Honestly this is ONLY needed once they add in Tech Level II items. And right now there aren't any. Once there are, then I can see this being a more useful thing. But they still haven't finished the verisimilitude!

And you are forgetting the REAL reason for doing tiercide! It was to make the unused ships useable again. If we changed it so you only needed level 1 logi suit skill to use the proto-level suits, then no one would EVER use the advanced or basic ones again (maybe militia for gaining ISK as they would be nearly free if not free). So this would change it from people using all the various suits to people all using the same exact suits. You would loose a huge variety in the game as the game would then truly be based upon the FOTM as everyone would use the same damned suits.

Now if you could just readjust the ROLE BONUES to NOT be based on the skill, but instead be based upon the SUIT, then you could fix this by saying a militia suit has no role bonus, the basic suit has one role bonus, the advanced suit has a different bonus, and the prototype has a different one too. The Racial Bonuses could similarly change as well...

So for an example to illustrate I'll use the Minmatar Assault:

• Militia Minmatar Assault Suit : no bonues (but also free)


• Basic Minmatar Assault Suit: +1% to dropsuit movement speed per level; +5% to sidearm weaponry clip size per level


• Advanced Minmatar Assault Suit: +5% to dropsuit shield recharge rate per level; +2% to projectile weapon reload speed per level


• Prototype Minmatar Assault Suit: +3% to combat rifle effective range per level; +2% to combat rifle damage per level

the specific bonuses I used above don't matter. The idea is that if you get rid of the skill level requirements on the different TIERS of suits, then you need to have some other incentive for players to want to use the "lesser" tier suits. This is done by giving each one a different role bonus like they did for the various frigates in EVE. Then they all have a use and players can pick and choose which one they like better.

All suits would be proto slot layout and have standard fitting at gimmick. The skill would increase fitting. So there would be no need to even have militia and other suits.

You really need to be more specific. I don't understand what you mean by "less modules" I never said anything about less modules.

As for you "T-x" thing, are you referring to Tier or Tech levels? If Tier, then you are mising up all the different "classes" of suits. Scout would have each of those tiers, so would assault, so would logi, etc. Mixing them up makes everything even more "cookie-cutter" and over-simplifies this game.

What your list seems to allude to is the Dropsuit Operation SKill itself where level 1 could get you access to light suits, level 3 access to medium suits, and level 5 access to heavy suits. If that is what you are trying to do?

Oh I see. No they would nominally have the same base stats (with maybe a few slight tweaks here and there for armor, shield, etc). This would include similar if not same slot layouts.

Tiercide is all well and good but first they need to fix the skills that do nothing but unlock the next tier. Anyone trained dropsuit command to 5? I don't know anyone who has or why they would even bother.

I hate the idea of tiericide. It destroys the risk vs. ISK mechanic of this game, which is its most compelling feature.

In EVE there was never a reason to fly certain ships because they were stepping stones. Tiericide addressed this by making all ships have relatively equal power within a category, but they still have huge meta differences (e.g. The Omen, Navy Omen, Zealot, Legion). A DUST analog would be like making sure the Sentinals and Commando suits were equally as strong in their respective roles.

I find myself running STD, ADV, and PRO tier suits all of the time depending on the situation. Making choices about how much ISK to lay on the line each respawn is one of the most interesting/compelling dynamics this game has to offer. If this is being considered primarily to combat the problems with proto stomping new players and ruining the NPE, there are MUCH better alternative solutions that don't break the game. I would like to see an optional 2nd tier academy where new players can play in easier matches up to x SP (somewhere around 2-5 mil).