Every incubus has afterburnurs, doesn't get all wierd when hovering, looks better, and has constant regen...

Have you seen pythons get wrecked? Swarms wreck them, forges 3 shot them, and swarms are mainly used on tanks I think.

I agree Nerf Pythons, *flies away in Incubus* DUST fiend can keep doing whatever, Incubuses tank is better than pythons' gank

We're of half a mind to hold back a little bit on the Dropship HP buff, but there will be at least some extra HP for the Caldari dropships to help close the gap in EHP between them and the Gallente dropships.

If swarm vs dropship combat looks better after this change, we can look into things like increasing swarm speed and reducing swarm maneuverability. Just don't want to change too many moving parts at once. Things like an EM swarm launcher (same damage, flipped damage profile) and the anti-dropship (faster missiles) would also be on the table if these changes improve things.

Weapons for dropships are a bit of a different topic, though we are making changes to the small blaster. Details for that will come in another topic, so I would ask you put your discussion there or in a new thread.

(And again, I'm not CCP Rattati! )

Dude, the Incubus is very deadly with its railgun. So what, that missiles are better for anti-infantry? Railguns absolutely wreck vehicles. An Incubus can easily wreck my Python before I can even have time to react. The Incubus has a much easier time wrecking vehicles than the Python. 4 railgun shots at 430-something damage within a second is deadly for any vehicle.

All I'm seeing is QQ. "My Incubus can't kill infantry as well as the Python, even though the Incubus is deadly against vehicles. QQ I want to be able to wreck everything!"

If you want to see dropships run away more, making all tiers fire the same number of missiles is a great way to do it. It also adds a very large imbalance into the engagement. The swarm player can see my vehicle type just by looking. He can see my HP with a target lock. He knows exactly what he is engaging.

I on the other hand have no idea at all Until after I am hit. Which is stupid. Infantry can see the color of a suit and a gun and gauge, before combat begins, the nature of the combat. As a pilot I fly at an empty roof that then shoots swarms at me. The shooter then renders and is a little dot. After he hits me I know what sort of weapon he is using. My ability to engage is reduced.

Ill put up some charts for you later to show the charlie changes over the Bravo. In summary though Its a decent buff to the swarm player as a class.

I have a question for those saying it is a buff or a nerf. If a python, the best build you can imagine, was sat landed with no pilot. How many militia swarm vollys would it take to kill it? how about proto swarms? assume bothe swarmers have no swarm kills, just the weapon damage?

For example how many militia swarm hits in Bravo how many in Charlie?

For your fit then CatMerc how many vollys to kill a stationary Python with the best fit you can think of? In bravo and then compared to Charile? And do you think this is too high or too low?

Cmdr Marquess and I sync'd proto clips (his 3 volleys + my 3 volleys) into shield-hardened Python last week. Each volley connected; the bird got away with a sliver of armor remaining as we reloaded. This is the closest I've come since Bravo to downing a Python with swarms alone (hence my estimate of seven swarm volleys).

Four seems really low. Is the Commando bonus that strong? Are you assuming no HP modules / hardeners?

Almost forgot!


I'm satisfied in that dropships have consistently fled my swarms since Bravo. Their cycled missile launchers make short work of my 300-400 HP Scout. If they charged me when hit (rather than turned tail and fled) there'd be precisely zero chance I'd ever fire swarms at 'em.

you tell them apart either by receiving intel or by gathering it. either way, when you point at an enemy, tacnet supplies targeting info such as shields, hp, class, and tier. basically it gives you enough info to determine whether to attack, whether you need backup, how to attack, and whether theyre going to stomp you if they see you before you regroup with squad. that info can also be called out to improve the quality of scans and identify greater threats to call out for assassination.

and for some reason, nothing about targeting enemies is ever explained anywhere in the entire game....

also, if a suit or weapon has excessive amounts of black and red... prototype. almost every time.

Exactly, which stems from the fact it takes 4 volleys from the a 3-round mag weapon to destroy most Dropships.
They know you can't kill in one mag, but they also know if they don't leave soon they are gonna end up 6 feet under at rather high velocity of descent.

They have to leave and they have the opportunity to do so. They are deterred.

nobody said you should be reading info on your enemy while in a cqc fight. if youre in a cqc fight with someone you should already know about your enemy or you should have gotten jumped. if youre squadding up, look for someone who does intel. keep in mind not everybody is a combat unit. support abounds, you should be using it.

also... this is supposed to be an mmo as well as a shooter. in any mmo, the guy that doesnt even target a mob to see whether hes baiting death gets laughed out and usually has trouble finding a group. it amuses me that here theres a mentality that if you see someone you need to kill them. so violent, all of you :P