All if this needs fixed. Is the ceiling still there? I've only flown twice this build and didn't think to check that out. It felt clunky andan hmg completely tore me apart. With forged and swarms packing the punch they do and our turret gunners being able to be outdistanced by AR users, can we at least make drop ships immune to small arms fire?

Dropships (at least gallente ones) now use railguns as their default turrets- I suggest using them, since they seem more effective at giving supressing fire than the other turrets. Keep in mind railguns are fully automatic and create a nice scary explosion, while OHKing all but the most insanely powerful infantry they hit.

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.

at tritan we tryed remote reps on a drop ship to tank..lol the pilot touched the turret then spontaneously exploded

Collision damage is completely ridiculous. I had a LAV TK me on purpose with one hit. I can tank a proto-forge round, but hit me with a jeep and it's insta-pop. Tank half a dozen swarm missiles meant to kill, but bump a building and explode.

The force field seems to be capping even afterburner flight now. I'll have to verify the height reached, but I can say my speed was abruptly zeroed out when launching straight up with afterburners activated. The ceiling is not a performance limitation or you could coast through it with momentum and break it with afterburner power.

The good: Afterburners have a reasonable PG cost.
The annoying: Afterburner mode has a cheesy warp effect that obscures the view.

Apparently afterburners cause particles in the air to become visible and streak past the nose as though you are driving at highway speeds in a blinding snowstorm. Look at this, aren't you going fast!?! the direction of this effect is always straight at the nose even when you are flying straight up. Remove the visual effect and stick with the audio.

Nobody ever starts a match and waits for a dropship that could ferry them quickly to all objectives.
Nobody ever asks a pilot to call in a DS. The rare time people get in a DS they never get out over an objective.
The maps are too small for a DS to be of use. The flight ceiling is this low because...?

IKR? seems every game I call in a dropship, only 1 person ever gets in, but I bring them directly over an objective which they then capture.

Maybe if this happens often enough, people will begin to learn. I really wanna see what a dropship full of HMG heavies and shotgunners is capable of.

The real buff to using dropships as transport doesn't have anything to do with dropships. It's a coordinated group of seven players that can fill a dropship to take a defended objective. One is fine for capping abandoned objectives, but totally inadequate for even a mildly defended objective.

It doesn't matter what CCP does for WP's until that happens. Dropships just won't be used for a coordinated activity such as storming an objective until we have larger coordinated forces. You can't transport what doesn't exist.

What I'm thinking is more than just transporting a squad to an objective- I'm saying it would remove the biggest weakness of CQC players by dropping them directly into optimal range.

As far as landing goes it is not hard come in hot. Throw your front end up as far as you can with out going over, and push the descend button and land. The gear comes out but only if you are not going really fast these make it were you take no damage.