Smart bombs are great vs. drones - but they’re not going to help with anything up to and including cruisers orbiting outside of range.
Yeah, I get that capitals are supposed to have a support fleet - but let’s be realistic here: players are logging less frequently and spending less and less time online. Either you multi-box your support fleet or you just park the capital in the hangar.
I think dreadnoughts have more options (HAW) but carriers have virtually none.
This is impossible, carriers are the anti sub cap capital
They absolutely can. Easy peasy. You just have to use a proper PvP fit an not some ISK-optimized Ratting fit.
I meant as a base - before webs, grapplers, scrams or painters.
… ships have trouble doing what you’re asking against ships of the same size…
That’s the point of those modules
Then they would basically ‘oneshot’ any small tackler if they fit application modules on top. How in the world should this be balanced? Why should any small ship even try to engage a larger one? That makes zero sense, it would only lead to less engagements, less skill required when fitting and using ships and overall a more boring game.
Bring something tangier - like an interdiction cruiser.
Why prove my point? It would lead to less skill required when fitting and flying ships, less engagements and less kills. BS can already deal with smaller targets, your ‘idea’ would simply make EVE more boring, less interesting, less dangerous, less exciting and less good.
I’m pretty sure my suggestions can’t make EVE less boring than it already is… Before dismissing it out of hand, at least consider this: players in larger ships are less likely to take them out on solo roams because the odds are decidedly stacked against them.
Then change how you play it. Even an action shooter is boring if you just hide in a corner and be killed by the gas because you are afraid to fight others all the time.
And players aren’t using BS for solo roams because they are expensive, slow, can’t catch targets very well and can’t select their fights very well. All things good solo ships need to do. Thats why people prefer fast and agile ships, that enable the pilot to ‘control’ the fight, hold range, dive in, tackle quickly, get out.
As a (predominantly) solo player, I won’t take anything into low-sec because the odds so stacked against me that there’s no point. Between gate camps and the hot drop/cyno fleets it’s guaranteed suicide.
In this scenario - who exactly is losing out on content here? Me? Nope - it’s the 50% of low-sec whining that there’s no content (and those juicy kill mails they so covet are becoming fewer and fewer).
At the current rate PvP will soon vanish from low-sec as a viable means of income (if it isn’t already circling the drain). All that you’ll have left are:
• FW participants (mainly bots) in the cheapest ships possible
• 20+ fleets of risk-averse multi-boxers
• Massive drops of 60+ null-sec fleets (Black Ops or otherwise)
So, by all means - keep the status quo!
That has nothing to do with Battleships. Hotdrop cancer slowly crippled lowsec years ago and it will stay a barren wasteland full of cynobaits and Hotdroppers as long as this mechanic stays unchanged. Go out ‘solo’ in a Faction Battlecruiser and the result is 100% the same, even with a hugely better small target application compared to a battleship. You will die to a gang and you will probably kill nothing.
I don’t disagree that cyno and hot drops are a plague - but I’m not sure what the remedy is. Application is still an issue, though (even if it’s overclouded by other factors). It’s not really fair to say that application isn’t an issue because it’s rendered moot because of the other issues plaguing low-sec.
No, you just mix up things. ‘Application’ is absolutely no issue, because a well fitted and well piloted battleship already wipes the floor with smaller targets.
And the remedy for cynocancer is easy: cut it down. Add spoolups and jump delays that still enable large groups to move around their capfleets for strategical purposes, like defending or razing structures or claiming/invading an area, but restrict tactical hotdrops right on someones head with far superior force.
How realistic do you think this is though? I’m all for your suggestions - but my voice is but a drop in the ocean… What are we talking about here? 60-second spool-ups and jump delays? More? Less?
No idea and I honestly don’t care. The devs do that the devs think is right, sometimes its making everything worse, sometimes it’s not that bad. They will for sure not listen to discussions here at the board. So, nothing we write here will have an impact, good or bad.
Enough to give the hotdropped side a reaction window where they could make meaningful decisions. Disengage and jump the gate, pull range, overheat on the Cynoship, bring an own Cyno, undock reinforcements and warp to scene… whatever. I’d say 30sec spool up for a normal cyno and 15 for a covert cyno plus a sensor-recalibration timer for all forces that come through (20sec for normal ships, 10sec for recons and T3, 0sec for Bombers and BOs), but there will be tons of people claiming it would “ruin their playstyle” if they cannot bring a fleet of T3s with logi, ewar, webs and tackle instantly through the portal, because the lonely Vexor that was dumb enough to get tackled could actually escape. Again, won’t matter, CCP will do what CCP will do, probably nothing for a long time.
What are you talking about? Iv spent years solo in ls
So to bring it back on topic smart bombs fitted to a capital are ineffective against anything but drones in reality as if your tackling a capital and get smart bombed you should just move out of range of there single smart bomb as for neuts a capital neut cycles every 24s and your cap will recharge fast enough to reactivate a point.
I still think that some sort of defensive missile systems for light, heavy or cruise autotargeting missiles maybe along the line of rapid launchers in a new slot would be useful.
We need to make it so if there is a capital on the field it makes you more likely to have to bring a capital to kill it not just 20+ small ships.
At the moment the Devs are after better balance and the balance is way off favouring small ships over large if you want a better balance you need to make it so large ships need to be engaged by large ships or at least be capable of holding it’s own until there reinforcements would arrive.
As for cyno’s I think cynos should have been restricted to Jump freighters only and all other ships should have had to use gates as that would have kept pvp more active and caused less hiding. Much like it was before capitals were introduced or became prolific.
Maybe they can finally find a use for defender missiles…
The have a use and are used as BombDefense on Command Destoyers. In fact a highly underrated Support Ship for Fleets at risk of suffering huge losses to Bombruns.