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[kalaratiri]

Woop woop it's the sound of the new development cycle thread spam!

First of all, new deployables.

One more thread for today 

The Mobile Tractor Units have been by far the most popular Mobile Structures since we released them in Rubicon 1.0, and we've been extremely happy with the reception they have received from players and the very creative ways we are seeing them used.

In Rubicon 1.3 we are going to be adding two new variants of the MTUs that will be produced from BPCs available in the rare Ghost Sites (just like the blueprints for the rare variants of the Mobile Depots). These will be slightly upgraded versions of the base MTU with their own specializations.

I also want to quickly address some of the most common feedback we have been receiving about the MTUs so far:

Many players have been asking why the MTUs pull the closest wreck, as this behavior essentially prevents effectively using two complementary MTUs side by side. I can see why this would frustrate some players who are trying to maximize the effectiveness of their MTU setup.
We intend the MTUs to be a valuable option for many types of players, but we wanted to make sure that they do not completely overshadow other tractor beam platforms, most notably the Noctis. This is why they are limited to one beam at a time and why their tractor velocity is set lower than that of a Noctis. However if we made it easy to use multiple MTUs in parallel their effectiveness would scale far too well when used in groups, removing any role for other tractor beam solutions. This is why we have no plans to adjust the collection algorithm of the MTUs.

We have also seen many requests for the ability to share the access rights to a MTU between fleet or corp members.
Exploring this kind of functionality is something we would like to do in the future (possibly with existing modules and possibly with new ones) but properly connecting corp and fleet functionality to the code base behind Mobile Structures requires some behind the scenes work that is not yet completed.

As for the details of the MTU variants, we are adding two new structures: The slightly more common 'Packrat' Mobile Tractor Unit and the very rare 'Magpie' Mobile Tractor Unit.

'Packrat' Mobile Tractor Unit - specialized in durability
+200% higher sensor strength than the base MTU (affects difficulty of probing)
+25% higher tractor beam velocity than the base MTU
+50% Armor and Shield HP, +33% Hull HP compared to the base MTU

'Magpie' Mobile Tractor Unit - specialized in range
+500% higher sensor strength than the base MTU (affects difficulty of probing)
+50% higher tractor beam velocity than the base MTU
+40% higher max tractor beam range than the base MTU

Thanks and let us know what you think!

Then a much needed sensor damp nerf, and minor modification to the Celestis.

Hey everyone.
In Rubicon 1.3 we are making a few small tweaks to Damps and the Celestis cruiser, to lay the groundwork for another damp change that we have planned for a later patch.

Damps are a very powerful EWar that have the ability to create some interesting tactical situations and we feel we are getting very close to hitting the mark with their balance, but they are a little more effective at extreme ranges than we think is appropriate.

In 1.3 we'll be reducing the base optimal range of all damps by 16.66% and reducing the damp range bonus on the Celestis to 7.5% per level.

The new optimal range values for dampeners will be:
Name   Old Optimal   New Optimal
Remote Sensor Dampener I   30000   25000
Remote Sensor Dampener II   36000   30000
Low Frequency Sensor Suppressor I   34500   28750
Indirect Scanning Dampening Unit I   33000   27500
Kapteyn Sensor Array Inhibitor I   31500   26250
Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I   36000   30000
'Broker' Remote Sensor Dampener I   36000   30000
'Executive' Remote Sensor Dampener I   36000   30000
Shadow Serpentis Remote Sensor Dampener   36000   30000

Thanks and let us know what you think!

And finally, a minor reshuffle of some of the stats on T1 Frigates and Cruisers.

Hello everyone! Today I'm bringing you a set of tweaks to some T1 frigates and cruisers that we are planning to release in Rubicon 1.3. Nothing that revolutionizes the core roles of the ships, but hopefully these changes will go a small way to further increasing the number of good options when flying these accessible ships.

I'll give some blurbs for each set of ships, but one thing you'll see throughout these changes is a slight shift for the mass/speed pattern surrounding some Amarrian ships. We're trying something new with these ships and although the results are somewhat subtle and can be a bit hard for newer players to understand, we hope that it will be a pattern we can weave into the Amarrian lineup as a bit of a subtheme.
Basically it's taking ships that fit the heavy armor plated pattern of the Amarrian race and increasing their mass quite a bit, with significant buffs to speed and agility to compensate. The end result is ships that have similar align time as before, and similar speed with their prop mod on. The big advantage is that they will essentially feel less negative effects to their agility and speed from fitting plates. We'll see how people like it. Like I said it's a bit subtle but it should be a noticeable improvement if you know what to look for.
The important thing to remember with the mass additions to the Amarrian ships is that thanks to the counterbalancing adjustments to agility and base speed, the change will result in a slight buff for most normal usage.

Combat Frigs:
Couple of changes here. The Punisher is getting the new Amarrian high mass pattern, as well as some small buffs to cap recharge and fitting. The Kestrel will be getting a mobility buff. The Breacher is seeing its missile damage bonus changed into RoF (which means higher dps) and getting some more speed at the cost of agility. The Rifter is getting a very significant bonus change, swapping its old SPT tracking bonus (which was/is extremely common among minmatar frigates) for a 10% falloff bonus that will give it much improved projection with both autocannons and artillery.

PUNISHER:
+2 PWG
+3 CPU
-20s Cap Recharge Time
+25 m/s velocity
+143000 mass
-0.45 inertia
+1 sensor strength

KESTREL:
+5 m/s velocity
-50000 mass

RIFTER:
Removed +7.5% Small Projectile Turret tracking bonus
Added +10% Small Projectile Turret falloff bonus
+10 m/s velocity
+0.01 inertia

BREACHER:
Removed +5% missile damage bonus
Added -5% missile RoF bonus
+2 PWG
+10 m/s velocity
+0.02 inertia

Support Frigates:
Besides the Inquisitor getting the high mass high speed treatment, we're also making a few changes to this class as a whole. We're adding more base cap (but slowing down cap recharge rates to compensate) and adding more base speed to the whole class (with lower agility to compensate). Part of the original idea behind these ships was to make their downside a fairly low agility, to reward skilled piloting. These changes help push them farther in that direction.

INQUISITOR:
+50 Capacitor
+25s Cap Recharge Time
+95 m/s velocity
-0.05 inertia
+160000 mass

BANTAM:
+30 Capacitor
+15s Cap Recharge Time
+70 m/s velocity
+0.35 inertia

NAVITAS:
+35 Capacitor
+17.5s Cap Recharge Time
+75 m/s velocity
+0.35 inertia

BURST:
+30 Capacitor
+15s Cap Recharge Time
+80 m/s velocity
+0.35 inertia


Cruisers:
The Augoror, Maller and Omen are getting the Amarr increased mass increased speed treatment, and there are also several other minor tweaks here and there.

AUGOROR:
+25 m/s velocity
-0.12 inertia
+2140000 mass

OSPREY:
+10 m/s
+0.02 inertia
-130000 mass

MALLER:
+10 m/s velocity
-0.044 inertia
+1100000 mass

MOA:
+200 shields
-100 hull
+50 capacitor
+15s cap recharge time
-220000 mass

VEXOR:
-10 m/s velocity
+0.03 inertia
-210000 mass

OMEN:
+25 m/s velocity
-0.08 inertia
+1950000 mass

CARACAL:
+0.01 inertia

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to your feedback.

Interestingly, I seem to have put them up in opposite order to how they were posted. Oh well 

I have high hopes for the Rifter, but did the Omen really need to be faster? >_>

[Samira Kernher]

Ava will be very happy with those rifter changes.

[kalaratiri]

Ava will be very happy with those rifter changes.

She will indeed :3 It's now like a tiny Wolf

[Elmund Egivand]

My gawd! They are making my Breacher awesomer?

Well, I see if the Rifter is actually worth flying with the falloff bonus. At least the DPS isn't crap at 7.5k, right? Right?

[Esna Pitoojee]

To paraphrase a comment on Reddit: "The Rifter: The only frigate in EVE CCP can buff and not a single complaint will be heard."

Personally, I'm quite glad the Punisher is getting some of its mojo back as well. I never liked the Executioner being the more powerful frigate all-around.

[Elmund Egivand]

To paraphrase a comment on Reddit: "The Rifter: The only frigate in EVE CCP can buff and not a single complaint will be heard."

Personally, I'm quite glad the Punisher is getting some of its mojo back as well. I never liked the Executioner being the more powerful frigate all-around.

From the looks of it, the Punisher is still having 2 med slot, which had been its problem since, well, forever. And they are making it less agile to boot, so the Crazy Ivan-ing thing is going to be even harder to pull off.

I am still sad they haven't seen it fit to give the Stabber one more turret slot. Well, at least the Omen is alot less agile in comparison.

[Saede Riordan]

RIFTER:
Removed +7.5% Small Projectile Turret tracking bonus
Added +10% Small Projectile Turret falloff bonus

Squeeeee

[V. Gesakaarin]

That falloff bonus on the Rifter is nice, especially since in the current meta it can suffer from either being out-damaged up close by blaster frigs or kited out by dual web missile boats.

The Kestrel mass reduction is nice (I use a lot of MWD Kamikaze Kestrels) and I can only hope it's something that's iterated upon in the future with Caldari boats since if memory serves me correct the Caldari mass nerf was due to things like Cavalry ravens, cruise kestrels etc., way, way, back in the day and they actually used to have very nice base speed/agility because they were meant to be shield/skirmish boats like Minmatar in some respects.

[Desiderya]

It'll open up some interesting fits. Might be interesting to see if it outperforms the breacher when you need a buffer tank. But then the breacher will probably do around 50-60 more dps at least up to 8-9k.

[V. Gesakaarin]

There's also the problem that small AC actually have worse tracking than small blasters and are barely better than small lasers so fighting in 500-1000m in an orbit will reduce hit quality meaning it's actually possible to get under them with blaster/missiles. That's beside the fact blasters with null loaded will still have a better dps profile than AC with RF ammo on a Rifter within web range.

However, ambits/TE and barrage might be able to push the falloff above 20km so something like a mwd/mse fit might be doable as an AC kite Rifter - but even then I'm not sold comparing it to things like a kite Tristan/Condor/Maulus/Breacher etc.