Ships & Modules

Your dealer is ripping you off then. I just fit 5 drakes with each doing around 575 dmg and about 70k ehp for less than a bil (combined) using T2's. I think I could improve those stats if I bought some implants and got a few skills to 5.

I believe that the tentative proposal is replacing the 5% resist and 5%kinetic damage bonuses with 5% rof and 5% missile range (either speed or flight time). But there appear to be multiple changes in the works for many ships and modules. And we do not know enough yet til it hits the test server.

Other things talked about that could affect Drakes are there was a quote about the range on heavy missiles. So even if the ship gets a range bonus it may not be a situation where the missiles go that much farther. There could be new modules not just rigs that provide missile range in return, like there is presently with turrets. Also, there is talk about adding a script or more to TDs so that they affect missiles, quite possibly missile range like they now do with turret range. It may be that this is the nerf to heavy missile range and no direct nerf would hit heavys. Btw, whoever stated it earlier itt thanks for pointing out how range skills on missiles have skewed the comparison to turret range skills, so maybe those skills could drop from 10% per level to 5%.

Unfortunately it is still too shrouded in the future as to details and dates of introduction. But yes, it appears that Drake/Tengu or bust for Caldari is a concern for the balancing team. So the Nighthawk and all command ships for that matter may be in for a buff. Tiericide and making tech I Cruisers worth flying and not just dogfood for BCs is a stated goal. Also, maybe with a nerf to the Drake, there may be buff coming for HACs as well, and either way it comes out it appears there will be new reasons to fly Cruisers and the Cerb.

The game has been too much about BCs and the Drake in particular. I look forward to changes that make Cruisers worth flying. Having tech I logistics cruisers that do something worthwhile, or ewar tech I cruisers that are not just Blackbird and Arbitrator would also be a welcome change. Having Hacs and command ships gain back utility they have lost to BCs and Strategic Cruisers over the years will also be welcome. Basically having a more diverse battlefield will be great.

There are presently so many unused ships in the game. It really doesn't need new ships. It needs fixed ships. So no matter what race of ships you fly you hopefully will have new real choices and effective choices. It should not be for any race to just hear "fly these two ships and the rest are crap." Likewise it should not be where one race has a cheap BS option and the other races don't, or where one race's strategic cruiser can do it all so much better than the others. Change is good. If they could just get more consistent at it.

the purpose of a velocity bonus its not only to extend range but also to make missile to arrive faster on the spot and if the velocity bonus will be 10% per level like all the others missile ships with that bonus (and not 5%) it will mean missile will go a 50% faster so much less delay on longer distance 5 second less if you shoot something at 80km

extended range its just an extra bonus and it will make HAM setup more common for pve

.

Sadly this.

Too bad about the resistance bonus going, but this change will actually make the drake even more fun to fly. Free damage selection and more damage projection ftw :)

Yet another Drake-thread?

Here comes yet another tired counterpoint.

I'm just quoting Perihelion since he's sniffing around the issue, though not pointing to it out loud.

The problem with ships that only have offensive bonuses (especially with some projectability) is that they will quickly turn into a blobber tool. The Drake as it is have a number of weak points ready to exploited in a game of rock-paper-scissor. They also have a couple of strong points, identified by their ship bonuses and how they interact with each other. The Drake is not fast enough, when it needs to be fast. The Drake do not shoot far enough, when it need to shoot far. The Drake do not have damage-selectability enough, when it deals with omnitanks (while the simplicity of the missile accuracy mechanics can also be exploited).

Taking away the bonuses that enable a solid buffer on a brick-like ship to create a ship with less staying power by plugging one or more of these existing weakspots may cause more Drakes to die (or explode in a more rapid pace) but it will not make the ship less popular to bring in numbers or less efficient in an affordable tank-projection role - that makes it so popular in numbers.

The only thing you'll achieve is further skewer their use to the side with numbers to lose. It means that it'll lose ground in small-medium scale fights where it's a more balanced option among many, with natural counters. It will likely gain ground in larger gangs regardless the scale of the fight. In a single-world game where everyone are meant to be able meet everyone the deepest impact any such changes will have, comes at the smaller gang's ability to meet the larger gang. Design trend keep forgetting to have incentives for the smaller to play with the larger.

End result? Less PvP.

It doesn't matter if you speak sov-politics, hitpoint-infrastructure interaction or ship-balance. If everything just boil down to two sides sitting there mindlessly applying damage to each other at all times, the side with numbers will always win and the side without numbers have little to no reason to even attempt interaction. Sadly, this seem to be an ongoing mantra when it comes to design ("we want more beautiful spaceship explosions"). You get less of the day-to-day action, with more reluctancy and stepping-down on all scales.

Shooting far, being fast or tanking a specific type used to mean something, now everything is just high-application in simplistic situation and affordability - If anything, the only thing that is wrong with the Drake.

Arty 'Canes can get pretty close to that. It's just not a great fit. 'Canes are meant for A/C's.

A ROF bonus to one of the most lag-heavy weapons in the game is bad. Removing the main reason why people fly Drakes: it's tank, so if it gets dropped down in the the rest of the bag of role-less 'meh' BC, that seems quite counterproductive as well, especially when looking at what CCP is trying to achieve with Tiercide.

This is what 's gonna happen, Drake is a bigger ship then the Tengu so it should be better.