Ships & Modules

1) TE bonus should be to tracking only - it should never have gotten the Falloff bonus. The only reason it got the falloff bonus was because TDs got the Falloff and optimal bonus with the scripts and people cried. i, and others, argued that a universal answer to a spacific problem that added another damage mod to ACs in particular was broken. the proof is in the math.

2) If pulse tracking and scortch are to be nufed, then I think pulse also deserve a major cap and fitting reduction too. Again, look at what you sacrifice to fit them. I have perfect Amarr skills (ofc I do) and I still need to use ACRs to fit FMPs on cruisers and battlecruiers. . . and don't get me started on how each volley takes away massive amounts of cap or what a single small or medium neut can do to end me in a fight. I cannot stress how many negative aspects there are with lazers. As it stands, many amarr pilots still fit ACs. . .ACs are that good.

3) Ok, more blaster damage. . .

4) ofc.

I honestly think that ACs have surpassed blasters as the premier close range gun. They are super flexible, do fantastic damage that ramps up nicely through falloff, no cap, and practically no fitting. When I fit a mini ship, I fit the guns last. When I fit an Amarr ship, I fit the guns first. So I think you are barking up the wrong tree with scorch.

- - Its funny really. there was a major HP buff not so long ago, and here we are buffing everything back up again. It used to be like so: Blasters - when they were in range, were going to melt you. But the MWD for a Gellente ship was a one way ticket. ACs sucked - but that is why Mini have 2/3 wepon systems on ALL of their ships and have the fastest ones. ACs were just there to add to the entire dps package from all the weapon systems AND they still did less damage overall then any of the other 3 even with max skills. but they were quick - and if flown smart - could dictate the fight. . .that is huge and thats why they were considered the hardest - high skill character requirements/high player skill requirements. Caldari were boring, but long-range and pure damage types and no tracking to deal with.

What we have now is - ACs are balanced to the other 3 races, while keeping all their previous damage reduction and escape traits - Mini have become the easiest race to fly because you turn on your guns as soon as you have the lock . Amarr melt faces for a few mins before capping out. And caldari are still long range and boring - but now have massive tanks.

But I stand by the fact that it was ACs that userped the Blasters role, not scorch lazors.

Well, we disagree on what a reasonable improvement is then.

I have never found the medium cap booster an issue on a buffer tanked ship with a single neut/remote rep. I doubt most people who will face off against a Mega post-expansion will notice something has changed.

Re Void: A Mega-Pulse Apoc outdamages a Neutron-Void Mega past 10.5km...that is well within overheated-web range, the supposed domain and niche of blasters.

Re Deimos: Being able to fit a 800mm plate without fitting mods on a 100m ISK T2 HAC that just got buffed is hardly an achievement to brag about. The 1600mm plate Rupture would like to say Hi as well.

Cala

The data pulled from the test server indicated an agility nerf, as the inertia modifier got higher. However in the most recent devblog and the accompanying thread CCP Tallest did indeed state that Gallente ships will be more agile not less.

Cala

Edit: Link to Dev Statement

Well at least hype will have some use in PvE not that it has roughly 2,5K more grid to fit 425mm rails, not that grid is really as much a problem as the CPU also navy domi is going to be a beast, not to mention extra neut with guns on vanilla Domi.
My PvP mega has 0,2 CPU left in it's current fittings and that's after CPU mod.

High hopes for Blaster Proteus, it will probably have a great role for breaking gate camps.

Yes, shiney in point range.

Please.

What ccp seems to be missing is that blasters and even rail guns are one trZick ponies. While it may seem to make sense to balance the game based on theoretical eft numbers the truth is far from this failed concept. Blasters sacrifice everything imaginable compared to other weapons systems for a tiny dps advantage at a range that is almost never even achievable, WTF??

What blasters need is flexibility, not some failed pigeon holed role that has not worked since 2006... If you're going to make these ships one trick ponies that fight at a range where escape is almost impossible then they are going to need some rather strong advantages, especially when these ships are toted as "solo/small gang ships".... At the moment the true solo ships of the game are the same ships you see blowing up the kill boards... You guessed it, matari/angel ships... I'm not even going to get into the reasons why as i'd just be insulting you all at this point. We all know there is a fundamental flaw in how Blaster ships work and a simple change to fitting requirements, speed, and tracking will not change anything outside of making them a tiny bit better at a role that is already doomed to fail from concept.

Radical slot layout changes, and a total paradigm shift of Gallente combat philosophy is require to get this race working again... Time for you to stop being stubborn here CCP... You're original idea has failed years ago and it's time to act like a professional game development company and get your game competently balanced.

I am unaffected by the content of this thread.

TBH it seems rather absurd that you would NOT make the guys with the shortest range also be the fastest, but with the mindset of minmatar = fast having been around for so long, it would be insane to change that now. There are other ways to balance blasters mind you, but what CCP have done so far is at best mediocre.

200% of what? The only time you see a difference that high when comparing blasters to pulses is if you're looking at the things that pulses do well, a couple numbers pulled from a post I made a while ago (pre-buff):
Ignoring the geddon vs mega comparison that I've done to death already, here's a quick look at a neutron blaster cannon II vs a MPL II. No ammo or ship bonuses, just the raw stats:

~17% more DPS on blasters.
~333% More range on pulses (not even counting the absurdity that is scorch)
~28% more raw tracking on blasters
~260% better tracking in optimal for pulses.

ACs aren't too good, there is still a myriad of uses for the amarrian ships of damn near every type and size, but the same is not true for gallente, and that will not be changing any time soon. If you honestly believe that pulses are inferior to ACs, you either need to get your head examined, or you need to actually go out and try flying some of these OP minmatar ships.

That is not now, nor has it ever been, a valid argument for the balancing issues involving tachyons. It's an option (and a very viable one at that) that the other races do not have. When we see 500mm rails and 1800mm arties, THEN you can argue that you can't compare the different tiers. Until then, when discussing balance, we look at the best tier available to each race, and how it gets used in different situations. In terms of sniping at long ranges, tachyons are amarr's best tool, 425s are gallente's. If the best tool for sniping used by amarr is better than the best tool for sniping used by gallente (who are supposed to have the best range with their long range weapons) then we have a problem.

1)Blasters aren't doing more damage. At least not with BSs, where they need the most help. I could be wrong, but I saw no DPS increase for large neutrons in those leaked notes.

2)Blasters SHOULD remain close range, provided that they melt face when they get close. A blaster boat fielding 17% more DPS (even more insulting is the geddon's ROF bonus which brings this down to 8%) than a pulse ship isn't really that impressive.

3)Rails really don't do the worst dps at the best range, a tachyon apoc can hit the hardlock just fine and there is literally no use in shooting farther since it's not possible to lock that far. What's worse is that due to current probing and warping mechanics shooting past 150 tends to be somewhat useless since it'll be a matter of seconds before the other fleet gets a warpin on you that's closer.

4)I'm sure you would be happy, amarr still have the best guns out there.

Well, the minmatar got the face-melting with that hail-buff.
So at least someone will be able to use that tactic.

Is someone actually surprised that this someone will be the minmatar and not the gallente?