So, CCP Fozzie has made some announcements for the new Hyperion expansion. Among the things discussed where the ships Nestor, Muninn, and Ishtar. Now, when the Nestor was released, everyone was excited for it initially.. but it slowly dawned on everyone that this ship.. really didn’t do much. Sure enough, as more people bought and undocked them, they found out that yeah.. they really don’t do much.
In light of this, CCP Fozzie and CCP Rise have opted to make some changes to the illustrious Nestor:
The most significant change by far is that we are increasing the drop rate of the Drone Nexus chips that can be converted to Sisters of EVE ship BPCs quite dramatically. These should now drop much more often from all types of “Sentient” rogue drone commander NPCs, especially from the Sentient Alvus battleships.
This should go a long way to helping bring the price of the Nestor down from its current levels.Secondly, we are adding a new function to the Nestor that fits well with its role as a group support vessel. We are giving the Nestor a 5000m3 Ship Maintenance Bay that will allow friendly ships to refit when they are nearby.
And finally, we are reducing the Nestor’s signature radius a bit from the current 465m to 420m.
We know that some of you will be unsatisfied with the fact that we’re not adding covert cloak or jump drive capabilities or some other completely new role to the Nestor with this pass. We won’t rule out the possibility of future changes but we are first going to observe the results of these adjustments in Hyperion.
Alright, let’s go back and look at what bonuses the Nestor already has:
- 4% Armor Resistance Per Level (Amarr BS Bonus)
- 10% Bonus to Drone Damage and Hitpoints (Gallente BS Bonus)
- +10 Bonus to Relic and Data Analyzer Virus Strength (Role Bonus)
- 200% Bonus to Remote Armor Repairer Range (Role Bonus)
- 50% Bonus to Core and Combat Scanner Probe Strength (Role Bonus)
- 50% Bonus to Large Energy Turret Optimal Range (Role Bonus)
- 50% Bonus to Remote Armor Repairer Amount (Role Bonus)
- 56,000,000 kg Mass (Half that of a Typical Battleship)
So, with the changes from CCP Fozzie, the increase in Drone Nexus Chips will allow more ships to be made, thus decreasing their price. The drop in Sig will make it harder to hit and finally the 5000 m3 Maintenance Bay will give it some added usefulness.
But.. I have a problem. Its still not useful. True, it is more useful than what it was.. but it still isn’t completely useful. However, it does seem that CCP Fozzie and CCP Rise are, hesitantly, being shoehorned back into the Sisters of Eve Meta. Remember, the Sisters of Eve are a group that goes into battles and provides humanitarian services. True they did have a militant wing, but that WASN’T an approved agency.
Now, if we stick to the SOE Meta, there are some bonuses that reflect well their methods:
- 4% Armor Resistance Per Level (Amarr BS Bonus)
- 200% Bonus to Remote Armor Repairer Range (Role Bonus)
- 50% Bonus to Remote Armor Repairer Amount (Role Bonus)
- 50% Bonus to Large Energy Turret Optimal Range (Role Bonus)
- 56,000,000 kg Mass (Half that of a Typical Battleship)
- 420m Sig Radius
- 5000m3 Maintenance Bay
All of the above bonuses make sense according to SOE lore. The rest of it.. not so much.
- 10% Bonus to Drone Damage and Hitpoints (Gallente BS Bonus) – This Bonus would only make sense IF it also included the repair amount to rep drones. This change would fit well with the SOE Lore, as well as give the Nestor additional support capabilities and offensive capabilities.
- +10 Bonus to Relic and Data Analyzer Virus Strength (Role Bonus) – I really want to know what CCP Fozzie and CCP Rise were thinking on this because it really doesn’t make any sense. No one will ever use this to run a Covert, Relic, or Data site because it is just too much of a target, and the Besieged Covert sites offer too little to justify the expense of using one (in addition to being a big target for locals).
- 50% Bonus to Core and Combat Scanner Probe Strength (Role Bonus) – Again this is another bonus that makes no sense in the real world of Eve. No one is going to use a Nestor to hunt down enemy ships and no one is going to use a Nextor to locate Data and Relic sites. There is just far too much risk.
I think what you are seeing is that CCP Rise and CCP Fozzie are trying to make the Nextor something like an “almost carrier”, but they get hung up on ensuring that the Battleship have probe related capabilities. Here is what I think they need to do to truly bring the Nestor into the field of true usefulness.
Get rid of the scan related bonuses and add the following:
1. As mentioned before, add a bonus to drone repair amount in addition to the drone damage and hitpoint bonus.
2. Change the Remote Armor Repair Range to include Shield Transporters
3. Change the Remote Armor Repair Amount to include Shield Transporters
4. Reduce the number of Turrets from 5 to 4, add a 25% role bonus to Large Laser Turret Damage.
These change would essentially make the Nestor a ship capable of becoming a Combat Logistics Ship, with the ability to switch roles mid-fight. We really don’t have anything like that in Eve right now (even though in theory the Logistics ships can be armed), so that might be a new thing. That being said, I do trust the eventually CCP Fozzie and CCP Rise will find a role and place for the Nestor, irregardless of whether they use my TOTALLY FREAKIN’ AWESOME IDEA :)… or not.
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Going To Try Out The Current FOTM!
Ishtar Issues
Having recently battled fleets of Ishtars, I can see that yes.. they are a wee bit overpowered. Particularly with Sentry Drones. It also seems that the overpowered-ness has made Ishtars the FOTM.. for everyone. Every Single Person. A bit one-sided to say the least, so it was good to hear that they were going to nerf the Ishtar…
- Bonus to drone tracking from 7.5% per level to 5% per level.
- Speed from 195 to 185ms.
I’m up in the air on this one, but I think that this doesn’t go far enough. The typical Ishtar fleet uses Sentry drones at distance and the Ishtars are shield fit. As such, I think there needs to be a decrease in CPU as well. However, it is late, and I should punch some numbers for something like this, so I’ll just say that I expect that this will still need more adjusting. Til then, I am training up my drone skills… because I love me my 1000 dps Ishtar (Using an EE-602 Implant):
[Ishtar, Drone fit]
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Damage Control II
Reactor Control Unit II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Processor Overclocking Unit I
Ogre II x5
Bouncer II x5
Mmm.. oh, did I mention it also has a 42.5k EHP, and can last with all things running for 2min 20 secs, and indefinitely with the MWD off? Along with the ability to change from 1000dps at short range to 823 at 150km plus, instantanously? Yeah.. let’s compare that to a Top of the Line Muninn and Vagabond:
Arty Muninn: 3600 Volley @45km, 360 DPS 28k Tank
AC Vagabond: 682 DPS (using Hail), 48k Tank
Yeah.. not really all that fair I think… time for this to get another review.. Of course, considering I don’t know how to fly droneboats, I imagine my control will be like so:
How I Control My Drones
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CCP Fozzie and CCP Rise have no love for the Rust
“Mundane Muninn” or “What New Pointless Bonus Can We Give the Muninn Now?”
And what of the ship that everyone wants to be good, but just doesn’t seem to pull it off? The lovely Muninn gets the following buff:
- 210 ms to 230 ms
Oh, come on. Clearly CCP Fozzie and CCP Rise hate the Muninn. Someone needs to get them drunk and find out where the bad Ruppy touched them, and how many times. It must have been a lot because EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THIS SHIP NEEDS! It needs four midslots. It is a shield tanked ship. Take out a low, take out a high.. it NEEDS a midslot. Please, oh please, oh please, just do it. Please. With an Iceland ale on top. I have to say.. why would a speed boost be worth anything on a ship that has been deemed by everyone, especially CCP, as a sniper HAC. So please, just do it. One more mid will make magic.. preferably removing a high would be the best option.
So a Nestor that still is roleless, and Ishtar that is begging everyone to fly it because it is overpowered by everyone who has flown it and fought against it, and a Muninn that still gets shafted because somehow adding a Midslot goes against a holy grail of something..
I hope CCP Rise and CCP Fozzie can hear the cries of my Muninns. They want to be loved, they want to be adored, but they show them no love. Please, show them some love.. They’ll love you long time..
2nd Anomaly From the Left 