I loved the idea of lightly armed dropships.

It doesn't matter what we, the pilots, say -- griefers already broke DSes beyond repair. This build dropships are even more clunky than previously -- my shielded myron turning capabilities make me cringe. There is nothing working for DSes now. They're slow to accelerate and turn, plus harmless -- your passengers can be picked up by ARs during fly-through, but can not respond with blaster fire because... lack of range. Tanks can outrun them! Forges and railguns can OHK them (5k shield/ 1k armor), but there are also walls, barely visible wires, the ground, RDVs and probably even hitting a dropsuit falling from the MCC would make me crash and burn. You get literally nothing for flying, but sometimes get negative WPs for getting shot down -- it's pathetic, few hundred thousand ISK sink with no reward whatsoever. For anybody who's thinking about it this build -- don't bother. Try out militias, then just consider speccing into DSes a serious loss of SP. Get a LAV instead.

Also people who never play dropships are responsible for the nerf, like that slick auto-fire tactical rifle user above, who said we should stop QQing, because balance was achieved. Nothing to do or see here. Because testing the game and then giving feedback is for suckers. You should be "winning the beta", by investing in ADV/PRO assault + max out AR proficiency -- this will let you run in packs, stomp randoms and rule with your awesome "gun game".

Anyway, here's the list:

• no avionics (the horizon is still judged by gut, as is the height)
• no real weapons :)
• maneuverability? tanks drive faster, jeeps turn better. am I a bus driver?
• no rewards for anything other than kills... that are almost impossible to get now.
• max possible shield buff? built out of paper, OHKd during full speed flight, OHKd during low altitude flight.
• maps too small to be able to fly -- your RDV doesn't even give you the DS and there are already 3 forges waiting for you to fill the pinata -- DSes could be useful if there actually was space to fly, but maps are made to punish pilots.
• Shield vehicles seems to be a joke, this is what armor pilots tell me... well I first started DSes when it made a difference and just did not know any better -- it looks like there is no speed difference between shield and armor, so no bonus for flying ARMOR

Verdict: Don't fly it this build.