So what you're basically getting at is that the suits themselves offer small, direct bonuses to supportive attributes such as tracking, top speed ect. But we still have the suit fit link modules which also buff their corresponding attribute?

When put in that light I'm more comfortable with that idea, just as long as the majority of your bonuses are coming from the Link Modules.

EDIT: Also that screenshot brings back memories, but those were, as a dev admitted at the time, simply conceptual test numbers and were overinflated for testing purposes. They never existed in the actual game.

EDIT^2: On the subject of Mindlinks, I think we can safely buff utility stats like turret rotation, acceleration, ect. without downsides. However in terms of defensive abilities, what if we approach this with a similar approach to Rigs in EVE, where each Defensive Mindlink has a downside as well. This is for the purpose of maintaining Vehicle and AV balance, while allowing players to use their pilot suit to push the vehicle to a specific tanking type.

Food for thought: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10K_k28JspVlnLNMACn2vRGj9iOezfpH_0wRwRhCzqzI/edit?usp=sharing

Every time I read one of your posts I kick myself and think I should have put your name first on my CPM voting list rather than 4th.

So, brainstorm time! I tried to avoid bonuses that directly buff defenses or damage output, while maintaining some of the racial themes we already see in the game.

Pilot Role Bonus +% Reduction to Mindlink Modules per level to prevent mindlink use on other dropsuits.

Amarr Pilot
Designed for relentless assault by keeping weapons firing longer and providing rapid deployment of troops for a hotzone.
+% Reduction to Turret Heat Buildup
+% Reduction to mCRU Spawn Time

Caldari Pilot
Designed for continual long range bombardment with faster reloads to keep sustained DPS high.
+% Increase to Turret Reload Speed
???

Gallente Pilot
Designed to quickly close the gap between targets to make use of short range weapons as well as move around quickly to scan large areas.
+% Increase to Max Speed
+% Increase to Range of Active Scanners

Minmatar Pilot
Designed to be quick and agile to outmaneuver enemies with a tracking speed bonus prevent enemies from out-tracking them.
+% Increase to Acceleration
+% Increase to Turret Rotation Speed

So, brainstorm time! I tried to avoid bonuses that directly buff defenses or damage output, while maintaining some of the racial themes we already see in the game.

Pilot Role Bonus +% Reduction to Mindlink Modules per level to prevent mindlink use on other dropsuits.

Amarr Pilot
Designed for relentless assault by keeping weapons firing longer and providing rapid deployment of troops for a hotzone.
+% Reduction to Turret Heat Buildup
+% Reduction to mCRU Spawn Time

Caldari Pilot
Designed for continual long range bombardment with faster reloads to keep sustained DPS high.
+% Increase to Turret Reload Speed
???

Gallente Pilot
Designed to quickly close the gap between targets to make use of short range weapons as well as move around quickly to scan large areas.
+% Increase to Max Speed
+% Increase to Range of Active Scanners

Minmatar Pilot
Designed to be quick and agile to outmaneuver enemies with a tracking speed bonus prevent enemies from out-tracking them.
+% Increase to Acceleration
+% Increase to Turret Rotation Speed

Zoom actually isn't bad, very good idea

Also I was thinking like 2% per level for the bonuses?

I want vehicle dampeners and cloaks... Oh and I want the Gallente Pilot suit to have better dampening and cloaks! ^_^

So, brainstorm time! I tried to avoid bonuses that directly buff defenses or damage output, while maintaining some of the racial themes we already see in the game.

Pilot Role Bonus +% Reduction to Mindlink Modules per level to prevent mindlink use on other dropsuits.

Amarr Pilot
Designed for relentless assault by keeping weapons firing longer and providing rapid deployment of troops for a hotzone.
+% Reduction to Turret Heat Buildup
+% Reduction to mCRU Spawn Time

Caldari Pilot
Designed for continual long range bombardment with faster reloads to keep sustained DPS high.
+% Increase to Turret Reload Speed
???

Gallente Pilot
Designed to quickly close the gap between targets to make use of short range weapons as well as move around quickly to scan large areas.
+% Increase to Max Speed
+% Increase to Range of Active Scanners

Minmatar Pilot
Designed to be quick and agile to outmaneuver enemies with a tracking speed bonus prevent enemies from out-tracking them.
+% Increase to Acceleration
+% Increase to Turret Rotation Speed

Okay, let's talk about the Mindlink Modules. If we are going to give the pilot suit bonuses to these things, we need to figure out what they are and what they effect. Do we want to give her a deduction to the CPU/PG per level and how much? 2%, 5%?

If we are going to use the link mods, i think we should focus on that very idea first.

Before you go Mindlinks bear in mind that Auto Canon Turrets traditionally have fantastically good tracking, while Alpha God Arty has moderate speeds, Too much tracking bonus would make Arty the go to turret for everything and significantly unbalance it.

Okay, so regarding the pilot, pilots know how to fly, so without a doubt they'll receive a bonus on airship mechanics and such.. so I'm assuming pilot dropsuits will drop when the rest of the airships come into play, light airships in particular.. in this I propose a concept Idea that I really hope gets recognized. . Now before you reject this, just think about it.. gliding abilities.

Say what?

Well yeah, the ability to just eject from an aircraft vehicle and still be able to glide like a flying squirrel .. just something to think about.

I realize this is weird and crazy but I, however, would love this

No tiers simply would not be viable . Without them, how would your suggestion of 2% mod recharge delat per LEVEL work? They should cost just as much as any other proto suit. Before you bring up the cost of vehicles, look at the cost of running full (or as closs as possible) proto gear on infantry costs. ( the proto breach AR is 77k isk I believe ) Running a proto suit with adv mods and equipment cost around 150K, per fit used. I'm not being an ass here, just arguing the other sidd.

A pilot dropsuit should get bonuses to vehicle operation and zero fitting slots besides a sidearm.

It's module slots and primary defenses should be the vehicle. It should not be a combat viable dropsuit.

It is also grossly unfair to vehicle drivers to require potentially 100k+ in addition to the cost of the vehicle. Keeping bonuses only and null slots provides operator benefits and reduces the required cost to field the vehicle.

This should be a suit with no tiers. Only racial variation and the dropsuit skill.

My input:

- No tiers, always PRO. Costs ~5000 Isk. Orange, Brown, or White color scheme.
- More HP than light frame (almost Logistics levels). Why? So that LAVs work, and a chance at winning a duel.
- Same speed as existing Light frames. Same jump/sprint/stamina. Why? To run away.
- Terrible scan precision, but good innate dampening (slightly more than light frame). Once again, to facilitate escape.
- Skill requires Racial Light Frame trained to 1. "Racial Pilot Dropsuit" skill costs half the SP of other Specializations.
- Enough fitting at max core/fitting skills (except Amarr) to either fit at least a PRO sidearm and a piece of STD equipment or vice versa and one Complex module (except Minmatar, lol).

Pilot Suit Bonus: -2% vehicle module recharge delay per level, automatic RDV priority.

Amarr: 1 high, 1 low, 1 S, 1 equipment. Bonus: +4% Base vehicle armor HP/level, 2% vehicle weapon damage/level
Caldari: 2 high, 0 low, 1 S, 1 equipment. Bonus: +4% Base vehicle shield HP/level, 2% vehicle weapon reload/level
Gallente: 0 high, 2 low, 1 S, 1 equipment. Bonus: +4% Vehicle armor repair module repair rate, 2% vehicle top speed/level
Minmatar: 1 high, 1 low, 1 S, 1 equipment. Bonus: -4% Base vehicle shield recharge delay, 2% vehicle acceleration/level

Simple and effective. No need to over-complicate things. Maybe some different combos.

Why should this suit not be combat-viable? I think it should at least be able to fight one aggressor.

Will this really even affect balance? I think the biggest factor in vehicle balance has been resistances, so these suits would have no such bonuses. I wish my LAV was covered up...hopefully they are part of the equation here...

Also, why is the word "dropsuit" misspelled on this forum?

Feels excessively boring. Pilot suits are an opportunity to actually make vehicle fitting and piloting interesting, this is just....well no more than a simple racial bonus. I mean you could literally slap these exact bonuses on the vehicles directly

Any more thoughts here?

AoE infantry buff Warlink Modules that you can only fit on vehicles and that you can only activate if you are in a pilot suit?