The Versatile Loki

The final entry in my four part series about T3 improvements has me highlighting the Minmatar Loki. This week I wrap up my thoughts on the T3 strategic cruiser as a whole. While I’m not deluded to think that the T3’s I envision here in this blog to be anything close to what CCP is/might/probably do, it’s nice to get my ideas down. Who knows? Perhaps I’ve inspired a dev in the bowels of CCP HQ to do something impressive.

For those of you who have been following my blog (bless you!) you’ll remember I already wrote at length about the Loki. The Loki is one of my favorite T3 ships just because of the versatility factor. I will continue that theme in the changes I feel need to be made. The strength of the Minmatar people as a general rule has been that versatility, so to move away from it detracts from the ship as a whole. While I don’t expect it to do the damage of a Proteus nor have the range of a Tengu, I do expect it to have one thing over the others. Speed.

Pro-fessional Proteus

For the last 2 weeks I’ve been posting proposed changes to the T3 strategic cruiser platform. These changes are based on my experience in wormhole space, the very place the strategic cruiser is designed for. The first week focused on the Legion and how underwhelming it is. Last week it was the opposite side of the spectrum with the Tengu. This week I’m going to focus on what I consider to be the zero point for T3 strategic cruisers, the Proteus.

For the uninitiated, the Proteus is the Gallente version of the T3. I call the Proteus my zero point because it’s at the power level I think all T3’s should be. Good for PVE, good for PVP, but it doesn’t take the place of the specialty ships. Whereas I consider the Tengu a wee bit overpowered, the Legion a wee bit underpowered, the Proteus is that bowl of porridge that is just right. But that doesn’t mean I can’t tweak it.

First of all, I’m going to suggest you read the Legion article, if you haven’t already. The Legion and Proteus are very similar in their subs so much of the same thought there will apply here. This way you understand some of the changes without me getting carpal tunnel by typing it all out again.

E Tu Tengu

Continuing my series on T3 changes, this week I focus on the Caldari Tengu. I feel that this is the week I get relatively unpopular as well. Unlike the Legion that I feel needs some buffs, the Tengu is on the opposite side of the spectrum. The Tengu is arguably the best T3 cruiser of the four. Name me one ship that can hit for long range with authority, get in close with blasters as well as any Gallente ship, tank like a Drake, and ECM like a Blackbird. And therein lies the problem.

The Tengu, unlike some of the other ships, actually is in need of a nerf. Now, before you start flooding my comments about nerfs and blah blah blah Caldari’s only good ship, hear me out. I’m not a fan of nerfs. In fact, I never have been. I would rather see the other ships get buffed up to where the Tengu is. However, to do that creates a problem. Raising the other ships to the over 9000 power level of the Tengu would make the strategic cruiser the ultimate power in the universe. Okay maybe not the universe, but in the cruiser oriented combat of wormhole systems it would be.

Fixing a Legion of Problems

In last week's blog I mused on CCP's decision to re-balance ships.  While it would be interesting for them to actually do something useful, I really don't trust them or our Null-Sec friendly CSM, who clearly don't know shit about wormholes.  I graciously offered my assistance for the idea part of the re-balance, and started typing down some ideas I thought I would share with you all.  In the end, I damn near had a white paper on where CCP had gone wrong and exactly what they needed to do to fix it.  So instead of slamming you with a wall of text that was even longer then what is before you, I've helpfully broken it up into sections by race.  I'll start with the Amarr Legion and post another one on the other ships later.

Of course, please feel free to let me know what I got wrong or right in the comments.  And if any of you know any CCP devs, feel free to forward this their way.  I'm sure I'm off their collective Christmas card lists.

The problem with the Legion, while great for PVE, it is generally considered to be extremely lacking in PVP. Additionally, users are looking for a great deal more flexibility in their T3’s, especially wormholers. The goal then is to redesign the T3 subs to make more combinations possible, introduce more utility, all while retaining the flavor of the strategic cruiser.