Ayla Illat
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
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Posted - 2013.04.12 09:02:00 -
[1] - Quote
You know what? I'm really liking the changes brought forward by the tiericide initiative. Absolutely thrilled to see the changes proposed to the Armageddon and I'll tell you why:
 Armageddon
- Nearly all Amarr ships follow the same straightforward ship design: thick, durable armor combined with lasers as weapon of choice. As a strictly Amarrian pilot this is generally something I embrace. However, over the years many more ships have been added to the game and Amarr was getting behind in terms of flexibility. I feel the revamped Armageddon brings much needed variety to the table.
- Use of drones + missile launchers creates the possibility to vary damage types (increasing its usefulness for PvE due to not being limited to EM/thermal damage). It's also a logical step up the ladder from dragoon > arbitrator > prophecy.
- It makes sense to have multiple ships dedicated to energy draining: capacitor warfare is an Amarrian trademark after all. A neuting amount bonus would be pretty overkill, I feel the Armageddon is perfectly balanced the way it is now. I believe faction ships will be looked at in the near future as well. Perhaps the Bhaalgorn might receive a slight change (minor range increase?) to better reflect its price tag.
- Also for the people who are sad to see the old Armageddon go: keep in mind faction ships will undergo rebalance as well. It's unlikely the changes will carry over to the navy Geddon seeing as we already have the Bhaalgorn, Curse, Pilgrim and plenty of other drone boats in the Amarr ship line. Who knows, we might see a return of the old Geddon, improved and upgraded to fit the 'faction' label.
Abaddon
- Not much to say about this one really. It's still the iconic laser powerhouse and most skill intensive battleship out of the three. Numerous people have complained about the lack of an eighth low slot. If anything I'd rather swap out a mid slot than a high in exchange for an extra low. Doubt that's going to happen though, overall I think the Abaddon is fine.
Now we get to the bit I'm slightly worried about. I think the Apocalypse could use some tweaking to make it more accessible and up to par with the other race's attack ships.
Apocalypse
- I'm a bit confused about the newly added tracking bonus. Are you trying to stimulate the use of beam lasers on the Apoc?
*edit*
Quote: It is also getting an increase to power grid and CPU so that beams are a more viable option in the future.
Ah seems like it. Well, as it currently stands, beam lasers are in a... not so good state: fitting requires tremendous amounts of power grid, it has worse damage per SECOND (due to slow refire rate) which means less pressure on the target, and it consumes capacitor faster than Charlie Sheen downs his alcohol. Seeing as the 10% laser cap use reduction has been removed it is highly unlikely the Apoc can function effectively when fitted with beams. Therefore I'd like to propose the following change: switch from current 8/4/7 setup to --> 6/4/8 slot layout. Here's why:
- Most of the other race's 'attack' battleship possess 6 weapon points as well (Raven 6 launchers; Tempest 6 turrets; Typhoon 6 launchers). Giving the Apoc the same amount goes well with the overall design philosophy of attack ships, it shows consistency.
- Most importantly, with the current amount of power grid, players with good fitting skills will be able to fit six (Tachyon) beams. The Apoc fulfills a unique role, a niche, being able to fit the ultimate long range weapons makes sense on what is after all the go-to sniper battleship in the game. The tracking bonus has great synergy with beam lasers, and will make up for the loss in damage from the two turret slots in my opinion.
- Going from 8 to 6 turrets will be a little bit easier on the capacitor. Further testing on Singularity will indicate whether the base cap and/or cap recharge rate on the Apoc need additional buffing.
- The eighth low slot will make up for the removal of two turret points by providing extra space for either a damage mod or a cap power relay.
Hope you and CCP Fozzie are still reading through the comments from the player base. You guys have done a great job so far and I'm very much looking forward to the Odyssey expansion! However, there's still room for some minor tweaking and fixing. I believe good suggestions are made in this thread by various people. May they assist you in your job of rebalancing T1 Amarr battleships.
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