PSA Before I Begin: Pyfa has an “attribute override” feature under Window menu which allows you to modify ships and items. You can modify the rifter to match the newest changes. Don’t forget to turn it on!
Rifter Change:
-1 High slot
+1 Low slot
So, I’ve been toying around with one of my favorite ships, and I know common knowledge is that this is a big nerf. It was intended as a buff, but it looks like absolute crap really. I’ve tried modified brawling fits, kiting fits, and everything in between. Losing a utility high is a huge nerf for everything but artillery fits, and those are still extremely bad. Rifter just doesn’t have the fitting power to run artillery. Either it’s low on powergrid, or the necessary modules to give it a boost use up all its cpu. Hell, even with all that the dps is dumpster tier. Like, It’s really bad.
So, perhaps I am missing something(probably not lol), but has anyone actually found a viable or even remotely useful way to leverage this new low slot? The loss of a high means you can’t run nos armor reppers anymore. Arti is still bad. Brawling is slightly weaker. It’s just sad all around.
Seriously, now there’s even less reason to use a Rifter over a Slasher or a Breacher. Slasher is less likely to get hit and can neut shite out if fitted for it to make up for the awful DPS. The Breacher laughs at the notion of falloff and Rage Rockets apply full damage with single web if the other guy is rocking afterburners, not to mention outright tanking better compared to the Rifter, thus making up for the lack of a utility slot.
On the other hand, a 400mm armor tanker Rifter is less likely to be out-tracked than a Punisher, but is still a softer target and will likely be passed over in armour-tanked frigate fleets.
As an old school rifter pilot I really liked the frigate re-balances. The rifter was no longer king of the hill and had some very serious competition.
I loved that it could still be used and used well but required more thought, skill and good use of tactics.
However when I learned that they were planning to take the one thing that allowed the rifter to compete away I know the days of the rifter were dead and gone. The utility high slot was the key for the rifter to be competitive is some many ways. In straight up numbers the rifter pretty much gets curb stomped by all the other frigates and the flexibility of it’s fitting was the thing that allowed it to trick out it’s fits to kill stuff…
Rifter with the utility high was viable with a missile launcher and used as a kiting frig.
Now it’s removed for a low able to now have extra nano or gyro
I used to have so many different fitting for my rifters.
If you just whacked a missile launcher on there and did the kitey thing then you were seriously missing out on some fun setups.
Neut and Nos were often critical to rifter success.
The problem is that rifter damage was so low it was better off running a rocket launcher than a gyro in most cases. Ancil dcu builds are decent on a rifter. There were even nos based dual rep builds. As is, I can only think of a select few builds that benefit from this change.
As with the old rifter, it’s biggest limitation is fitting. That being said, there remain some edge cases where it can potentially benefit from this change. I’m still toying with it in pyfa, but there is one build I’m actually excited to try after the change. But I still don’t think it justifies the loss of so many other builds.
The thing that really gets me is that since tiericide started CCP has been gradually reducing the flexibility and versatility of the Minmatar lineup. Minmatar was always supposed to be less tanky, less damaging, and less fitting capable than other factions. In exchange they had better mobility, and much wider versatility which allowed them a wider engagement profile. Minmatar was always the faction for people who like to play with fittings and tinker, for lack of a better description. I enjoy sitting in pyfa playing with builds and experimenting with hulls. And no faction supports that mindset better than Minmatar. Losing their versatility patch after patch is disappointing as hell.
The result of that change will leave the rifter with the same dps if you put a gyro. And yes is possible to put more tank or speed than before, but still there is better minmatar ships in such configurations.
This “re-balance” will not change it at the end.
Hey CCP why not remove small autocannons of the game :-P.
with this change, ill be flying my last 15 rifters with a trickfit. when those are gone, ill never buy another.
people are silly.
with the loss of my rocket launcher, I can fit a counterbalanced gyro in the new low if I downgrade everything else. This gains me 6dps over my current Rifter with less speed, tank, and shittier web.
or I can fit about 500more ehp on tank and loose 20dps over my current fit…
either way the rifer’s normal fits got worse, and I lost the ability to fit a neut or nos…
so the breacher is still a superior scram kite ship. the slicer is still a superior brawler… and rifter is outclassed as hell at kite setups…
replacing rifters in my arsenal with tormentors. better tank, dps, application and engagement envelope.
Y’all need to stop thinking the Rifter is meant to be a Faction Warfare 1v1 armour brawler.
Losing the utility high for a low is actually a buff to anti-kite Rifters, you can get it to ridiculous speeds with a shield tank. Use it to chase down and murder inties, brutalize kiting frigs that think you’re an easy kill, and run away from everything else.
[Rifter, Experiment]
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Overdrive Injector System II
Medium Shield Extender II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Initiated Compact Warp Scrambler
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Goes 5.6 km/s heated, 178 O/H DPS with faction ammo. 5.3k EHP puts this fit roughly on par with the Kestrel for tank.
If you want to brawl someone in the face, the Breacher has been a better choice for years now.
I actually have found rifter update to improve performance. While on paper my fit loses 5 dps and 100ehp for what ever reason it applies the damage so much harder I use burst and collision rig plate gyro dc2 Saar scram web an sometimes an duel web. It’s wierd on paper it’s worse but it seems to apply much better
I can’t see your fit change related to the CCP nerf.
Actually CCP doesn’t change any bonus nor you put an tracking enhacer or something relate with the new low slot.
I honestly don’t know what’s working for you. I took out a ton of rifters over the last week, trying everything I could think of and stuff you tried. The only fight I wom was vs a rifter(lol). Admittedly since I was in research mode I took every fight under the sun, even ones I’d clearly lose. But even still it performed badly. The ONLY fit I found that would possibly be decent was a brick tank build with either a 400mm plate and a rep or a dual rep booster build. In almost every circumstance though it is trash. A plate build like that it doesn’t have the firepower to make it work. It’s just not a good change. If you can make it work you’re a better man than I am. Because nothing about this change is positive.
