I will start this off with a little lore:
Red Moon Rising Expansion
December 2005
EW Drones, Logistic Drones, and Sentry Drones were introduced.
Max drone control was 15, (+5 from Drones, +5 from Drone Interfacing, and +5 form the ship [Dominix] in this thread)
Over the next few years T2 variations of drones were introduces for all drones, with the exception of EW drones and Fighter/Bombers
Fast forward to December 2007,
Trinity Expansion
Drone Bandwidth was introduced and the max drone control for sub capital ships was reduced 5 drones per ship, skills and ships were modified to compensate for the loss of 10 drones, Drones +1 Drones/level Drone Interfacing +20% Drone Damage and Mining Yield/level Ship Bonuses +10% Drone Damage and HP/level

Now the modifications were effective in keeping the damage the same as before, but nothing else for example you were able to launch 15 medium armor maintaince drone II from the Dominix, @28 HP/drone and a cycle time of 5s you could rep 105HP/s. now you can only rep 35HP/s. This is due to the Drone Interfacing skill only boosting Drone Damage and not the total effectiveness of drones, the same if true for all non combat drones.

As for the ability to destroy drones, when 15 drones were able to be controlled by the Dominix, using hammerhead II, the total HP of all drones was (before resistances) 21225HP. The reduction of drone control did not take this into consideration either, the hull grants +10% HP/level, but that leaves the drones with a total HP of 10615.5HP, merely half of the amount of HP that could be fielded before.

Drone Interfacing should add +20%/level to the total effectiveness of drones, HP, Damage, Mining Yield, Web amount.
The Hull bonus should do the same except 10%/level

This would give drone ships the versatility that they use to have before they were reduced down to 5 drones.

You realize they were trying to give the Mega that inherently flawed 8-5-6 layout right? Basically trading one gimp for another?

One last thing to mention: Personally, I really think sentry drones should move some, even if its only to return to bay.

You realize the Megathron was not supposed to be a fleet ship anymore ?

And you may not like non amarr BS, that don't mean 8/5/6 layout is non functional ; you don't see any use to this layout, fine, go play with some amarr BS with 847 layout, there is 3 of them ; new Megathron had almost the same firepower than before (which mean *very huge*, because of blasters), and earned a utility mid slot ! Yet, blind people like you are in a senseless crusade against 856 layout and don't even want to look at this kind of ship, because that may hurt your soul and bring you to hell...

RE: Megathron

so comparing a standard Neutron/dual plate/Heavy neut fit, new Mega loses 160 dps with the same tank (or 25K EHP and 11dps), gains 55m/s speed and 0.7s align time. Extra mid can not fit MJD, only low-cpu modules fit. TC or ECCM would be my choice, or painter/another web depending on the rest of the gang.

For light armor, changes would mean that Mega needs to overheat on Void to reach 1000dps, gets a mid in exchange, which in together with the ROF bonus will make it hit better. In some cases, this might mean more applied dps.

However, it can no longer do heavy armor at all, and active tank gets slashed by ~300 hp/s (RAH@Omni 15%).

Shield fit has max 85K EHP, and this fit has no tackle. No point, no web. Tackle drops you down to 74K EHP. With one Overdrive and heated MWD, it goes 1797m/s (not for long, mind the cap) and pushes 1185dps with CNAM and Ogre IIs. With Null it does less dps than a Talos. Hard to see where this big and slow glass cannon would be useful.


As a general note, idk why CCP doesn't use this opportunity to lift the whole battleship class to their former glory. 20% EHP, free extra turret+fitting for all, more sensor strength, lock range and capacitor. Ideally they would sit clearly above all other subcaps in damage, projection and staying power.

After Odyssey, ABCs will still rule.

P.S. "mobile armor battleship" is an oxymoron.

Alpha Maelstrom:[/u]
DPS: 600 @ 40km, 400 @ 70km
EHP: 123k
Resists: 71 / 77 / 83 / 70
Bonus Perk: Extreme Alpha

This ship is an all around solid choice, even with a completely wasted ship bonus. I won't go into too much depth, but resist bonuses are completely superior to active bonuses because they benefit both active and buffer tanks. Let's lose them if we can.

Fleet Rokh:
DPS: 540 @ 60km, 300 @ 140km
EHP: 133k
Resists: 78 / 83 / 73 / 77
Bonus Perk: Extreme Range Flexibility

This ship not only has a fantastic tank, but it can actually compete with Tier 3 Battlecruisers that attempt to harass it. It fills its role incredibly well, and there is a reason the HBC relies on it primarily today.

Hellcat Abaddon:
DPS: 650 @ 60km
EHP: 125k
Resists: 68 / 79 / 79 / 77
Bonus Perk: Extremely High Tracking

Go fit a hyperion and tell me the layout works again.

Of course, when comparing the Talos to something else, ehp are irrelevant, or the other ship would have an advantage I guess ? Do you realize that you are looking at any advantage of the Megathron over the Talos with disdain and hence concluding that the Talos is far better ? You are completely biased toward the Talos.

Sure, which amarrian job do you want it to do ? Which amarrian caracteristics do you want it to mimic for your job ? Because I'm pretty sure you will discard anything I can give to you if I don't answer these questions...

I don't really understand why people dislike the new Mega.

We would get a fast BS with 5 med slots for dual web, dual prop, ECCM, ewar, dual cap booster for neut resilience (new geddon anyone?), ....and so on. A very flexible BS, with tracking bonus, highly capable for very small gang PvP because of flexibility.

All for the cost of what? Maybe ~10k EHP?

Why so much hate? It's perfect! I really hope CCP won't drop the 5 med slots idea.

I would rather lose the utility high than that low slot.

I'm comparing the advantages of these ships when fitted for mobile dps, as CCP Rise suggests that the new Mega could be used.

Talos- mobility, dps
Mega- tank

Now when you consider these in practical situations, you'll notice that the mobility of Talos negates the need for tank. And the Mega will actually need to tank, because it will be caught by most ships.

When fit for close range armor brawling, Mega obviously wins hands down, due to massive tank and utility advantage.

= I'm not saying Mega is worse than Talos, except when shield fit. I don't really believe in fast battleships, one exists and it's pretty damn OP and should be nerfed. The trump cards of battleships should be fire-and staying power along with utility.

New versions of Hyperion and Megathron posted in the OP - let me know what you guys think.

New versions of Hyperion and Megathron posted in the OP - let me know what you guys think.

New versions of Hyperion and Megathron posted in the OP - let me know what you guys think.

Oh I love you so much right now

Do you plan on actually making the Dominix a decent drone ship or do you prefer the one that is inferior to the Armageddon.

New versions of Hyperion and Megathron posted in the OP - let me know what you guys think.

The new Dominix is going to be a pretty goddamn amazing drone ship, that range and tracking bonus is immensely powerful.

New versions of Hyperion and Megathron posted in the OP - let me know what you guys think.

New versions of Hyperion and Megathron posted in the OP - let me know what you guys think.

New versions of Hyperion and Megathron posted in the OP - let me know what you guys think.