Ships & Modules

This is a pet peeve of mine: it is the highest because the CFC uses them extensively. The Maelstrom is #2 because the CFC uses them less than Drakes. If the CFC decided tomorrow to fly Laser Feroxes, they'd fly right up the EVE-Kill Top 20 rankings in short order.

No, it's not just the CFC use of Drakes. This pattern has been steady for years now, maybe not as pronbounced as 3 to 1 but drakes have remained top used over that time.

It's not just the recent CFC adoption of the drake over Maels as their main BS. Evoke uses drakes. -A-/Stainwagon used drakes. ****, you guys are straying from the Moonin and using drakes and tengus now aren't you? Everyone has used drakes heavily.

When the CFC used only Maelstroms, Maelstroms were #1, with Abaddons (flown by their enemy) being #2 and once they adopted Welpcanes, Canes flipped between the 2 and 3 spots.



And lost to actual BS. Repeatedly. Pointedly. For months on end. Like every other battlecruiser in the game.



Drake week happens every once in awhile in BL, has been that way since before I joined a year ago. We do it because it's a better learning platform than a Muninn for gang pvp. Meanwhile Tengus are a hard-counter (appropriately employed) against Alphafleet that we've been fighting.

• Best in BC vs BC 1v1

• Kiting, sig tanking, neuting doesn't counter Drake well

• Punches above its weight in large groups for fleets

• Punches above its weight in PVE

• Relatively cheap as chips in replacement cost after insurance

These 5 factors combined make Drake a bit too good.
Just wait for it to get nerfed before the Hurricane OP cries start emerging.

However Drakes are much less heavily used than when they were the de facto fleet ship in the horrible post-Dominion lag days. There are plenty of viable non-Drake fleet options - probably more now than ever - but Drakes will continue to be popular for as long as they're cheap, easy to skill for and easy to fly. It's not like there are no viable counters to a Drake fleet either; Hellcats, alphafleet and sniper tier 3s all spring to mind.

Mfume is correct CFC use of Maels has had a significant impact on their placement in the evekill stats, but then same for canes and drakes. Regardless Drakes still proliferate for the reasons that even you agree, "as long as they're cheap, easy to skill for and easy to fly." But those quoted reasons alone are not enough to explain why they and no other tier 1 or 2 BCs enjoy being used as a main fleet type. It is the oversized tank and the ability to project their full damage (even if that is not spectacular it is sufficient) at 70km.

As for counters, sure if you know the opposition is in Drakes again then don't bring pulse geddons because unless you get some lucky warpins and adept tackle you will just lose, so instead bring something to try to outrange (tier 3 snipe) or out(or tbh equally)tank (abaddon) or alpha (massed artillery).

Again though Malc, the problem is that Drakes alone of all tier 1 and 2 BCs are sitting as a main battle ship among Battleships. It's a friggin BC but it has the utility of a BS.

It is good to see that Rokhs are now being used alongside Maels. I would love cruises get some kind of buff that wouldn't make them pve on easy mode but would make them viable for fleet actions. If we could have mixed Raven and Tempest (a ship I have always thought should be reworked to have a shield focus) fleets, and maybe reworked Hyperion. Or if we could on the armor side have cruises make phoons viable in a mixed armor tanking BS fleet. There was a time when snipe BSs ruled when we did not have monoculture fleets. That was great.

But unfortunately we have a situation now where fleets are either Maels, Abaddons, Tengus or Drakes, with Drakes winning out frankly because they are much easier on the wallet to produce, fit, and lose.

Btw, it saddens me immensealy to see INIT using Drakes all the time now

Edit- also back to the OP's title for this thread, the truth of the situation is that everyone does not hate the drake. It is rather as was joked about earlier in this thread, that everyone is in window licking love with the drake. Werd

Why? If they're so "overpowered", then surely it makes sense to use them, right?

But actually we always seem to be running tier 3 fleets when i log in, not Drakes.

A drake has significantly less tank than a fleet BS, and less damage too. That said, why is it a problem that Drakes are viable, if somewhat underpowered, fleet ships?

Arty canes can do the snipe alpha thing in a way that Drakes just can't, AC canes can be fit to do 900 DPS which no Drake can.

I'm sorry, I'm just not seeing a problem here. Drakes aren't uncounterable, they don't obselete battleships, they don't obselete other tier 2 battlecruisers - all of which can do things well that the drake can't, although the Harby could use some optimal love and the Myrm needs 100 Mbit bandwidth - they're popular because they allow new players to get involved in the big fleet action that many of them no doubt joined the game hoping to see after watching CCP's lovely trailers. Should we be telling them NO FLEET FOR YOU FOR TWO YEARS based on some abstract notion of racial fairness?


Come to think of it, Goons have a Hurricane based fleet doctrine too, IIRC.

"Stop using a screwdriver to put those screws into that board! A TRUE WARRIOR uses only a hammer or an axe!!!!"

Have to admit I lack your recent experience with such a hypothetical encounter. ******* work and less eve time. I'm reduced to crying here on the forums.

However, talkabout sexy. 30 scimis looks pretty sexy to me. Can those drakes have ecm drones. I would think 20 ecm'd guardians won't hold up the baddons very long. But I suppose I should take your word for it as my recent experience is lacking.

Regardless, the issue is not can Drakes be beat. It is where are the Harbinger and Myrm fleets? Why is there one tech I BC sitting among BSs and Tech III ships for comprising the backbone of a fleet? Why is a Drake the easiest and fastest entry to level 4s for characters starting out, while other races have to train BS? Why is the Drake a pve and pvp powerhouse while none of the others are?