Remove interceptor nullification for Hictor/special bubbles

EVE Technology and Research Center Player Features & Ideas
1

Interceptor nullification is overpowered. Make Hictor bubbles work. There are many options to this that can be explored to help balance it. I’m open to the following:

  1. (Preferred): Make interceptors stop at the edge of hictor bubbles like other ships. Prevent interceptors from warping out of hictor bubbles

  2. Make interceptors stop at the edge of hictor bubbles, but allow them to warp out of hictor bubbles

  3. Give interdictors special bubble types similar to surgical bubbles (or make this a feature for surgical bubbles) that stop interceptors and prevent warping.

  4. Give interdictors special bubbles that stop interceptors, but don’t prevent them from warping out.

Basically, apply either the stop and disallow warpout or stop and allow warpout rule to hictor and/or surgical bubbles.

This allows pilots risky enough to get in a ship and deploy bubbles the reward of throwing a wrench in the OP interceptor fleet’s plans. Also makes gate-camping a thing again, you just gotta put skin in the game in the form of a hictor.

2 Likes
2

I’ve got mixed feelings. On the one hand, it does make some sense to have ships that can actually get you to where you’re trying to go. On the other hand, too safe is bad. I thought CCP’s last statements were along the lines of them being okay with it the way it is.

I’d make a counter-proposal. Maybe the catching module should burn out after a single cycle? That way you can still catch a ceptor if you’re paying close enough attention, but you can’t have an anti-ceptor wall of doom.

1 Like
3

Allowing warpout means it wouldn’t be a wall of doom, especially for insta-warpers. It just means they have to be paying attention.

4

Sure, if you remove the ability from hictors to light cynos when they have their bubble up (not the focus point). Otherwise, which risk are you talking about with the proliferation of supers and capitals, that people drop without impunity on anything?

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5

Its the one ship that can do this, it cant do anything but fly super fast and catch people. What will its niche be afterwards, if it cant get out of bubbles? How will this keep interceptors interesting?

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6

People will undock a hictor to stop interceptors, to which currently there is no counter other than chemo lokis. Whether or not hictors lighting cynos while having a bubble deployed is overpowered is another discussion entirely.

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7

You’re right when you say that the interceptor is the one ship that can do this.

You’re completely wrong when you say that it can’t do anything else but be fast and catch people. And even if inties could only fly super fast and catch people, that’s still an extremely important role in any fleet.

I didn’t say it couldn’t get out of bubbles, just hictor bubbles, and that’s only if you go with option 1.

Interceptors wouldn’t have to “remain” interesting with this change. They would become interesting. There’s nothing interesting about running about the galaxy in an instawarp ceptor.

1 Like
8

it is definitely not an entirely different discussion because the cyno capability makes lots of things not interesting, among other things dropping 5 titans on a fleet that smartbomb a fleet from within the jump tunnel. So, if you want this ceptor stop bubble, you do not get a cyno on the same ship.

9

Not sure about you, but for me the nullification is a perk, not a purpose.

I can burn to the edge of a bubble very quickly in a cepter. Yes that puts me at risk, but I would agree with the OP that they’re too safe a the moment.

Consider the cancer of a 50 man combat cepter gang. They can kill things FAST. And the moment the fight isn’t what they want, their insta-warped nullified asses just warp out. If you don’t have smartbombers on their outgate, you aren’t going to do jack ■■■■ to a cepter gang.

The same goes for nullification in general… nullified cloaky T3Cs are cancer too. Having a way to actually catch them would be fantastic. They hit align, they hit cloak, and then they warp. If you’re incredibly lucky you’ll have a cepter close enough to burn to them and decloak them before they warp off, but you’ve got scant few seconds to do so.

1 Like
10

Rivr,

If hictors are broken because they can light a cyno and have a bubble up, that is a separate issue. If you want to remove the hictor’s ability to cyno with the bubble up, then people will just light the cyno with a cheap alt. But this is about interceptors, not hictors, which are not OP.

1 Like
11

i would just make it so they are only nullified against structure generated bubbles, ship generated (either from dictor or Hic stop them, but that is just me

12

2 smartbombing battleships are MORE than enough to wipe out an interceptor fleet.

A hictor and 2 battleships >15AU out will have zero problems smartbombing a ceptor fleet. T3Cs again you don’t usually see huge gangs of them but I’d be only too happy to watch one die to a pipe bomb.

You do not need a titan bridge to pipe bomb nullified ships (excepting T3Cs, which again, good riddance to the stupid things).

In fact, lets go full retard here and utterly annihilate a cepter gang of unlimited size, with 3 (+1 scout) ships and no titan bridge.

One hictor with a cloak, probably smartbombs in the highs.

Two of these, cloaked at the edge of the bubble, heated burst jammer. They aren’t tanked for the damage type but it’s moot because they’re killing ceptors… one cycle each and the gang is going to disappear. It’s overfit, I know, that’s more fun with blops.

Scout says the cepter gang is coming (lets say you’re doing nullsov entosis and they’re going to harass you with cepters), hictor throws up a drag bubble and the battleships get ready to decloak and bomb. If the scout says it’s a gang of “something else” (that you can’t bomb with two battleships) you just all stay cloaked and they are none-the-wiser. The room for a spy in a group of 4 pilots is limited at best.
[Widow, SB Burst Widow]

Damage Control II
Caldari Navy Power Diagnostic System
Caldari Navy Power Diagnostic System
Caldari Navy Power Diagnostic System

Sentient Burst Jammer
Large Micro Jump Drive
Heavy Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I, Navy Cap Booster 800
Pithum C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field
Pithum C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field
Pith X-Type EM Ward Field
Republic Fleet Large Shield Extender
Republic Fleet Large Shield Extender

Imperial Navy Large EMP Smartbomb
Imperial Navy Large EMP Smartbomb
Imperial Navy Large EMP Smartbomb
Imperial Navy Large EMP Smartbomb
Imperial Navy Large EMP Smartbomb
Imperial Navy Large EMP Smartbomb
Caldari Navy Cloaking Device

Large Core Defense Field Extender II
Large Core Defense Field Extender II

1 Like
13

Hate the idea, the interceptor is supposed to intercept and people may use them for ‘emergent’ game play but you destroying their core ability to intercept other ships isnt a good idea for the game.

1 Like
14

Counter-argument:

DICs and HICs are intended to interdict ships and many people use them for ‘emergent’ game play, but you destroying their core ability to interdict other ships isn’t a good idea for the game.

2 Likes
16

I didnt set the parameters for HICs, DICs or interceptors, CCP did and they are all working as intended.

17

Are they though?

I don’t think CCP would ever intend for combat ships to be virtually uncatchable. Which is what combat cepters are. They’re fit for sub 2 second aligns, they’re nullified. They work in swarms to destroy even heavily tanked targets long before anything can arrive to help, and then they moon walk out.

Nullification working only against anchor bubbles would still allow them to moonwalk through krab space to catch the krabs, while allowing players the option of effective active at-the-keyboard counter-play.

2 Likes
18

Working as intended, they cought it alone, it died as there was MANY people against one.

19

Haz no counter play. Magic damage needs to be removed.

Interdictor destroyers and HICs should not be allowed to fit cloak, haz no counter play.

20

CCP made all the ships, made them as the are and most importantly i dont hear any rumblings from CCP that interceptors need any changes so…yeah, they are working as intended !!!

You not liking what CCP decides doesn’t constitute that something isnt, “working as intended”, it is a personal issue you need to get over.

21

I don’t take issue with them killing it. I take issue with them being uncatchable - you literally cannot force a fight on them ever. Even a transiting cloaky camper (sans T3C, which again is nullified) can be caught by a dude in a DIC/HIC.

Sigh. Try harder next time.

Believe me, I fly them often. Because they work. Entosis harassment for example, it’s top notch. It forces them to keep substantial escorts within rapid response of every node being toasted, which is utterly cancer when the ADMs are high (meaning you can’t toast too many nodes). I’ve been on both sides of that. When you’re the one in the cepter it’s boring as ■■■■, there’s literally no risk. When you’re the one toasting, it’s boring as ■■■■ because there’s literally no “fight”. Just a quick gank and back to hopping gates hoping they’re dumb enough to string themselves out.

1 Like