Hello, pilots!
I had some time yesterday and started exploring ideas for fixing carriers. Remember the days before fighters when carriers used drones? Ah, the nostalgia! But back then, the swarms of drones were a massive strain on the servers, especially in large fleet battles. CCP’s solution was to group fighters into squadrons of 3-9, reducing the number of entities in space—smart move, right? But there was a catch. In the process, some unintended side effects cropped up, creating a real vulnerability for carriers.
1. Fighter Squadrons: Current State of Play
- Carrier Fighter Squadrons: Carriers can field up to 3 squadrons at a time, each with 9 fighters. This allows for 27 fighters in the field for a fully engaged carrier.
- Supercarriers: Supercarriers get an upgrade, controlling up to 5 squadrons simultaneously for a total of 45 fighters.
So, from a numbers perspective, carriers now have more firepower than they used to (10 drones back then vs. 27 fighters now). Sounds great—until you realize that instead of 10 drones cluttering up overviews, you’re now seeing just 3 squadrons. It’s here that the issue begins.
The Problem
Since squadrons act as a unified whole, fighters are highly vulnerable to ECM. A single ECM-capable ship can completely shut down a carrier by neutralizing all 9 fighters at once, which makes ECM incredibly overpowered. In effect, it’s not that carriers have become weak but that they’re more vulnerable to being countered than they were in the drone era.
2. Proposed Solution: Fighter Squadron Mechanics Overhaul
Objective: Make carriers resilient enough to hold their own in PvE and PvP, especially against smaller, ECM-heavy fleets, by introducing a more nuanced approach to webbing, scramming, and ECM.
Fighter Squadron Vulnerability to Single-Ship Effects (Unified Squadron Mechanics)
- Webs: Currently, one web can all but cripple an entire fighter squadron. My suggestion? Make web effects proportional. If a squadron has 9 fighters, each web should reduce speed by 1/9 (around 11%). To slow down a squadron fully, you’d need a web for each fighter, rewarding coordination rather than allowing one ship to completely immobilize the squadron.
- Scrams: Following the same logic, scram effects should also be proportional. One scram would reduce speed by 1/9 for the squadron, requiring scrams equal to the number of fighters for full warp nullification. This prevents a single scram from shutting down a squadron’s mobility, allowing for partial control without total lockdown.
- ECM: Here’s where things could get interesting. For a squadron of 9 fighters, a successful ECM hit would reduce the squadron’s total DPS by 1/9 (11%), as if one fighter were jammed. Full DPS suppression would require ECMs equal to the squadron size, maintaining some combat capacity while rewarding coordinated ECM tactics.
DPS Enhancement and Combat Role Refinement
- DPS Improvement: To give carriers their teeth back, let’s look at improving fighter DPS to better reflect their fast-attack role. Currently, a single fighter does less damage than a T1-fit Malediction, which doesn’t quite match the image of a capital-class threat. A modest DPS boost would let fighters hit with the punch expected of a carrier-class weapon.
- Critical Strike Mechanic: To add some excitement to fighter engagements, a small chance for Light Fighters to deal enhanced burst damage could reinforce their hit-and-run style. This could make them more dynamic in both PvP and PvE, making carriers a force to be reckoned with once more.
Conclusion
By making these changes, we could bring back the tactical depth and firepower carriers deserve. A balance of counters, scaled vulnerabilities, and a DPS boost would restore their presence in space, making them formidable without being overwhelming. Let’s give carriers the resilience they need to stand up to ECM and a fighting chance to defend their space!