Slithereen
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Posted - 2004.02.14 11:57:00 -
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It is not really interceptors that may change the entire concept of combat in EVE. Far from it.
Interceptors is only part of the package called Elite Frigates. There are also Bombers, Special Ops, Gunships, and Deep Core Miners---all frigates in steroids.
If you see the Bombers, you will see why Interceptors are a must. Imagine a Kestrel. Imagine a nightmare worth than it---far faster, with a smaller signature and can hold as much as SIX launchers. Whining about uncatchable frigates with MWD shooting cruise missiles? I wonder what they will say when the Nighthawk is finally introduced in the game. Kestrels, Rifters and likely, Inquisitors may serve as hulls for this new class.
Special Ops ships were what the EW frigates were supposed to be in the first place. Considering how fast they can lock on to you, and how slow you can lock on to them, these ships may revolutionize the use of EW in EVE. One special feature: cloaking. I'm not sure if Special Ops are the ships that could search a ship inside a system, or it would be a new Elite Frigate called the Scout. Hulls for this class include Vigil, Heron, Griffin, Maulus and Crucifier.
Against Interceptors, Bombers and Special Ops, this may be the anti-elite frigate elite frigate of all: the Gunship. Things like the super Punishers, Merlins and Tristans would fall into this category. Rifters do double duty as both hulls for gunships and bombers.
The last category is the Deep Core Miner, frigs specialized in mining in deep space. Here you have enhanced versions of ships like the Probe and the Imicus.
In addition we may see new frigates that may become flyable. Among them, the Amarr Magnates and the Gallente police ship.
It's going to take a while to introduce all five categories. But looking at the depth of this effort, it looks to me that CCP is trying to overhaul the entire frigate category, making them not just useful, but to tilt even the balance of power to them. Their real cost is not in the money, like battleships, but in the time to train for them, requiring at least, two level 5 skills.
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"Is it me or the bad guys just getting totally pathetic?"---Clover, Totally Spies,
"Hope is wasted on the Hopeless."---Mandy, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
"Stars are holes in the sky from which the light of the Infinite shine through."---Confucius.
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