Since CQC is more or less dead for anyone not in a squadron or group...had a random idea: Fleet Carrier Matches.
Process Flow of Match
1) You have to own a Fleet Carrier to play this match type. Presuming they aren't destructible (I'd be extremely surprised if FD goes with destructible - totally cool with it, mind you - but very, very surprised...anyways...) once you've got this major milestone for your squadron you're all set.
2) You match with other squadrons that own a Fleet Carrier
I'm not a coding genius (insert 'but...' comment here) so bear with me as I explain how I see it in my mind's eye.
3) Fleet Carrier Matches Have Three Paths to Victory:
3a) Disabling the Enemy Fleet Carrier and Protecting Your Own
3b) Victory Points Acquisition
4) Victory brings glory to the winning squadron! Leaderboards allow for trophies to be acquired for CQC as the legend of the fleet grows.
The Three Core Systems of a Fleet Carrier in CQC
In Fleet Carrier Matches, all Fleet Carriers are identical in design and defensive capabilities. At their heart are many core systems but three in particular are vulnerable to attack and, if disabled or destroyed, place the vessel in such danger as to require an immediate retreat to safety. These systems are detailed below:
Defensive Network Node
Fleet Carriers utilize powerful communication network nodes throughout the hull and chassis in order to function. From common orders of coffee to detailed targeting instructions, the network nodes are like the nervous system of these monstrous ships: if disabled, most of the necessary automated functions will grind to a halt and leave the ship perilously unable to defend or repair itself effectively.
Capital Power Distributor
Describing this as an oversize capacitor would be an understatement: the Capital Power Distributor is the arteries and veins that power the network. Twisting and weaving throughout the ship, this system of power distributes the output of the powerful reactor at the heart of the ship and assists in regulating its heat, which can literally melt down if the distributor network can't keep up. If the Capital Power Distributor is severely damaged, the ship will have mere minutes to escape and then initiate near total shutdown procedures to keep the core from going critical.
Life Support Generators
Capital Ships utilize vast reserves of life support (water and oxygen) to ensure crew survival in the event of catastrophic failure of the life support systems. That said, these reserves are designed as a temporary measure while repairs are underway - not in the heat of battle. Core life support bays are therefore secreted deep within the ship's chassis, but the generators necessarily had to be closer to the surface. Despite this, life support generators are heavily armored and well protected - difficult to crack and easy to repair. So long as even one of these generators is online, the ship can operate in battle.
Strategy for Success
At its heart, a Fleet Carrier Match is a race to either disable the enemy capital ship or accrue enough victory points to ensure success. Thus, there are many strategies for seizing victory:
And many more: lead your squadron to victory!
Thoughts? Just looking for more flare in this forgotten piece of Elite...obviously, the main idea can be summed up as a subsystem hunt of each other's fleet carriers. Pretty standard fare for anyone familiar with team-based PvP, I just think rolling in the squadron mechanic would be way cool. For those of us who fly solo, you could also do open matchmaking where you're protecting some megaship instead of your own fleet carrier: just doesn't have your logo and name on it is all, but would give random players a way to enjoy this, too.
Process Flow of Match
1) You have to own a Fleet Carrier to play this match type. Presuming they aren't destructible (I'd be extremely surprised if FD goes with destructible - totally cool with it, mind you - but very, very surprised...anyways...) once you've got this major milestone for your squadron you're all set.
2) You match with other squadrons that own a Fleet Carrier
I'm not a coding genius (insert 'but...' comment here) so bear with me as I explain how I see it in my mind's eye.
- Squadron Leader logs into CQC and starts 'Fleet Carrier Match Group'
- Members of the squadron log into CQC and see that 'Join Fleet Carrier Match' is an option, and select it
- Members populate squadron 'roster' for the Fleet Carrier. This roster can only be added to in between matches.
- When the Squadron Leader is ready to search a match, they select 'Deploy Fleet' - this begins the search for a match
- Matches only take into account win/loss ratio, seeking to match similar ratios together. Number of members in the roster does not affect matching, which means it is possible for a match to occur between a large roster and a small roster (5 vs 15, for example)
3) Fleet Carrier Matches Have Three Paths to Victory:
- Disable the Enemy Fleet Carrier (Instant Victory)
- Acquire Enough 'Victory Points' through Enemy Ship Destruction and/or Enemy Fleet Carrier Damage (Instant Victory)
- Acquire the most 'Victory Points' when match time expires (30 minutes)
3a) Disabling the Enemy Fleet Carrier and Protecting Your Own
- Fleet Carriers have various exposed and armored modules, some of which are defensive (such as automated turrets) and some of which are just raw armor plating
- All destructible modules are worth Victory Points, but only once fully disabled/destroyed
- A Fleet Carrier is disabled when one of three core systems are destroyed/disabled: the defensive network node, the capital power distributor, or the life support generators
- Fleet Carriers repair themselves over time if left alone, requiring focused attacks on core systems to ensure permanent destruction. Support modules on attendant ships, such as fuel limpets and repair limpets, can expedite these repairs - keeping the fleet carrier in the fight longer
- As the match progresses, fleet carrier drift closer into range of each other. Should the fight progress for long enough, the space between these behemoths will be but a mere 7km: a dangerous corridor filled with fire from both sides, creating pressure for the attendant fleets to target core systems in this corridor.
3b) Victory Points Acquisition
- Victory Points are acquired each time a commander is defeated - even if that defeat was self-inflicted, so fly smart!
- Victory Points scale with the size of the ship, not its loadout or the rank of its commander. Smaller ships will be worth less as they have less utility than large ships, but are therefore also more expendable for daring strikes against the enemy fleet carrier
- While some Fleet Carrier modules can only be disabled (and thus repaired back into working order), they will only reward victory points the first time they are disabled
4) Victory brings glory to the winning squadron! Leaderboards allow for trophies to be acquired for CQC as the legend of the fleet grows.
The Three Core Systems of a Fleet Carrier in CQC
In Fleet Carrier Matches, all Fleet Carriers are identical in design and defensive capabilities. At their heart are many core systems but three in particular are vulnerable to attack and, if disabled or destroyed, place the vessel in such danger as to require an immediate retreat to safety. These systems are detailed below:
Defensive Network Node
Fleet Carriers utilize powerful communication network nodes throughout the hull and chassis in order to function. From common orders of coffee to detailed targeting instructions, the network nodes are like the nervous system of these monstrous ships: if disabled, most of the necessary automated functions will grind to a halt and leave the ship perilously unable to defend or repair itself effectively.
- The Defensive Network Node is located at the base of the bridge of the Fleet Carrier beneath thick armor plating. Assailing the armor isn't as much a challenge but it isn't so simple: the network node has four relay backups located across the hull of the Fleet Carrier: powerful dual cannon turrets with specialized shielding house the backup relays. All five must be disabled to bring the network down. The shields of the four turrets can be disabled if the distributor system takes enough hits. Once exposed, the turrets will fire faster and rotate quicker, but can be disabled.
- When the Defensive Network Node is destroyed, the Relays take control of the network needs but the ship does suffer: repair times for systems are slowed by 50% as the relays struggle to catch up on the backlog of communication commands during the brief shutdown. For 30 seconds after the Defensive Network Node is destroyed, all systems on the Fleet Carrier temporarily cease functioning: overshields, repairs, thrusters, and even defensive systems, leaving the ship dangerously exposed for a short period.
- Once a Relay Turret is destroyed, ship communications will begin to falter if the core node has already been disabled. As the network struggles to handle the information flow, certain systems will begin to intermittently go offline. To compensate, the primary thrusters will deactivate permanently and thus make assault of the Capital Power Distributor easier.
Capital Power Distributor
Describing this as an oversize capacitor would be an understatement: the Capital Power Distributor is the arteries and veins that power the network. Twisting and weaving throughout the ship, this system of power distributes the output of the powerful reactor at the heart of the ship and assists in regulating its heat, which can literally melt down if the distributor network can't keep up. If the Capital Power Distributor is severely damaged, the ship will have mere minutes to escape and then initiate near total shutdown procedures to keep the core from going critical.
- The Capital Power Distributor has three major components: capacitor relay stations, heat ventilators, and the actual Capital Power Distributor
- There are 20 Capacitor Relay Stations located throughout the hull of the ship, some are completely exposed and only protected by covering fire while others are partially armored. Destroying Capacitor Relay Stations gradually erodes power management across the ship, forcing systems to shut down as the ship struggles to stay in the fight. Destroying 10 capacitor relays will force overshields, like those found on the Network Relay Turrets, to shut down.
- Heat Ventilators assist in heat distribution from the reactor and are easily spotted with their high temperature profiles, however they are heavily armored as part of their natural design to circulate heat into the emptiness of space. At a total of 20 ventilators, destroying 10 of these will cause heat levels to rise on the fleet carrier and force defensive turrets to fire slower as well as reduce the rate at which systems are repaired.
- The Capital Power Distributor is nestled at the stern of the Fleet Carrier between engine systems, protected by an over shield and thick thermal-resistant armor. The heat of the Fleet Carrier's engines provides a natural defense as well: enemy ships will be hard pressed to navigate close to the distributor to target its various subsystems and bring it down.
Life Support Generators
Capital Ships utilize vast reserves of life support (water and oxygen) to ensure crew survival in the event of catastrophic failure of the life support systems. That said, these reserves are designed as a temporary measure while repairs are underway - not in the heat of battle. Core life support bays are therefore secreted deep within the ship's chassis, but the generators necessarily had to be closer to the surface. Despite this, life support generators are heavily armored and well protected - difficult to crack and easy to repair. So long as even one of these generators is online, the ship can operate in battle.
- There are 6 Life Support Generators: two at the bow, the third is atop the bridge, the fourth is located along the keel, and fifth and sixth on the port and starboard side of the thrusters at the stern. They are heavily armored, have overshields, and are protected by several localized turrets.
- Life Support Generators cannot be destroyed, but instead are disabled: at full combat efficiency, the fleet carrier repairs a life support generator in just five minutes - requiring persistent attacks to keep them down and force the ship to retreat.
- Located throughout the ship are life support conduits. Similar to capacitor relays and heat ventilators, these 30 exposed conduits can be destroyed to hamper the effectiveness of the fleet carrier. When 15 life support conduits are destroyed, life support generators struggle to properly supply the ship and the crew begins to suffer from thin air, unstable pressure, and chemical or radiation exposure. If 2 or more life support generators are offline and 15 or more life support conduits are destroyed, preparing commanders for relaunch becomes much more difficult, increasing respawn time for the enemy team by 50%.
Strategy for Success
At its heart, a Fleet Carrier Match is a race to either disable the enemy capital ship or accrue enough victory points to ensure success. Thus, there are many strategies for seizing victory:
- Focus on One System: Hit it Hard, Hit it Fast using larger ships with more capabilities
- Slow Death: Work the lesser components of the systems and slowly cripple the enemy, easier to accomplish with smaller and more expendable ships
- Death by Paper Cuts: Similar to Slow Death, work the more vulnerable systems of the carrier and focus on downing commanders to accrue victory points rapidly
- Area Denial: Secure the perimeter of your ship and accrue points exclusively through the destruction of enemy commanders as they attack
And many more: lead your squadron to victory!
Thoughts? Just looking for more flare in this forgotten piece of Elite...obviously, the main idea can be summed up as a subsystem hunt of each other's fleet carriers. Pretty standard fare for anyone familiar with team-based PvP, I just think rolling in the squadron mechanic would be way cool. For those of us who fly solo, you could also do open matchmaking where you're protecting some megaship instead of your own fleet carrier: just doesn't have your logo and name on it is all, but would give random players a way to enjoy this, too.