ECM is currently the only EWAR (excluding neuts, nos) which does not have a stacking penalty associated with it. Damps, TPs, and TDs all get a stacking penalty applied against their net effect on a target.

Is or was a stacking penalty being applied to them ever under consideration in addition to the changes you outlined? And if so, would it also apply to ECM drones?

Was expecting a LOT more for the ECM changes..

how about JUST fixing ECM drones? I can deal with the rest.. its the drones that drive me up the wall.

Here's what we currently have on our plate for Retribution:

ECM
*Add four new racial sensor compensation skills that increase each type of Sensor Strength by 5% per level (Requires Electronics 4, rank 3 skills in the Electronics category)

smartbomb.

Will these skills function like shield/armor compensation skills and only be effective when fitting a sensor strength module, or more of a blanket skill where training it grants an instant bonus to sensor strength?

There's a lot of reasons why (small and medium) smartbombs are a bad solution

-ECM drones will finish their jam cycle if they die in the middle of it, so even if you blow them off in the first cycle that's still 20 seconds of being jammed. More practically, with a medium SB, it's potentially 40-60 seconds of jamming

-They use shitloads of cap

-You can't use them on gates or stations, which are popular places for fights

-They take a long time to kill drones anyway

Unless you mean smartbombs on a fleet scale, which makes sense 'cause you're in scrub legion and only fly in blobs lmao

Dayam, Marlona and Gavriel, I thought I had a hate of ecm. You guys would remove it from the game, whether in module or drone form.

I recognize a need for such a mechanic though, espcially as a counter to logistic support. It just shouldn't be a 20 second forced time out from the game.

We have a bunch of long term plans for battleships, but in general we are ok with the unsual role the Scorp plays.

So it's fine that Caldari only have two direct combat battleships forever, while everyone else has three? Well, right now, Caldari only have one valid battleship for anything and that's the Rokh. Gallente have Megathron and Dominix, you can fly pretty much any Amarr battleship, and any Minmatar one.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind this decision.

So it's fine that Caldari only have two direct combat battleships forever, while everyone else has three? Well, right now, Caldari only have one valid battleship for anything and that's the Rokh. Gallente have Megathron and Dominix, you can fly pretty much any Amarr battleship, and any Minmatar one.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind this decision.

We are aware of the effect the new skills will have on probing, and we're going to be keeping our eyes on it and have a few tricks up our sleeve in that regard.

Dayam, Marlona and Gavriel, I thought I had a hate of ecm. You guys would remove it from the game, whether in module or drone form.

I recognize a need for such a mechanic though, espcially as a counter to logistic support. It just shouldn't be a 20 second forced time out from the game.

mm.. i would like the scorp to be a high dps bs like the drake will be ROF and 5% dmg bonus

47.5%. Multiply the effectiveness by 0.95, rather than subtract 5. I'll see if I can clarify the wording.

At least the Rokh is really cool when you put railguns on it?

ECM
*Reduce Optimal Range and Falloff of all ECM modules by 10%
*Add to the Optimal Range and Falloff bonus on ECM range bonused ships by 2.5% for the Blackbird and Tengu Obfuscation Manifold (bringing it to 12.5%) and 5% for the Scorpion (bringing it to 25%)
*Add four new racial sensor compensation skills that increase each type of Sensor Strength by 5% per level (Requires Electronics 4, rank 3 skills in the Electronics category)

I know it isn't popular to bat for the ECM team, but here's my problem with the range reduction on ECM modules: slots. It is a plural thing. On every other ewar ship, you can fit your ewar module(s) and a tank. A reasonable tank. That is not the case with ECM boats. You can have a tank or you can be effective as ewar. You can really only pick one with the way ECM is currently designed.

Now, I will agree that the ability of ECM to perma jam a ship is a pretty terrible mechanic. However, that is a solo or extremely small gang warfare situation. A situation that would not be impacted, at all, by a range nerf. The range nerf means ecm has to move in closer for pretty much every other situation, which means they are more likely to be shot by something.

ECM would probably be more balanced if the modules had long cycles, and only jammed for part of the cycle (i.e. a cool-down period).

On every other ewar ship, you can fit your ewar module(s) and a tank. A reasonable tank. That is not the case with ECM boats. You can have a tank or you can be effective as ewar.

TD changes: solid, especially if you're considering making TDs affect missiles.

As a TD fetishist, I think the nerf to unbonused TDs is okay. I don't think unbonused ewar should be really weak, though, especially since that is essentially what armor tankers are trading damage and speed for. Well, that and sig radius.

As a guy who thinks ECM is a terrible, terrible mechanic, I'm all for the nerf, but I don't think it actually addresses the problem. It just makes ECM worse.


Rooks and Falcons are both capable of fitting an okay shield tank + prop and still have 4 jammers. ECM pilots choose not to tank their ships at present because there isn't much of a reason to.