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Skihids
The Tritan Industries
RISE of LEGION
1168
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Posted - 2013.04.10 17:09:00 -
[1] - Quote
Imagine if tanks had no ammunition for the main turret. Drivers would be forced to recruit gunners for their small turrets and survive on kill assists. Though there would always be dedicated drivers there would be far fewer tanks on the field and they wouldn't generate much fear. Mercs would pop them for sport when there weren't more important things to do.
There would be many threads devoted to how they were UP and over priced. Some drivers would boast about successful matches or their crazy driving skills that distracted the enemy team enough to turn the tide of battle, but they would have little overall effect on the game.
Where this analogy breaks down is that there would also be many threads demanding ammunition. Dropships have been flying for nearly a year without ammunition for its main weapon, and for some reason the community is silent on the subject. Instead we argue about its cost or complain about the relative ineffectiveness of its two small turrets.
What is the dropship's main weapon? Well mercs of course, everyone knows that. So what's the problem? We have sixteen of the on the field after all. The problem is that any old set of mercs won't do. It needs to be a large coordinated squad of effective mercs, and that doesn't exist. We have large groups of completely uncoordinated mercs and we have small four man squads of highly coordinated mercs, but no large coordinated groups. The dropship has been gimped by this forever.
The new build is going to change all that, but it's also going to offer a big distraction for pilots.
Imagine CCP offered a driver controlled small turret to our hypothetical ammo starved HAV driver. He would jump at the chance to finally be able to shoot, to be the master of his own destiny! Now imagine CCP also offered ammunition for his main gun, but stipulated that he needed five or six of his teammates to bring it into the match for him. Would he go for something he's never seen work before given all that hassle, or would he grab that small turret and run with it? That is the choice each pilot will be faced with. Do you spec into gunships and run solo, or do you go for standard ships and transport a squad of assault shock troops?
I personally believe that the dropship's true power will be felt as an assault transport. The enemy will fear the sight of a ship not because of the small turrets, but because it may disgorge a horde of HMG wielding heavies directly on their heads. Tankers will fear a rain of AV nade wielding scouts.
What does this mean for you as a pilot? It means you need to find an organized player run corp that regularly fields large squads. That's where you will find your ammunition. What does it mean for corps? It means you have to hone your squad coordination and start practicing with your pilots. You need to encourage them to skill into the transports and not be distracted by the advanced gunships. You may need to support them financially for a bit as they learn how to adapt to a new role. What does it mean for the average merc? It means you will have a love/hate relationship with the dropship. You will love dropping into an objective with a tight squad, and you will hate it when the enemy returns the favor. |
Skihids
The Tritan Industries
RISE of LEGION
1168
|
Posted - 2013.04.10 17:49:00 -
[2] - Quote
Laheon wrote:Agreed. When the larger maps come in, dropships will become absolutely invaluable. The ability to quickly traverse terrain and, with proper tanking skills, deliver a full squad unharmed to an objective, can't be underestimated. Imagine a full squad (of six) consisting of a heavy, a logi, three assaults and a scout, being dropped on you from nowhere.
Dropships will have a major role to play, but the map sizes just aren't up to scratch yet.
I believe that the DS will be important even on some of our more open current maps such as manus peak. As it stands now it is difficult to coordinate a ground assault on objective A. There are a couple choke points and a fir bit of open killing ground.
Now imagine dropping four HMGs and a couple fast hackers right in the bowl. You could flip that objective in less than thirty seconds. |
Skihids
The Tritan Industries
RISE of LEGION
1168
|
Posted - 2013.04.10 17:52:00 -
[3] - Quote
gbghg wrote:I plan to spec into both. from the description the assault dropship will have a 5 man carrying capacity, you can still drop people off, it's just now the pilot can offer some support himself and not have to rely on gunners.
We have no idea what the passenger capacity will be as the current description still claims five.
I'm not saying that the pilot turret won't be useful, but rather the assault squad will be most important. |
Skihids
The Tritan Industries
RISE of LEGION
1168
|
Posted - 2013.04.10 18:04:00 -
[4] - Quote
Knight SoIaire wrote:After playing around with tanks for a while I decided that I dont want to skill into them anymore, Assault Dropships sound much cooler.
Aslong as they get the HUD and FPS view right for the dropships I'll be skilling into them, I dont find the FPS view useful for Dropships, unless you're repping another vehicle's shields. We need something like Battlefield or PS2, where the cockpit is in view and we have a crosshair so we're not blindly firing.
I'll probably then branch out into jets because I imagine Assault Dropships being like attack helicopters.
Also: CCP, please add a 'Kick out of DS' button, all the usless players in my DS are slowing me down.
I'm hoping for a wraparound FPS view myself. The current view is a useless flat screen with no FoV and the 3rd Person view obscures your target with your ship. Either current option just kills any sense of immersion. There's no reason CCP can't fix this. |
Skihids
The Tritan Industries
RISE of LEGION
1170
|
Posted - 2013.04.10 19:27:00 -
[5] - Quote
knight of 6 wrote:no dude dropships are nothing like havs without ammo. havs have some ehp :)
All analogies break down at some point, and I did not mean to compare absolute eHP.
My point was that flying a DS is the equivalent of driving a tank with no main gun, you can't expect to be all that effective. |
Skihids
The Tritan Industries
RISE of LEGION
1192
|
Posted - 2013.04.11 13:21:00 -
[6] - Quote
Large maps will make DS rides to the front more desirable, but even some of the current maps have opportunities for assault drops. Any uncovered objective could be more effectively assaulted by air than by ground.
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Skihids
The Tritan Industries
RISE of LEGION
1194
|
Posted - 2013.04.17 01:56:00 -
[7] - Quote
There is no rule that declares that dropship must be paper thin, that's just your take on it. CCP may have another.
Either way, this analogy refers to the main weapon of each vehicle, not the HP. |
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