CCP has strongly suggested that they will remove combat refitting in future updates/patches. The stated reason is the notion that refitting allows “every ship to have every fitting on a whim.” In theory this is true, and perhaps refitting is somewhat problematic and a solution should be considered. However, CCP should perhaps slow its roll down a bit. A number of changes regarding capital ships are already on their way. Their role will be more oriented toward support. We should first see how these changes affect the game play in Eve before muddying the waters with more. If you are ill it is sometimes better to take one form of medication rather than two so that you know which treatment is having what affect. If the cap changes are put in place and at the same time we remove combat refitting, we won’t know which factor is actually having the desired effects and which are causing the negative. The removal of Slowcats is going to have a major impact on how capitals are flown and that change should stand alone, at least for a while.
Ensuring there is a balance between power and skill is important. There are times when refitting can perhaps be deemed as “over-powered” but more often than not we have seen exhibitions of skill, with occasional flashes of brilliance implementing this tactic. Quick-refitting pilots can make or break fights. It’s an engaging aspect of capital warfare and simply taking it away does not add to the game in anyway but limits the way in which players engage with the game. Without refitting, piloting a Dread is basically jump, siege and mash F1 until they are dead or you are. Wormhole fleets rely on the ability to refit during combat due to mass limitations in their chain. It’s a fluid, flexible mechanic that allows a multitude of tactics to be viable while encouraging player creativity, skill and coordination. Getting rid of it really is just “dumbing down” the game. The more factors an individual pilot can affect the more ways their personal skill shows up in fleet fights.
However, one thing that we can do right now before the capitals are changed is to tweak combat refitting in a way that reduces the tactic’s efficacy, but also injects more skill into the gameplay itself. Every time you add a module onto your ship as you refit in space, your ship loses a percentage or flat amount of capacitor. This will force cap pilots to choose when and what modules they should use. This may further shift the “Amarr superiority” regarding capitals due to their capacitors being better than the other races. Another alternative is that modules take damage when being refit, potentially using the same mechanic as heat damage. We could have one or both of these mechanics coupled with matching skills as necessary.
Rooks and Kings are well known for making good videos regarding their battle methods and no better example can be given but their work, some of which would not exist without combat refitting.
