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[Thanatos, cheap shield]

Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Damage Control I
Co-Processor I

Capital Shield Extender I
Capital Shield Extender I
Pithum C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field
Pithum C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field
Pith X-Type EM Ward Field

Fighter Support Unit I
Fighter Support Unit I
Fighter Support Unit I
Networked Sensor Array
Heavy Energy Neutralizer I

Capital Core Defense Field Extender I
Capital Drone Durability Enhancer I
Capital Drone Speed Augmentor I


there you go cheaper(particularly since you get far more dps with t1s than the armor gets with t2 fighters) tanks more and does more DPS

you can use warfare links if you wish but i find that role better left to a t3 or command ship

How much of that is due to sig radius interactions? See, people sometimes forget that fighters used to be subjectively better when they can land a wrecking hit for 2000 damage, multiply by 15 fighters.

If it perfectly applies you still live but toy would not last much longer lol

Even without fighters the older carriers were far more effective in many places thanks to sub cap drones

only reason they are there was to make it similar to his fit i would go with full shield rigs

EDIT

however the rigs are valid and if you use the fit i had b4 everything fits fine

the extra tank i think would be huge but i will need to take it into a fight to find out while the nav rig does give it a bit more range ultimately i would say it depends on how you use it. If you are like me and use these in WH the extra tank probably is not needed.

over all though i find the nid and chimera to be much better (now that my guys have found a work around for the lower fighter bay on the chimera)

I really don't ever expect to see carriers used in massive fights ever again. Maybe only as super defanging anti-fighter ships but otherwise no they really don't have any place in an environment where the question of their fighter hp pool or raw tank is going to be tested. At least now they can fight while catching reps if that's your thing.

What kind of fights are these? Slippery pete vs rattlesnake fights?

Machariels?

Nightmare fleets?

I guess WH space is different, in known space 100,150 is a decent fight but lowsec in particular, where you can field carriers you can field dreads. Which leaves carriers in a somewhat awkward position.

Again, that may well be useful in WH Space, if your carrier survives long enough to lose all its fighters. Personally I wouldn't be counting on waiting out a timer in preparation to throw away another billion isk in fighters. In any other part of space, it only takes a blink of an eye and your carriers are surrounded by dreads and or even more subs.

In known space, the current role of carriers is to get in kill and get out before they can be hot dropped by - well, just about anything really.

3 carriers and a fax counter drop for a 15 man gate camp that has engaged a 10 man roam (carriers with gate camp have this won?) - Hics decloak, second cyno goes up, dreads land at optimal's, carriers dead (whoops).
This actually happened 2 days ago, unfortunately the fax managed to survive long enough to jump out and dock up next door, he just de-agressed as soon as the dreads landed leaving his carrier buddies to their fate. Fax was at zero on the gate, carriers (around 20 off the gate) too far away to make it out

While it was fun, the only real threat the dreads faced was an additional counter drop from a larger group while in siege, the carriers were utterly helpless and were disposed of as easily as a cerb fleet decimates T1 destroyers caught in bubbles.

Having said that, carriers are ok at what they do, which unfortunately isn't much or very well.
Light fighters are too disposable for the prices - They need to come down at least 50% in build costs. They are currently the most expensive "ammo" in the game..

Carriers themselves have no utility - They are restricted to fighting large subcaps (BC's and Battleships), without bringing enough support that you don't need carriers.

Income with carriers - Your better of with just about anything other than a carrier. Lose one squad of fighters, you've lost any profit you may have made from the site and as most rats will attack light fighters (in my testing) this is quite possible. Add to this, npc capital spawns which carriers just die to, carriers are a last choice for ratting or lvl 5's.

While carriers may well have a place in WH fleets, that same place is not really viable elsewhere unless you are the local sov holder in which case carriers can be pretty OP due to the limited mobility (jump ranges and fatigue) of anything that could potentially counter them.

NB; I'm not disagreeing with you, just trying to show the differences. Devs did a good job at keeping carriers viable in WH space, (which was a design goal) but that usefulness doesn't work outside of a wormhole.

Imagine the drama if geckos become actual fighter drones.

Yeah I can't imagine the gurista capital being a bonused carrier. It will be some tardy phoenix variant that noone will ever use.