles are second last in terms of rate of fire. And unless you're running a missile velocity-bonused hull, they take a lot longer to reach their targets. Combined with the lead time to target, it means you're looking at 1-2 cycles after your last volley has launched before you can confidently switch targets (NPC ships have a wicked tendency to generate a last-second repair cycle while missiles are in-transit).

The Scorpion Navy Issue features a rate of fire bonus which gets the cycle time of most cruise missile launchers down to around the 6-second mark. On paper it's less damage as a whole, but applied quicker. While this consumes higher quantities of ammunition, it's much more satisfying seeing damage applied more rapidly to targets (even if it's slightly less damage). The Scorpion Navy Issue features 8 mid slots in addition to a set of shield resistance bonuses, and combined with an extra low and high utility slot it's actually the perfect setup.

First and foremost, this setup sports a significant tank at around 100k EHP. Second, it allows you to run four scripted MGCs without really sacrificing much. Third, this frees up the rigs to increase the warp speed (with Ascendancy implants) to over 4.5 AU/s - so it gets around really quick.

One thing that is immediately apparent is that I'm running two different missile systems on this. The cruise launchers are designated for taking out larger targets with Fury ammunition while the rapid heavy launchers are setup with auto-targeting missiles to take out anything that ventures too close (and with the MGCs all running precision scripts, they are very effective at this). The auto targeting system is present in a passive mode to extend the number of target acquisitions to 10, and in a pinch it can be activated to automatically target anything hostile within 60km. Last but not least, the Scorpion Navy Issue sports 75mbit of drone bandwidth which is enough for a mix of light and heavy drones to harass targets.

By running a set of range-scripted MGCs it increases the optimal engagement from 60km to 100km. The Scorpion Navy Issue also features an insane targeting range, so you can lock and hit almost everything with minimal maneuvering and without requiring modules or rigs to boost sensor strength.

The fit I'm running is over 1000 DPS, and while I can honestly say that I don't think it's necessarily any faster at completing missions than a Golem, Barghest or Raven Navy Issue - it's a heck of a lot more fun seeing volleys of missiles launched at 2-6 second intervals (regardless of velocity missiles all seem to take the same 1-1.5 second launch animation).

Pest control.

Combined with the missile implants, I believe the last two precision-scripted MGCs yield about 25%. I'm going off memory, but I believe it gets the heavy missile explosion radius down to around 60m. And yes, it's a rather insane rate of fire - but the two rapid launchers literally melt anything small that ventures within 40km. I've only run a few missions with it so far, but I alternate between 2 precision/2 range and 4 precision depending on the mission. For ones like "Damsel in Distress" and "Stop the Thief" where you're dealing with lots of small ships and short ranges, 4 precision scripts is the way to go.

No argument - it burns through ammunition quite a bit faster. And even with 2 range scripts you lose a few volleys between targets with the rapid launchers. The tradeoff is that you can use your drones to apply full DPS to larger targets and not worry about micromanaging them against smaller targets where cruise missiles aren't anywhere near as effective. Auto-targeting missiles are really critical with the high-rate of fire, because you just can't track, lock and apply damage fast enough otherwise. This also frees up one's attention span to focus entirely on applying damage with the cruise launchers and drones.

It's simply a lot of fun to fly with this setup. Getting around is insanely quick (this includes acceleration gates), it's cap stable if you drop down to a medium Deadspace shield booster, you can lock 10 targets out to over 100km and you dictate standard or extended range for engagements. Neither the Raven or the Typhoon has the tank to pull this off, and you lose quite a bit of damage application if you have to drop down to MGEs for either. The Typhoon does have the same explosion velocity bonus as the Golem, but this doesn't apply to any missile systems outside cruise or torpedoes. You could probably come close by swapping out a hyperspacial rig for a rigor without too much of a hit to warp speed (especially with Ascendancy implants), so there's certainly some flexibility there.

I also agree that there's limited PvP value with this particular configuration, and you'd almost certainly change things as it's heavily-geared towards PvE. For example: I'd drop two BCUs in favor of two passive MGEs, replace the hyperspacial rigs with field extender rigs, run all rapid heavy missile launchers, swap the auto targeting system for a neutralizer and replace the four MGCs with a capacitor booster, tackle, web and ancillary shield boosters. Entirely different application, of course.

Fireworks. You potentially lose quite a bit with a RoF bonus on rapid launchers, but on the flip side it does spew them out at a really rapid pace. That's why I've left it at 2 launchers - it's enough at this speed to deal with frigates, destroyers and most cruisers at short ranges - and the 35-second reload time isn't as readily apparent when you're also running cruise launchers. I also find that if I occasionally use FoF in the cruise launchers the rapids often take out the shields and armor and then the cruise delivers the finishing blow.

With 2 missile systems and different rates of fire, FoF missiles also seem a bit more effective at adjusting to NPC spawns at different ranges. So while you're waiting for the next cruise volley to cycle the rapids get 2-3 volleys into the next target. The main benefit of all this is that it doesn't feel slow, you're not counting volleys for the most part and gameplay generally seems much more engaging.

Having eight mid slots and being able to script range with a pair of MGCs really helps, as the Scorpion isn't exactly a speedy ship by any means. It really eliminates a lot of unnecessary maneuvering, and against large targets you can actually just run all four MGCs scripted for range. I would really consider this particular setup a niche application though.

I lose more than a few volleys in this setup utilizing FoF missiles. However, it's a riot to pilot this setup and FoF missiles are cheap to manufacture. So I don't count - and I don't care. Cry havoc and let slip the drones of war!

You can easily lose volleys even with range-bonused Mordu's Legion ships, and part of this is the 1-1.5 second launch cycle that missiles seem to go through regardless of velocity - so I'm not entirely sure this can ever be mitigated 100%.

I really can't express how refreshing gameplay is with this particular setup. Yes, it's not the most efficient - but it always feels like I'm doing something. Which is a far cry from counting missile volleys, waiting for lengthy missile cycles or reload times.