CharCharOdell wrote: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.
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.
