Posting this to raise awareness. This bug has been around and it’s genuinely game-breaking for anyone running PvP ops in Drifter Wormhole Signatures.
The Issue:
Covert Ops Bombers cannot launch bombs when positioned inside Cosmic Signatures of Drifter Wormhole which located in 0.0 systems.
Why This Matters:
Bombing runs are a vital and highly tactical component of EVE’s large-scale fleet combat. Imagine the scenario: a hundred-man enemy fleet is aggressively warping to the wormhole connection. My fleet is strategically positioned there, waiting to ambush them. The timing is perfect, the target is aligned—we are ready to launch our bombs to wipe the enemy fleet from the grid and make a name for ourselves in New Eden.We de-cloaked, only to find we couldn’t launch bombs.
Capsulers, please take a look at this. If anyone else has run into this, please coment below so we can get some traction.
To get this clear, are you trying to launch the bombs in a null sec system near the signature of the drifter wormhole, or are you trying to launch the bombs inside the drifter wormhole system itself?
‘Inside the wormhole signature’ is a bit ambiguous to me.
Regardless of that you should be able to launch bombs because neither null sec nor wormhole space have restrictions against bombs.
Here is the situation. I tried to blow INIT.'s fleet up in ths signature of a Drifter Wormhole Cosmic Signature which located in H8-ZTO system. BUT the game client informed me that I can’t activate my bomb equipmet here. Then I get into the wormhole system and tried again. The result is the same, I can’t do this there either.
I have reported the BUG by F12 in game and email to GM. But I don’t know whether FC would fix it or not.
its always been the case for bombs, however i would summise that it will be because you can force people to land at a specific spot, which would make bombs pretty insane with minimal setup
Well there is the other factor here as well. Unless Fenris wanted to explain…why a Drifter has an anti-bomb/missile lasers system built in.
I can see this restriction was built in…to keep stealth bombers from being the cheese solution to any high tier content in EVE Online. But also…I find it curious that CCP [Fenris] didn’t make the proactive choice to create some sort of novel to Drifters [Defender-Anti-Bomb/Missile] mechanic to counter bomb usage.
So there is kind of a weird Catch 22 with this consideration. You want people to do various content…PVP/PVE. But the Stealth Bomber can be used offensively/defensively if allowed…to “The Beacon will Provide” bomb any response to ribbons. And Also the fact the solution to any new or existing content…would be N+1 Bomb it. So I get the solution. But I also see where CCP [Fenris] was a little lazy in not giving anti-missile/bomb defensive option to the Drifters and other high order NPCs. Would be interesting if you had specialized NPCs that can reduce missiles, drones, and bombs far faster…so forcing them to be focused down…before targeting main threat.
But shrugs…EVE things. Does kind of show the Stealth Bomber isn’t as flexible as some people thought before.
If this is as Drake said an attribute of deadspace, it has little to do with drifters besides that drifter wormholes happen to have deadspace around their wormholes.
I’m all in favour of letting players figure out how PvE sites and NPCs function, but letting players figure out which arbitrary restrictions have been added to which arbitrary parts of space doesn’t really result in fun gameplay with consistent rules.
The first (NPCs, sites) are elements you interact with, while the last (type of space) sets the rules.
The rules should be clear. We know what HS, LS etc have for rules. We just don’t clearly see where another special type of space, deadspace, starts and what it’s restrictions are unless we try all sorts of things and notice some are arbitrarily blocked while others are not.
I can see why deadspace with a pre-defined warp-in point would be very susceptible to bomb runs, but still don’t see that as a good reason to block bomb usage from it. If anything it sounds like a good possibility for content, unless such a strategy is too frequently used.
The example as a point…was directly showing a content problem.
Besides the “beacon will provide” issue…that plagues alot of the game regardless of better solutions. Hence why I am proponent for tactical warp in options and positions.
The bomb being disabled on a deadspace grid even in wormholes, does make some sense because people could just camp outside of the blast range…aimed at the beacon. someone drops in…you decloak/release bomb…by the time the bomb has traveled the warp in invulnerabilty has worn off…pretty easy kill. As I understand it.
Now from the Content angle. [A la Drifter Content Comment] If the stealth bomber bomb was allowed…everyone would just cheese all the sites with bombs. Yes Fenris (CCP) could have made mechanics and even NPCs that are dedicated to killing or denying bombs…reducing their effectiveness. But its easier to balance/code ah…no use bomb. Bad Capsuleer…so it skips any weird content cheesing. But it also means…things like Pochven deadspace grids…you really can’t blast very shiney multiboxing content fleets. And matching the target becomes a very questionable monetary/time consideration. Because the content runner can just warp away. Where as Stealth Bombers allow on paper the delete problem entirely…but it is funny how that protection (no bombs on deadspace) also has created some of the problems in game.
But yes, there is alot of content and materials that does need more clear spelling out…of what can and can not be done.
Although I would find it funny…if someone found out the NPCs can shoot back and neutralize your weapons [IE anti-bomb] But I see where Fenris has taken the easier way out coding and balancing wise. Although it has taken them longer to deal with “bottable” things like drone ratting in Ishtars, via NPC hostility changes against drones.
True…it would be nice if the bomb module said…“not able to activate on deadspace grids due to stellar triangulation position instability” [just as a bit of lore reasoning…and basic…does and don’t (s)]
