Well, it's cool to see that drone ships no longer lose a slot because of drones... at least if they are not Gallente.

If we change the tracking disruptor bonus on the Arbitrator and Crucifier, we will change the bonus on the T2 versions at the same time.

Why no variation in cap/sec? Amarr are supposed to have good cap, minmatar are supposed to have bad cap.

Why no variation in cap/sec? Amarr are supposed to have good cap, minmatar are supposed to have bad cap.

If we change the tracking disruptor bonus on the Arbitrator and Crucifier, we will change the bonus on the T2 versions at the same time.

Do you think that 92% tracking disruptors and 78% RSDs are really a good idea? If not, you need to do something about warfare links. When even the Gallente info links are arguably overpowered, there's a real problem.

I think basically every frigate should fear the Bellicose, and any ship that can't hit out to 24 km should fear it too since it will just kite you to death with its speed and missiles. And if it does get caught, it can always release the ec-600's and gtfo. No risk pvp is here!

Warfare links, regardless of on grid or off grid, are overpowered as hell. Why do we have a ship providing +50% bonuses in a game where people train months for 2% more damage? I really hope we see links becoming nice to haves instead of must haves like they are becoming now.

I say this as someone with ~25M SP (and counting) invested in Leadership.

-Liang

You mention possible change of ECM mechanics, but could something be done to absurd dampening, too? They say move closer, but if your locking range is cut down to, say, 5-10 km or so you while your operating range is more like 30-40, moving closer is of no particular use. RSD mechanics is to be changed as well to prevent RSD from being abused while keeping them as a valid tool for fleet-warfare. Do you agree?

I assume you're talking about a 2km/s AML kite fit with a TP and dual webs or something? I'd feel pretty comfortable taking the ship on with any of the new T1 attack frigates.
-Liang

Warfare links, regardless of on grid or off grid, are overpowered as hell. Why do we have a ship providing +50% bonuses in a game where people train months for 2% more damage? I really hope we see links becoming nice to haves instead of must haves like they are becoming now.

I say this as someone with ~25M SP (and counting) invested in Leadership.

-Liang

Forgive me for being a bit skeptical. Please tell us how you'd do it.

I agree completely. I also think it's crazy that it's so cheap to get large link benefits, relative to, say, sticking deadspace hardeners, RF points or FN webs on your entire gang.

The idea of one ship being able to simultaniously boost 200 others for the same benefit as boosting just 1 is utterly flawed.

Change links to the way logistics and any remote buffing operate - so that they either provide huge boosts to one ship or just slightest to a blob. Hooray, we fixed gang-links once and for all.

No worries man. The basic problem is that Light Missiles basically don't hit anything going faster than 3.5km/s. The new T1 frigs are that fast, at the very least. So for the Bellicose to deal damage, it'd have to close with the frig and get webs, but that's about as likely as a cruiser webbing a Slicer. It can happen but it requires the Slicer pilot to **** up pretty hard.

The Drones (provided they fit 5 light ECM/5 light Warriors) would by far be the biggest threat. The Condor can just straight tank them and the others will just kill them.

-Liang

Ed: Remember, the Caracal is able to do this because its missiles go 50% faster than the Bellicose.

Yes, I once tried to use an AML Navy Osprey but found that the missiles weren't quick enough to actually hit an intelligently flown, fast frigate that wasn't just flying straight at me. They just ran out of flight time first.

But there's a difference between "take on" and "kill"...

Butthurt because kiting can be countered now?

If, for example, ECM didn't shut off targetting, but instead rendered a ship's weapons unable to actually HIT, most players would feel 100% better about it. They would happily blaze away until they exploded and many wouldn't even know they'd been 'jammed.' You'd see threads complaining about overpopwered damps (which prevent targetting) and urging CCP to model them after the now balanced "new ECM." It's all about perception and frustration.

Not sure how I feel about the bellicose having a full drone bay. Two ewar ships, okay, but three reeks of too much homogenization. Bring the bellicose down, at least one medium drone. The balance team also added tons of drones to frigate hulls, it feels like gallente's specialization is being entirely eclipsed. The vexor, with only 75 bw (which most people only use a flight of mediums anyway) loses its advantage in the cruiser realm. A similar thing is true with the thorax.

I would argue that all ships cruiser and above should have minimum of a 25m3 drone bay. The Belli should be able to fit a flight of light drones and that's it.

It... might work. But even still, gang mods should not work in a POS Shield.

CCP Fozzie - make me a happy man and bring out one of the combat lines before the weekend.