I say yes. Militia drop ships win battles because placement is key for many weapons. Height is key to every battle.

However, they are not worth speccing into. A fully upgrades drop ship will last 3 shots vs 1 shot from a rail gun; that equates to 3 seconds to gtfo or lose a million or so.

The assault drop ship doesn't really fulfill its intended niche. Partly due to the new camera making aim more difficult, and partly because a small turret doesn't hit hard enough. I feel its intended role is to drop infantry off and then provide air support but it just isn't working. We need medium turrets for them to be Able to protect infantry. An ADS with an XT-01 Frag missile (large) would be fearsome and is honestly what we need to be able to put on a dedicated gunship.

My idea of a STD gunship would have (caldari)
3800 shields
45 passive recharge
Large turret for the gunner
Afterburner


Something like that.

Did your main get banned Charlotte?

It all starts with the pilot. A militia dropship is already at an disadvantage when up against one spec. into, the same as wearing militia gear to someone wearing proto gear. Many who say this, that dropships are not worth the time, because they fail to understand their workings. Just as any role in the game, dropships have their own forte on skills the player rely's on that isn't in a module, or equipment stats. It starts at their brain and using tactical resolution to what they are doing. Dropships are not suppose to serve a role like a tank, staying in one place and shouldering the might of every anti vehicle weaponry that comes its way. As for how the turrets, and many more things in general for vehicles, all of this is going to be reworked in 1.5. From what I can understand is Anti vehicle weaponry mostly is balanced when it comes to HAV's. The buff to LAV health was a result, of this but I am not sure why dropships were over looked during this, making them far weaker than the other two and giving them no true niche to call their own, outside of those who spec into them fully. Then you have the relation of turrets, large or small being more wanting with the amount of damage and range they should have, all while trying to keep the game fun. What I think, and this is completely my thoughts only, is each vehicle should have their own class of turrets unique to them, or at least when equip on certain vehicles that the attributes are altered suiting the vehicle. A dropship should have a much longer range with small turrets, or perhaps introduce a medium turret, that is similar to small turrets but with some slight differences, like longer range, and allowing the fragmented missiles to be able to do more damage across a wider range pass 2 meters at prototype. Currently grenades have a far larger radius than this. To balance the turrets out they could reduce the fragmented splash damage, but turrets in regards to vehicles do need to be looked into. Check out a few dropship topics on the forums, talking about some similar things you have posted, and due read CCP's responses to them, and give your feedback as much.

Hope my information helped.

I say yes. Militia drop ships win battles because placement is key for many weapons. Height is key to every battle.

However, they are not worth speccing into. A fully upgrades drop ship will last 3 shots vs 1 shot from a rail gun; that equates to 3 seconds to gtfo or lose a million or so.

The assault drop ship doesn't really fulfill its intended niche. Partly due to the new camera making aim more difficult, and partly because a small turret doesn't hit hard enough. I feel its intended role is to drop infantry off and then provide air support but it just isn't working. We need medium turrets for them to be Able to protect infantry. An ADS with an XT-01 Frag missile (large) would be fearsome and is honestly what we need to be able to put on a dedicated gunship.

My idea of a STD gunship would have (caldari)
3800 shields
45 passive recharge
Large turret for the gunner
Afterburner


Something like that.

As a tanker I can say that a good pilot can survive my tank shots as well as multiple swarms. I've seen it.

Most dropships don't fly evasively. They make broad patrols or stop too long. I do this myself atm but learning to get better.

Those dropships are easy prey. Speed and maneuvering are the key to survival.

You must learn THIS to survive Grasshoppa.

Lets look at each dropship role, and their problems right now:


A. Pick up infantry
problem: Must slow down, maybe hover, land. then leave

B. Drop off infantry
problem: New physics made a skillful task impossible. Can no longer fling infantry timed well to an area, physics will kill them. Must slow down and hover over drop point.

C. Shield/Armor transport, as demonstrated in trailer.
problem: Range is aweful, modules weak, Must be hovering still over or near target, follow it, can't tank hits, fitting a remote repair eviscates what little EHP a dropship might have.

D. MCRU
problem: No warpoints for spawning, players don't realize they must release to spawn, players don't realize they must zoom out map to locate DS spawnpoint (Maybe no longer an issue). MCRU module reduces limited EHP and logi ships are slow as balls.

E: Scanning
problem: vehicle scanning requires to be within constant X meters (100 max, at best module) and must remain over them to keep targets scanned. AKA must be hovering, or flying slow circles around a tight area.

F: Support and cover via turrets
problem: Small rails= broken since forever
small blasters = broken since 1.4. Hit detection is non-existent,
Small missiles = decent, still some accuracy issues when moving fast
to effectively use pretty much any small turret requires some degree of stability which is contrasting to the erratic-ness and speed required to not blow up.




As you can see, most if not all of these roles REQUIRE the very thing people scoff at dropships and say
"Just keep moving fast, if you're stopping or slowing down you DESERVE to die".

So yeah..

Dropship: As-is in terms of weapon loadout.
Assault Dropship: Front Turret upgraded to Medium when they introduce them.
Gunship: 3 Medium Turrets - one pilot-controlled and the other 2 operated by gunners.

That's my suggestion, anyway.

I say yes. Militia drop ships win battles because placement is key for many weapons. Height is key to every battle.

However, they are not worth speccing into. A fully upgrades drop ship will last 3 shots vs 1 shot from a rail gun; that equates to 3 seconds to gtfo or lose a million or so.

The assault drop ship doesn't really fulfill its intended niche. Partly due to the new camera making aim more difficult, and partly because a small turret doesn't hit hard enough. I feel its intended role is to drop infantry off and then provide air support but it just isn't working. We need medium turrets for them to be Able to protect infantry. An ADS with an XT-01 Frag missile (large) would be fearsome and is honestly what we need to be able to put on a dedicated gunship.

My idea of a STD gunship would have (caldari)
3800 shields
45 passive recharge
Large turret for the gunner
Afterburner


Something like that.

Dropship: As-is in terms of weapon loadout.
Assault Dropship: Front Turret upgraded to Medium when they introduce them.
Gunship: 3 Medium Turrets - one pilot-controlled and the other 2 operated by gunners.

That's my suggestion, anyway.

The vehicle itself if piloted as intended, an aerial troop transport, works fine
A big problem I think is that pilots dont want to play sky cab and want dog fights and bombing runs, which is perfectly fine before any pilot wants to whine at me, but we just dont have proper vehicles for it and the idea of an assault dropship and bomber dropship is asinine

i believe the effectiveness of the dropship is reflected based on it's pilot... i myself am a good pilot... flying in tight places getting in and out, and laying down gun fire in my assault dropship.. but ... i go maybe 14/0 in the damn thing... i get loads of assists, but damn my cousin ha she takes the cake as the Greatest pilot i've seen in dust... she'll got 43/0 in her dropship... and she is far better than what you'll find anywhere... shes in terms " An ACE" next to impossible to shoot down.... as well i've hit her twice with orbitals while she was landed.. and her dropships just eats it.... and burps right back up... her best ship have 1500 sheild, and 2513 armor... and this thing fires rockets like crazy fast for fragmented missles... with the payload module... and she just sweeps in and bombards your arse... i've barely been able to escape her alot of times...


anyway ya i'm ranting on.. dropship fullfill their role completely ... its just the pilot that counts. not everyone can fly.

oh also she freaking will just road kill people in her dropship alot she'll do low level strafes close to the ground, and run them over hahaha its the funniest thing to see... 5 red dots... get lawn mowered by a dropship.

It all starts with the pilot. A militia dropship is already at an disadvantage when up against one spec. into, the same as wearing militia gear to someone wearing proto gear. Many who say this, that dropships are not worth the time, because they fail to understand their workings. Just as any role in the game, dropships have their own forte on skills the player rely's on that isn't in a module, or equipment stats. It starts at their brain and using tactical resolution to what they are doing. Dropships are not suppose to serve a role like a tank, staying in one place and shouldering the might of every anti vehicle weaponry that comes its way. As for how the turrets, and many more things in general for vehicles, all of this is going to be reworked in 1.5. From what I can understand is Anti vehicle weaponry mostly is balanced when it comes to HAV's. The buff to LAV health was a result, of this but I am not sure why dropships were over looked during this, making them far weaker than the other two and giving them no true niche to call their own, outside of those who spec into them fully. Then you have the relation of turrets, large or small being more wanting with the amount of damage and range they should have, all while trying to keep the game fun. What I think, and this is completely my thoughts only, is each vehicle should have their own class of turrets unique to them, or at least when equip on certain vehicles that the attributes are altered suiting the vehicle. A dropship should have a much longer range with small turrets, or perhaps introduce a medium turret, that is similar to small turrets but with some slight differences, like longer range, and allowing the fragmented missiles to be able to do more damage across a wider range pass 2 meters at prototype. Currently grenades have a far larger radius than this. To balance the turrets out they could reduce the fragmented splash damage, but turrets in regards to vehicles do need to be looked into. Check out a few dropship topics on the forums, talking about some similar things you have posted, and due read CCP's responses to them, and give your feedback as much.

Hope my information helped.

i believe the effectiveness of the dropship is reflected based on it's pilot... i myself am a good pilot... flying in tight places getting in and out, and laying down gun fire in my assault dropship.. but ... i go maybe 14/0 in the damn thing... i get loads of assists, but damn my cousin ha she takes the cake as the Greatest pilot i've seen in dust... she'll got 43/0 in her dropship... and she is far better than what you'll find anywhere... shes in terms " An ACE" next to impossible to shoot down.... as well i've hit her twice with orbitals while she was landed.. and her dropships just eats it.... and burps right back up... her best ship have 1500 sheild, and 2513 armor... and this thing fires rockets like crazy fast for fragmented missles... with the payload module... and she just sweeps in and bombards your arse... i've barely been able to escape her alot of times...


anyway ya i'm ranting on.. dropship fullfill their role completely ... its just the pilot that counts. not everyone can fly.

oh also she freaking will just road kill people in her dropship alot she'll do low level strafes close to the ground, and run them over hahaha its the funniest thing to see... 5 red dots... get lawn mowered by a dropship.

As a veteran dropship pilot i agree with this completely, well, mainly the assertion that our role isn't really represented by a statistic or a module, but rather with how the pilot uses the dropship in various situations to keep it alive while also being able to fend off infantry troops or railgun redline snipers, or other enemy proto dropships, A really good pilot should be able to respond to practically any situation in a match and still get away no matter what without losing the dropship (except in OHK officer forge gun situations), and many pilots that i know including myself have the capability to do this.