Revelations Pt 2!

[dwindlehop]

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setview/features/loadFeature/989/gameID/14
Actually, if I'm reading this right the graphical upgrades will be launched whenever they're done and not tied to a content patch. So the "Revelations Pt 2" title is misleading. 

In his presentation, he also mentioned that along with the upgrades players will have the ability to put corporation logos on their ships (which he showed off to rounds of jeers or cheers based on which logo the ship carries) and hopefully, down the road, chose their exterior colors.
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Fannar also revealed that the company is actively developing Linux support for EVE Online. He also strongly hinted - to the point where he basically confirmed - that an Apple client was also in the works.
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Fannar also took the crowd through some additional visual wrinkles they're planning. They're planning to redo the guns on all ships. Currently, they're one-size fits all and look rather silly on larger ships. They're also performance hogs. Soon they'll have guns appropriate to the ships, be optimized and - he admitted - actually work as intended. He also revealed that they plan to add scarring and damage to ships during combat.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setview/features/gameID/14/loadFeature/107/page/1/from/

Revelations I, as you know by now, launched on November 28th (if it's deemed ready). Beyond that, Chapter II is slated for early next summer. The main focuses of it are optimizations and warfare upgrades. Chapter III then comes towards the end of 2007, but is not clearly defined. The logic is to use Chapter III to react to I and II. This is to say, expand those areas that are well received, fix things that are not and make sure the radical changes to the game stay under control.

The graphical changes sound sweet. The way I read it is you get existing graphics, DX9 graphics, and DX10 graphics, all as separate supported clients. I hope damage and logos aren't a DX10 only feature.

Boo to six months for Chapter II.

The second article has more info about factional warfare. Apparently factions are just another corp you can join, and the article says they won't go live until Ch. III (a year from now).

[Krakrok]

Guess I won't be playing for another year then. I signed up a trial account and didn't find anything new enough to come back for.

[ajax34i]

They're planning to redo the guns on all ships. Currently, they're one-size fits all and look rather silly on larger ships.

The guns look too small on battleships and cruisers, and they look silly on frigates (too big, and what's the deal with the gun-on-a-stick models?).

And, IMO, as far as spaceships are concerned, the only reason you want to build bigger is so you can put a bigger main weapon in it.  I'd like to see every ship have a "superweapon" suitable for its class, with perhaps the same restrictions on recharge time and capacitor use as the titan ones.  Frigates could have one cruiser-sized weapon built in, cruisers could have a battleship-sized something, and so on.  Fire it once per hour, drain all your cap, maybe escape a dire situation.

[Krakrok]

You can sort of do that now if you fit the right mods. The problem is the larger guns don't do all that much more damage. You can use oversized MWD and afterburners to pretty good effect though.

[dwindlehop]

I haven't played around with fittings, but my understanding of the game mechanics leads me to believe that oversized MWD or AB on a ship fitted with the improved inertial stabilizers could yield some very fast results.

[Strazos]

Where are my animated missile launchers?

[Der Helm]

I haven't played around with fittings, but my understanding of the game mechanics leads me to believe that oversized MWD or AB on a ship fitted with the improved inertial stabilizers could yield some very fast results.

With what ship-AB combo is this still possible ? I remember this being nerfed a few years ago.

[Viin]

I'm pretty sure I had a BS AB on my Ferox for awhile. Couldn't fit anything else, but it did work. (That was maybe 3 months ago though).

[Krakrok]

Yes, BS AB on the Brutix. It might have been possible to put a large blaster on the Brutix as well. Also might have been possible to tweak out the Thorax. And an MWD worked pretty good on the Dominix.

[Morat20]

Yes, BS AB on the Brutix. It might have been possible to put a large blaster on the Brutix as well. Also might have been possible to tweak out the Thorax. And an MWD worked pretty good on the Dominix.

At what point should I start looking at MWDs? I'm flying a cruiser now, and haven't seen the need to yet.

[Merusk]

I haven't played around with fittings, but my understanding of the game mechanics leads me to believe that oversized MWD or AB on a ship fitted with the improved inertial stabilizers could yield some very fast results.

With what ship-AB combo is this still possible ? I remember this being nerfed a few years ago.

I'm pretty sure they only nerfed the other way-round.  People who were fitting 2 frig-sized ABs on a BS and getting a double AB effect for less power.   I dumped a cruiser MWD into a stabber once just to see how fast I could go.  Very fast, but only for about 10 seconds.

[ajax34i]

They nerfed it so you can only put 1 AB or MWD on the ship, regardless of slots.  You can put in an oversized one (cruiser AB in a frigate, f.ex.), if the ship has the power grid to support it (some don't).   Industrials don't have enough grid to support MWD's, and some don't even have enough for AB's (remember, industrials use cruiser-sized 10 MN ones).

Otherwise, I used MWD's on cruisers to cut the approach to gate time down to a second or less, but now with the warp-to-0 feature they're probably not gonna be used much.

[WayAbvPar]

Only time I use MWDs is when I fly my inty. Nearly 4km/s is too much fun not use one.

[Reg]

I used to use them when I was transporting Domis long distances to sell. They aren't much use for mission running because they don't work in deadspace. If I were ratting in normal belts they might be worth using though.

[dwindlehop]

MWDs are essential for two things. Closing the distance to your target so you can get a 20km scram on them, and speed tanking missiles. To get a serious decrease in the amount of damage you take from cruises and heavy missiles, you should be going 3-4km/s.

Personally, I hate flying around in close-range battleships at AB speeds. Too slow. Also, a MWD generally means you can dictate combat distance which is helpful when your optimal+falloff is way different than the other guy's.

I think maybe it used to be easier to outrun missiles because all you had to do was go faster than the missile velocity, but they changed it so you have to outrun the explosion velocity now. That's just what I heard, though.

You can get a 100MN AB, a scram, and 4 dual 180 IIs on a Stabber. You can even make it cap sustainable with good skills. I'm not sure how fast the new inertial stabs will make that fly. Should be easy to break 3km/s with snakes, might be real tough with rigs. But you'd have the naturally low sig radius of the Stabber on your side for speed tanking. Someone get in a Raven and throw missiles at me, please.

[Morat20]

So, in short -- I really don't need a MWD right now. I armor tank in PvE, and let my little MWD-equipped babies handle all the damage. (And they've a range of 45km). PvP, on the other hand, it might be more useful -- something to consider for later?

[Slayerik]

I'll be using my MWD on a frigate to tackle (webify and warp scramble) just so I can haul ass into range.

Remember though, when using one your Signature radius is 500% .... I wouldnt advise flying directly at someone, use your transversal some (slightly zig-zag in)

[Raging Turtle]

Also worth knowing is that you can't use MWDs in dead space.  So they're literally worse than an AB in missions.

[Morat20]

Also worth knowing is that you can't use MWDs in dead space.  So they're literally worse than an AB in missions.

Good point. I use a Y-S8 booster for my Vex. Gets it up to a decent velocity, although I need to train a bit more on ABs to lower the cap usage. I'm considering ditching another gun and fitting a Nos, but the small nos' only have a range of 5500 meters (is there a skill to extend this range?) and I'm generally not that close.

[Viin]

Bigger NOS - but remember NOS doesn't affect NPCs at all.. it will give you some cap if you need that but it won't reduce the NPCs tanking time.

[MahrinSkel]

One of the attractions of the T2 transports is that they do have enough grid for an MWD without powergrid mods in the lows.  Blockade Runners are especially effective with them, my Prowler does 2400mps on MWD, and my skills are only so-so.  If you jump it into a bubble-camp, you have to decide between either MWD'ing out of the bubble and hoping they don't get enough points or do enough damage to keep you from getting away, or running for the gate you just came through and trying to warp away from the other side before they can follow you with enough force to take another crack.

Your typical small gang raiding force, I get away from through one method or another.  Then I either outrun them (the Prowler warps like a frigate, both in time to reach warp and the 9.0au/sec in warp) or run to a planet, cloak, and wait for them to go away.  I've never lost a Prowler, closest I came was a Monks of War fleet of 15 BC's and 5 frigs that almost managed to pop me before I jammed one of their tacklers and warped away.  Generally, if it can catch me, it can't kill me fast enough to keep me from running again (Minmatar T2's have the best natural shield resists of any race).

--Dave

[Morat20]

Bigger NOS - but remember NOS doesn't affect NPCs at all.. it will give you some cap if you need that but it won't reduce the NPCs tanking time.

I know. I just wanted the boost to cap when I'm armor tanking. I do mostly passive tanks, so extra cap for the T1 medium armor rep I've got. (Never bothered to buy a T2 version. Never needed it).

I haven't had to warp out of a L2 mission yet -- the closest was the first time I pulled "Murderer Brought to Justice". Four missile boats was a pain. I was down into the hull before I killed the last one. I refitted for an armor tank (I hadn't really realized my shiny new Vex would be better served armor tanking) -- 1600mm plates, medium armor rep, damage controls and some sort of passive resist thingy I can't recall.

After that -- not really been a problem. Facing a ton of missile boats is still a pain, but mostly I just sit there eating damage while my scouts flit from one target to another.