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Skihids
Tritan-Industries
Legacy Rising
969
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Posted - 2012.11.23 16:58:00 -
[1] - Quote
I spent a couple days flying with my corp mates to determine just what effect the small missile nerf had on dropships.-á
Previous to this event I was running prototype XT-1 accelerated turrets, the best money could buy. -áI had one 20% damage module, basic turret at level 3, small missile operations at L5, and small missile proficiency at level 2. -áMy gunners could rack up fifteen to twenty kills each in a match even when I had to run from swarms.
After the nerf I pulled the one nano fiber chassis module I had and replaced it with a second 20% damage module. -áI also skilled the basic turret up to level five. -áI regret the loss of the chassis module the most as the ship now flys like a pig. -áI want to get out and push.
After a mix of Ambush and Skirmish my gunners attained between three and seven kills each per match. -áThe high of seven went to a lone gunner as I could favor him the entire match. -áEach time it felt as though we were doing better than we were. -áIt was only in the post match analysis that we determined our catch was rather paltry. I watched rocket after rocket seem to strike at the feet an enemy and that may have given me more of a sense of effectiveness than we actually had. This required slow flight and significant hovering to achieve.
I still enjoyed the flying and most of my gunners did too, but the consensus was that it was a poor use of two or three people and over 700k ISK for an entire match.
I then switched tactics and started flying right down on the deck to give my gunners better shots which resulted in more direct hits. -áOne gunner got ten kills in a short match. -áIt was certainly more fun flying even if it was more dangerous. The reduction in exposure was countered by reduced threat reaction time. -á I crashed more often due to swarm knockback and poor acceleration to the point it wasn't worth it ISK wise. -áThe five point map was particularly deadly with all the girder work to be caught in.
I am currently skilling up to prototype hybrid turrets to test out blasters to see if the offer any advantages. -áI don't expect them to magically return the dropship to gunship status as they too are direct hit weapons and would require slow flight or a hover to be used effectively.
My take so far is that a completely maxed out missile dropship can do some damage for a while, but isn't a wise investment of time, SP, or ISK. -áThe turrets are now basically direct hit weapons that require slow flight or a hover to be effective. -áThat reduces a dropship's weapons to a support role, and that's fine. So what about its primary offensive weapon?
"Dropships aren't gunships!"
As so many on the forums have pointed out, dropships aren't gunships. They are meant to drop shock troops onto an objective. -áWithout them it's a long exposed hike over open ground that results in high attrition for the attacking force. -áThis leads to boring play as attackers trickle into to the fight and get picked off one by one. -áObjectives are mainly taken only when mostly or wholly abandoned by enemy forces.
Here the dropship is lacking "ammunition" and is a bit short on "magazine capacity". -áThe first point is not at all obvious. -áAfter all, there are sixteen blue dots spawning in one place at the beginning of each Skirmish match. -áThe problem is a bit more subtle. -áA dropship needs to insert an organized squad onto an objective and that simply does not exist in game. -áAny non-corp squad is composed of random blueberries who are intent on their own objectives. -áEven if you managed to entice them into the ship you couldn't get them back out over the objective. -áToday a four man squad would consist of one pilot and three passengers and a force of three is simply too small to be effective. -áWe would need the ability to insert two four man squads from one corporation into a public match to fill a dropship with an effective force.
What about testing them in corp matches? After all you have two organized squads there. -áThere are three big problems with relying on corp matches. -áFirst, 99.99% of all matches are public so the vast majority of data points are missing. -áSecond, corp matches are eight on eight which has a completely different tactical feel. -áYou can't load seven onto dropship and leave anyone behind to guard an objective. -áIf you did the enemy wouldn't have any other distractions and could concentrate solely on the dropship threat. -áThird, dropships have been balanced for public matches leaving them extremely vulnerable to the coordinated AV capabilities of corp matches. -áThey simply wouldn't survive thirty seconds in that environment.
Four ground troops and two door gunners feels like a pretty light attacking force. -áWe need to test, but I think the "magazine capacity" of a dropship's main weapon should be increased to six ground troops and two gunners. -áThe comparable UH-1H "Huey" helicopter can seat thirteen troops so that doesn't seem out of line.
I would like to see the ships returned to the agility level and control responsiveness of the Precursor build to support the role of insertion and extraction. -áGive pilots the tools and player skill requirements to make this a rewarding role. -áShips may also need a HP buff to free up slots for propulsion and other support modules as they come out. -áIt would be nice if pilot warpoints were mainly awarded for troop activity. -áAlign rewards with its stated function and you will see it used appropriately.
If all this were addressed we should see an end to infantry complaints about dropships and pilots will become their new best friends.
Summary
Small turrets have been nerfed to support status where they should be, but the main "armament" of an organized attack force of sufficient size doesn't exist in game, and the "magazine size" may be a bit small. -áDropships won't be of much use until the latter is corrected. |
Skihids
Tritan-Industries
Legacy Rising
969
|
Posted - 2012.11.23 17:18:00 -
[2] - Quote
Brush Master wrote:Dont skill the blasters unless your already maxed in other aspects. I just posted a thread slightly before this one. Blasters are very ineffective for DS at this point.
Thanks for the tip, but except for a couple levels of Shield Managment and one of Shield Operations I'm maxed out. I can fit three high end Shield Extenders and a high end Shield Booster in the High slots and still run dual high end Damage Modules in the low slots.
I managed a Baster kill as a gunner in a random ship, so I'm testing all angles I can think of to generate data for CCP. |
Skihids
Tritan-Industries
Legacy Rising
969
|
Posted - 2012.11.24 04:48:00 -
[3] - Quote
Velvet Overkill wrote:Very nice post you got there. +1 to you.
Has any1 tried railgun turrets?
One of my corp mates mentioned he liked the fast charge variety, but I didn't get any details from him. I'm almost up to proto hybrid turrets, so I'll make a report on how my gunners like them in a few days. |
Skihids
Tritan-Industries
Legacy Rising
969
|
Posted - 2012.11.25 03:20:00 -
[4] - Quote
It only required two flights with proto blasters to come to the conclusion that they are useless. Well it really only required one flight, but the second confirmied it.
I mounted the most powerful blasters available and my gunners couldn't do nearly as well as they could with the nerfed missles.
it was impossible to maintain fire on one enemy for the full second that it required to produce enough damage to kill them. The blaster is an absolute direct damage weapon as opposed to the almost direct damage weapon of the rocket launcher. At least with rockets a direct hit is a guaranteed kill as the direct damage is so much higher than the splash. Blasters require continued direct hits and that just doesn't happen from a moving ship even if it is nearly hovering.
Flying now is like running a heavy and equiping only a scrambler pistol. You are leaving your main weapon behind and risking a huge investment in the process.
So with the turrets properly religagted to seondary weapons and an absence of a primary weapon I'm going to park my ships in the hanger for the remainder of this build in hopes that the next will make flying viable again. For now I'm saving the ISK and SP for the next build.
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