The Capital Question

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #11

 This year's first CSM Summit, where the not-quite-pixel people travel, we elect to represent our internet spaceships needs, and in the 'Ask any question, devs answer' thread, an interesting concept seems to unfold. Namely, the matter of capital ships. In short, CCP is looking at capital ships as a whole, and talk indicates there are plan in place to redesign this layer of the game. Let us dwell into this today.

So, I was not here when capitals were introduced but the concept is pretty clear. Basically we have these assets as a tool for pixel empires to battle each other more effectively. Capital ships are meant to be strategic, military powerhouses that entities with sufficient wealth to support them can rely on to keep their territory intact or conquer more. This sounds great, but as always, devil's in the details. Again, I'm no expert on the history of capitals, so I will defer from recounting past changes.

The current situation however is pretty obvious to those that spent a good chunk of time in sovereign 0.0 space. From the top down, we have Titans. These ships allow alliances to drop entire subcapital fleets on a cynosural field, essentially teleporting them many jumps away. Furthermore, they possess impressive firepower in both capital sized weapons and the Doomsday Device, which allows for instant extermination of one ship, and is hard to counter with fittings even on the beefiest ships.

Next down the list is the Supercarrier. Previously called motherships, these things were transformed into an anti-capital ship with the introduction of fighter-bombers. Essentially, these were meant to be the counter to Titans, with their massive amount of hitpoints and jump range. We will touch on this a bit more further.

The most used and reliable capital ship is the Carrier. These class of ships are the packmules of EVE. Not only are they able to travel far with their jumpdrive, but their abilities in remote repairing, carrying a multitude of assembled and outfit ships as well as ammunition makes them invaluable for not only 0.0 corporations but many individuals. For a high-end player it is almost mandatory to have one. Just by owning a carrier you gain a self sufficiency that can help you weather the worst of times. For the same reason, losing one is a loss that you really can feel.

Then there is the poor old Dreadnought. These once loathed ships are now only used when the fighter bombers of supercarriers cannot reach the target. The main reason for this is their expected lifetime. Since siege mode, wherein they are most effective locks them in place with no remote repair allowed, a dreadnought is perceived to have a life expectancy of a tackler frigate. If there is a major encounter, it will be targeted and will go down quickly from the insane DPS of the fighter bombers.

The main roles of capitals right now, based on the above, are logistics, repairs, and infrastructure warfare. The problem here is, you have 4 ships for 3 roles. What should be done, then? There are many concepts, so I would like to share mine.

Let's get to  the generic changes first. We need them to be used in serious situations, not hotrops. And therefore, let's reduce their jump range, while retaining the fuel statistics. This means they are capable of bridging the same distance but with twice the planning. Second, balance tanking ability so that any capital can actively tank one another, but a few smaller ships (like, 3 battleships) will break them. This will provide the need for the support fleet.

Let's proceed with the roles then. First of all, we need a ship that provides logistics, as in spare ships, clones, ammunition, fitting. For that, bring back the mothership. Cloning bay, ammo bay, fairly large cargo, ship maintenance hangar that can carry about 10 battleships assembled, and allow it to jump the longest from the list of supercapitals.

Second, we need a ship that can provide capital repairs to those in need. The carrier is a fine example, its ship maintenance hangar should be tweaked to accommodate only smaller ships, but maybe more than the cubic meters allow. This is necessary

The third role is infrastructural warfare. The Dreadnought could make a return here, being cost effective and providing damage output to stationary objects and structures without being pinned down. An XL weapon tweak might be needed so that the siege nonsense is either not required or is no longer a nonsense.

What about the Titan, you may ask. Well, it should become the ultimate weapon against other capitals, with the DD allowing to break through the carriers' repairs on anything.

To keep the existing content, new capital ships could be added. For example, a black ops capital that can bridge a fleet just as a Titan can right now, or a sleek assault carrier that has low hitpoints but is agile, has versatile fitting and can field fighters and bombers alike. Think of it like a capital arbitrator. There could also be AOE EWAR ships that belong into this group and perform things like the projected ECM burst. Once you free up the capital ships from the sovereignty grind, the possibilities open up.

Despite all the speculations though, CCP will likely implement it in a way that no outsider can think of right now, or I hope so they will.

Sessym out.