nerfs don't work if the whole system is imbalanced to begin with, people will either complain the drake is underpowered or that something else has become overpowered because of a drake nerfing.

The current drake is a bit unbalanced, the performance/sp/isk ratio is well beyond the other battlecruisers which is partly why they are so prevalent in both PvP and PvE. Additionally, a drake is nearly as effective as a nighthawk while being easier to fit. Decreasing some of the versatility will help diversify the ships flown as well (a good thing). Even if the tank is nerfed, I still think we'll see a fair number of drakes on the field.

As per the title,
PLEASE DONT NERF MY DRAKE.
I read in the CSM notes the potential nerf for the drake.
While i would agree that the Nighthawk doesnt get looked at as much because of the drake's sheer amount of awesomeness I dont agree that the solution is nerfing the drake.
I am not one of the ppl that flies a drake coz its easy to fly. I am a proud Caldari pilot that flies a Drake because shields and missiles are awesome!

The current drake is a bit unbalanced, the performance/sp/isk ratio is well beyond the other battlecruisers which is partly why they are so prevalent in both PvP and PvE. Additionally, a drake is nearly as effective as a nighthawk while being easier to fit. Decreasing some of the versatility will help diversify the ships flown as well (a good thing). Even if the tank is nerfed, I still think we'll see a fair number of drakes on the field.

"I want to keep my easy mode ship that requires no thought nor talent to fly!"

Drake sucks. People fly it because it's made for stupid people. Anyone defending it is revealing their intelligence.

We Gallente pilots feel for our soon to be Caldari (Drake flying) brethern in our little club of nerfed ships. :-)

Welcome to the club and be prepared to think creatively about how to fit and fly.

One must wonder. Does the potential overpoweredness of a Drake really unbalance the scales that much to justify a nerf on it?

Some ships tend to be more desirable then others during certain applications. Could be of reasons of tank, firepower, adaptability or a combination of the lot. Fact is that there are ships and fits that can beat any Drake out there. A Drake is a powerfull ship, easy to get into and with relatively low skills it can be a major workhorse to any pilot. But so are other ships. A Myrm, Ferox, Cane or Harb can all be considered powerfull used in the right application and all can overpower a Drake being it's a matter of SP and skills or how it's fitted conventional or not.

I have a feeling that a lot of players find it hard to deal with Drakes and blame it's strength. While I believe it's more a matter of Drakes just being popular among pilots that reveals a Drakes strength more than it does others. So it just looks like it's way more overpowered and thus justifies a nerf on it. Infact it's just powerful but not something so powerful that it actually creates an unbalance. If there is any reason for any tipping of the scales it's because of its popularity due to its easiness and power. But as I said before so are other battlecruisers. So I don't agree with a nerf on it. But I also don't think a nerf on it would be so terrible as some might plea. I think putting a nerf on it now would just be for the wrong reasons because it would get nerfed because it's a good ship and pilots recognize it as such. You could say then that all other popular ships should just get nerfed as well to give other ships a better chance. Then they get popular and considered to powerful and it's their turn. It would never end.

For the record tho, I don't fly a Drake^^

Nerfs based on PvP butthurt that affect PvE always end poorly.

The Drake is a bread and butter boat for new players to survive
and get a foot-hold on some isk. Making the game harder and
take longer for a new player to get in to a comfortable spot
isk wise will lower the new player retention rate imo.

This whole nerf affects ALL the uses of the ship just because of
one current popular PvP use.

Nerfing is a good sign of lazy game management.

my only problem with the drake came with PVP. Able to go super fast, have a decent tank, and spit out decent damage over long distances. No other ship can do all that at the same time, not even Gallente (which are supposed to). It's like having your cake and eating it too.

The only nerf this is bringing would be to brawler fit HAM drakes. However, I'm not even sure that counts. Yes you'll have less EHP but you'll be able to shoot the proper damage type therefore dealing more actual DPS in many situations. More gank less tank is a good thing IMO.

So all of us drake pilots should be for this change. If drake haters wanna call it a nerf, please let them. It'll be more fun when our drakes kill them still, despite being "nerfed".

You can already select the propper damage type, and it doesn't do more DPS. Removing te kinetic bonus wont
make the other damage types do more damage than they do now.

"I want to keep my easy mode ship that requires no thought nor talent to fly!"

Drake sucks. People fly it because it's made for stupid people. Anyone defending it is revealing their intelligence.

You can already select the propper damage type, and it doesn't do more DPS. Removing te kinetic bonus wont
make the other damage types do more damage than they do now.


You're assuming that they will actually offset the nerfs as they have suggested. Bet you
it ends up more nerf and less compesation.

CCP is starting down the slippery slope here. Nerf = Nerf = Nerf and so on

The Hurricane in mr potatoes guys analysis doesn't really argue anything other than training time. the dps of the Hurricane fit is considerably higher with a lower EHP when compared to the drake. what you could argue for is to bring the drake training times in par with the Hurricane if that is the basis of your argument.

Now they could make the drake a little less effective at close range but then that would present a problem to Heavy Assault fits.

players use different ships and fits for different reasons. i see Hurricanes more often then Drakes but no one makes a fuss about them.

If CCP nerfs the Drake it will be the beginning of an endless cycle of NERFS.

Hurricane has: twice the DPS indeed, but one quarter of the tank, less range by a factor of 8 or so and takes 35 days longer to train. 35 days! Crazy since they're both passively tanked battlecruisers. And the tank, my gosh man, 70,000 ehp?!? On a battlecruiser that can be trained that quickly?! You seriously don't see a problem here?

Also, I could have stuck artillery on the hurricane to make range a bit closer to the Drake (still not as good though) and the DPS would be almost equal.

I'm not complaining, I love the Hurricane as is and truly don't give two craps about Drakes I'll take DPS over tank any day. But that seems nuts the way it is now.

Lots of misinformation in this thread... just to reinterate.

A ROF bonus = more damage than a 5% kinetic damage bonus, and is applicable to all damage types.

Your typical properly fit Drake will currently ignore the damage of a comparable Harby or Hurricane and pound it to a pulp over time or force it to withdraw. As always, there are exceptions to this rule.

Even post change the Drake can still mount a very nice tank, while delivering more (selectable) damage at longer ranges.

When a "new" player can quickly jump into a Drake and do level 4's with impunity at little expense, this indicates a problem.

When a "new" player can quickly jump into a Drake and do level 4's with impunity at little expense, this indicates a problem.

Words.
Also, poasting in a tears thread.

Nice, T2 Drake.
Newbie training plan: ~52 days
70,000 EHP - 463 omni dps tank
463 DPS @ 80+ km

"I want to keep my easy mode ship that requires no thought nor talent to fly!"

Drake sucks. People fly it because it's made for stupid people. Anyone defending it is revealing their intelligence.

Anyone claiming that it needs to be nerfed for any other reason than PvP is just
full of it and using excuses to make PvP easier for their chosen ship.

As per the title,
PLEASE DONT NERF MY DRAKE.
I read in the CSM notes the potential nerf for the drake.
While i would agree that the Nighthawk doesnt get looked at as much because of the drake's sheer amount of awesomeness I dont agree that the solution is nerfing the drake.
I am not one of the ppl that flies a drake coz its easy to fly. I am a proud Caldari pilot that flies a Drake because shields and missiles are awesome!

1. Take drake into C1/C2 wormhole
2. pull all the triggers and lol as drake easily tanks dozens of sleepers, even with no hardeners.
4. point and click missiles. Range, meh, traversal, meh.
5. profit

Passive shield tanking is OP, especially for ships with shield resistance bonuses.

Funny, I'm looking at a 125 day skillplan for a freshly rolled character to fly a halfway decent T2-fit Drake. You know that having the skills to fit the ship and use the mods doesn't quite mean that you can fly it effectively, right?

"I want to keep my easy mode ship that requires no thought nor talent to fly!"

Drake sucks. People fly it because it's made for stupid people. Anyone defending it is revealing their intelligence.

Your intelligence is what's low here buddy.
Hate to break it to you pal, but every ship in this game requires "no though or talent" to fly. You double click some where and press f1. Congrats you're a master at eve. World of Warcraft PvE requires more skill than that.

Simply put, the Drake is a well rounded ship. It ain't anything to write home to though. As I've said before, the only thing this stupid ship has going for it is it has a decent tank.
Just because CCP wants to compromise the different stat bonuses the ship has doesn't mean it's ok. It's still a nerf and still ******** to do so.

Lots of misinformation in this thread... just to reinterate.

A ROF bonus = more damage than a 5% kinetic damage bonus, and is applicable to all damage types.

Your typical properly fit Drake will currently ignore the damage of a comparable Harby or Hurricane and pound it to a pulp over time or force it to withdraw. As always, there are exceptions to this rule.

Even post change the Drake can still mount a very nice tank, while delivering more (selectable) damage at longer ranges.

When a "new" player can quickly jump into a Drake and do level 4's with impunity at little expense, this indicates a problem.

You used "decent" surely you meant "amazing". Unless you were comparing it to battlesips, in which case you have my apologies. In that case "decent" is the exact word I'd have used. I hear it has pretty good range too...

This coming from a guy that did nothing but rat in PXF with a..... wait for it...... DRAKE

Obviously don't need it anymore huh?

Can I come watch you do this? (The underline bit - in a C2).

Drake uses missiles,thus creates lag...drake become popular....creats lag...to fix....break drake so not used...=lag fixed


Thats all this chnage is over..lag..

Teir 3 bc's didnt get drones,naga didnt get missile..both create lag..to fix..they didnt get drones and missiles..

If ya want to fix lag...,as ive always said if fielding 1000+ ppl onto 1 grid creats to much lag to be playable..then dont..field 3-4 groups at 3-4 differnt locations at the same time, attcking differnt things at once...make sov constellation based and not single system based, forceing multiple locations to be attacked at once..not just 1, thus breaking up the blobfest from hell..and ya fix lag and you can leave the drake alone

Though that would mean FC'in might actually be hard..but o well

nerfs don't work if the whole system is imbalanced to begin with, people will either complain the drake is underpowered or that something else has become overpowered because of a drake nerfing.