I never really understood why the nuke could only be droped out the back like some kind of mine and to me the torpedo feels slightly under used so why not change their roles slightly. Make the nuke a slow moving missle similar to the torpedo that people could identify much easier and could help almost herd the enemy around trying avoid them making it easier to set up long range frigates as support. Maybe even add a proximity detonation if an enemy gets to close and teams would require guards for protection more. Add a new weapon to replace torpedo called an EMP bomb that works just like the current nuke and detonates after a set time but instead deals 15k - 20k in shield damage ONLY and prevent shield regeneration for 2-3 seconds. This would prevent people getting instantly killed and give them a chance to escape while cracking down on engineer heavy teams that get to close.
Also for the nukes there could be a set distance the nuke will have to travel before they activate to prevent spamming them in peoples faces point blank range and give long range frigates more of a role. The new nukes could even be a long range frigate specific weapon as well to give them a bit more fun and make sure they dont get out of hand. The explosion radius and damage of each can be adjusted as seen fit, the EMP bomb however will want a fairly large radius to be effective.
I also feel like theres a lack of a kinetic super weapon of some sorts so while i am at it why not create a similar weapon to the EMP bomb called a fractal charge that on detonation fires out metallic spikes in all direction that only pierce targets with less than 10% shields and deals substantial kenitic damage to the hull while preventing hull gain for 2-3 seconds. This provides some kind of tactical use if combined with the EMP bomb to have devastating effects and makes some kind of sense if the ship has a spike through it making repairs much more difficult until it can be removed.
Overall i hope this removes the ability for smaller ships and guards to have a all kill weapon while still given the ability for them to do so if they combine team work. Hopefully this will also make long range frigates more of a threat on the battlefield since they should be the only ones capable of wielding such firepower.
Short version,
- Swap the way torpedoes and nukes work.
- Create a new nuke that travels very slow but has a long range and remove the old one.
- Create a new EMP bomb that only does shield damage and prevents shield regeneration for a set time.
- Make new nukes easily visible by both teams, possible add a warning sound.
- Make new nukes a long range frigate weapon only to give them more variety.
- Make new nukes require a set distance/time before they can detonate to prevent point blank nukes.
- Give new nukes a proximity detonation so they are not so useless and requires moving around them to avoid.
- Possible addition of a kenetic counter part that prevents hull gain and only effects targets with less than 10% shield strength.