DUST Search - The Dropship situation.

Mary Sedillo wrote:

To your post's point of stating that Dropships have no "role", I strongly disagree. I use mine effectively in many ways. Let me list the ways:

1) Ground Suppression - When enemies are moving in mass, there is nothing more fun than thinning their numbers with my side gunner running my XT Accelerated Missile Launcher strikes. To STD suits, they one shot, and 2-3 shot PRO/ADV suits. Sure, a forge gunner may take a swing at me, but I can shrug it off, pop my speed booster (which throws off my predictability), pop my repair tool and re-engage, thinning the ground.

2) Fast transportation to Targets - Not an important role on smaller maps, on larger maps dropping a full load on a target is QUITE effective -=AND=- afterwards I can drop into a Ground Suppression role.

3) Tank Suppression/Destruction - Foolish is the tank that wanders out of his redline when I am in the sky. Sure, Redline Rail Tanks of sufficient power will force me to recall (and only rarely destroy me), but when they wander out, I will destroy them. Even if I fail to destroy them, which is rare, I have effectively kept the tank out of combat as he hauls ass for his safe zone.

There are so many other things to justify their existence. Unfortunately there are not many competent pilots out there, and Caldari is truly weak due to the fact that the strongest AV against us is especially effective vs. their shields.


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Poplo Furuya Crux Special Tasks Group Gallente Federation 8	Posted - 2013.06.13 23:21:00 - [1] - Quote Forge Gunner here, can attest to them being too deadly against dropships. Usually kills outright, sometimes they get away, either way you deny them access to a good portion of the map in a rough 600m circle around where they estimate you to be. Travel time is really quite fast. Never had a ship survive 2 hits of an Ishukone Assault running two complex dams. Charge time at Op V is 1.875 seconds with an Assault. Any smithy worth his salt will be using these, better DPS by some margin, more reactive and forces you to improve your aiming as it doesn't allow you to dither. You can also feather it to kinda mimic a held charge, constantly charging then releasing about 2/3rds through. Dropships not making evasive maneuvres are easy to track. After the first hit they have about a second and a half to react, not much considering they have to also account for and correct the knockback. About that knockback, for the one shooting the DS it's predictable and can be factored into the next shot. That the DS has to specifically assess and correct it is a variable that hampers their evasive reaction further. More importantly dropships do not have a role that validifies their existance. This is a major problem with the heart of Dust, the game modes are awful at promoting diverse strategies, gambits and playstyles. They are unfocused, all feature shared objectives, do not encourage defence. In a scenario where you have an attacker and a defender, one side tasked with seizing the objective their opposite number is defending, then we might start seeing more strategies and roles become viable. HAVs become important for their ability to push forward, making the enemy infantry hunker down and letting their own advance. Dropships can bypass the frontline, airdropping in a squad behind it to either attack the frontline from a second angle or make an attempt at the objective by themselves. Dedicated AV impede the capacity for a vehicular push. Snipers deny infantry free use of the best vantage points, are among the best disposed for killing infantry AV as they fire on friendly vehicles. A focused objective is sorely needed. The moment we have an objective of great enough strategic importance to be worth dropping on is when we'll start seeing dropships get proper use. That it'll form a tangible frontline around it will also make a whole host of other playstyles more important based on their ability to push, to hold, to threaten, to deny. Will also naturally lead to a wider team dynamic, having the whole of each side all working together to maintain the defence or to break it.
Poplo Furuya Crux Special Tasks Group Gallente Federation 10	Posted - 2013.06.13 23:55:00 - [2] - Quote Mary Sedillo wrote: To your post's point of stating that Dropships have no "role", I strongly disagree. I use mine effectively in many ways. Let me list the ways: 1) Ground Suppression - When enemies are moving in mass, there is nothing more fun than thinning their numbers with my side gunner running my XT Accelerated Missile Launcher strikes. To STD suits, they one shot, and 2-3 shot PRO/ADV suits. Sure, a forge gunner may take a swing at me, but I can shrug it off, pop my speed booster (which throws off my predictability), pop my repair tool and re-engage, thinning the ground. 2) Fast transportation to Targets - Not an important role on smaller maps, on larger maps dropping a full load on a target is QUITE effective -=AND=- afterwards I can drop into a Ground Suppression role. 3) Tank Suppression/Destruction - Foolish is the tank that wanders out of his redline when I am in the sky. Sure, Redline Rail Tanks of sufficient power will force me to recall (and only rarely destroy me), but when they wander out, I will destroy them. Even if I fail to destroy them, which is rare, I have effectively kept the tank out of combat as he hauls ass for his safe zone. There are so many other things to justify their existence. Unfortunately there are not many competent pilots out there, and Caldari is truly weak due to the fact that the strongest AV against us is especially effective vs. their shields. Fair enough, you seem to know what's up. Still think that a game mode focused on a more singular attack and defence would go a long way, anything that gives most classes and roles new ways to contribute to the outcome of a match is a good thing. Dropships getting even more of a place in Dust can only be a good thing in my eyes. I love dropships. There is nothing better than making a hot drop with a squad, the sheer tension and sublime unity of it.