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Mobile Sentry Towers and Hacking Expansion
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Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#1 - 2013-06-09 14:59:19 UTC
Greetings pilots. We've recently entered Odyssey and have seen the introduction of a new hacking minigame plus other stuff. It is this minigame that has spawned my idea though.

Based on CCPs desire to use the minigame and/or hacking in new ways throughout the game, I've come up with the following as a way to introduce new content that accommodates this, rather than botching up POS warfare with strange hacking mechanics.

My idea revolves around Mobile Sentry Towers. This sounds a bit like an oxymoron, but the principle is that they can be relatively rapidly deployed and removed in areas of space without needing a control and anchor such as a POS (except in a single case). Instead, they'd be more like the sentry towers you see in deadspace dungeons.

The towers would come in 10 flavors:

  • Laser
  • Hybrid
  • Missile
  • Projectile
  • Webifier
  • Damp
  • Neut
  • ECM
  • Data Reinforcer
  • Item Catapult

Each of these flavors would also have 3 types

  • Basic - Low tier simple towers.
  • Sophisticated - Stronger, better, more adaptable, more expensive
  • Distal - Medium power, long range.


Laser, hybrid, missile and projectile towers are, as they say on the tin, weapons arrays. They shoot stuff. However, for an interesting twist, Basic towers would be locked to one damage type (Lasers EM, Hybrids Thermal, Missile Kinetic, Projectile Explosive).

Sophisticated towers would be capable of a second damage type, selectable as either 100:0, 50:50 or 0:100. (Lasers EM/Therm. Hybrids Therm/Kin. Missiles Kin/Explosive. Projectile Explosive/EM).

Distal towers would be capable of a second damage type, selectable as either 100:0, 75:25 or 50:50.

Webifier, Damp, Neut and ECM (for minmatar, gallente, amarr and caldari tech) would also do as they say on the tin. More on that further down.

All towers would need anchoring and onlining to be used, and would consume a new fuel that would be sourced only from wormhole space. Likewise, the blueprints and many materials to build these towers would come from wormhole space. Class 1-2 would supply low amounts of fuel based items and gear for Basic towers. C3-4 would supply gear for Distal towers and some Basic as well as ample fuel sources. C5-6 would supply gear for Sophisticated towers, with some Distal and rare Basic as well as torrents of fuel sources.

The idea is to provide a portable, stationary defense (ie sentry guns) with additional utility that makes use of the hacking minigame to be taken down by brain, or good old weaponry by brawn. The wormhole space source, along with general cost to build, should put the sentries at a reasonable price. The aim would be for basic towers to cost a few million and about 60k/hour to keep online. Sophisticated towers would be in the region of 15-20m each and cost about 300k/hour to keep online. Distal towers 10-15m each and cost about 180k/hour to keep online. Storage would be limited to require constant resupply from a nearby stock (or take it down when done) rather than set up and admire (as it the design of POS).

I foresee the sentries being used to guard the entrance to longer complexes and mining sites, as well as an offensive tool surrounding wormholes. The particular types of ammo usage would create new markets for them, especially the frequency crystals.

General stats:
All towers cannot be anchored in high sec. All towers cannot be anchored within 150km of gates or stations (but may be anchored close to wormholes). Anchor time 10 seconds, Online time 10 seconds. Offline time 10 seconds, Unanchor time 10 seconds. No reload time on guns/missiles.

Basic towers:
- Cannot anchor within 10km of another anchorable object (container, asteroid, tower etc).
- Auto lock range of 30km. Lock range of 50km.
- Average cruiser level of HP and scan resolution.
- Uses small ammunition
- Consumes 1 unit of fuel per minute

Sophisticated towers:
- Cannot anchor within 10km of another anchorable object.
- Auto lock range of 40km. Lock range 50km.
- Average battleship level of HP. Average cruiser scan resolution.
- Uses large ammunition
- Consumes 5 units of fuel per minute

Distal towers:
- Cannot anchor within 15km of another anchorable object.
- Auto lock range of 60km. Lock range of 75km
- Average battlecruiser level of HP and scan resolution.
- Uses medium ammunition
- Consumes 3 units of fuel per minute

This puts a hard limit on the number of towers that can be in a given area of effect.

Towers would consume the new fuel whilst online, but also require a secondary ammunition to be active. In the case of weapon towers, this would be ammunition. In the case of e-war towers, this would be cap boosters. The Data Reinforcer would not need a secondary ammo.

In addition to this, 3 new modules would be created. These would also be sourced from wormhole space.

  • Weak Signal Occult
  • Amplified Signal Occult
  • Covert Signal Occult


Only 1 of this group of modules may be fitted to a ship at a time, using a low slot.

Weak Signal Occults would hide the ship it is attached to from Basic towers under normal circumstances indefinitely, while Sophisticated and Distal towers will detect and begin to lock the ship after 30 seconds.

Amplified Signal Occult would hide the ship it is attached to from Basic and Distal towers under normal circumstances indefinitely, while Sophisticated towers will detect and begin to lock the ship after 60 seconds.

Covert Signal Occult would hide the ship it is attached to from all towers under normal circumstances indefinitely. This module can only be fitted to covert capable ships (similar to Covert Cynosaural field generator).
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#2 - 2013-06-09 15:00:23 UTC  |  Edited by: Kenneth Skybound
This would allow a ship to go under the Sentry Towers for an amount of time to then deal with either the towers or the enemy ships located there as they see fit for a certain amount of time. The skill to use this module would also increase the detection time by 5% per level.

- - - - - -

To deal with the towers, a pilot can either shoot the tower or hack it. A data analyzer can be used to either offline the tower for 15 minutes or cause it to unanchor. Success on first attempt will unanchor it, with a 80% chance of it blowing up. Success on second attempt will offline it for 15 minutes. Two failures will put it and nearby towers on Alert Mode.

Alternatively, a relic analyzer can be used to force an eject of the tower's ammunition. Success on first attempt will eject 100% of the ammunition hold and offline the tower for 15 minutes. Success on second attempt will eject 33% of the ammunition hold and offline the tower for 5 minutes. Two failures will put it and nearby towers on Alert Mode.

Towers will not outwardly display their current state. To check their state, a pilot must be within 5km and choose the option “Check State” to see if the tower is Unanchored, Anchored, Online, Alert, Hacked. This would help reduce the ease with which tower owners can discover an infiltrator, while adding a bit of paranoia for ill prepared invaders.

- - - - - - - - -

Alert mode is the abnormal circumstances to which the Signal Occults hint towards.

Basic towers on Alert Mode will detect a ship using a Weak Signal Occult after 10 seconds, an Amplified Signal Occult after 20 seconds and a Covert Signal Occult after 30 seconds.

Distal towers on Alert Mode will detect a ship using a Weak Signal Occult immediately, an Amplified Signal Occult after 10 seconds and a Covert Signal Occult after 20 seconds.

Sophisticated towers on Alert Mode will detect a ship using a Weak Signal Occult immediately, an Amplified Signal Occult after 5 seconds and a Covert Signal Occult after 10 seconds.

All towers on Alert Mode will consume 3x the ordinary amount of fuel per minute until taken out of Alert Mode by the tower owners. All towers on alert mode will attempt to lock ships out to their maximum range, rather than the auto targeting range.

Hacking by most ships requires standard practice. Get in range, lock, use module, run minigame. Live.

Hacking by Covert ships using the Covert Signal Occult can be done while cloaked (only against these towers, not your exploration sites) by being within 5km and right clicking the tower to choose “Hack Data” or “Hack Relic”. This allows stealth infiltration proper. As a penalty, failing a hack such that the tower(s) go on Alert Mode will disable the covert ship's ability to cloak for 60 seconds.

The intention of these modules and methods is to give multiple strategies for fleets. Having a dedicated scan ship on hand can allow for the discovery of ships and the hacking of their safety before the full fleet arrives. Alternatively, the fleet can fit Signal Occults as standard to get under the guns for an amount of time.

- - - - - - - - -

To assist towers in not being hacked in this way, Data Reinforcer towers may be anchored. Basic Data Reinforcer towers will slightly increase the number of firewalls or anti-virus in nearby tower computers. Distal Data Reinforcer towers will cause Virus Suppressors to spawn in the computer network. Sophisticated Data Reinforcer towers will cause Restoration Nodes to spawn in the computer network. Data hacking these towers would unanchor/offline them as with the combat towers. Relic hacking these towers would cause utilities to spawn in greater abundance in the defended towers' computers, additionally offlining the Data Reinforcer tower if successfully hacked on the first attempt. Both the utilities and the offline mode would remain for 15 minutes.

Basic towers would typically be as difficult as low sec sites to hack at minimum. Data Reinforcer towers would ramp this up. Distal towers and Sophisticated towers would be as difficult as null sec sites to hack at minimum. Data Reinforcer towers would ramp this up. Any given tower can be boosted by a maximum of two Data Reinforcer towers at a time. Towers with more than 2 Data Reinforcer towers within defence range can be customised on which tower they communicate with in a management interface. Spreading the load across different towers can prevent mass hacking should the Data Reinforcer be compromised.

- - - - - - - - -

Item Catapults would be utility towers. These towers have a Sender and Receiver node. Sender nodes can be anchored like the rest of the towers. Receiver nodes must be anchored between 30 and 75km from an online POS Control Tower and receive their power from the Control Tower. A Sender and Receiver node pair can be linked together once both towers are online by means of a management interface. The item catapult can be configured to send Ice, Ore and Gas.

Basic Item Catapults would launch up to 1'000m^3 per minute from it's cargo hold to the Receiver. It's max cargo hold would be approximately 20'000m^3, with an access range of 2000m

Distal Item Catapults would launch up to 2'000m^3 per minute from it's cargo hold to the Receiver. It's max cargo hold would be approximately 20'000m^3, with an access range of 10km.

Sophisticated Item Catapults would launch up to 3'000m^3 per minute from it's cargo hold to the Receiver. It's max cargo hold would be approximately 36'000m^3, with an access range of 4km.

Receiver Nodes would have a maximum cargo hold of 45'000m^3 and an access range of 500m. They can only be linked to one Sender Node at a time.
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#3 - 2013-06-09 15:00:48 UTC  |  Edited by: Kenneth Skybound
Item Catapults, when their data is hacked, will unanchor/offline like the combat towers. When their relics are hacked, the Catapult will send an eject notice to the Receiver node, dumping either 100% of it's hold or 33% of it's hold based on first or second attempt. In both cases the catapult will then offline for 15 minutes.

SPECS OF TOWERS

Gun Tower specs. All bracketed info is in the order Basic, Sophisticated, Distal.

Hybrid:
4 of the 8 Hybrid ammunition types are used for Tech 2 gear. These towers can use 3 of the 4 remaining ammunition types. Tracking 0.1/0.15/0.1. Signature resolution 125m/125/125
-- Uranium for highest damage, lowest range (DPS 200/400/300. Optimal 5km/8/10. Falloff 5/8/10.)
-- Lead for medium damage and range (DPS 140/280/210. Optimal 8km/12/15. Falloff 10/15/20.)
-- Tungsten for lowest damage, highest range (DPS 80/160/120. Optimal 15km/22/30. Falloff 20/20/40.)

Laser ammunition:
4 of the 8 Crystals are used in Tech 2 gear. These towers can use 3 of the 4 remaining ammunition types. Tracking 0.07/0.1/0.07. Signature resolution 125m/125/125
-- Gamma for highest damage, lowest range (DPS 180/360/270. Optimal 8/13/16. Falloff 1/2/3.)
-- Standard for medium damage and range (DPS 126/252/189. Optimal 16/26/32. Falloff 2/3/4.)
-- Microwave for lowest damage, highest range (DPS 72/144/108. Optimal 30/40/50. Falloff 5/7/9.)
All crystals would degrade at a rate to match their mineral cost to other ammunition of the same size.

Projectile ammunition:
4 of the 8 Projectile ammunition types are used for Tech 2 gear. These towers can use 3 of the 4 remaining ammunition types. Tracking 0.1/0.15/0.1. Signature resolution 125m/125/125
-- Fusion for highest damage, lowest range. (DPS 170/340/255. Optimal 3/5/7. Falloff 8/11/15.)
-- Phased Plasma for medium damage and range. (Explanation: the thermal power is used as a propellant) (DPS 119/238/178. Optimal 5/7/10. Falloff 13/18/25.)
-- Proton for lowest damage, highest range. (Explanation: Science). (DPS 68/136/102. Optimal 9/11/13. Falloff 20/30/40.)

Missile tower specs. Bracket info is in the order Scourge, Explosive, EM, Thermal.

All missile types are consumed in Tech 2 gear. Therefore any ammunition type can be used, and the sleeper technology has it's way with the damage type. Because science.
-- Basic towers would use light missiles. Scourge for maximum damage, Explosive for medium damage and range, Thermal for low damage, high speed, long range, EM for med-low damage, slow speed, long range. (DPS 170/119/85/68 Speed 4000ms/4000/3000/8000 Time 5s/10/18/7) Explosion velocity 100m/s. Explosion radius 125m
-- Distal towers would use heavy missiles. (DPS 255/178/127/102 Speed 5000ms/5000/4500/8000 Time 5s/10s/18s/10s) Explosion velocity 110m/s. Explosion radius 125m
-- Sophisticated towers would use torpedoes. (DPS 340/238/170/136 Speed 4000ms/4000/3500/8000 Time 5s/10/17/7.5) Explosion velocity 130m/s. Explosion radius 125m

E-war towers:
-- Basic towers would use 25's for shortest range, 50 for medium range, 75 for long range
-- Sophisticated towers would use 200 for shortest range, 400 for medium range, 800 for long range
-- Distal towers would use 100 for weaker effect, 150 for stronger effect. No range modification.


Web
-- Cycle time 10 seconds.
-- Speed reduction 20% Basic, 30% Sophisticated, 25% Distal (40% with Distal 150)
-- Range 10km (25/200) 20km (50/400) 30km (75/800) 45km (100/150)

Damp
-- Cycle time 10 seconds
-- Range/Scan resolution reduction 20% Basic, 30% Sophisticated, 25% Distal (35% with Distal 150)
-- Range 20km (25/200) 30km (50/400) 45km (75/800) 60km (100/150)

Neut
-- Cycle time 10 seconds
-- Neut amount 80 GJ Basic, 120 GJ Sophisticated, 100 GJ Distal (150 GJ with Distal 150)
-- Range 5km (25/200) 10km (50/400) 15km (75/800) 20km (100/150)

ECM
-- Cycle time 10 seconds
-- Omni jam strength 4 Basic, 8 Sophisticated, 6 Distal (9 with Distal 150)
-- Range 5km (25/200) 10km (50/400) 15km (75/800) 20km (100/150)

Other Tower Stats:
Basic:
Armor 10'000 hp. Hull 1'000. Armor Resists 50/50/50/50. Hull resists 95/95/95/95. (40k ehp)
Signature Radius 200m. Sensor strength 20. (Racial. Data Reinforcer and Item Catapult Gravimetric). Targeting range 50km. Scan resolution 350mm. Max locked targets 3. Auto targeting range 30km.
Fuel bay for 2 hours. Ammo hold for 4000 shots.

Sophisticated:
Armor 20'000hp. Hull 1'000. Armor Resists 75/75/75/75. Hull resists 95/95/95/95 (100k ehp)
Signature Radius 175m. Sensor strength 25. Targeting range 50km. Scan resolution 400mm. Max locked targets 5. Auto targeting range 40km.
Fuel bay for 4 hours. Ammo hold for 8000 shots.

Distal:
Armor 20'000hp. Hull 1'000. Armor resists 60/60/60/60. Hull resists 95/95/95/95 (70k ehp)
Signature Radius 175m. Sensor strength 30. Targeting range 75km. Scan resolution 250mm. Max locked targets 5. Auto targeting range 60km.
Fuel bay for 4 hours. Ammo hold for 6000 shots.

Players with the Starbase Defense Management skill and associated role may operate Towers up to 50km away.

Players with Anchoring level 2 may anchor Basic towers for the corporation. Level 3 for Distal. Level 4 for Sophisticated. This requires the Config equipment role.
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#4 - 2013-06-09 15:01:09 UTC  |  Edited by: Kenneth Skybound
Posts posted.

I've been working very long and hard on this idea so please take the time to read it fully. All constructive comments are welcome, as well as queries on why I've done/not done certain things.

I fully expect to have missed entire chunks of data or screwed up the idea somewhere along the line, so please point out if you find this. Though please be gentle :P

Thanks for giving this a read. I look forward to your response.
Dianila Artemisa
Macabre Votum
Northern Coalition.
#5 - 2013-06-09 15:17:36 UTC  |  Edited by: Dianila Artemisa
I haven't read this thread fully yet, I'll do that in a minute, but wouldn't that be an easy way to restrict access to your wh system? You scan down your static, anchor these sentries and go offline/afk?

EDIT: Having read a bit further, this seems like making wh guarding a lot easier. You just anchor a bunch of these sentries and nobody will make it through.

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#6 - 2013-06-09 15:21:19 UTC
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
I haven't read this thread fully yet, I'll do that in a minute, but wouldn't that be an easy way to restrict access to your wh system? You scan down your static, anchor these sentries and go offline/afk?


With the limited fuel bay, ability to have them hacked or destroyed, or even bypassed with simple modules, they have a LOT of limits on their ability to act offensively. I also purposefully avoided a warp disruption tower for much this reason.

However, while watching over ACTIVE pilots, these sentries add valuable time and opportunity, especially for those who gear up to work with their sentries rather than just along side them.
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#7 - 2013-06-09 15:35:57 UTC
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
...

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.


I wouldn't think it'd make farming that much safer. While mining Ore and Gas would be supported by it, wormhole sites don't use acceleration gates like in K-Space, and setting up these towers in data/relic/combat sites would be both a waste of time and money, especially if the sleepers attack your tower.
mxzf
Shovel Bros
#8 - 2013-06-09 18:13:34 UTC
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
...

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.


I wouldn't think it'd make farming that much safer. While mining Ore and Gas would be supported by it, wormhole sites don't use acceleration gates like in K-Space, and setting up these towers in data/relic/combat sites would be both a waste of time and money, especially if the sleepers attack your tower.


They don't use acceleration gates, but to actually get into the system you have to go through a wormhole. A wormhole with a large T2 bubble and a couple of these in web and gun variants would be a deathtrap for anything coming through the WH. Effectively making the system safe.
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#9 - 2013-06-09 20:08:21 UTC
mxzf wrote:
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
...

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.


I wouldn't think it'd make farming that much safer. While mining Ore and Gas would be supported by it, wormhole sites don't use acceleration gates like in K-Space, and setting up these towers in data/relic/combat sites would be both a waste of time and money, especially if the sleepers attack your tower.


They don't use acceleration gates, but to actually get into the system you have to go through a wormhole. A wormhole with a large T2 bubble and a couple of these in web and gun variants would be a deathtrap for anything coming through the WH. Effectively making the system safe.


Until a covert fitted ship took them all out. Or the fuel runs out. Something to just take them out.

You put in effort, you get reward. If you are willing to risk x number of towers on a hole, with all that fuel and the rest, by all means. Just be aware that, left unattended, they will be stolen.
S3ND3TH
Czerka.
What Could Possibly Go Wr0ng
#10 - 2013-06-10 16:42:05 UTC  |  Edited by: S3ND3TH
Eve has gates all over the game with gate guns and they aren't safe. There is another post similar to this about anchoring mini pos's anywhere in space. I will come back and link it if I can find it. At the very least this might be a good idea for outposts in null sec. I do not like the idea with the fuel. we will just have the old style of fueling pos's all over again. Please let us never speak of or recreate the fueling fiasco again.

mxzf wrote:
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
...

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.


I wouldn't think it'd make farming that much safer. While mining Ore and Gas would be supported by it, wormhole sites don't use acceleration gates like in K-Space, and setting up these towers in data/relic/combat sites would be both a waste of time and money, especially if the sleepers attack your tower.


They don't use acceleration gates, but to actually get into the system you have to go through a wormhole. A wormhole with a large T2 bubble and a couple of these in web and gun variants would be a deathtrap for anything coming through the WH. Effectively making the system safe.
Alvatore DiMarco
Capricious Endeavours Ltd
#11 - 2013-06-10 16:55:28 UTC  |  Edited by: Alvatore DiMarco
I didn't read the whole thing, although I did skim it. Skimming, I discovered, doesn't really work. However, I found mostly three things I wanted to say, and so I'll say them.

Firstly, holy freaking crap. How long did it take you to write all that up, much less figure out all the details?

Second, CCP hasn't specifically said they're going to incorporate hacking into anything yet, much less POS warfare. The devs involved did however react positively when the notion of using hacking to remove the offline POSes that are clogging up everything everywhere was raised.

Third, upon reading a bit more closely, it seems like everything for these towers comes from WH space and once constructed they can be sustained solely by materials in WH. No ice whatsoever. This basically sounds like "CCP won't let us have ice belts in WH so let's get new towers that don't need ice." Maybe I'm mistaken about that, but no. You do not get to isolate yourselves in your WH systems that weren't even designed to be lived in and play Backwoods WH Pioneers Online while ignoring that K-space exists. Moreover, I'll agree with what someone else here said and basically suggest that this sounds like it's making defense of WH systems much, much easier.
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#12 - 2013-06-10 22:35:11 UTC
Alvatore DiMarco wrote:
I didn't read the whole thing, although I did skim it. Skimming, I discovered, doesn't really work. However, I found mostly three things I wanted to say, and so I'll say them.

Firstly, holy freaking crap. How long did it take you to write all that up, much less figure out all the details?

Second, CCP hasn't specifically said they're going to incorporate hacking into anything yet, much less POS warfare. The devs involved did however react positively when the notion of using hacking to remove the offline POSes that are clogging up everything everywhere was raised.

Third, upon reading a bit more closely, it seems like everything for these towers comes from WH space and once constructed they can be sustained solely by materials in WH. No ice whatsoever. This basically sounds like "CCP won't let us have ice belts in WH so let's get new towers that don't need ice." Maybe I'm mistaken about that, but no. You do not get to isolate yourselves in your WH systems that weren't even designed to be lived in and play Backwoods WH Pioneers Online while ignoring that K-space exists. Moreover, I'll agree with what someone else here said and basically suggest that this sounds like it's making defense of WH systems much, much easier.


I had specified that fuel would require wormhole sourced stuff for this idea, however I wasn't sold either way on whether or not they could be ENTIRELY fueled from WH space. I understand and support the reasoning behind no ice in wormholes.

In any case, I am a day tripper and diver rather than a resident at this time.

As pointed out, defending wormhole systems with these towers only works up until someone uses the not inaccessible tactics to them remove the sentry towers.

CCP had mentioned that they want to develop the hacking idea. They specifically stated in a dev blog that the hacking minigame was disconnected from the cans so it could be implemented elsewhere.

This is not POS warfare. A POS only plays into the item catapult in this ENTIRE idea.

As for time taken...impossible to say really. The broader aspects I mulled over time, solidifying things as they seemed more plausible, breaking down the aspects that didn't work. Final write up to get it to a presentable state was only about 2 hours, maybe 3. I had a blue screen during that time so it's hard to be sure.

Thanks for your response! :)
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#13 - 2013-06-10 22:36:42 UTC
S3ND3TH wrote:
Eve has gates all over the game with gate guns and they aren't safe. There is another post similar to this about anchoring mini pos's anywhere in space. I will come back and link it if I can find it. At the very least this might be a good idea for outposts in null sec. I do not like the idea with the fuel. we will just have the old style of fueling pos's all over again. Please let us never speak of or recreate the fueling fiasco again.

mxzf wrote:
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
...

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.


I wouldn't think it'd make farming that much safer. While mining Ore and Gas would be supported by it, wormhole sites don't use acceleration gates like in K-Space, and setting up these towers in data/relic/combat sites would be both a waste of time and money, especially if the sleepers attack your tower.


They don't use acceleration gates, but to actually get into the system you have to go through a wormhole. A wormhole with a large T2 bubble and a couple of these in web and gun variants would be a deathtrap for anything coming through the WH. Effectively making the system safe.


I don't understand your gripe with fuel, sorry. I see it as a simple way to limit the active time for the Sentry Towers. As this would be an entirely new fuel, the exact mechanics of how it operates could be fine tuned to avoid past issues where possible.
Aquila Sagitta
Blue-Fire
#14 - 2013-06-10 22:58:48 UTC
Cool idea. Would need A LOT of tweaking and balancing. I'd make the anchoring times similiar to bubbles tho... 20 secs to anchor/online is far too short. I think your anchor distances are too short as well. Could easily anchor 15 of these things around a wh and they'd still be in range. Then sit there with a ceptor and large t2 bubble and let your sentries do the killing for you. With these sentries one guy could effectively defend a wh against 4-5 people. I'm sure that would scale to some extent as well.

TBH i think the only form this idea belongs is in nullsec where sov holders can set up sentries on stations/gates that would shoot hostile much like highsec/lowsec. The sentries only aggress if a person with lower then neutral standings aggressed in range of them (much like lowsec).

Blue-Fire Best Fire
Siern Scottsman
The Singularity Syndicate
#15 - 2013-06-11 10:09:30 UTC
My first thought of this is my orca sitting safed up surrounded by towers as a sort of mini POS for use durring roams Pirate.

But now i am thinking further on, i keep hearing on the forums how we need to get Rorquals out from behind the POS shields and to make use of the capital tractor beam. here is your chance, park it way off the belt surrounded by protective towers and a sending tower beside it. on grid boosts, "safe" Rorqual, Quick delivery to POS; everybodys happy.

However NO to the fuel concept , if you want to limit their opperational time then put a cycle time on them so that they will automatically offline after a given time frame. Or better yet have them unanchorTwisted.
Danika Princip
GoonWaffe
Goonswarm Federation
#16 - 2013-06-11 10:33:28 UTC
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
mxzf wrote:
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
...

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.


I wouldn't think it'd make farming that much safer. While mining Ore and Gas would be supported by it, wormhole sites don't use acceleration gates like in K-Space, and setting up these towers in data/relic/combat sites would be both a waste of time and money, especially if the sleepers attack your tower.


They don't use acceleration gates, but to actually get into the system you have to go through a wormhole. A wormhole with a large T2 bubble and a couple of these in web and gun variants would be a deathtrap for anything coming through the WH. Effectively making the system safe.


Until a covert fitted ship took them all out. Or the fuel runs out. Something to just take them out.

You put in effort, you get reward. If you are willing to risk x number of towers on a hole, with all that fuel and the rest, by all means. Just be aware that, left unattended, they will be stolen.



Don't you have to lock things to hack them? If so, then a cloaky ship will die as fast as anything else when trying to deal with these.
Kenneth Skybound
Gallifrey Resources
#17 - 2013-06-12 12:40:57 UTC
Danika Princip wrote:
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
mxzf wrote:
Kenneth Skybound wrote:
Dianila Artemisa wrote:
...

EDIT No. 2: No, I don't think this is a good idea, it will make farming wspace easier and safer, but wspace isn't supposed to be safe nor easy.


I wouldn't think it'd make farming that much safer. While mining Ore and Gas would be supported by it, wormhole sites don't use acceleration gates like in K-Space, and setting up these towers in data/relic/combat sites would be both a waste of time and money, especially if the sleepers attack your tower.


They don't use acceleration gates, but to actually get into the system you have to go through a wormhole. A wormhole with a large T2 bubble and a couple of these in web and gun variants would be a deathtrap for anything coming through the WH. Effectively making the system safe.


Until a covert fitted ship took them all out. Or the fuel runs out. Something to just take them out.

You put in effort, you get reward. If you are willing to risk x number of towers on a hole, with all that fuel and the rest, by all means. Just be aware that, left unattended, they will be stolen.



Don't you have to lock things to hack them? If so, then a cloaky ship will die as fast as anything else when trying to deal with these.


...Which is why the post actually states that the Covert Signal Occult would allow cloaked hacking.

In response to those above: I admit it would need a lot of tweaking. Perhaps the anchor range being increased would be needed yeah.

With regards to gate/station defense, I've purposefully stated these should be off gates/stations due to the power they can present and the many options already available to camp stations/gates.

These are meant to be quick and light defenses that would deter the unprepared pilot or force a bit more tactics, while allowing more specialist fleets (especially ones with a covert ship in the group) the ability to do some serious damage.

Perhaps bubbles and wormholes should count as "anchorable objects" for the sake of determining placement of towers too.

People continue to mention "No to fuel" without saying why. Why is fuel an issue for you?