Solo low sec pvp buff #6 - Warp Prevention Rebalance
This subject is complicated by the fact that the modules that prevent a player warping out were hijacked to add the microwarpdrive inhibition effect of scramblers in previous game enhancements.
(One of the truly wonderful releases in my opinion btw.)
Lets assume that each ship fits one warp suppressing module per ship, just to get started.
Hopefully we can arrive at some conclusions that are not completely broken when an enterprising pilot decides to fit more than one such module.
(Though we had better take care at least in the instance where a scram and disruptor are simultaneously installed.)
The roaming solo pvper will for all practical purposes only be able to suppress warp of one foe at any time.
This may or may not affect the activation of the targets microwarpdrive.
Fleets on the other hand are highly likely to be able to apply warp suppression in a stacked manner.
Put more simply, if 6 Rifters are targetting one Rifter, then it is quite possible that all 6 will be preventing escape of that Rifter, while that Rifter itself (while it still has hull integrity) will only be preventing one of its aggressors from leaving the field of battle.
I feel here is an interesting imbalance created by warp prevention mechanics that exists outside of the natural firepower, mobility and hitpoint advantages that a fleet will always have over their solo adversary.
So, my proposal is that where multiple warp prevention modules are activated on a single target ship from multiple attacking ships, only those from one attacking ship will be activated.
Where both scrambler and disruptor modules are candidates for activation, scrambler points will take precedence in deciding which pilot gets the âpointâ
This is because warp inhibition and mwd supression is considered more valuable than warp ihibition alone.
Once one point has been applied, all others will fail. UI feedback will be added so that any pilot with a ship targeted will be able to see if a fleet mate has a point on it.
They will also see when it drops thus having the opportunity to try and re-apply point.
The idea here is that the poor beleagured solo pilot fighting on his own will no longer need to kill all six of these rifters to break point.
Killing his tackler will at any time give him a (possible) opportunity to escape, at least until the rabid fleet set about him applies a new lock. He might just make it!
Warp Stabs: So, limiting warp points could have unintended implications on counters to warp stabs. We might want to get rid of those. However, in the absence of this, I think it would be sufficient to confirm that multiple warp inhibition modules from a single ship will still take effect.
Should mix things up a bit.