CCP: Please add a covert scanner for data/relic sites

Wait… Scatter cans? Those were removed a while back, unless I missed their two statement. They are now just standard cargo cans.

As for the module, my problem is that is just doesn’t seem that useful. Ok… You get to see which can may be valuable before decloaking. That is not a huge gain in time saved and is a fairly limited mechanic. Given many of the covert ops ships have limited high slots, it seems to be very limited in fitting options as well.

I agree, granting more roles to the covert OP exploration frigs would be fun amd nice. I don’t see thia module as the best way to go. Why not offer something that does more? Or maybe something that improves your cohesion or hacker strength?

What about a special ewar burst option as a module? Give cover ops a way to escape but also a strange combat role. Or maybe a panic MJD that jumps them 200km in 5 seconds but burns out after one use?

I’m just having trouble understanding how the cloaking scanner woukd really add much to game play to merit all the effort need to program it.

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I agree that cov ops racial frigates had their use greately reduced when the Astero came out.

However, if you want to make racial frigates more usable by explorers and give an advantage over the Astero, the best way is to increase the bonus on probe strenght and probe scan time. So if you use a cov ops and are skilled on probing mechanics, you can find sites way faster than your Astero explorer opponent.

Your suggestion of cloaky cargo scanners would only result in a great many data/relic sites being left half done, reducing the amount of new sites spawning. So, no, that is not a good proposal.

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Which would mean you can warp to a site, see if it’s worth running, and just bugger off if it’s not, without taking any risk. So you get a no from me. Risk is a huge factor of EVE Online. If you’re not prepared to take any, you just shouldn’t undock.

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These poor sites already barely get ran as it is. Warp in, Scan can, Warp off. This would only further alienate them from the randomness that i have grown to love and now miss with a passion. Death to cargo scanners. Embrace the unknown. Hack that can and retrieve that lump of coal.

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In nullsec drone data sites, you can get escalations in empty cans :dealwithitparrot:
These escalations can lead you to 1b isk blueprint copies (augmented heavy drones) :astonished:

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I don’t like this idea because it disproportionately helps the Raiders of the Intact Armor Plates, and I’m tired of scanning down sites only to find the IAPs have been cherrypicked already.

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people who cherry pick cans and leave the trash ones should be elevated and rotated by the testicles.
and you want to make this even easier for these nob ramblers?
amuse.

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Well, I’m reading your post “between the strings”.

I don’t like your ideas about “CovOps-Scanner!” and increased combat potency of CovOps ships.
Firstly, as an experienced explorer you want that scanner not to avoid “keg-ambushers” (you know that’s not possible to avoid), but to securely, with plenty of time, scan Covert Research Sites’s (Ghost Sites) cans while cloaked. When you enter the site a timer is started (unless you warp in cloaked if I’m not wrong).

Secondly, your offer is an attempt to force CCP to build another, cheaper, “no meat, no fish” ship like Astero to ambush defenseless new explorers. We have an Astero – expensive, explorer money maker ship which is not favorite for serious PVP brawls; we have a T2 CovOps bombers – cheap, no exploration money making and can be used for some PVP as hit-and-run mode. We don’t want a cheap Yolo-SWAG CovOps money maker explorer tanky-brawler ambusher ship.

Do you want to make CovOps explorers popular again? Ok, me too, but differently.
Let’s improve just Scanner Strength and Virus strength by 5 or 10 points, for example, to grant to T1 scanners 35-40 total strength values. Because a T2 CovOps without T2 scanner have little advantage vs T1 explorer ships. At the same time T1 exploration ships with T2 scanners can hack very well, so no one will be interested to invest ISK and SP in to CovOps explorers. Many players will use CovOps to explore Null-systems and WH knowing that is not needing to spend 22 days for T2 scanners just to have enough virus strength to hack those sites. Improved virus bonus will not grant advantages to CovOps explorers in Standard and Superior Sleeper Sites just because they will not tank that.

Improved Scan Strength will work very well in future Moon survey scanning, which will make these ships very useful. Moreover, improved combat scanning will work well in PVP fleet battles to spot fast, for example, those Sniper Frog Fleets.

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Thie change would benefit a ganker’s scanning alt. no offense against them, but they don’t get blown up often enough already, so this would just make them perfectly safe.

Slap another +5 virus strength on Covops frigs and be done with it.

Doesnt change much but helps incentivize the covop frigs for pure exploration abit vs the combat readiness of Asteros.

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A bonus for covert ops! Awesome! How about making them more covert, and not just for scanning cans. Smaller sig, the ability to launch probes while cloaked, or maybe the ability to cloak from gate cloak? Pick one, or maybe 2.
Your mileage may vary.

Where’s the “cloaked ships ruin my game by hiding” crowd these days? They seem to be late.

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I am flabbergasted that you are flabbergasted that he is flabbergasted.

Who next? :smile:

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I’m pretty much generally flabbergasted by the whole thing. My gast is rarely this flabbered.

As to the idea , no thanks. The only time you are vulnerable in space as an explorer is when you are scanning cans or hacking them. Removing that simply reduces a hunters chances.

Note that this comes from one more likely to be the hunted rather than the hunter. I would benefit and still say hell no.

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Covops frigs can fit an expanded probe launcher, the Astero and Stratios can’t without using up almost all the CPU. That is a critical difference in my book.

If there is one thing I’d like to see is that a Covops cloak can seamlessly integrate into the cloak after jumping, without the split second of decloaking that has cost me dearly on occasion.

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Both are done on purpose and aren’t going to change.

The only reason you would want to use expanded probe launcher is if you are going to use combay probes to scan down ships,droned or structures.

Your ship is visible for a second or 2 to give others a chance to catch you. It’s a designed vulnerability to keep cloaks from being too good.

This is a terrible idea. Covops are already insanely safe if you take proper precautions, and exploring in a covops is probably the best ratio of profit to safety outside of highsec if you don’t have intel channels and alliance support. The only safer income I know of in low or null is fw plexing and running at the first sign of pvp.

If you fly a covops and plan your routes using map statistics to avoid gatecamps, fit to dodge ceptors or small camps, watch local, dscan, and possess situational awareness, it is almost impossible to lose an exploration frigate.

I’ve been doing exploration in low and null for years. I have never once lost a covops ship to a gank unless I LET THEM engage me(such as testing a warp stab fit or a pvp fit). There is no reason to buff exploration. It’s already great income for low risk.

Edit: Also, the astero is a different breed than a covops. They fulfill different purposes. Asteros possess low align time for faster warps, significantly better pvp capabilities, and can if fit correctly even take on some frigs in pvp. Compare that to the cheetah for instance(my personal choice). Cheetah has crap for combat abilities, and longer align time, but in exchange it gains a major speed boost, and better scanning strength over the astero.

I actually prefer the cheetah if I’m avoiding pvp because it has a better survival rate. If you run into a solo interdictor camp specifically geared to hunt explorers(happens often enough to be concerned), your align time bonus is crap, as are your pvp abilities. A cheetah can burn WAY faster out of the bubble and escape, whereas an astero will like likely get caught and die. Plus the better scan strength means faster profits. So yeah. If anything the astero is actually overrated imho.

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No. …

I just dont even get why you would need it.

Hacking is already safe enough and potentially highly rewarding, no need to make it even “better”.