Only a couple days have passed since CCP’s summit on capital ships and the conversation continues to boil over. As CCP has continuously reassured its customers, nothing is set in stone. Though one thing is for certain– the new capitals are coming, and they will bring about a new dynamic of gameplay that EVE has yet to see, particularly with proposed changes to carriers.
For anyone who is a capital pilot, you have probably been pouring over the notes the past couple of days. From the information graciously provided by summit attendees and the released logs, we can be certain of at least some of the changes regarding our multi-kilometer-long friends.
Greatest and foremost among this particular test has been fighters. In what can only be described as something out of a real-time strategy game, our fighters will no longer act as our autonomous drones and will instead act as a sort of extension of our own carrier. As described in the past devblogs, this is done by allowing carriers to precisely direct where their squadrons will go, with hints possibly looking towards being able to traverse an entire grid. We are now able to finally hear from players themselves what this could all actually mean. These fighters will be suited to multiple purposes and outfitted with a number of abilities ranging from anti-fighter tactics and evasive maneuvers on light fighters to bombing runs and electronic warfare among fighter bombers and support fighters respectively.
With these interesting and possibly gamechanging abilities in mind we are still left with the question of how many squadrons should be allowed per carrier? Currently, your standard carrier can field three squadrons and fit 3 Light and 1 Support. Meanwhile our supers will be able to field a whole 5 squadrons max while fitting 3 Light, 2 Support and 3 Heavy. The stats for each fighter type can be found in the CCP feedback thread on Reddit.
The real question on everyone’s mind, however, is whether or not these new fighters will break or reinvigorate the game of capitals– and there are reasons to lean towards either argument.
Flying a carrier has almost always consisted of a few basic concepts: click jump when you’re told to jump, assign fighters, call for reps, and be able to refit on the fly. While this is more complicated than your typical nullsec blob F1 warfare, its level of entry is still incredibly simple and, therefore easy to pilot multiple carriers across accounts without much hassle. With the new mechanics, the level of entry may be heightened to those actually capable of managing their fighters and keeping track of targets. Keep in mind that these pilots will be in charge of multiple squadrons of fighters in addition to their own ship. What this may mean is that there could typically be fewer carriers on the field in any one engagement in order for players to be able to micromanage their fighters without being overwhelmed. Furthermore, carriers will have a higher potential DPS while likely experiencing a overall decrease in DPS. Fighter squadrons having squad-based health will also play a factor, as sub caps with small and faster firing weapons can more quickly eliminate fighters from the field before they can cause much damage. Another caveat to this is that squads with lower sig radius as well as a higher squad size will have the most survivability, in this case Anti-Fighters.
On the other hand, we may also see more carriers in numbers of engagements. With more enjoyable tactics and multiple playstyles, more pilots may be eager to join in and pew given that their carriers will no longer be restricted to slowcat doctrines. Some carriers having fighters with disruptor and scram capabilites may also make carriers a stronger ganking vessel.
CCP has notably put a lot of effort into changing the way we view our carriers. By introducing a mechanically driven playstyle, we may very well see fewer carriers on field, yet accompanied by an overall increase in interest and “fun-per hour”. With another couple of months before we get to see the changes, along with the new Force Auxiliary Carriers, reworked dreadnoughts and doomsdays, formulating any definite opinion is difficult at best. Regardless of contention, CCP has captured the attention of players old and new, and this is perhaps exactly what they were hoping.
The logs in their entirety can be found here: https://focusgrouplogs.tech.ccp.is/capitals/2016-02-22/#2016-02-22T12:30:50
