Ships & Modules

Clearly TEST are just a bit too good, and need nerfing.

With a good FC they are really good at sniping, ive seen both great and awful fleets and it really depends on what you are trying to do and how you do it.

The dimension Tier 3 BC added to the game was putting more ships in the [80] 100-150km kite-sniping bracket (with some added bi-effects such as Blaster Talos or AC Nados usurping typical Vagabond roles in solo or small-gang short-to-midrange kiting; and the ever present value of alpha). Wether that is useful or not depends on wether you use it or not, i imagine.

Those of us bitter with the introduction of these ships are generally bitter about how they have usurped roles and thrown balance in smaller, more delicate, settings. They were introduced looking at a simple perspective on large fights, to shake up the staple use of Drakes and Battleship with something inbetween, and reviving an old popular tactic (mobile sniping).

The problem is that in the more delicate environments they simply stomped over everything, from ships that used the same tactic to ships that got countered by that tactic being reinforced. Regardless your view on the Drake-Baddon-Mael paradigms, the Tier 3 BC shook small-medium gang warfare like an earthquake, while at the larger fleet-levels i presume it played it's part shaking up the doctrines for a while, providing some tactical options, but as you describe it ... didn't really impact the canon enough - because the things that already were staple, were also strong against Tier 3 BC (BS just extended their range, Tengus already had the range, and the sig against the BS-turrets). Small-medium conversely had gangs with similar roles, and counters to them - which all lost value.

I predicted this prior to their introduction by the way, and have been a bitter lemon ever since.

Tier 3 BC hurt unorthodox, techy and smaller gangs much more - while it simply reinforced existing canon: ie., Tengus became stronger, while most Gallente ships meant to get boosts [barring the Talos then] actually got weaker by comparison. Fleet-scale usually don't involve drones, active tanks or complex utility - so no one there cared. Gallente are also, amusingly enough, the traditional counter to Drakes (KN resist-profiles, fast-heavy rush or reach to slow-heavy reach and utility for unorthodox counter to simplistic missile mechanics). I have a feeling the developers overlooked that little detail, when they decided to introduce Tier 3 BC next to Gallente buffs.

If you belive the Tier 3 BC haven't made enough impact on the fleet-scale, look at what they have done in the small-medium scales, with bigger gangs "Titan-blapping" smaller gangs (the way Drake-blobs already did, but without their offensive limitations of reach, single-type bonuses or missile accuracy). Where this intended Drake-counter has essentially just reinforced the Drake-blob paradigm (making undermanned roaming even more scarce, unless done with 100mn - which is now essentially the "god counter" and will surely see continued complaints from a sheer balance perspective while the developers just continue to skewer in favour of numbers, making a game with larger-fewer actors, larger-fewer fights and less vibrant [anti-emergent] life in the gameworld).

The funny thing is, the proposed Drake changes seek to replace those offensive limitations (reach, single-type) with defensive nerfs, reinforcing the value of numbers even further. Essentially making more "Tier 3 BC". If the Tier 3 BC reinforced all that was wrong with Drakes, they now want to make Drakes reinforce everything that's wrong with Tier 3 BC. You have to see the humor in that...

/ bitter lemon, and doomsday prophet .

I see t3 BC gangs all the time. Usually Scimmys > Nados > Dics > Tackle.

They always die in a fire more times than not. Being primary has nothing to do with why they are lack luster.

Isn't that the point they have a niche? Not meant to be ships of the line? Wouldn't it be better to use them as fire support or snipers to assist?

I have not seen anyone using phrase: glass cannon; yet. There you go, now your experience have been explained. Move along now, nothing to see here.

They die alot, because they are primaried. They're primaried, because if they aren't they can really affect the outcome of an engagement. They're glass cannons and they are fine.

They're fine and as a matter of fact not slow at all - and as others pointed out they're primaried for the same reason nobody primaries a Drake.
If you can hit them, it's usually the highest DPS with the lowest tank on the field so the least time spent for maxed enemy damage mitigation.

I can see the problem with that in blobs, since even if they are in the enemies far falloff and would only receive 5% damage, 200 alpha from 100 guys still equates to 20.000 alpha.

That does seem like a pretty poor fleet doctrine. They are not intended to be the primary fleet ships.

You have 3 tier 3 BC kills on your alliance's killboard.

Obviously you have a vast pool of experience to pull from.