Originally by: Ithildin

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As long as the Abaddon doesn't get a drone damage bonus, it can have as much drone bay as it pleases - it's not going to threaten the Dominix' position as top drone using battleship.

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Originally by: Ithildin

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First of all, if Amarr get a drone boat I will lose exactly zero skill points. I'm Gallente AND Amarr specialized. I got laser specialization prior to hybrid specialization. My first interceptor was a Crusader, my second a Malediction. My three most used ships are in order: Taranis, Megathron, Vengeance.
I'm not anti-Amarr. I use them myself.

Now that that is done, you should all know that the reason Amarr has the Arbitrator is a one-off. It is merely happenstance, and the devs pursuit of the generic that's been going on for a few years, that has the Arbitrator similar to the Vexor in drone power. I'm old enough to tell the story of when the Thorax was the drone cruiser and the Arbitrator had less than half it's drone bay.
Originally, Minmatar were intended as the secondary drone race. This is apparent if you also take into account the different races avarage drone bays.
That the Amarr recons are also drone cruisers is a very sad happenstance and completely due to them having the bonuses of their base hulls than anything the "fluff" would say.

That aside, that Amarr should have drone ships is fine as long as game balance also adheres to the game "fluff". The "fluff" clearly states that Gallente invented drones, developed drones, and continue to hold drone mechanics and AI as their high-technological foothold.
By this, an Amarr ship must be weaker than a Gallente ship - in terms of drone usage - within the same class.
Now, using drones is slightly more than just the number, size, and bonus to drones, it also somewhat inherit some of the miscellaneous power of the ship itself.

In effect, introducing an Amarr ship with a +10% drone damage bonus with a drone bay larger than 120 metrics will upset the conceptual balance among the races. IF it is introduced at tier 3 when the Gallente ship is relegated to tier 1. If the situation could be reversed, it could be very well workable having an Amarr drone ship - even with the same drone bonus and drone bay as the Gallente one.

This is not about Amarr not getting a drone boat. This is about not ******* up the backstory. This is about not ******* up the reasons people have trained for this or that race just because people think the grass is greener at the moment.

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