Levin Cavil
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Posted - 2004.06.05 00:11:00 -
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Edited by: Levin Cavil on 11/06/2004 22:15:04
Edited by: Levin Cavil on 11/06/2004 22:12:14
Ok, here are my impressions:
(This will only have to do with the Raven/Scorp as thatĘs all I can fly I am training Minmatar ships on chaos to try those too)
The Cruise Missile Launcher is nice the lower ROF is balanced out by increased damage of Cruise Missiles. It is kind of odd that it fires slower than a Siege launcher though; maybe a small increase in ROF is in order. The Raven CPU is very nice too, like the Scorpion, very hard, nearly impossible to max out. This is ok but it didn't need a 100pt buff IMO. 25 would have been a lot better simply because of the massive loss of grid.
I'm trying to use the "right" setup from a RP perspective so 425s and cruise missiles seem to be the best thing along with shield tanking. Is it unreasonable to expect to fit 4x425 and 4xCruise Launchers? I know those are all BS class weapons but the Cruise Launcher is a "small" BS module right? With Siege being its bigger alternative. For me to fit 4x425 and 4x Cruise I have to fit 3x RCUs, that doesn't leave me much room for shield tanking. I guess I could squeeze a Cap Injector on but that really limits me in combat, I effectively "run out of gas" and that is not exactly appealing to me, I prefer being able to stay in and absorb some damage since thatĘs what I thought BS were for. With it's limited low slots the raven doesn't have many options, the Apoc has enough lows to fit a RCU and then 8xMegabeams (I think, maybe it takes 2) that is comparable to 4x425 and 4xCruise on a Raven right? But the Raven has to fit 3 times the grid modules with much fewer lows. The Apoc still has 6 lows for defense, 5 for armor tanking and a CPR/Damage mod and then it's 4 mids for Cap Rechargers/Sensor Booster, The Raven can't match this with a long-range layout.
The nerf to the power grid still does not prevent armor tanking on the Raven, I fought one with a shield tank raven last night and it ended in a draw, that is good since shield tanking is at least equal to a armor tank on a Raven now, which is a step in the right direction. I had to fit 6x siege and leave the other 2 highs open to get 5xCPRs on (thank you sooo much for removing the nerf from those. EDIT: The nerf is now back on Chaos  ) It seems kind of silly that there are 2 wasted slots on the Raven though. I tried a 6xcruise and 2x425 setup and that worked ok too, basically the same results.
It would seem reasonable to me that a Raven has to fit one PDU or RCU to fit 4xCruise and 4x425 and have exactly enough grid to do it with engineering 5, this also assumes a XL booster, amp, 2 hardeners, sensor booster and 20grid for a mid slot item (3rd hardener/warp jammer, damper/etc.) This still won't allow 6xsiege and 2x425 or really any gun without serious defensive sacrifice. 4xCPR2 is equal to 5xCPR1 far as I can tell so it takes a even higher skilled pilot to get results like we have on TQ today but its still possible to fit a Raven as it was intended (I think the 4/4 setup is in fitting with Caldari ships)
I'd also like to say that I don't think a tier 2 ship should have to fit all "small" guns so Ravens/Throns shouldn't have to fit 350s just to live, those guns are for Scorps/Doms IMO.
I think that the numbers would work out like this:
Raven:
Grid: 11800 base (14750 with skills <this needs to be the total to fit 4/4) or 10730 base if a RCU is supposed to be required.
CPU: 640 base (800 with skills)
With those numbers it will take weapon upgrades 4, electronics 5 and engineering 5 to fit the ship, along with energy grid upgrades to a high enough level to squeeze into the CPU limit, you will also need a named s/b most likely. So it will be a ship that takes skill to fit and is pretty expensive to fit as well, just like it is now, this seems like a very good balance for the Raven, it wont get any better really and it won't get any worse but it can still fight as it was intended.
One more thing, will the named heavy launchers be converted into named cruise launchers? My Arbs will be kind of useless to me now and it will be a looong time until the new cruise launchers are available to us. The named heavies were acquired in game about 90% of the time for BS anyway so it is only fair to give the bs pilots an option to get back to the position they were in with rare mods. Since rare mods really are a large part of BS fitting I think at least giving us some way of getting reimbursed for the wasted investment would be nice.
All in all this looks good, Raven grid just needs a small buff and its massive CPU lowered a bit to compensate.
EDIT: corrected a miscalculation
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<Hammerhead> we can't do anything that requires programming
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