(06-17-2015, 01:24 PM)Fluffyball Wrote: Having troubles in hitting bomber in a capital ship would be a good thing. It would force players to actually cooperate and not to throw their caps mindlessly into battle.
Leave Bs guns alone man. Bs can't hit bomber if good pilot piloting. I blowed up Bs ones on my bomber. But VHB could open some new gates into piracy and everything else. I like that.
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I think fighters should be very lethal against bombers. Whether or not the current balance between the two classes is optimal however I'm not sure about.
Bombers definitely do need some love, though. Although I would say they need both "buffs" and "nerfs". More of a redesign, really. Currently they're all balanced around having one big, hard-hitting, slowly-refiring weapon that you need to land once every fifteen seconds or so to slowly wither down enemies. I think it'd be better if they had to land more hits, more often and probably from shorter range to increase the risk bombers are at when fighting larger ships. At the same time, they'd be rewarded with higher DPS so that killing capitals would be less of a chore. Capitals would have more of a chance to do damage to / kill attacking bombers, while bombers would be capable of taking out capitals quicker in return. In addition, having to fire more often increases the rate at which a fighter escort could take down attacking bombers since they would have (even?) less time to dodge. Of course, that might make them too vulnerable and require further changes to their stats.
In the end it means that SNACs would have to either be reworked or just done away with. Then bombers could get more options for their guns and said guns could be beefed up a fair bit.
The only advantage that bombers have is their ability to tear down large targets from distance. If you nerf that advantage in order to promote a more CQC version for bombers, you might as well remove the class altogether.
Unless things have changed here, and from good ol jack's comments, they haven't. Most people have one combat style here, fly head on and over power. Anyone knows, unless you got the strafing grove on, against a bomber, you lose by default.
There is nothing wrong with the bomber. Again, for the 10602th time in the 5-6 years here. It's all about the pilot. I've seen transports fight off corsair gunboats, a single light fighter take down a LN cruiser, and a bomber take down a light fighter.
I was also, stunned by the compliment I got from one of the best Rever Mercs when I was able to turret view with my bomber and hold their fighter long enough for them to concede. If -I- can do that, no one has room to complain about bombers.
Quote:... become more survivable against fighters. Flying a bomber shouldn't be a safe "be out after like 2 minutes" bet.
I disagree. In a fighter versus bomber scenario, the bomber has good chances of winning. And keep in mind, that bombers, while often targeted first, can insta other snubs as well (which is often done to enemy bombers), and that gives them all the necessary reloads.
Quote:... become useful against a special class (which they are not really at the moment, as the high damage Nova cannot hit anything but a battleship reliably).
... be less dependent on the Snac as a damage dealer
I would like to see a bomber being able to at least reliably duel a gunboat. The problem is, you need at least two of them to combat a mediocre solarisboat. And as for the Novas, that's kinda the point, isn't it? SNAC is for lighter targets, like gunboats and cruisers, while Nova is for battleships. Then again, buffing the damage on the Nova would be a good idea imho.
Quote:... have a buffed snac that allows for +100 or +200 m distance in shots (compared to now) in order to avoid being forced into very close range on every pass (which always drains bots or means insta when facing Razors). Would likely have to fly even faster to give a better chance at hitting GB from larger distance.
More alternatives are always good provided they can be balanced in the damage department properly. Maybe even instead of a snac, have something along the lines of a 2.00 gun with long distance and slow projectiles that could sprinkle little shots of damage upon the enemy ship, while still draining as much as the snac does. Though, that might be difficult to balance in snub fights.
Quote:... have guns that are worth equipping (buff the projectile speed?)
Instead of the projectile speed, I'd rather see the damage buffed or better yet, removed energy consumption.
Personally I don't think bombers should ever have been left to independent civilians to use. They're not really needed for 'escorting' really. Any faction that offers its own line or has allies with arrangements to use others makes sense. This is also what's killed the pirate ID...the lone Pirate ID bomber. I bomber pirated back when the Warren squad was going down, and I realized quickly, its only fun for the bombers. Its too easy. Pirates should be limited to what civilians have to use or can get access to. They use what they have to turn to piracy. Otherwise its quaint but now seems ridiculous to me that anyone can log and buy a bomber that can over power just about any trading ship in the game.
So its not that bomber piracy shouldn't exist, but I see it making sense when its the Rogues or Outcasts or Hessians, but indie generics shouldn't have access to bombers any more than they have access to cruisers or battleships. Gunboats are a stretch but at least there is a plausible use for a GB as a civilian escort. In the end, if you need Freelancers bombers to defend you from caps, something is wrong.
I suggest leaving bombers remain with factions that offer them and use them practically, to encourage their use in that kind of capacity. That way, really, pirates can sprout up but would rarely challenge the status quo. EX> Rogues having access to bombers is what keeps them in their place, and in a way, contributes to how damaging they can be on Liberty, and helps keep them from being eradicated (is an actual danger to Liberty caps). Although I like the idea of pirate factions arising to also make their name, that can be done reasonabley without them being able to just load up on bombers and start dropping traders like flies. There are countless freighters, transports and gunboats that can still get the job done and yet limits pirates to what they can achieve on their own.
As far as their ultimate effectiveness, perhaps they could be snipped a bit, but at the same time, if they are being used (especially in groups) by factions with reasons to have them, on legit targets (ID wise), I don't see the craft or weapons it can mount as the biggest problem they cause, but their over availability. I say, if you want to play cat and mouse (mainly the cat), do it the hard way, or fly with an ID that warrants it. IMG might not like OC bombers coming in, yet IMG can bring their own against OC caps, etc etc. The biggest threat is that lone Pirate ID Warran with a cloak that can appear, shield strip after a line, and kill a trader so fast they barely even know what's going on.
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Return the 2.5k range on Snac and maybe give it +20 speed for a start. Bombers are too weak considering Gunboats (and fighters) dominate the server now.
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