Ships & Modules

I am a Gallente pilot, so I will eventually make use of these modules probably. I have been told that ECM completely is overshadowing them however. Is this true? Should I not bother and just to train for a blackbird and ECM?

Or should I train for them and just use them when they get buffed?

ECM is overpowered and broken, so most other EWAR is overshadowed. That being said, damps are still useful, especially with the explosion of T3 BC fleets. Most FCs will demand ECM, though. Train damps anyway. ;)

Curious to know how is EWAR OP?

Nothing wrong with damps. Just use them in the right battles.If you know ahead of time that the opposition is trying to nano and kite, then using a Celestis (or the Lach if you can fly t2) will nullify their range. Of course, there are many counters to each counter, but damps can be a viable solution depending on a situation.

I believe the CSM minutes said CCP might consider boosting damps?

Which would be just plain wrong. Prolly the most ******** part in the whole minutes stuff.

ECM is not OP by any stretch, it's like plane crashes- less frequent than you'd think but spectacular when it does happen.

ECM is as balanced as it gets- it's all or nothing. You have a 1 in 4 chance....to even get a chance.....to jam. Oh yeah, WAY overpowered there.....
Taking into account the extremely narrow focus of ECM, it's limited utility against multiple or a variety of targets, and it's not OP, it's just the highest risk/reward module. Outside of those choking parameters, an ECM module is as good as leaving the slot empty.

Rarely is ECM used on a non-bonused ship where almost any other mid module is a better option. The ships with ECM bonus are paper thin and unsurprisingly- the first primary called in any battle. Blackbird pilots often spend hours running about in fleets only to be nearly insta-popped within seconds in the first engagement. That 'uber' mechanic everyone seems to think is OP, is usually wiped off the battle field before it's third cycle of jam attempts even fires.

Oh the QQ because the one in twenty times someone has tried to jam you, it actually worked. This is simply Confirmation Bias.

As to the actual OP question--

I use damps in two situations- 1) Drakes fit with Heavies for long range, but like ECM above, it's debatable whether damping a single target is better than another tank module that protects me from all incoming fire, not just a single target.
and 2) on my Stealth Bomber. There I aim to never get locked, ever, if I can help it.

LOL. ECM isn't OP then. It's chanced-based. It is working as intended. No need to nerf ECM at all.

To me it just feels like they are grossly undervalued, not underpowered. Most of the "other EW" as well as the "other Recons" do just fine in their respective roles and are quite powerful once you dedicate to their performance.

What in the effect itself is it that you feel they are lacking? Damps seem quite alright at cutting range-sensitive ships out of performance (ECM and sniping was mentioned as fringers - but Scimis are an even better example), as well as piling reliable performance up to stack values that take away a large portion of focus target use. Painters and webs can turn Cruisers into Battleships, ready to be hit by XL-guns. It's pretty amusing to see people arguing about Titans tracking too well on one hand, and then insisting that painters and webs need buffs on the other.

The power of bonused neutralizers may be a bit on a trend slope due to Cruiser-sized roaming sliding down that same slope at the same time, while there is a heavy BS-profileration that overshadow those bonuses a fair bit in today's climate. You might argue that BS-neuts may be a bit too good, and i wouldn't disagree, but i think the real problem lie in the impopularity of roaming.

So what is it you can't do with Painters, Damps, Webs, Points and Scrams - that you feel they should be able to?

In my world they seem to work just fine, both unbonused and bonused. Do a Falcon provide more snap? Yeah, because that is kind of the only thing it does. It's snap without staying power unless you exploit other advantages. It does devote all of it's slots to doing just that and it's still chance-based and counterable. Compare that to an Arazu that can tank like a HAC, point at sniping ranges, scram at point ranges, deal a fair amount of damage and still reliably disrupt two-three range-sensitive ships or at least one additional ship with less sensitive sensors.

Is it one of them fruitcake scenarios again, where it needs to be had, eaten and sprinkled with gummy bears to appeal?

I understand that in a world of 500 hostile BC on field, sophisticated use of expensive Cruisers for points and damps may not be in it's ideal environment compared to bubbles or dogpiling lowtech options, but honestly...

Enter further discussion about Gallente links here.

damps great in big numbers with bonuses/unbonused ships. bad in small numbers with unbonused ships. good in small numbers with bonused ship.

as for the constant debate over ECM. ECM is kind of backwards from damps. the larger the fleet, the larger the chance it's going to get primaried, can't jam everything, and turned to dust. smaller gangs, the % of the enemy that can get jammed out of the fight is higher because of the smaller numbers, which therefore makes it more effective.

ECM drones however are simply broken. i think a good fix, is to nerf them to hell, but then make boats that get drone bonuses, also include ewar strength to that list of damage, mining yeild, etc. that also buffs the now 'worthless' ewar drones such as web drones and painter drones. of coarse i haven't dealth with the numbers, but just like they nerfed damps back in the day and like the drakes now, if everyone and their mother is using them because they are too good, they get nerfed. and seemingly every boat that can fit a full flight of drones, any size, is better off having ecm drones.