Expansions can be a crazy, crazy thing.
Each one brings a new set of mechanic changes, some of which can throw
the whole game into a tizzy. There are
two posts I’m going to be putting out in response to the lesser-discussed
changes to Aegis, this one being the first.
And it’s about missiles.
I have a soft spot in my heart for missiles. Good, old, reliable missiles. When you push F1, they hit their target every
time at exactly the same rate for the same amount of damage. If it kills a target, it actually triggers a
second early so you don’t lose time firing on the next one. You can choose damage types to tailor them to
your target. They’re soothing, rhythmic…
dependable. They offer absolutely no
unpredictability and provide either 100% of damage (if you hit) or 0% damage
(if the target is out of range). And you
even had options! You have faction
missiles to shoot really far. You have T2 missiles to maximize damage. And that’s pretty much all you need. They’re the easy-going weapon system, perfect
for relaxing and turning off your brain.
Oh, no, no. I don’t use missiles
for PvP. That’s silly, with their
delayed damage and long travel times. Of
course, I mean I use them for PvE, an activity exquisitely suited to mindless,
repetitive activity. My Guristas null
Tengu gets 736 kinetic dps with implants, shooting heavy missiles. My nice, reliable Tengu, which used to print
isk for me use for PLEX.
So, naturally, I can see the utility in the Aegis changes that grant an
extra 5% damage to all heavy missiles.
Now, I’ll be shooting 773 dps, and will be able to two-shot
battlecruisers with Scourge Furies. I
may even be able to kill frigates and destroyers with a single shot of Fury
instead of having to swap to Caldari Navy for the better explosion radius. That’ll reduce my clearing time by quite a
bit, in fact. Crank those kills out. Gotta complete instrumental tasks faster so
you can get to the intrinsically good ones, right?
/sarcasm
Okay, now that that’s out of my system, let’s talk missile
changes.
A 5% bonus to heavy missile damage is certainly appreciated for small
gang warfare, bringing missile damage a little more in line with turrets. Yet, I’m not sure it does enough to really
change the meta; missile ships just aren’t as terrible as they used to be. I don’t see small gang changing much because
of that boost. The one exception might
be certain fits of the Orthrus, which will be able to kill targets even faster
while keeping them at bay. Expect the
price of Orthrii to increase (if it hasn’t already).
Incidentally, the HML Gila should fare well in light of the drone
changes, holding its total dps pretty constant (perhaps a slight dip). In fact, these changes might actually allow
the Gila to be more dangerous, since more of its dps isn’t “killable” and
doesn’t need to slow-boat to the target.
The inclusion of a range-affecting module for missiles, though, is well
overdue. Before today, the only way to
expand missile range was to fit rigs, which could affect other specs of your
ship and which was particularly difficult for T2 ships to fit on their two-rig
layout. But with Aegis, you can fit both
low-slot and the stronger mid-slot modules to enhance your range and precision.
In effect, we now have missile tracking enhancers and computers, and
about damned time, too. This is a much-needed
boost to the variety of missile functionality.
And the meta could change as a result.
Why? It will now be possible for
heavy missiles to hit frigates for full damage.
This could potentially revolutionize the way fleet combat occurs. In the past, frigates like my beloved Dramiel
have been able to fly circles around dps ships that lack a web and scram, even
missile ships, which can, in theory, apply their damage so long as the target
is in range. But now, frigate pilots are
going to have to be very careful when engaging an unknown missile ship, for
they could be facing a dual MGC-fit monster firing heavies that hit like lights. I predict lots of Youtube videos of solo
missile boats clearing whole fleets of frigates. Drake, I’m looking at you.
In large fleet combat, we may see heavy missile launchers used to clear
tackle from fleets, making Drake blobs very, very dangerous again. In conjunction with the fleet warp changes, Slippery
Pete Tengus may be that much more common, but this time fit with a few MCGs to
burn any small ships in the area as well.
Missile ships are going to have fitting options now, and pilots fighting
them will need to be careful given their flexibility.
Perhaps too much flexibility.
From the moment these missile guidance modules were announced, I was
looking for the other half of the equation – the desperately needed missile
disruptor that works like a tracking disruptor.
When you have fitting options to increase range and damage application
(equating to tracking and range for turrets), you also need fitting options to
reduce an enemy’s range and damage application.
CCP has stated that they’re working on these, but they weren’t ready for
Aegis.
I suspect we’ll see a rapid rise in missile-ship variety and
functionality followed by a decline when missile disruptors are released. Comparing the two, my guess is that the missile
disruptors will have a much larger negative effect on missile damage
application than the positive effect missile guidance modules have. And, of course, with missile damage still
well below that of turrets, no doubt the community is going to be calling for
another buff to missile damage six months from now.
So, as far as the missile changes go, we’re in for a wild ride! If we could short-sell in Eve, I’d be going
crazy with it.
In the meantime, I’m buying at least one MCG so my Rapier can further
wreck frigates. Make hay while the sun
shines!
Does this account for the change that makes missile rigs stacking penalized, with each other and with the new modules?
ReplyDeleteLet's go with "yes", since I always thought missile rigs were stacking-penalized until just now. That assumption is baked into my write-up. All other rigs are, so it seems only fair that missile rigs would be as well.
DeleteFurthermore, I suspect missile rigs will be somewhat worthless now, since the maximum benefit for fitting a scripted Missile Guidance Computer in a mid-slot will definitely outweigh the benefit of a rig. You'll probably be better off swapping the missile rig to a tank rig (when fighting Guristas, for instance, an anti-kinetic screen II rig) and replacing a tank mid-slot with a scripted MGC II. The difference between an active hardener and a T2 rig is much lower than the difference between a T2 missile rig and a scripted T2 MGC.
I'm not sure the introduction of missile disruptors will actually be as good of a thing as you think. Consider that most turret ships have extra fitting space for their tracking modules, meaning that while tracking disruptors are powerful, they will rarely find a ship that doesn't have some sort of tracking bonus already. Along with that, it's quite possible for a turret ship to still hit a target through excellence of piloting. With missiles, the damage calculation is dependent on target speed and "size", which are absolute values not relative to the firing ship. If you were to make it so that missile disruptors overpower guidance modules, which most ships probably don't have the extra slots for, then you would ensure at a certain point that your opponent's missiles would never be able to do good damage no matter how he flew his ship. While I do recognize that fitting a missile disruptor would mean fitting ewar related to a single weapon system, I think they need to be carefully examined so that such a thing doesn't destroy the effectiveness of missile boats across the board.
ReplyDeleteInstead of a BCS which increases raw damage I can now fit a module that enhances damage application. Actual dps increase will be relative minor I think.
ReplyDelete