Restrained MWDs outclass enduring MWDs by a large margin and are better than T2 MWDs in most circumstances, which reduces viable fitting options for the player.
Specific Advantages:
Restrained MWDs have the smallest signature bloom of the 3 modules.
Restrained MWDs have better cap usage than T2 modules.
Restrained MWDs have a capacitor capacity penalty reduction, which is generally better than the enduring MWD’s activation cost reduction, because that extra capacitor can be used for anything, not just your MWD.
T2 MWDs have a <1% advantage in terms of speed, which is trivial.
This is simply too many advantages in a single, non-faction/deadspace/officer module. Each meta module should have a role that is distinct and different than others, and, in most respects, they should not outshine T2 modules.
Suggested Changes:
Get rid of the restrained MWD’s capacitor capacity penalty reduction, the signature radius penalty reduction is already a large enough niche for the module.
Trade the enduring MWD’s activation cost reduction for a capacitor capacity penalty reduction, as this is more often useful, and will open up more viable gameplay for this module.
Reduce the speed bonus of restrained, compact and enduring MWDs to 500% (it’s 505% now), this will help distinguish T2 MWDs from meta MWDs.
Give the T2 MWD a 475% signature radius modifier (it’s currently 500%), this will make it distinctly superior to the enduring MWD in terms of signature (also 500%), while still leaving a niche for the restrained MWD (450%).
Conclusion:
Right now, restrained MWDs are the MWD option for most players if they can afford the fitting. It would be great to see the list of useful non-faction/deadspace/officer MWDs increase.
This is literally the point of Restrained MWD - to limits penalties of all varieties, not just one. It would be better to calibrate values between them than to eliminate this bonus.
This would be unprecedented - enduring modules have never had lower penalties in addition to more cap efficiency. This is not a precedent that should be set.
Excluding unique bonuses, the base performance of all meta modules is always superior to T1M0s; this would break that trend. Better to calibrate values relative to each other than lower metas fo T1M0 level.
The trend with T2s is that they boost raw performance, not minmize penalties. Having said that, something along these lines may be worth looking into, though MWDs as a whole may need to be calibrate to make the progression sensible.
For most modules, metas are often preferable when penalty reduction (including PG/CPU/cap consumption) is more important than the increase in raw power. MWDs should not be an exception to this rule. Faction modules are made attractive by having both better performance and lower penalties (and only 1x burnout instead of 2x that T2 modules have). If T2 MWDs are buffed too much, it makes both higher and lower metalevels less attractive.
Its not unprecedented. If you consider the cap capacity penalty as part of cap efficiency rather than part of penalties it’s just part of the same efficiency equation.
Which is why restrained is so good because it actually gets an efficiency bonus as well effectively.
Most modules have only 1 drawback, if they have any at all, so MWDs, with 2, are a bit of a unique case. I think a unique solution to a unique case like this is pretty reasonable, especially since applying the standard drawback reduction of one parameter makes the module overlap with another one, in addition to having another bonus.
I wouldn’t be opposed to keeping the cap efficiency instead, however, it would probably leave the T2 module relatively overpowered in terms of cap, so if they went that route, I think the T2 MWD’s cap capacity penalty should be aligned with the T1/meta modules.
I did think about that, but I was trying to avoid an excessively long post, balancing all the faction/deadspace and officer MWDs. To be fair, that may need to be done anyway. The speed difference between a T1 MWD and an X-type is only 4%, which is an impressively wimpy base stat improvement. Compare that to shield boosters, with a 223% difference in shield boost per second between T1 and Pith X-Type. Of course, high speed tends to be more abusive than high rep, so maybe there’s a good reason for this. More simply, you could just bring down the T1 MWD’s speed bonus to 495% if you need to make the meta a little better.
I agree. With what I proposed, the enduring MWD would use 10% less cap than the T2, and the restrained would give you about a 5% smaller sig than the T2. The T2 would be a balance between the two meta modules, with higher fitting requirements, more raw cap usage, and 2% more speed.