Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Train time and cost are not balancing factor. No ship need to be overpowered no matter what reason you want to make up for it.

If this was an effective solution, it would already be employed. However, when 60 ishtars are facing off against 80 battleships, and each ishtar can carry what, 3 sets of sentries? Ignoring the fact that the battleships are going to miss a reasonable number of their shots against sentries (even while the sentries are almost stationary, the battleships will not be), in the time that it takes the battleships to shoot down through any reasonable amount of the sentries to where many of the ishtars have less than 5 remaining, a large portion of the battleship fleet will be dead.

Now, if you could actually get on top of the ishtar blob with a gang of smartbombers, then at least you can work on popping the swarm like that, but simply shooting them is completely impractical.

So no, there is not already a wonderful module to counter drones with a range of over ~7km.

Now, I don't know how difficult it would be to implement, but a potentially very simple and clean solution would be that when a ship is jammed, it cannot delegate drones (makes sense too, since you'd be jamming its ability to communicate with the other ship for its drones). Could also allow sensor dampeners to affect drone control range, which would also work to the same end.

Small modifications like the two I suggested will allow for more versatile ewar ships, and prevent fewer balance problems, as opposed to the heavy-handed, shi+s broke, we need a new module/ship fix.

From what I've noticed, most the allegations for Ishtars being overpowered has been focused more on sentry drones (especially when the tracking bonus of the ishtar is applied) than the ship hull itself. I think that is where you may want to start your ideas on balance. If the doctrine-of-the-month fleet ishtar was bringing heavies, people would just park a disco BS and call it a done job.

Not sure if bombs are even a very good balancing mechanic against sentries tbh.
edit: according to Phaade in the next post, it is "somewhat effective", YMMV

Sure you are shoot the drones, but the ability of those drones in the first place ~may~ be out of balance, especially when it means you have to chew through the combined EHP of 5x Sentries (or up to 15x since they can keep deploying them as you kill them) and the ship itself to end incoming damage.

Would dropping the MWD role bonus for a 50(25)% drone control range bonus help? I understand it gives them longer range, but it makes the main ship more vulnerable. If the main ship dies it's drones won't be causing problems. Much more effective then being forced to try and kill drones without buffing their drone abilities too hard.

Agreed, weve already nerfed the ishtar back into a reasonable realm of use. Countinued crying about it is the result of bad counter doctrines, lack of coordination, or just down right bad luck. Ishtar fleets are dying people, if someone can do it so can you

Three examples and you decide to nit-pick one, and that somehow lead you to believe you know what you're talking about?

Troll much?

You realize an armor tanked Ishtar has crap dps from sentries, right? By up to near half.

If you're not in null, why are you engaging fleets of Ishtars? There's nothing for you to lose by not engaging.

Ishtars are the most represented HAC in fleets because the current meta supports alpha doctrines for large engagements, and Ishtars are far more mobile a platform for that than anything else.

Bottom line is that Ishtar fleets are not the OP platform your uninformed opinion seems to believe provided you fly smart. If you're camping a lowsec gate and an Ishtar fleet shows up on the other side, it's your own damn fault if you stick around for them to kill. Ishtar fleets, like any other fleet, is all about keeping an advantage. However, if those roaming fleets don't ever get fights because all their prey vanishes when they come in, those fleets will either break up into more managable numbers, or will reship into something else to get fights.


This is just a bad example of a bad tactic. If you have 80 battleships, why are you not taking out logi and trying to alpha the Ishtars off the field? Doesn't matter how many drones it carries if you blap it.

Hmmm... What about if there would be a bandwidth disruptor kind of EW module that would break connection between the ship and the drones. Thus making the pilot have to reconnect to them?

The only case that you have made is that sentry drone HP should be reduced, and possibly their sig radius should be a bit larger.

Also im assuming that you have never heard of bombs or smartbombs? because sentry drones tend not to move much and thus are prime targets for this strategy.

Ishtars give up mobility when they deploy sentry drones, er rather they choose to give up mobility or lose their drones. That is a HUGE disadvantage. if YOU cannot find a way to capitalize on that massive disadvantage then that is a problem with YOU not the weapon system

so the ishtars warp in, drop sentrys and burn away... Because you're not an idiot and you prepared to face the current meta, you call in a bombing run on the now abandoned drone cluster who has no means of escape.

Lather
Rinse
Repeat
(x2)
???
profit

Remember these are not slowcats who can just drop endless waves of sentry drones, they have 3 sets and then its over.

Hopefully they completely ruin drones again so everyone can resume bitching about ECM being too powerful .. after it's counter has been wrecked completely.