If you could, how would you rebalance your ships in game?

This is impossible to balance like you are suggesting, a small sidewinder with 2 small gun mounts measuring up against an Anaconda with multiple large turrets/massive shields/SCB's both player controlled, it's a forgone conclusion. 1v1 will never be balanced like you are wanting, 1 v many then sure that's fine. If you are wanting 1v1 balance then this isn't the game for you.
I certainly don't expect a lone Sidewinder to be able to compete head on with an Anaconda. The sidewinder has the option of disengaging from the fight. When the Eagle encounters a Viper/Cobra, it doesn't have anything to avoid being destroyed. It can't fight, can't run and certainly doesn't have the toughness to withstand incoming fire until help arrives. That makes for a very dull game as the more expensive ship can simply toy with it.
 
I would either make the Anaconda a lot stronger in combat or reduce the price, its ridiculously expensive when there are simply better options out there..
 
Sidewinder: It's the basic beginner ship and just a victim - like it should be.
Eagle: It costs almost nothing - I would not buff it because other ships would be less of an improvement.
Viper: I still remember the Beta 1 Viper - what a beast! Still don't know why it was nerfed so heavily. At least it should be still the fastest ship.
Cobra: I feel it's too much. It's an allrounder for little money that can excel in almost everything - except pure combat. Although it is capable of, other ships outclasses them in terms of firepower/tankability. But they cost a lot more. Imo it's too fast and can take too much damage.
Asp: I think it's well balanced for its' price. It can do everything, from exploring to pure combat. Perfect hardpoint allocation, but weak shields to not overpower it.
Python: Haven't flown it yet, but from what I read/seen and its' stats - impressive. The bigger brother of the Asp, very expensive but extremely strong shields and a nice combination and allocation of hardpoints. Good allrounder/fighter
Anaconda: I think it's well balanced. It's very powerful, can shoot in almost every direction with turrets, not easy to kill - but can't kill easily by himself. If you're not using turrets you're vulnerable but have more focused fire. But often you have one chance: they'll run if you take down their shields in 0.5 seconds and you cannot follow.

Hauler: I would say a little bit more cargo would be nice. Right now the Cobra is your upgrade til you get to the Type-6 as a trader. Nothing in between
Type-6: Good price, good ability of earning credits.
Type-7: Although it seems to be a medium ship it's a large one, crippling its' ability to earn credits somewhat.
Type-9: If you find a efficient trade route (not too much jumps etc) its' the grinders dream. It shts credits.

Fed. Dropship: Never flown it, never seen it in a video - no opinion.
Imperial Clipper: Almost useless, every role has a better ship. Can't fight properly, Type-7 has almost same profit without rep. gain (time that could be used to trade), mediocre jump-range for explorers, never tried mining. Although it's by far the best looking ship for me ;)

All in all I would say the balancing is overall pretty good, some details should be adjusted. On the other hand some of the upcoming ships may fill the gaps existing right now.
 
Totally agree about Eagle. There is no sense in Eagle as it is now. No outstanding firepower, no speed. So anyone in a Viper/Cobra with decent skill can easily kill Eagle restricting him from jumping out. Maneuverability is cool, but speed can negate it. So we have glass cannon, without actual cannon. I do understand, that it is cheap, but there is totally no sense in it right now. I kinda don't believe that some manufacturing company could create such ship (again, we are not talking about NPC fighting, only PvP). Also, only one utility mount... Seriously? So even if it twice as big as sidewinder, and there are more space (as sidewinder definitely should have less, cause of all armor it has...) it still has less space for modules?
Summary: increase Eagle speed too highest in game. Than I am totally agree with keeping all other minuses.

The Eagle is crap, but I think it's perfectly balanced as is.

It's cheap, it does fight better than any less expensive ship and it's quite competent against NPCs. Once the larger ships have hangars, the Eagle may well be the heaviest/largest ship that things like the Anaconda can carry.

Giving it 100+ m/s more speed (what it needs to be the fastest ship) would change the entire dynamic of the game. It would be utterly untouchable and would dominate every ship smaller (and quite probably other) than, a Python in combat.

- Increase turret accuracy
- Decrease large ship turn rates

These would negate each other, as it would be easier to stay in the blind spots of these large ships, making more accurate turrets only able to deal damage during insertion.

- Make larger thrusters increase your heat baseline by generating more heat when active to balance vs maneuverability gains (ie: A class > heat than C class)

Better modules are generally supposed to be near straight upgrades, so I don't really like this one.
 
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Asp: I think it's well balanced for its' price. It can do everything, from exploring to pure combat. Perfect hardpoint allocation, but weak shields to not overpower it.
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Agree so far.
Except one point: W&T way too much. Should be reduced, as the ASP upkeep is quite expensive when using as explorer.
 
Don't the better modules generate more heat already so a ship with all As have a bigger signature than one with all Ds
 
Simple, Make it like the original.
Fit what you like, how you like, shield gens sold in single units, buy as many as you like.
Want a massive drive? You got it, at the price of cargo.
That sort of thing.
Imagine being able to fit a massive drive in a tiny ship, then ping over a hundred light years in it?
"The good old days".
 
Big ships have to turn way slower. This is the disadvantage of mass. The smaller the ship, the better you can accelerate and turn. Think of the Anaconda as a naval Frigatte. It has superior firepower but turns and accelerates like a bicycle without wheels.

If bigger ships have disadvantages (which they don't currently besides the price), smaller ships will gain their true value in combat. You don't fly a Python/Anaconda and be better in everything. If they turn as fast as they currently do (even FA off has to incorporate inertia), they always fly belly down.

With two or three Eagles in a wing, an Anaconda is history.

The Viper is good as it is, the Sidewinder, too. Ships have to be specialized and not diversified in Elite. If everyship is good in every aspect, it only is a way of forcing players to ugrade. If every ship has its strength and weakness, even a Sidewinder or Eagle will be valuable and needed.

But again, with the current progress of the game mechanics and target audience, I don't think there won't be any incentitive to make things right.
 
Giving it 100+ m/s more speed (what it needs to be the fastest ship) would change the entire dynamic of the game. It would be utterly untouchable and would dominate every ship smaller (and quite probably other) than, a Python in combat.

I totally disagree.

1) No need in 100+ speed increase. Only 30+. Currently fully outfitted Eagle with armor can go up to 369 m/s. So 30+ will make it move as fast as Viper. Also moving at such speed will greatly decrease maneuverability. So at 50% of speed it still will be most maneuverable ship.
2) It will dominate nothing. With firepower Eagle has he can't kill anything (fully otfited) bigger than viper if other pilot just warps away. In the same time viper or cobra can easily stop Eagle from jumping, and something with railguns can one shot it through all A grade shields and reactive armor while Eagle trying to get distance to jump.

In my opinion it is very logical that big ships cant hit or move as fast as small agile fighters, but in the same time small agile fighters don't have enough firepower to kill them.
 
I totally disagree.

1) No need in 100+ speed increase. Only 30+. Currently fully outfitted Eagle with armor can go up to 369 m/s. So 30+ will make it move as fast as Viper. Also moving at such speed will greatly decrease maneuverability. So at 50% of speed it still will be most maneuverable ship.
2) It will dominate nothing. With firepower Eagle has he can't kill anything (fully otfited) bigger than viper if other pilot just warps away. In the same time viper or cobra can easily stop Eagle from jumping, and something with railguns can one shot it through all A grade shields and reactive armor while Eagle trying to get distance to jump.

In my opinion it is very logical that big ships cant hit or move as fast as small agile fighters, but in the same time small agile fighters don't have enough firepower to kill them.
I don't think the Eagle should be as fast as Viper, since Viper is designed for high speed. However, I do think that Eagle shouldn't be left in the dust in that department either. It should have a speed close to that of the Viper, but slightly slower. A slight increase in top and boost speed will do nicely. Agility means nothing if your opponent can simply fly out of your gun range, turn around and blow you to smithereens in a single pass with superior speed, shield, armor and firepower. Maneuverability only counts when you can stay in range of your target.

I also think ship prices should have some adjustment, mainly the Eagle should be more expensive to procure if rebalanced.
 
I totally disagree.

Only out of inexperience.

1) No need in 100+ speed increase. Only 30+. Currently fully outfitted Eagle with armor can go up to 369 m/s.

This is boost speed.

My combat Viper can boost to 415 (and with a few tweaks I can get this to 420+), and my combat Cobra can surpass 450. The Eagle needs about 100 m/s more if you want to secure it's position as the fastest ship in the game.

2) It will dominate nothing. With firepower Eagle has he can't kill anything (fully otfited) bigger than viper if other pilot just warps away. In the same time viper or cobra can easily stop Eagle from jumping, and something with railguns can one shot it through all A grade shields and reactive armor while Eagle trying to get distance to jump.

It's firepower is much less than the Cobra or Viper, but making it the fastest ship in the game without handicapping it in other ways would allow it to apply that firepower well enough to down even well equipped Cobra and Vipers quickly enough.
 
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