The thing is, the FDL did not deserve to be at +100m tag price with all the drawbacks it had when it came out in 1.2
I'm not talking about jump range or the lack of internal slots (since it's the way of Frontier to balance combat ships).
I'm talking about a ship that cost +100m and that functionned exactly as a low priced fighter with sometimes even more drawbacks:
- Crappy jump range (predictable)
- Lack of internals (predictable)
- Awful pitch/yaw when outside the blue zone (huh, ok ?)
- Not enough power to use it effectively.
If you did not used the FDL at that time you need to understand first.
At the time we had only two C4 weapons: Cannon and Plasma. Fixed Huge Cannon was much more difficult to use: low velocity, weird damage (sometimes, even know if you hitted your target, you dealt 0% damage to hull/module) etc.
Plasma was more reliable but it meant having to sacrifice a lot: very low shield boosters, Class D sensors and life support, low SCB (2x4C wasn't that bad as you could, at that time, use 2 SCB at once for double the heal). Wich meant that going from place to place was even more tedious as there wasn't any module transfer back in that time. And with the crappy JR + Low Fuel Tank + using a 1x2C Fuel Scoop was just as boring, frustrating and infuriating as you can imagine. And if you chose to ditch one of your SCB for a C4 Fuel Scoop you were AGAIN seriously diminishing the capability of the FDL in combat.
As a conclusion, combat was a chore. You just felt that something was wrong here. You spent almost 200M for a combat ship that was not superior to it's "polyvalent" counter-part (Python). In fact, engaging anything as big/larger than a Python (alone) was a risky decision. It just didn't felt right.
Sure you had to learn how to fly it, because the FDL is not a Viper/Vulture, but still.
So cutting the price in half (as it did for the Vulture) was justified IMO.
Everything was still a chore but it felt more fair.
Then, the FDL got buffed.
And I'm sorry, but I still think it was also a good thing.
At last we were capable of using all it's potential. Even more welcomed, was the new C4 weapons ! The FDL got finally superior to the Python or other medium ships, as it should have been since the beginning IMO.
It was before the Engineers (I'll come to that), so 25.2 MW was just enough to make it a beast without making it too OP (others think it was already OP but that's another story).
Basic build in 1.2
Basic Build after the Buff
BUT, because there's a but, I think it's current price tag is NOT in line with what it can do now. It should go back to what it was before.
It's a beast. It's easily accessible (no ranks required). With what the FDL has NOW in his belly, THE SHIP SHOULD BE EXPENSIVE.
The FDL wasn't in line back in 1.2 so the price was cut.
But now it is, and it should go back to +100M Cr.
And then, on another topic... Engineers.
I mean, my FDL (using it since 1.2) is now a beast, as it should, and I can jump at 18,50ly thanks to the Engineers.
Sure, I have no internals but it's now the only major drawback I can find.
I also upgraded the power plant, up to something like 29 MW so power is even less of a problem now. Meaning I can upgrade all the weapons/SB I want without asking myself if I'll have enough power. I know I have enough.
So yeah... there's that.
Unfortunately, I think now it's too late to drastically change what the engineers do and how they work. Harm is done. Not just for the FDL but for the Big 3 as well.
That's why I'm disappointed that the diminishing return of the SB was not added to the latest patch.
I love my FDL, I'm absolutely happy that I was able to upgrade the FSD to G5.
If tomorrow FD forces us to remove all the RNGineers upgrade and keep only one, that's the one I want to keep.
But, more seriously, something should be done about SB.
EDIT:
Forgot to add. I was very excited to see what could be done with the diminishing return on the SB.
SCB would have been more useful in the FDL (C4 A SCB only recharge somehting like 10-15% of your shield in this ship). We would not have to focus everything on Shield Boosters, meaning we would be able to add other useful utilities, without that little voice telling us that this is not the way to go. I sincerely hope diminishing return... Will return
