Harimata
Hedion University
Amarr Empire
6
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Posted - 2012.04.23 18:08:00 -
[1] - Quote
I think the main problem with active tanks is that it a) does not scale well in small fights, b) vulnerable to high alpha damage. With a low EHP, once you have more incoming DPS than you can tank, you will die very quickly. It also becomes somewhat easy to 1-shot if you can deal more alpha damage than the target has EHP.
One solution for how to overcome this particular set of problems is to introduce a module that can distribute the damage taken over a period of time. Once damage is taken, it is spread out over a span of X seconds. No damage is removed, it just converts the spike of "alpha" damage to more evently distributed "dps" damage.
For example, lets say ship (A) can deal 5k alpha damage with a cycle time of 10s. Ship (B) can tank 400 dps and has one of the new modules fitted (for the sake of 'math', the mod spreads the damage out over 10s). Here's what happens:
Scenario 1: 1v1 - A vs B
Ship A shoots Ship B for 5k damage.
Ship B's mod activates, absorbs the alpha damage, and starts distributing the damage at a rate of 500 dps over 10 seconds.
Ship B's tank reps at 400 dps, leaving the 'effective' damage at 100dps.
10s into the fight, Ship A's gun cycle and deal an additional 5k damage. The defensive mod also cycles, absorbs the 5k damage and distributes it at 500 dps over 10 seconds.
Scenario 2: 2v1 - AA vs B
00:00 Ship A1 shoots Ship B for 5k damage. Defensive mod absorbs and distributes damage at 500 dps
00:05 Ship A2 shoots Ship B for 5k damage. Defensive mod absorbs and starts distributing damage at 1000 dps
00:10 Ship A1 misses ship B. Defensive mod is still distributing 500 dps from A2's previous shot.
etc
This has some very interesting implications. For large fleets, it will prevent someone from getting volleyed off the field due to large amounts of alpha damage -- but this will force logis to keep repping ships for a longer amount of time. Also, makes titan DD's much more interesting, making it possible to take a DD and potentially be saved by a large amount of reps.
Edit:
Thoughts? I can see this becoming a big game-changer mod. It will change how fleets fight/engage and probably put more logis on the field. At the same time, it should be possible to create a EWAR type module that has the opposite effect -- this will distribute remote reps to a target over time. |