Well the time has come to discuss the meta ship in PvP and why it so desperatly needs attention... Whilst I'm well aware some of you will find this thread wholly distasteful I ask that you take the time to read it and offer your thoughts regardless.
So, onto the matter at hand. The FDL. Loved by many for its beautiful curves and sublime handling the FDL has become a staple in the PvP community as one of, if not the single defining ship of the playstyle. With its enourmous capability in combat this ship is largely unrivalled by anything else, even up to, and including the big three. Enjoying vast amounts of firepower and enourmous shields with the speed and manuerability to put even the Viper III to shame (Almost, I'm bias there). However.. With the release of 3.0's engineering this ship has however, overstepped its mark in a very large way resulting in a glairing balance issue.
When I raise this point it is soley regarding how the abilities of this ship outstrip everything else by such an enourmous margin and to offer my thoughts on how to bring the ship down to a more responsible level without impacting how much fun and enjoyment can be gained by piloting it.
The issue here may be obvious to some of you, especially those well versed in the PvP circuit. Specifically the fact that the ship, especially recently since the extra optional buff, now has no significant weakness when compared to even it's closest competitors. The FDL is able to obtain levels of shielding that are closer to the large vessels than anything in its weight class, not to mention being able to run multiple SCB modules and an entire rack of the highest draw and heat generating weapons avalible. This has resulted in a vessel that does'nt just outperform it's competitors but blows them out of the water.
A potential for over 3.4k in total MJ with most of that being reobtainable via its SCB stacking capabilities whilst also being able to run a full PA/Railgun combination, and now, since the SCB modifications, being able to hotbank without causing significant damage to the ship, it has gone from slightly overpowered to being downright broken.
No doubt this is a hard point for some to stomach given that the FDL is a favorite amongst the craft, but it is however the truth. The FDL has too much capability when compared to every other avalible vessel. The remedy however, is a simple one...
A C5 powerplant.
Now I am very much aware when writing this, that the ship used to suffer from rather awful heat issues in the past before the powerplant was increased in size, however under the revamped engineering system the heat issues can be easily removed with sensible choices in the engineering department. Infact, more than just easily, it's a cakewalk for anyone who mildly understands the engineering process and how to obtain maximum build efficiency. The volume of thermal load reducing modifications and secondary effects allow this change to take place without upsetting anything massively significant regarding the vessel's handling or it's viability with its competitors. Merely reigns it in somewhat to detter the ridiculous MJ stacking and high power weapon loadouts that have become the norm for a large portion of the community.
In short, the FDL has enjoyed it's time on the top for a very long time and noone really wants that to change overly as the ship is a wonderful experience to fly and to fight with, however there needs to be some action taken as build and ship diversity is at an all time low.
One of the most enjoyable facets of the engineering process is the fact that you are forced to comprimise when building ships and make choices in the build that affect how your chosen ship interacts with others in combat. The FDL in it's current state can almost circumvent all of these comprimises, thus enabiling a "one size fits all" build. Even it's main weakess, Phasing damage, has all but been removed with the extra C1 oprional being added.
Hopefully this discussion does'nt fall on deaf ears and the community and the developers are willing to make a choice for the betterment of the PvP playstyle and allow the FDL to be pulled back to a reasonable level without sacrificing the enjoyment gained by flying it.
o7 cmdrs. Thank you for the time.
So, onto the matter at hand. The FDL. Loved by many for its beautiful curves and sublime handling the FDL has become a staple in the PvP community as one of, if not the single defining ship of the playstyle. With its enourmous capability in combat this ship is largely unrivalled by anything else, even up to, and including the big three. Enjoying vast amounts of firepower and enourmous shields with the speed and manuerability to put even the Viper III to shame (Almost, I'm bias there). However.. With the release of 3.0's engineering this ship has however, overstepped its mark in a very large way resulting in a glairing balance issue.
When I raise this point it is soley regarding how the abilities of this ship outstrip everything else by such an enourmous margin and to offer my thoughts on how to bring the ship down to a more responsible level without impacting how much fun and enjoyment can be gained by piloting it.
The issue here may be obvious to some of you, especially those well versed in the PvP circuit. Specifically the fact that the ship, especially recently since the extra optional buff, now has no significant weakness when compared to even it's closest competitors. The FDL is able to obtain levels of shielding that are closer to the large vessels than anything in its weight class, not to mention being able to run multiple SCB modules and an entire rack of the highest draw and heat generating weapons avalible. This has resulted in a vessel that does'nt just outperform it's competitors but blows them out of the water.
A potential for over 3.4k in total MJ with most of that being reobtainable via its SCB stacking capabilities whilst also being able to run a full PA/Railgun combination, and now, since the SCB modifications, being able to hotbank without causing significant damage to the ship, it has gone from slightly overpowered to being downright broken.
No doubt this is a hard point for some to stomach given that the FDL is a favorite amongst the craft, but it is however the truth. The FDL has too much capability when compared to every other avalible vessel. The remedy however, is a simple one...
A C5 powerplant.
Now I am very much aware when writing this, that the ship used to suffer from rather awful heat issues in the past before the powerplant was increased in size, however under the revamped engineering system the heat issues can be easily removed with sensible choices in the engineering department. Infact, more than just easily, it's a cakewalk for anyone who mildly understands the engineering process and how to obtain maximum build efficiency. The volume of thermal load reducing modifications and secondary effects allow this change to take place without upsetting anything massively significant regarding the vessel's handling or it's viability with its competitors. Merely reigns it in somewhat to detter the ridiculous MJ stacking and high power weapon loadouts that have become the norm for a large portion of the community.
In short, the FDL has enjoyed it's time on the top for a very long time and noone really wants that to change overly as the ship is a wonderful experience to fly and to fight with, however there needs to be some action taken as build and ship diversity is at an all time low.
One of the most enjoyable facets of the engineering process is the fact that you are forced to comprimise when building ships and make choices in the build that affect how your chosen ship interacts with others in combat. The FDL in it's current state can almost circumvent all of these comprimises, thus enabiling a "one size fits all" build. Even it's main weakess, Phasing damage, has all but been removed with the extra C1 oprional being added.
Hopefully this discussion does'nt fall on deaf ears and the community and the developers are willing to make a choice for the betterment of the PvP playstyle and allow the FDL to be pulled back to a reasonable level without sacrificing the enjoyment gained by flying it.
o7 cmdrs. Thank you for the time.