Originally by: Eve Tribune #9

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A topic that I see pop up in the Ships and Modules forum a lot is about Assault Ships. Namely, about how Interceptors can ultimately achieve more damage per second than Assault ships, despite having fewer guns. This is because most interceptors get a total 50% damage bonus to their weapon of choice. Examples include the Taranis, which gets 50% hybrid damage bonus, the Crow which gets 50% kinetic missile bonus, and the Claw, which gets a 50% projectile damage bonus. Compare that to the base 25% damage bonus Assault ships get, and it's apparent there is a large gap in damage.

However, it is worth noting that Interceptors are essentially made of cardboard. Their resistances leave much to be desired, and they're always struggling for cap which makes fitting a tank almost pointless. On the other hand, Assault Ships are known for their tanking abilities, they are most often employed in running the various 10/10 complexes throughout the game. Your average assault ships can take an uncanny amount of damage for their size, which is why they are so widely used in PVE. They are harder to hit than most things and when they do eventually get hit, they can tank the damage. The tanking argument is moot, though. Interceptors move far too fast and have way too small a Signature Radius to get hit by anything but strictly anti-interceptor weaponry, things not common on most ships. Assault Missile Launchers and Light Drones are about the only things that can pop an interceptor with relative ease. While just about anything can hit an Assault Frigate.

So let's see what we have so far. Assault Ships do less damage, and take more damage than Interceptors. Hmm.

From my point of view, this is a bit of an imbalance. Not only do Interceptors do more damage, but they are more likely to get to a range where they can actually use their extreme damage. Assault Ships are very slow among frigates, and thus have to fit long range weapons, further lowering their PVP abilities. Then you factor in the Survivability of both classes. It is harder to lose an Interceptor than it is to lose an Assault Ship in general. What it eventually comes down to is, there is no reason to fly an Assault ship in PVP, because Interceptors do more damage and actually live longer, and this is wrong. No ship should be forced into a role like Assault Ships are. They are designated "Ratting Ships" and nothing more at this point.

My proposed solution? Give Assault Ships more damage. You don't necessarily have to change Interceptors at all, there's just no reason that Assault Ships should be doing less damage than them. Doesn't that make sense though? The current state of things is just baffling. Why should Assault Ships be able to tank better, but lose damage potential because of that? The Interceptor is just as good at tanking in the sense that it doesnt take damage.

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