I just want to say that this game continues to be so interesting and the changes you make are always exciting. Well done!!
New options for CovOps and Transport ships! Stoked!!
I really hope people will start to tank their DSTs more now. A good DST tank will outlast anyone who’s taking gate guns in lowsec.
Even a carrier?
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Notwithstanding the rushed implementation and the questionable necessity for the change, can I ask why changes have not been made to the Helios (add an additional high slot) like the yacht and why T3C have to have a sub system and use a high slot for nullification (and still lose SP on a ship loss)? Overall, a rubbish change that panders to Blocs and Gankers.
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While I did ask the same question, I do understand why the Helios did not get an extra high slot:
Interdiction nullofication is not part of the identity of the Helios, while it is of the Yacht. The Helios can use the nullification module now, but is not bonused for it.
The slot layout of the Helios as T2 explorer with only 2 highslots is unique, which makes it bad for nullified exploration, but actually makes it the best combat prober out of the 4.
Helios is fine.
It was never a good thing that the Helios outshone its brethren. But it’s equally not good that now it is definitively worse. It should be given a third high slot and converted into a hybrid turret ship. Then, it’ll be in line with its counterparts. There’s already a ship for combat probing with drones, the astero, and it does a much better job of it. There’s no need to keep the helios out of balance with other covops frigates for the sake of competing with a faction frigate.
It cannot just get a third high slot without becoming much better than the alternatives. So it would have to give up a mid or low slot to get that third high slot. And I like the amount of mid and low slots it has right now.
There are different combat probing roles.
If your goal is to launch your own ship on top of an easily scannable target, I recommend a T3D. The Astero is another option as it has higher probe strength, but with only 37.5% probe strength it is lacking compared to a T2 exploration frigate like the Helios, or a T3C.
The Astero has the benefit of bringing it’s own dps. But if you are trying to probe down targets for the rest of your fleet, a T2 explorer is better than the Astero. And due to it’s slot layout, the Helios is best suited for that role.
The Helios is fine.
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A faction warp core stab would be a great addition. Means more shiny loot for pirates who fit two scrams.
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Cheetah is still the best CovOps. WINMATAR!!
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No, it’s not…it’s now lacking a capability the others have. The pilot’s only choice is which of the defining characteristics of the class it should drop…covops cloaking, probing or nullification. The other covops frigs can have all three, but the helios can only have two, like an astero. That’s a huge deal.
It can get a third slot without becoming much better than the alternatives, as I’ve already explained, by converting it to a hybrid boat instead of drones. Losing drones, gaining a high slot and hardpoints for a largely redundant weapon system like the other covops. That would be the balance, so it wouldn’t need to lose any mids or lows, and frankly, what you “like” doesn’t factor into it.
At least be consistent…you’re showing concern for Helios’ balance against its covops counterparts, while literally arguing that it should be set apart by being a just like the astero, an unnullified combat prober.
The rest of your post is summed up by you contradicting yourself all over again, and making my point for me: “The Astero has the benefit of bringing it’s own dps. But if you are trying to probe down targets for the rest of your fleet, a T2 explorer is better than the Astero.” Yes, they have different roles. Helios is recon/explo, and Astero is combat/explo. Stop trying to imbalance the game by making one into the other, just because the one you really need isn’t absolutely 100% perfect.
You’d be making more sense if you simply argued that the astero should match the scan bonuses of the covops frigates, since that precedent is already set by the nestor, which is arguably the much better analogue of the astero. At least the astero is a faction ship, with a high price and therefore justifies being set apart. It has no peer group to upset a balance with, except the nestor which has scan strength parity with the helios, so by all means ask for that to be addressed instead. But instead you go the weird way and advocate that a much cheaper ship with a whole class of siblings should be split off to fill a niche role that is already filled, by the astero. The fact that you don’t like the slightest loss of scan strength is not justification enough.
No it cannot. All four T2 explorers have 10 slots, so if you want to give the Helios a third high slot it would have to lose a mid or low to not become more powerful than the alternatives.
The Helios’ 2/5/3 slot layout is perfect for combat probing and as such, the ship has a useful niche it fills.
But that is not the only niche. For example if you want to fly an exploration ship in low or high sec where bubbles don’t exist, this slot layout also makes the Helios the scanner of choice there.
No I’m not saying it should be set apart. Each of the T2 explorers has their own things they’re best at due to their stats. After these nullification changes I swapped from an Ares to a T2 explorer and am still trying things out. As I explore in null, the Helios is out of the question for me, and the Anathema seems nice for a MWD explorer. But maybe I’ll give the Cheetah a try with an afterburner fit. I’ll keep a spare Helios in my hangar though, in case I quickly need to grab a combat prober. Haven’t looked at the Buzzard yet, as I don’t like that slot layout.
No, that would be a bad idea. The Astero gets the full 37.5% scan strength bonus out of the box as a ship bonus, so it’s a good choice for people not yet specialised in exploration, but it’s good that people who specialise can get better strength out of the T2 frigates. Nestor is an entirely different story as nobody is going to do data or relic sites in null in a Nestor.
When you’re selecting a ship to scan down ‘unscannable’ ships with the toughest signals to probe down, it would be unwise to select an inferior combat prober like the Astero.
T3Cs may be a good contender for the Helios as combat prober for such targets, but lack the warp speed.
Never thought about it from this perspective but it’s so true
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The 2nd and 3rd paragraph is Gold, Hope @CCP_Dopamine is reading your comment’s.
For the first paragraph there is a few strategies you can use like constant warping around mid warp bookmarking deleting old bookmarks and so on, another point is active pilots have resistance to decloak so again not a problem and also filament’s and pochven exist so you can just gtfo if you are active after 15min of dodging combat probes.
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Did you ever try to tackle someone? Well, someone who is not afk? Someone, who does not want to be tackled? Someone who does know how to do the mwd-cloak? Someone who is not just lazy about all his surroundings and still expects to get out of trouble?
Try it once and leave your little cage from where you look at the universe. It’s not locked. It is your mindset that limits your actions. There are so many playstyles (still left) to play. Try them before all of them get destroyed by upcoming changes. I can tell you, there are lots of fun things to enjoy.
You can also just keep doing what you enjoyed so far, just get better doing it. The 10 (maybe, didn’t count them) haulers I lost were all losses that could have been avoided by either not being afk, being smarter, or less drunk. I learned a bit from those losses and got smarter in time so my last loss is years in the past. That’s all lowsec and nullsec. Exploration ships, uh, I still keep losing them by the dozen, but an astero is just about 120m isk and you make it back in a very short amount of time. And why do I lose them? Because I am lazy and look at my minigame and forget about local, dscan, and overview. If I wasn’t lazy no one would catch me in a sub-2s align ship. OK, credits go to some goons who got me twice in gatecamps - I blame my isp and 60ms ping 
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Having an extra slot still wouldn’t imbalance it more than it already is right now. Yes, all covops have their niches but they’re usually very minor. What you propose to allow is so fundamentally different that it may as well just form a new ship class with the astero.
Te astero costs a fortune compared to the covops, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it having a buff to scan strength. And no, it’s not an inferior combat prober, really, not by enough to make a difference. You’re being utterly ridiculous again, and making mountains out of molehills. Any combat prober worth their salt is going to be using implants for the situation you outline, anyway.
You’ve been caught out trying to justify massive imbalance for hyper-personal reasons. The helios needs a third high slot. Thankfully, pretty much everyone but you sees it, so I’m not sure why I’m even wasting my time on this.
When the inevitable change happens, I’m sure you’ll be well served, and get on just fine.
Nice attempt at deflection, but my points still stand, and thank you for confirming your laziness, further bolstering my case 
and showing why I don’t need lessons on life from the likes of you.
I was one of the first to mention that making this module a high slot item would be trouble for the Helios and Blockade runners, even before it was turned to a high slot item after some people repeatedly asked for it: Nullification and WCS Updates – testing has begun! - #816 by Gerard_Amatin
But even with that thing as a high slot item, I see no issue with the Helios as a nullification module is not always needed. High sec and low sec exploration has no need of this module and neither does combat probing have need for this module. Which means the slot layout of the Helios is better than that of the other ships in those scenarios.
Were it that the Helios was worse in every possible scenario than the other T2 explorers, I would see an issue. But right now each of the T2 explorers has things they’re good or better at than the others. And that’s perfectly fine.
A little extra speed and agility on one racial frigate, or a little extra tank on another one is in no way comparable to missing out on having all 3 abilities (concurrently) like the other three. It’s massively out of balance. Give it up.
No criticism intended Lara, but the mistake here is thinking that most PvPers need to “catch” anyone. If you want a fight in this game, chances are, you’re actively looking for people who want the exact same thing you do. These changes have no effect on this paradigm.
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It’s inferior if exploring in null or wormholes. It is better in other situations.
Just train another racial frigate to 5 as well so you can pick the best option for each situation and stop complaining.
Or if you do not want to train another frigate to level 5, the Pacifier is an (expensive) option, you could even fit a CovOps cyno on that one in addition to nullification, probe launcher and cloak.