Torva Licentia
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Posted - 2011.08.29 04:27:00 -
[1]
Just my 0.02 as someone who started playing 3 months ago (just crossed over 4m SP)...
I raced into battleships because...well...battleships. Need I say more?
I don't necessarily regret it. I got a lot of use out of my Megathron and recently reached a point where I can solo most level 4 missions without much difficulty (some are slow, but most are safe). At the same time, I'm now going back and filling in all of the skills that are of universal benefit to any combat pilot. Skills like Shield Operation, Mechanic, and Hull Upgrades directly affect every ship you'll ever fly. No sane combat pilot is going to turn up their nose at a passive 25% bonus to base HP. Engineering and Electronics spell the difference between "everything fits nicely" and "one less gun". And then there's everything that goes into bridging the gap between T1/named and T2.
I knew early on that there would be a big difference between being able to make a battleship active and leave a starbase in it and getting the most out of it in a combat situation, but my training plans always revolved around the prerequisites for the next big shiny. Now that I've sort of reached the shiny I want and have had a chance to sit back and soak in all of the other skills necessary to get the biggest bang for my ISK,
I think the big difference for me is that it takes maybe a week or two of training to bridge the gap from frigate to BS + associated weapon system skills. The benefit to me in being in a BS is the lazy factor of much higher shield/armor/structure HP to offset my novice badisms a bit.
The main thing for me, especially after having just recently set up a second account for an active alt, is that battleship combat is boring compared to frigate combat. Frigates are zippy and mobile and you're moving all over and it's interesting to watch. In my battleship, I tend to just plop down in one spot and play turret. I'm sure a more dedicated and experienced player would point out to me that yes, the transverse velocity you can generate with 100m/s would, in fact, cut down on some of the damage you take, but that just means I end up with a 150-200km+ wreck belt that I have to move through and salvage when the mission is over.
Long story short, I think it really does come down to preference. Battleships don't take much longer to get into, but they take a lot longer to grow into. Battleships more easily support a 'lazy' style of play that may reduce the learning benefit you get out of flying a smaller ship where you have to actually account for navigation as a significant part of survival.
But...still...battleship. Pewpew. Love it.
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