Klivve Cussler
S.e.V.e.N.
187
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Posted - 2013.06.21 20:13:00 -
[1] - Quote
Complete redesign, eh?
TL;DR: Survivability is good. Retool the Logi dropship to deploy equipment rather than troops.
First, let's take a look at what dropships are: VTOL vehicles resistant to small-arms fire. In this way, they are closest in capability to the "Chopper", UH-1 Huey helicopter made famous by the Vietnam war.
Like the Huey, the current dropship holds six, has door guns, and has a snowball's chance in hell of surviving over an active combat zone. Huey's can't handle hot LZ's (not well, anyway) and neither can the Dropship.
This configuration presents a problem for two reasons: one, the entire map is an active combat zone, which severely limits the dropship's ability to survive there; and two, there isn't a huge need for terrain avoiding troop transportation. This leaves the dropship in this role a tool of occasional use, and is usually disposable.
The Assault dropship adds maneuverability, and therefore some survivability, and more weapons at the cost of transport capacity. Here we have the Huey Gunship. Except we can't mount a heavy machine gun to it like they did in Vietnam. However, it's vulnerability to anything heavier than an AR is still a weakness.
The Logi Dropship is an upgraded version of the transport dropship, without the need to land in the safe zone to pick up troops. This saves time, but doesn't seriously add to the survivability. It is also painted yellow as camouflage when hiding in canary flocks.
It's important to realize that the dropships in Dust are not Pelicans, or Clone Wars Gunships, or even Pave Hawks. They are Choppers. Play them as such, and they're pretty good.
So, now what do we want dropships to be? I think the answer is divided into two parts: Survivability and Role.
For survivability, I think that most people have already hit the high points: Better threat detection, countermeasures/ECM, stealth. For the Assault variant, I think heavier shields and armor would be appropriate, to bring it in line with the MI-24 Hind gunship it's trying to be (Passenger capability is why I didn't say Apache)
Role, I think, is the bigger question: What can you use a dropship for? I think that the assault role makes sense, with more survivability, and the basic transport role has its uses, but the Logi dropship, I think, should primarily be used for dropping equipment.
Imagine a yellow demon swooping low over the battlefield dropping mobile uplinks, AV mines, and remote explosives. You lock on, and it turns on its ECM, breaking your lock. MDs and Plasma launchers rise up and damage the ship, and it flies back behind the redline to repair and resupply. |