bp920091
Black Aces
Against ALL Authorities
21
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Posted - 2014.01.07 23:29:00 -
[1] - Quote
First off, i dont have a problem with slowcats. I do have a problem with how they are currently being used (ie, drone assist).
Sentry Drones are, in essence turrets. They share far more with turrets than they do with regular drones. Simply put, they dont move, and are extensions of one's own ship (drone based ship in most cases), in regards to damage. The different flavors of sentry drones are also representative of guns as a whole. Shorter range, better tracking, more dps? Better use a Garde. Long range, worse tracking, less damage? Use Bouncers.
People say that drones should be assistable, yet several classes of drones are not. Often called support drones, ECM, Remote Repair, and Salvage Drones cannot be assisted to someone else. While Remote Repair and Salvage drones make sense, being "Support," ECM drones are different entirely. While it is true that they do not deal damage, instead, they directly negatively effect the opponent's status (web, jam, target paint, etc). CCP has decided that this is far too powerful for assisting, and have therefore made these classes of drones un-assistable.
For those calling for Carriers to be "Fighters Only," I do not think that this is the right path either. The Slowcat doctrine is a strong and powerful one indeed, and a removal of the utility of carriers to only be able to field fighters is a rather large nerf that is unneeded.
As for sentry drones, they create the issue of "Perfect Alpha." If this is intended in the game then the only thing that needs to be done is to allow modules to be assisted as well. If "Perfect Alpha" was not something that was intended, and seen as undesirable, remove sentry assist from the game. Regular drone assist is not broken due to other aspects (ie, time for drones to get into position, position of drones in fleet, as well as giving other ships the ability to get on killmails (logi), when they are focusing on other aspects (ie, repping their fleet-members)).
I for one feel that for a ship to fire on someone using turrets (which sentry drones are), they should have to lock you first.
For those saying "Well, -A- supports Dominix/Ishtar Fleets, so they really arent supporting drone assist nerfs, just slowcats," I say this. I dont like sentry assist on ANY platform, including dominix/ishtars. In order for a ship to use turrets on you, it should have to lock you and fire on you. I would be in SUPPORT of a change that would cause Dominixes and Ishtars to need to manually lock and fire on the target that they with THEIR drones to shoot.
Carriers in the past have not been used in this manner because of an inbuilt mechanic, that is, lock time (that, and before the drone mods, sentries werent nearly as good). When you can delegate the damage to one ship, built specifically for lock time and range, the drawbacks for using a carrier are lost, leaving only the positive aspects.
TLDR: Remove sentry Assist or allow guns to be assistable |