Regat Kozovv
Caldari
Alcothology
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Posted - 2010.01.05 21:39:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: Khanstruct
I'm going to keep training hybrids because I know the second I start training something else it's going to get nerfed and hybrids will get buffed lol.
I started training projectiles months ago in expectation of an artillery buff.
I remember when artillery was awesome, (pre-HP buff), Lasers sucked (boost Amarr!), and well, Caldari just flung missiles around.
I thing Liang is right to warrant caution in clamoring for changes to weapons. While I think some minor changes could be made to rails, I feel the true driving force behind this has more to due with Caldari pilots feeling left out in the face of recent attention given to the other races. Above all, most of the complaints seem to be the lack of DPS, which I wonder is more of a desire to return to the gank days prior to the HP buff than it is to really find a niche and role for every weapon class.
That being said, I'll offer my observations on the issue:
1. Range is still king (especially with regards to battleships). For this reason, blasters have been largely marginalized. The two different opinions on fixing this, increasing range, or increasing DPS, both have their drawbacks. The former puts blasters in autocannon territory, while simply increasing DPS does not necessary mitigate the issues of having to close the distance in the first place. See Gabriel's excellent thread and discussion on possible fixes for this issue here.
2. Rails do not scale effectively across mounts or tiers. The 425mm II is an excellent weapon, and with the introduction of the Rokh, it has a solid place in Fleet warfare. It's use on the Megathron however is more due to the lack of a viable blaster strategy (see point 1.) The 350mm version comes next as a the secondary armament for the Dominix, and then, that's it.
The dual 250mm and dual 150mm are all but ignored, and cruiser-sized Caldari rail platforms are hardly in demand. (The thorax, which is the only cruiser I can think of that is used often and with rails, should be a blaster platform.)
The reasons for the discrepancies I feel are more of the current state of game mechanics. Railguns, and Caldari design in particular, are designed to be the longer-range weapons in their class, and this design philosophy is reflected from the Frigate to Battleship level. Given that many fleet battleship fights occur at long range, this strategy works well, where the speed to close the distance isn't as much of a concern. Aside from that, most engagements occur on a gate or station. Ranges here are very close, and when hits are virtually guaranteed, raw damage takes over.
The result I feel is that medium range engagements are few and far in between, and this leaves a whole swath of weapons and ships, the Caldari Frigate and Cruiser snipers in partictular, without a role. Too slow to effectively kite, no damage bonus, their 20-30km range bonus over their peers offers no advantage in practicality when the range is effectively 0, or restricted to battleships only.
Any look at Railguns (or other weapon system) needs to be viewed along with it's intended role and strategy as a whole, and not just at the upper ranges. To solve any issues with railguns, CCP and the players will need to take a close look at this "sniper" role and how it fits into EVE combat as a whole when most ships are engaging at "warp to 0".
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