Interceptor changes

EVE Technology and Research Center Player Features & Ideas
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So I posted this somewhere else and someone asked me to put it here, so here it is:

So we’ve seen some changes in the right direction recently when it comes to citadels, AF’s and HAC’s and tethering for carriers. The next step I see is doing something to correct some of the cancerous game play around Fozziesov, namely Interceptors. Currently fozzieclaws and raptors dominate sov battles, especially in larger scale. Anyone who has been involved in one of these large scale sov wars knows how bad this game play is. It is mostly caused by interceptors being both bubble immune and instawarp, making them essentially impossible to catch without silly amounts of smart bomb setups.

This idea has been floating around reddit and in game for a while, so I take no credit for it being my own. I was just bored and decided to try and flesh it out a little.

I envision it looking something like this (I picked Gallente because it’s what I am most familiar with):

Ares
Travel/Scout Interceptor
Gallente Frigate Bonus (per skill level):
10% increased warp speed per level.
7.5% increased Microwarpdrive speed per level.
Interceptors Bonuses (per skill level):
15% reduction in Microwarpdrive signature radius penalty per level.
15% reduction in Cynosural Field Generator liquid ozone consumption per level.

Role Bonus:
Immune to Interdiction Sphere Launcher, Warp Disruption Field Generator and Mobile Small, Medium and Large Warp Disruptor
+1 to Warp Core Strength
No weapon hard points.
Cannot fit electronic warfare modules.

The idea of this is a fast, hard to catch scout ceptor. It has no tackle and no ability to do damage as it’s primary role is intel gathering. It is not supposed to fight, and it’s bonuses ensure it will not be caught if the pilot is even semi competent. The reason I chose to not give it tackle, is I believe anything with instawarp/nullification to be far too strong and the trade off for that ability needs to be very large in my opinion. I also feel that being able to light a cheap cyno is in line with the role of this type of ship.

Taranis
Combat/Interdiction Interceptor
Gallente Frigate Bonus (per skill level):
15% bonus to small Hybrid Turret damage per level. (remove the drone bay completely)
7.5% bonus to small Hybrid Turret optimal range and falloff per level.
Interceptor Bonus (per skill level):
15% reduction in Microwarpdrive signature radius penalty per level.
7.5% bonus to small Hybrid Turret tracking per level.

Role Bonus:
80% reduction in Propulsion Jamming systems activation cost.
20% bonus to Warp Disrupter and Warp Scrambler optimal range (same as a max skilled Ares now).
20% reduction in signature radius.
(Mass increased just enough that can no longer get sub 2s align time. 3s minimum would be my butter zone).

The idea here is a combat capable interceptor which rolls one of the Ares current bonuses (tackle) into the hull and has increased damage/tracking/range at the cost of no longer being able to instawarp and no longer being interdiction nullified. It’s smaller sig would make it harder to hit on grid, giving it an advantage against larger ships while still allowing anti-tackle to do it’s job. It is differentiated from Assault Frigates in both its lesser tank, greater speed, tackle bonus and it’s price point is also lower.

I believe that giving us a dedicated combat ceptor without the nullification/instawarp would be a balanced way to bring new and fresh meta’s to current fozzie sov. These ships would still be usable without being oppressive.

Edits for spelling/grammar.

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So…you want at least one of the two ships known as interceptors to be unable to, well, intercept.

edit: just dropping in a definition for “intercepting” from a quick search

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If you’re talking about the scout interceptor, well I would argue that it still does intercept it just does it differently from the one designed for combat. It’s faster than enemy fleets, can gather intel better than just about any other ship and can get a cyno where it’s needed extremely quickly.

The combat interceptor does it’s job once it is on the grid. By splitting this role off from the first one it almost entirely eliminates one of the worst aspects of fozzie sov and kills sword fleets in one go.

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I understand where your going with it and there is parts of it I like (separating scout and tackle)(having a very low sig inti will make it a lot better at tackling rapid light ships who’s missile explosion radius is something like 20 if I remember correctly) but I feel other parts of the game would need to change along side it so that it meshes well, for me and my corp we often roam with an alt scepter scouting and finding targets, and if you go into Russian care-bear land often you will know that they bubble the crap out of their ratting system gate’s.

So by splitting tackle and interdiction nullified those who rat under bubbled gate systems all of a sudden become perfectly safe, as a counter argument and a change to counter that side of null I would vote for removing local from all null system’s so that only those who are alert and D-scanning are able to survive, otherwise null sec anom’s farming becomes too easy and what happens is that all those bounties deflate the isk value and everyone finds that everything just becomes more expensive over time which hurts the game.

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I’m gonna be blunt and say I think that is a separate idea that belongs in a different thread.

I don’t think CCP should make design changes based on one off scenarios or small gang ganking. That leads to mechanics which are then abused when applied to larger scale fleet combat - the thing this game is famous for. An example would be fozzie sov, which was designed to try and allow smaller engagements and let smaller groups of players feasibly attack sov but has instead turned into a damn nightmare.

CCP instead (in my opinion) needs to go back to balancing the game for large scale war. This will eventually provide the mechanics needed for players to find their own content drivers and will bring back fighting all over New Eden. Part of that process is balancing things that are oppressively broken, such as Fozzie Claws and interceptor fleets in general.

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I agree that nullification needs a counter.

But this idea is… no.

There was a thread on this exact topic about a week ago… I said it there and I’ll say it here.

Make HIC bubbles (shit… script it if you must) stop nullified ships. Even if you only make it prevent ships from warping away, and not drag/stop.

Instant effective counter. They have to field a dreadfully slow ship to catch the cepter fleet. SOV mechanics dictate that you know exactly where the cepter fleet will be going… camp the outgate with HICs and RLML cerbs.

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That isn’t a terrible idea at all. It would certainly give Hic’s another use which I feel like they definitely need.

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Agreed.

“infinipoint” is damn useful in certain situations, but those situations are quite rare. Giving them something over and above the much more mobile dic is most definitely in order for them.

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I mean I’m up for anything which helps to correct fozzie sov. The ceptor idea as I said in the OP isn’t mine, I just liked it so I tried to flesh it out a bit. I’m certainly not set in stone on it being the only thing that will work.

I do think it fixes some bad game play in other areas, but they’re not really critical areas so I don’t really care as much about them.

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Honestly, fozzie sov is probably beyond any measure of hope.

But combat cepters are a cancer in any situation where harassment is the objective. Hit-and-run. You can get in, blap something, and moonwalk right out.

I don’t object to the blapping part, but being able to moonwalk out without fighting your way out… that’s bull ■■■■.

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I agree. I would like to see risk in ceptor fleets, rather than ‘warp here, blap, take this warp’. You don’t even have to align out the way it works at the moment.

Either of the solutions in this thread would be okay with me because it at least gives an option to counter them beyond having to have SB BS’s already set up and waiting.

Can you imagine hictor pipe bombs against ceptor gangs! XD

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To be fair, you don’t need interdiction to pipe bomb cepters… just get 20 battleships (your pipe bomb) to spread out over the gate to the system they just jumped into. Soon as you see them start to warp, mash the bombs.

You won’t get them all, but you’ll mess them up pretty bad.

I just don’t like that SBs are literally the only counter to combat cepter gangs. We fly them all the time for that exact reason, and although it’s effective… it’s not fun.

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The issue there is that any competent ceptor FC will just warp to the gate at 30, laugh as the SB’s aggro and then kill them all with impunity. I’ve watched and done this myself a bunch of times in Delve. The Hic bubble dragging them would actually make a proper pipe bomb feasible which I like.

Edit: Wait I read that wrong. I don’t think you can bomb ceptors on incoming gates. Pretty sure instawarp means you get out without taking much, if any damage.

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You can… sub-2 second align works because the server processes things in ticks. One tick to lock, one tick to activate module. If you warp out in less than 2 seconds, even if you get lock, they’re “gone” before the server registers you turned on your point.

In the case of a SB, it only needs 1 tick. You’ll only get one volley on them before they’re gone, but at that point its just a numbers game.

That said… you REALLY need to be on the ball to pull something like this off. And by “you” I mean “the entire pipe bomb”. So on paper it’s practical… in practice, not so much.

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Right, that makes more sense because I know I’ve warped off gate with SBs on it before without much drama.

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Yea hic’s being able to catch inti’s is a much more reasonable request that removing immunity from ceptors, It has less of a domino effect, you have my vote :]

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I live in nullsec and have been at both ends of this issue, there is nothing OP about interceptors they are fine.

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