Ships Even wtihout stat buffs, dropship could use some love on its power plant positioning

[Apos]

You can decimate its power plant from the top, from the bottom, even from behind when attacking its thrusters, it can penetrate towards it. Not to mention that all 3 of those angles are blind spots for it.

Meanwhile, the clipper has quite the protection on its power plant, the best in my opinion. It is very well protected when hit from below, it's not approachable from its major blind spot from behind and its approachable from a soft blind spot on the top.which turrets still cover as well. (i hope i don't ignite any weird dropship vs clipper discussion, but it's the equivalent. I fine that the clipper has better positioning that both the python and the conda as well. Although the conda doesn't really care about it due to better hardpoint placement and better everything in terms of pew pew.)

All the buffs on armor in the world won't mean much when you can decimate a dropship's power plant from almost every angle.

It's supposed to be used for landing into warzones. Don't see how that is really possible when every single shot on its butt's general area will deal damage on its power plant. It wouldn't take more than 2-3 battlefields before someone realized how easy it would be to shoot them down.

 

[Hanatarashi]

Never flown one myself, but I was thinking about that while blowing them up in a RES today. They go down in no time, all because of that power plant.

 

[Cooperman]

i agree op.went in the beta pc/mac cross and killed one with a basic sidewinder aiming at his power plant. too easy imho.

 

[Smugallo]

anacondas are the same. i can blast an anaconda with no shields to pieces with 4 -5 class 3 cannon blasts. their power plant is weak as hell!

 

[Apos]

anacondas are the same. i can blast an anaconda with no shields to pieces with 4 -5 class 3 cannon blasts. their power plant is weak as hell!

I'd say that's a problem with power plant durability in general and not specific to the anaconda. Python has it much worse and I'd expect the corvette to have a similar point with the python as well. (although I might be proved wrong since it's still not out)

Only the clipper has truly proper protection on its power plant to be honest. Sometime I get to destroy the hull on clippers even when specifically aiming for the plant.

But both the conda and the python are powerhouses on other departments. The dropship kinda needs some love and it doesn't have to be direct buffs. Some details (like the power plant) can help.

 

[777Driver]

Anyone know if the devs have commented on this? It's not just the dropship that has this issue. Every youtube vid or stream, it's straight for the power plant.. I can't see how that is good gameplay. It's just like trading, only go for the same few commodities, everything else is is just fluff.

The power plant is the core of the ship, any ship designer would make it the most protected competent

 

[se_thrax]

Imperial Clippers, Face them frontal, shoot the nosecone and "on the sides of its neck" = powerplant hits.

Anyway I am a dropship commander, and i only pray for: MAKE ARMOR COUNT. If i throw the fat military armor on i expect my space container to fly through a planet....or at least dig a 5 mile hole in the ground, but still in one piece.

More weapons should be demanded. Like now you can fly with lasers only. However lasers vs shields 200% damage increase. Lasers vs hull 500% damage decrease. against armorred hull forget it with lasers, useless. Cannons and multicannons yes, but against the heaviest of armor, instead of shooting 2000 rounds on a hull...make people required to have rockets. If not, prepare for a long fight.

Numbers i state is only the direction i think it would logically go to. Try an AK47 on a A1 Abrams Tank thats not gonna work...

Anyway enough mumbojumbo, armor needs to start to count for hull and more protective.

 

[DidierDrbois]

The Dropship has awesome armour, best I've flown, even with lightweight alloys. I remember that vs. NPCs losing the shields meant nothing, just carry on. Too bad it all goes to deepest hell against players thanks to the exposed power plant. It's just... stupid. And yeah, Python and Conda too (Clipper's made of paper anyway).
_
edit: Re buffs, I don't think the Dropship needs any. It's a fantastic little drifty tank.

 

[Sayne]

The power plant on an Asp is even worse. It can and will be hit from all directions except directly astern. Extremely exposed.

 

[babelfisch]

Anyone know if the devs have commented on this? It's not just the dropship that has this issue. Every youtube vid or stream, it's straight for the power plant.. I can't see how that is good gameplay. It's just like trading, only go for the same few commodities, everything else is is just fluff.

The power plant is the core of the ship, any ship designer would make it the most protected competent

Maybe they should remove the entire critical module system and introduce some more interesting mechanics. The only way to destroy a ship would be getting the hull to 0%. Targeting submodules would damage both, hull and module

Hull: 0% Ship destruction
Power plant: 75% utility mounts disabled, 50% internal modules disabled, 25% one hardpoint disabled, 0% all hard points disabled
Power distributor: 75% lose 1 pip, 50% 2 pips, 25% 3 pips, 0% module disabled.
FSD: crippling jump distance and need more time to charge
Sensors: crippling sensor range and disabled radar
Thrusters: Limiting speed and maneuverability

Just some quick thoughts, I am sure you can come up with something better.

 

[NullAndVoid]

Maybe they should remove the entire critical module system and introduce some more interesting mechanics. The only way to destroy a ship would be getting the hull to 0%. Targeting submodules would damage both, hull and module

Hull: 0% Ship destruction
Power plant: 75% utility mounts disabled, 50% internal modules disabled, 25% one hardpoint disabled, 0% all hard points disabled
Power distributor: 75% lose 1 pip, 50% 2 pips, 25% 3 pips, 0% module disabled.
FSD: crippling jump distance and need more time to charge
Sensors: crippling sensor range and disabled radar
Thrusters: Limiting speed and maneuverability

Just some quick thoughts, I am sure you can come up with something better.

Problem is given that list I'd still go after the power plant, it's such a vital component. If ship can't fire back it might as well be dead, just prolonging the inevitable..

 

[777Driver]

Problem is given that list I'd still go after the power plant, it's such a vital component. If ship can't fire back it might as well be dead, just prolonging the inevitable..

They are good ideas, the Power plant just needs to be stronger. Wouldn't it be great to have two Conda's brawling, targeting weapon systems, thrusters to reduce maneuverability, sensors to disrupt tracking..

As it stands now, it is the first person to make the power plant go boom. Every battle is like that in ED

 

[Morbad]

IPython has it much worse and I'd expect the corvette to have a similar point with the python as well. (although I might be proved wrong since it's still not out)

Only the clipper has truly proper protection on its power plant to be honest. Sometime I get to destroy the hull on clippers even when specifically aiming for the plant.

I find it much easier to destroy a Clipper PP, before the rest of the ship goes, than I do the Python's.

In descending order of most to least vulnerable to PP kills:

Anaconda
Asp
Vulture
Federal Dropship
Imperial Clipper
Python

Anything else and I don't bother targeting the PP specifically.

 

[babelfisch]

Problem is given that list I'd still go after the power plant, it's such a vital component. If ship can't fire back it might as well be dead, just prolonging the inevitable..

Disabled thrusters would be pretty bad aswell, without guns you still can try to run. And you could always reboot your systems. This would be difficult in a 1vs1 scenario, but when it comes to 4vs4 you might have the chance to repair your modules.

 

[Apos]

I find it much easier to destroy a Clipper PP, before the rest of the ship goes, than I do the Python's.

In descending order of most to least vulnerable to PP kills:

Anaconda
Asp
Vulture
Federal Dropship
Imperial Clipper
Python

Anything else and I don't bother targeting the PP specifically.

I don't know how you classify the python power plant as the most well protected. You can literally blow it up without the python properly touching you at all. Just attack from the bottom and it's as if you are attacking a darts board.

The asp and the vulture aren't big boys, so as much as I understand the concern of those who fly an ASP, it is a different discussion altogether. And anyone who flies a vulture and has their PP exposed should reconsider their approach.

 

[Minoo Minou]

They are good ideas, the Power plant just needs to be stronger. Wouldn't it be great to have two Conda's brawling, targeting weapon systems, thrusters to reduce maneuverability, sensors to disrupt tracking..

As it stands now, it is the first person to make the power plant go boom. Every battle is like that in ED

This. I like the idea of more strategic targeting, I often force myself to get down other components, it's much more enjoyable to destroy the drives, watch the ship spinning out of control, taking down the distributor, weapons, etc.

The power plant need some love and some toughness.

 

[Synther]

Power plant sniping has been made super obvious since the Vulture, but it's even zanier with the FDL seeing how even annies can be 2-3 shotted with the nicely placed c4 gimballed cannon shot. Having hull upgrades should (but not currently) give those weak bellies a little more armor.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Perhaps we should do away with powerplants as targets? Instead, maybe you have to destroy modules in a certain order, or destroy three subsystems to create an overload that then blows up the ship?

For example, you destroy the power dist, and any other subsystem damage increases the chance of an overload (seen in the ship as increased temp).

 

[Poseidal]

I don't know how you classify the python power plant as the most well protected. You can literally blow it up without the python properly touching you at all. Just attack from the bottom and it's as if you are attacking a darts board.

The asp and the vulture aren't big boys, so as much as I understand the concern of those who fly an ASP, it is a different discussion altogether. And anyone who flies a vulture and has their PP exposed should reconsider their approach.

I've always found the Python ones harder to hit and get contact on from any angle than the other ships on there, so my experience matches.

IMO Anaconda is most vulnerable because the rest of the ship is much tougher in comparison, rather than it being inherently that much easier to hit or weak in and of itself.

The Asp one pops by accident, and takes damage really easily. They are by far the most vulnerable Warzone NPC because of it (more so than even Eagles).

 

[fergal]

Power plant sniping has been made super obvious since the Vulture, but it's even zanier with the FDL seeing how even annies can be 2-3 shotted with the nicely placed c4 gimballed cannon shot. Having hull upgrades should (but not currently) give those weak bellies a little more armor.

I remember reading some Dev comments that the current system is working as intended and they aren't planning any changes. Increasing your bulkhead armour just increases the durability of the actual hull, it doesn't in any way reinforce the sub components, they are all exposed on the wrong side of the armour.
Personally I think if you were to put some more armour on your ship it would be over the more vulnerable parts, rather than on the armoured parts. Its been a while since I bothered with anything but lightweight bulkheads, and I haven used the other armour upgrades at all.