Capital ships could do with a point defence system like the Sea Whizz or Phalanx and aegis missile systems as used in modern RL combat ships.
It has never made sense to me why these ships would be so vulnerable to small ships when in RL they aren’t.
On capital ships in game these could be fitted in a 4th section (much like t3 cruisers have a 4th section) for CIWS where you could fit a kind of rapid launcher or phalanx able to fire auto targeting missiles or shells which you would have no control over but the weapons automatically fire on small hostile targets that have aggressed or locked your ship, so the ship must appear as neutral or hostile in order for the launcher to fire whether you have lock or not.
The only option you would have is what size of launcher or maybe gun to fit and which ammo to carry for the launcher and of course how much. The other question is whether it would function all the time or only when either mobile or immobile?
I’ve been a big advocate for something like this for years but the idea has never seemed to gain much traction. It’s always bern heavily opposed by players who run smaller hulls (frigates or destroyers).
What is this balance you speak of? The one where you hot drop so many ships on a lone opponent to kill them a dozen times over? EVE isn’t remotely close to being balanced…
Well, there’s a reason players are bored out of there gore in low-sec and null-sec. You reap what you sow; continuously dogpile everyone and it’s no surprise that content dries up.
Except it’s not everyone getting dog pilled. Lived in ls for years. Got caught in a drop twice.
Hunt in null all the time now there is a spesific target profile you go after and you ignore anyone not being dumb enough to fall into it.
We open up into the heart of goon space and we roll they don’t play they protect that space.
We open up into hord and we swap from gank to brawl set ups. They give good fights and we have to be a bit more focused if we don’t want to wipe. Open into frat space and it’s time for the bling because we know they will send an insain number of horribly organized pilots with expensive fit ships that will fund our srp.
We open into tenal and… well half the time we don’t even drop our hunter normally just burns the place to the ground.
Azure citizen has to be the poster child for how to do everything wrong. But at least they always try to catch us. The other day they put out an insain rattle with a mind blowing tank. Tried to get us baited so they could drop Dreads on us with it.
Problem? They didn’t drop the Dreads they had them in system and tried to warp them to us so we still had plenty of time to kill the rattle and bounce.
Point is if you’re constantly getting dropped on its because you’re not putting in the effort to not be a target. It’s like miners and mission runners in hs. A few have this mindset that ganking is rampant and are losing ships weekly if not daily. And others haven’t been ganked in years doing the same activities. Because they understand pvp starts when you log on. Not when ships are on grid and put in that little bit of effort to actively keep themselves from being a target.
That’s because you’re looking at big ships the wrong way.
Larger ships are extremity powerful and are massive force multiplies but only if they are supported properly.
10 guys in cruisers will be out matched by 4 with 3 battleships.
Eve is one of the few games that has pulled this balance off pretty well. Smaller ships are almost always relevant until you get into the extreme end of fleet size. At the same time when utilized properly larger ships can massively swing a fight.
Hell eve is one of the only games that really has something like fleet theory. I think it might the only major multilayer one that has it to this level.
It’s why outside of a few periods there’s never really been a single overarching meta.
Nope it’s because I remember larger ships having better tracking and having at least a chance of hitting smaller ships, but hey alot has changed since I started.
Gone are the days when a Tempest fitted with 425’s instead of 800’s could actually hit a frigate orbiting him the tempest fitted with 800’s had no chance but the one with 425’s had a good chance of killing the frigate.
The game has become more focused on making it easier for noobs which is ok but don’t punish the veterans!
Larger ships should be able to hit non-afterburning ships of smaller classes, ie: super capitals should be able to hit battleships, capitals should be able to hit cruisers and battleships should be able to hit frigates.
I mean turrets (much better tracking) as well as missiles (improved %damage).
I remember back in I think it was around 2006 a corp mate sitting on the undock of a station in fountain in a dreadnought and a neutral cruiser warped in at range 100k off of station so probably 150-200 from undock (probably to see the dread as it was one of the first in game) a few seconds later he was sat in his pod because the dread had 1 shot him.
The point to that story is even dreadnoughts had ok tracking back then and although transversal and size were factors it was less of an issue, now that same shot would probably miss a battleship sitting stationary which is ridiculous.
So if the tracking is so bad now we could do with a CIWS at least, just to get back to original post.
A Good point really. Capital’s have got to the point where they have no defense against smaller ship that can target and track them quite easily. Capitals seige and cant “kite” damage but must sit and take it.Would be nice if they could swat the Mozzies as they fought with other caps.
Capitals do have options to deal with smaller ships, just not many of them. Smartbombs, neuts, HAW guns. They are also meant to be supported by allies.
That was my hound last week when we had to tranq her prior to her vet appointment.