Player Features and Ideas Discussion

So if possible give more in depth suggestions for the other ships. Try to explain every detail about your reasoning why it should get this or that bonus or this and that slot layout and what you think the consequences of those changes would be. It is more interesting to read compared to the brief vague post most people put up.

Which is why in an earlier post I suggested that they consider givng the Gallente BCs an hp per level bonus instead of the 7.5% active armor bonus. This could be either a % based bonus like the old Auguror used to get (10% armor hp per level) or a whole number like 500 armor hp per level. Obviously either the % or the raw number bonus can be set at whatever value doesn't imbalance the game but is meaningful for these ships.

They, like all Gallente ships, are steered toward blasters usually by the balancing dept. Amarr ships it seems are steered toward pulses because the grid on beams is always such a ***** :S But anyway, whereas the amarr resist bonus ends up acting like a free eanm, the armor hp bonus could be set at a value that it ends up acting like a free 800 or 1600 plate. This would actually be useful to ships that are meant to armor tank but also somehow have the speed and agility to try to tackle a target and hold it close. Not having to fit a (or fewer) plate(s) would be a valuable addition to these ships and make them more viable. As things are now so many of these ships are twisted into thin shield buffer glass cannons because the plate and armor rig penalties conflict so directly with what these ships are trying to do in the damage department.

5% resist bonus is still not better in active tanking than 7.5% to rep amount, but yes, the other points are true.

Do they matter? Are all BCs supposed to be equal in every role?

Make the rep bonus to 10% if it needs buffing, but don't ruin the niche use. Active tanking is good for the game.

And suggested it as well.

Only one person commented on my suggestion and made a pretty compelling argument:

The Drake provides an opportunity for Caldari to break from the exact same bonus line for all their missile boats:
Kestrel - velocity and damage
Corax - double velocity and kinetic damage
Caracal - velocity and ROF
Raven - velocity and ROF

They all focus on range and DPS

Realistically, the Drake is the only Brawler style missile boat that the caldari have access to.

But as I pointed out at the time, we could really use some extra range, but that can come from TE's when they finally affect missiles.

You forgot to mention these are all that good shield tanked.



Try the HAM Legion some day, you'll see why by yourself (Prot is nice, I like it but...), Loki is awesome and Tengus scale quite well for fleets.



Good yes, best no. Fact that small hybrids were already fine before hybrids buff has probably something to do with this.



Best joke ever Roime, haha thx ;) Well you're right about something, at least now can fit a full rack of high tier blasters.



Since most current super fleets are armor we can exclude all shield ones, once this is done Nyx might get an extra dps but Eon gets a far tougher tank, so it's 50/50, Titans I don't know if you see those that much but I know more having Golden dildos than green ones.

Note the best EWAR that can win a Falcon, Is another Falcon?


I'm not saying neither Gallente is total crap. The line up got a little better after hybrids rebalance but it just feels like a bad patch you're waiting for another patch to fix.
Those "can" work in such small niche it makes no sense this race even existing in the game. If frigates became good and cruisers finally usable I still can't tell my self to armor fit any Thorax when it gets a huge dps boost and mobility by simply shield fit it, now tell me how awesome this is.
Gallente are in deep need for years for some important mechanics to change and actually have higher class ships scaling with large fleets other than Ranis, Lachesis, Oneiros, Proteus (heavy tackle...)

I want to see more green and camo in fleets, not less.

Stop posting crap romie... 5% resistance IS better than 7.5% bonus to rep... In terms of the dps of the tank (fail eft stat) the rep bonus ship has like a 3% advantage. In practice this modest increase in tank strength does not make up for the starting ehp advantage of a ship with a resistance bonus. In terms of armor tanks, "breaking even" takes many many minutes. For BCs this break even time is longer than you have cap charges to run your tank...

The truth is that a resistance 5% bonus IS better than a 7.5% rep bonus. Failure to understand this means you're either ignorant to the reality of these bonuses or you are intentionally sticking your head in the sand.

That is "an argument," but it's not "compelling." What that argument points out is that the Caldari have a solid, well bonused and balanced long range missile attack ship in every class EXCEPT battlecruiser, which makes no sense at all. Also, if you want a Caldari "brawler," then look to the Merlin / Moa / Ferox / Rokh line; the ships that obviously have the melee weapon slots and shield resist bonuses to make it happen. As it is the Ferox and Rokh are somewhat odd birds in that lineup due to the optimal bonus, but that could be fixed by realigning the Ferox with the Moa rather than the Rokh. Given that you CAN actually snipe with large rails, the Rokh might legitimately keep its optimal bonus, but it just does nothing for the Ferox, and it means that Caldari have no really strong brawler in the BC class at all.

Especially where training for the weapon system is the major SP investment people make as they develop a combat character in the first year or so, it makes a lot more sense to let them pick a weapon system, and thus a line they will be training through for a good while, and know that the capabilities and playstyle they have selected will be supported in the expected way as they progress up through each ship class. And they also know that if they want to be more flexible, then they can just train the "other" designated weapon line, and easily step into ships that fit that other style.

The pattern they've established is Attack = Medium DPS and Agility + Long Range + Weak Tank; Combat = High DPS + Medium Agility + Short Range + Strong Tank. Obvious solution is obvious: Drake = ROF + Velocity - Shield Resist; Ferox = Damage + Tracking + Shield Resist.

A hardpoint loss and a ROF gain would be a quite significant buff for dps (more than a full launcher's worth!), and it would do 25% more kinetic damage than the Cyclone even if it gets the 6th launcher.
Sure, Cyclone would tank better 1v1.

I'm all for having only 1 tank ship per racial lineup, so keep the ideas coming (not that there's a lot of variation to be had).

resist bonuses for the drake and ferox? \o/

50% velocity and 50% fuel would actually result in a 125% range increase.

The reason the argument was compelling is that it means that otherwise, we end up with every caldari missile boat doin exactly the same thing. That's just boring. Diversity is desired so making them all the same is what doesn't make sense. Hell, even the T2 versions are range focused, (Hawk and Cerberus.)

If you really look at it, the Drake is the precursor to the Navy Scorp. There's your progression path.