Aegis Osiris
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Posted - 2005.08.11 03:29:00 -
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I have to disagree with those that feel the T2 Dessies would have no role. I also disagree with those that are looking to base the T2 improvements along the lines of Assault Frigs.
There's nothing unique about a T2 Dessie with AF-like bonuses.
This is an opportunity to make a truly unique class of ships.
1. Keep the ROF penalty. The Dev's had their reasons, and there are others as well (will clarify later). Also, keep the tracking/range bonuses, or even buff them slightly.
2. Improve the HP of shields/armor/structure, maybe not as big a bump as frig > AF, but close.
3. Give them the same resistance boosts as their AF cousins.
4. Bump PG and CPU a bit (5-15%? needs testing)
So far, we'd have ships similar in firepower to the Dessies we have now, but with survivability along the lines of an AF. Now for the uniqueness:
5. As others have stated, give them a Squad Leadership bonus*, that would allow the fitting of Gang Assist modules. This would make T2 Dessies the ship of choice to lead wolfpacks, and make for some damn interesting (and fun!) small unit fights.
6. Give them a range boost on propulsion jamming (5% per lvl? 10? 50% flat across the board? needs testing)**
This gives you a ship that would be perfect leading small groups of frigs/inties/AF's etc, while giving it ok damage and a long range tackling ability. The double bonus means the ship is not solely relegated to group combat/leadership, but the lower damage potential means it doesn't become the UberFlavor of the Month for gankage. It would have several roles to fill, and would do them well, without introducing another pure-damage combat ship, shoehorned in where there isn't really much room as it is.
* I can see a concern here of Dessies being used to provide Gang Assist boosts in fleet combat for large gangs. Clearly, such should not be this ships role. Two ways to limit this would be by ship class (only Dessies and lower in size would recieve the bonus), or perhaps by limiting the number of ships in gang (5-7? some number per level? needs testing). That would make some sense, allowing for Command Cruisers/BC's, and ultimately Command BS's, to fill their roles nicely with larger groups/bigger ships.
**T2 Dessies would never truly replace Inties, due to speed and sig radius, so this bonus would be useful for the ship, without bumping Inties out of a role.
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