It's a 5 level difference - fused locus have no fitting reqs, thukker are rank 5. A direct isk equivalent would be rank 1 with the same stats (like many other AUR items that let you use a weapon type without any points invested).

I like using fused, but they are.... a "win" button more or less. You can take out high-level characters with relative ease in your starter fits with fused locus on. I say this without hyperbole, as I've avoided actually putting any points into suits/weapons until the next update, and I can kill high level people with a couple of the fused.

It's a selling point for the merc packs I guess. So, bumping up the reqs isn't a viable option, nor is removal if people have actually paid for them. Taking the radius down to Thukker level (or lower) would help somewhat, as 6m gives you a ton of room for error with your throws. I'm less solid on altering the damage, as they're already limited to 2. If you can't kill someone with two direct grenade hits, that's a little awkward.

If they insist on keeping contact nades in the game they should introduce Standard and Advanced variants as well (or possibly just the Advanced variant).

Standard variant (if introduced) should deal 200 damage.
Advanced variant should deal 300 damage.
Prototype variant should deal 400 damage.

The Fused Locus AUR variant we currently have would be considered a Standard variant since you don't need to skill into them to use them, and would therefore deal 200 damage (currently 400 damage).


Regular Locus nades should be toned down a bit as well.
Standard variant should deal 300 damage.
Advanced variant should deal 400 damage.
Prototype variant should deal 500 damage.

They currently deal 400, 500 and 600 damage respectively.

With that said, I wouldn't mind if the contact nades are removed from the game permanently. Regular Locus nades kind of need the damage nerf still though.

If you think CCP gives a **** about balance or fairness or not milking pay-2-win then you haven't been playing this game much.

If they weren't milking it now there wouldn't be such a massive difference in power in the aur contact grenades would there? If aur items are supposed to be equivalent to their isk variants to keep everything fair has the one person in charge of fixing this been in a coma since they released?

This is when things get real, this is when they drop the pretense that this game isn't really pay to win at it's heart and start passing out instant win buttons as long as you have the cash.

Are people more likely to opt for the aur version they can start tossing around immediately or spend their time and sp investing a full 5 levels into grenades to use one with a comparably laughable blast radius?

And because they finally realized how much they f'd up with the TARs they suddenly can do no wrong? How long did it take for people to point out the obvious abuses that were happening with those weapons and they sat on their asses when all it took was a hotfix to remedy and even then their remedy is half assed.

If they cared about balance 90% of people wouldn't still be running around with AR's because just about every single other weapon has been directly (Mass Driver) or indirectly (Laser Rifle) nerfed into oblivion.

What more is there to discuss?

The disparities boil down to the fact that you have a money bought easy button any bum without a single point in grenades can lob around for easy kills and an isk variant that takes actual precision and well over 1 million sp just to unlock.

CCP wants money and nothing attracts the kind of people that like to pay to win more than a veritable instant kill button.

Who needs actual skill when you can instantly rain down damage over 12 meters without having to cook your grenades like any competent player has to.

This isn't a complex issue that requires a lot of time and testing before being fixed. There are obvious advantages to the aur contact grenades and CCP doesn't care or they could have easily hotfixed it to even things out.