Monday, August 26, 2013

Gallente HAC and CS changes

With Odyssey 1.1 a host of new changes are coming online for game mechanics in general but also specific to Command Ships and HAC's. This is my breakdown post for the changes as they currently stand, Gallente edition.

As I said in the Minmatar breakdown, All HAC's are getting a new role bonus to MWD signature bonus, this will reduce all MWD bloom by 50%. They are also getting an across the board buff to their sensor strengths to bring them in line with t1 BS instead of cruisers. This is in the 21-24 range of sensor strength. Additionally HAC's got a bonus to their capacitor recharge rates and capacitor amounts in order to hopefully allow more cap hungry setups.

Heavy Assault Crusiers

DEIMOS
Role Bonus: 50% reduction in MicroWarpdrive signature radius penalty
Gallente Cruiser Bonuses:
5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret damage
7.5% bonus to Armor Repair amount
Heavy Assault Cruiser Bonuses:
10% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret falloff
5% Medium Hybrid Turret damage
Slot layout: 5H(-1), 4M(+1), 6L; 5 turrets, 0 launchers
Fittings: 1050 PWG(+60), 360 CPU(+10)
Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 1200(+40) / 2100(+60) / 2550(+19)
Capacitor (amount / recharge rate / cap/s) : 1400(+25) / 225s (-110s) / 6.2/s (+2.1)
Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 230(+22) / .475(-.055) / 11460000 / 7.54s(-.875)
Drones (bandwidth / bay): 50 / 50
Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 85km(+20km) / 270 / 6
Sensor strength: 22 Magnetometric(+7)
Signature radius: 150(-10)
The Deimos or the more commonly known Diemost was popular for a while, then unpopular and then popular with the "kool kids" and then unpopular again and now might once again see the light of day in regular fleet ops. Well if everything goes according to plan that is.

Like several other HAC's the Deimos keeps it's original bonuses but then gets some very beneficial changes to it's slot layout. To be exact, it's gains another mid slot at the cost of a high. With already having 6 lows it's utility high was scrapped and moved into a mid slot providing that extra slot needed for fitting full tackle AND a capacitor booster needed so badly on this ship to keep the guns and reps running throughout a fight. It's also picking up some needed PG and CPU to allow for the extra module needed in the mid slot. Extra speed has also been added, along with a touch more agility, extra lock range and better capacitor recharge.

Overall the extra speed, mid slot and increase to agility will allow the Deimos to finally outlast it's long earned name.
ISHTAR
Role Bonus: 50% reduction in MicroWarpdrive signature radius penalty
Gallente Cruiser Bonuses:
7.5% bonus to Heavy Drone speed and tracking(was 5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret damage)
10% bonus to Drone hitpoints and damage
Heavy Assault Cruiser Bonuses:
5 km bonus to Drone operation range per level
7.5% bonus to Sentry Drone optimal range and tracking speed(was bonus to drone bay capacity)
Slot layout: 4H(-1), 5M, 5L; 4 turrets(+1), 0 launchers
Fittings: 780 PWG(+80), 340 CPU(+55)
Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 1400 (-6) / 1600 (-18) / 2300 (+191)
Capacitor (amount / recharge rate / cap/s) : 1400 (+275) / 265s (-70s) / 5.28/s (+1.9)
Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 195(+4) / .52 / 11100000 / 8.43s
Drones (bandwidth / bay): 125 / 375(+250)
Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 80km(+20km) / 294 / 7
Sensor strength: 23 Magnetometric (+7)
Signature radius: 145
Wow. That's it, just wow. This is a dedicated Drone ship if I've ever seen one. Not only that but this is borderline OP in so many cases. The only thing that makes it more fair is that the bonus to speed and tracking is only to heavy and sentry drones. But the 10% damage bonus is still to every type of drone it can field, which as usual is pretty scary. With the Odyssey 1.1 Dominix bonuses stacked on top of a drone operation range bonus, even more drone bay, and more lock range, this thing is a beast. The price it has to pay is one high slot. I think the trade is worth it. Drones alone, Ishtars will be doing between 600-700 DPS with close range sentries and only slightly lower with Heavy drones, without a full low rack of Drone Damage Augmenters, which can boost damages up to 700-900 DPS total. Truly this is once again a formidable opponent at range. Being cruiser sized does come with one downside, lower HP, and it retains the usual Gallente weakness to explosive damage in it's armor.

The Ishtar retains it's ability to cross tank, that is be either a shield or an armor tank, and do both effectively with the shield tank being marginally weaker due to the EM resist, but then supplemented by the fact that the usually weak explosive hole is plugged in the shields. The Ishtar, once again, is going to beat out most other drone boats and be a king of the space-lanes.

Command Ships

Astarte
Gallente Battlecruiser skill bonuses:
7.5%(+2.5) bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret damage
7.5% bonus to Armor Repairer effectiveness
Command Ships skill bonuses:
7.5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret rate of fire (was 5% damage)
10% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret falloff
3% bonus to strength of Armored Warfare and Skirmish Warfare links
Fixed Bonus:
Can fit up to three Warfare Link modules
Slot layout: 7 H, 4 M, 6 L, 5 turrets (-2), 2 launchers (+2)
Fittings: 1350 PWG (-100), 440 CPU
Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 3400(-444) / 4900(+576) / 5000(+195)
Base shield resistances (EM/Therm/Kin/Exp): 0 / 60(+10) / 85(+7.5) / 50
Base armor resistances (EM/Therm/Kin/Exp): 50 / 67.5(+8.13) / 83.75(+8.13) / 10
Capacitor (amount / recharge rate / average cap per second): 3000(+187.5) / 667s(+41.7) / 4.5
Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 155 / 0.7(+0.03) / 12300000 (-950000) / 11.94s (-0.34)
Drones (bandwidth / bay): 50 / 75(+25)
Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 75km (+20) / 200 / 8(+1)
Sensor strength: 23 Magnetometric (+5)
Signature radius: 300
Cargo capacity: 400
So if you saw the changes to the Sleipnir, you know that none of the 7 gunned beasts are safe. The Astarte has been reduced to 'just' 5 guns, but don't worry, it's got the dual damage bonus to pick it back up and give it the meaty feel of shooting 7 guns at once. Like the Sleipnir the Astarte is also receiving a alignment of it's resists to the Eos level and gaining a slight boost to it's drone bay up to 75 from the previous 50, but retains the 50m3 drone bandwidth limitations.

The interesting thing here is that with the changes to rails, Railtarts become a much more viable option even if the Falloff bonus isn't a Optimal range bonus on this ship. As usual, the astarte receives a active rep bonus that could really shine with the incoming bonuses to local reps also happening in 1.1. The 7.5% bonus per level could make this an active tanked beast for smaller to mid ranged fleets and even more so for solo pilots out looking to score a kill or two before help can arrive. The Astarte loses the information warfare bonuses but in return receives bonuses for both Armored warfare and Skirmish. A more than fair trade off.

Otherwise it has a decent slot layout, fine for active or passive armor tanking. For those adventurous types, it does keep it's 4 midslots, enough for a passive shield tank.
Eos
Gallente Battlecruiser skill bonuses:
7.5% bonus to Armor Repairer effectiveness
10% bonus to drone damage and hitpoints (was 5% MHT damage)
Command Ships skill bonuses:
7.5% bonus to Heavy Drone tracking and microwarp velocity (was drone bay bonus)
7.5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret tracking (was link bonus)
3% bonus to strength of Armored Warfare and Skirmish Warfare links
Fixed Bonus:
Can fit up to three Warfare Link modules
Slot layout: 6 H (-1), 4 M, 6 L, 4 turrets (-1)
Fittings: 1200 PWG (-225), 425 CPU (-25)
Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 3300(-544) / 5100(+776) / 5500(+695)
Base shield resistances (EM/Therm/Kin/Exp): 0 / 60 / 85 / 50
Base armor resistances (EM/Therm/Kin/Exp): 50 / 67.5 / 83.75 / 10
Capacitor (amount / recharge rate / average cap per second): 2812 / 625s / 4.5
Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 145 / 0.704 / 13000000(-250000) / 12.69s (-0.24)
Drones (bandwidth / bay): 125 (+50) / 250 (+100)
Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 65km (+10) / 200 / 8(+1)
Sensor strength: 22 Magnetometric (+4)
Signature radius: 300
Cargo capacity: 400
When the Eos was first introduced, it had the ability to field 5 heavy drones and outside of the regular combat command ships, it was one of the more used command ships in the game. Truth be told with it's great slot layout and the damage from 5 bonused Heavy drones, it was quite a beast. Then it was nerfed down to 75m3 bandwidth, quite a blow to a drone based ship if ever there was one. From there the Eos fell in popularity, only rarely seen in space or in Alliance tournament and NEO setups for it's unique information warfare bonus.

Well it's time has come again. Boosted back up to 125m3 bandwidth and a large 250m3 drone bay, enough for two flights of sentries or heavies, the Eos is back! In addition to this good news the Eos has gone on a diet, lost a bit of weight, added a bit more lock range, hardened it's armor tank, and got ready to be an passive tank brawler or a very effective actively tanked dominator in small to mid gang sized fights. It got a rather sneaky bonus as well, a tracking bonus per command ships level, which incidentally boosts a rail based setup to support those ranging drone packs.

Recap

As we can see, if there are ever winners and losers in the mad race of nerfs and buffs, the Gallente definitely came out as one of the winners in this set of changes. Every ship is improved and even ones that were still good got a needed boost. In this case the HAC's do a good job of both improving on and providing the quality needed to match their increased price tags. As for the Command ships here, I think they are strong, but will have their niche uses. By that I mean the active tank bonus is still good, but in larger fleet fights, that being 20+ people, alpha is still going to be too high for the active tank to be used fully. In smaller gangs, the rep bonus will allow insane amounts of DPS sponged while they sitll put out close to or above 1k DPS.

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