Another small tweak suggestion.
I would appreciate it if tackler modules, such as the inhibitor beam were changed to ‘toggle’ modules. Less button pushing is always appreciated.
Basically, the module would always be on and automatically suppress all enemies in a very close radius from using afterburners. Similar to the frigate inhibitor field, but smaller. Meant for close dogfighting rather than area suppression.
The tracler is the most wasy to kill for the fighter roles.
Give some new module and reduce to 45 sec the cloack.
Like the idea of a fighter cloack attack or support and cloack away.
The cloack of tracler is the most fragile of other stealth tipe just give more fast reload.
I agree the tackler needs a buff but I don’t think this is it tbh. Their main problem is survivability; they’ve got a get-out-of-jail-free card in their cloak, but if it’s down they’re sitting ducks. I jump on tacklers in my recon because I know after spy droning their cloak out of comission they’re a free kill, which is a bit bizarre since the flavour text of tacklers when they were introduced specifically mentioned them as ships designed to hunt recons and covops.
I agree the tackler needs a buff but I don’t think this is it tbh. Their main problem is survivability; they’ve got a get-out-of-jail-free card in their cloak, but if it’s down they’re sitting ducks. I jump on tacklers in my recon because I know after spy droning their cloak out of comission they’re a free kill, which is a bit bizarre since the flavour text of tacklers when they were introduced specifically mentioned them as ships designed to hunt recons and covops.
It’s the same problem that gunships have. The issue with tacklers is their inability to do much before they die.
Back to the original topic… I prefer to match my main weapon’s range to the range of my modules, so if the range is too short, some players might not like it, especially if they prefer assault railguns which have quite a decent range.
Tacklers should be the anti-interceptor. They need to be able to grab a single ship and lock it down. Right now EMC interceptors are better at this in T3 where they can stasis ships and set them up for a one hit kill from Cov-Ops.
A larger selection of debuffs would help. Such as one that forces thrusters to use energy and another that hinders turning speed. The resist debuff needs to be more fire and forget. The ships then need some escape powers like engine over drive to compensate for using stealth to approach a target. Otherwise they are too fragile for a ship that works best at close range.
I have a good idea:
Give to all tackles a passive projetil speed bonus and reduce the coll down time for the cloack. This will make he more efectiv e vs interceptor(your original role) and buff up the surviveability.
Right now I guess the issue with interceptors is that it’s difficult to gun them down. While I would like to see some ways to shut down an enemy interceptor, it might overlap with the ECM inty. I doubt we need two types of ships to do the same thing. I’m not a T3 player, so I’m not sure how effective T3 ECMs are at inty killing.
Existing modules like the target painter could remain the same; I’ve no issues with it requiring line of sight. As someone has mentioned somewhere on the forums, it’s heinous. Plus the beam is a dead giveaway for your target’s location and acts as a huge marker for your allies as well. The short cooldown is sweet as well. But I would like to see more alternatives even at lower tiers.
+1 to having better debuff effects, and some kind of way for tacklers to move in quickly. Not too sure about the projectile speed bonus… I don’t foresee myself needing it since I use pulse lasers, though those who favour rapid plasmas will benefit from it.
Perhaps we could redesign the cloaking module… I have a couple of ideas here:
As for the way tackler modules take effect, perhaps we could have an alternative to the ‘beam’ modules: the tackler instead uses missiles that causes the debuff effect. Upon activation, the tackler launches a missile (same properties, can be shot down by missile shield and blocked by flares and obstacles). Upon impact, the enemy vessel suffers from the debuff for a short duration. In this way, interceptors have a way to avoid getting hit by the debuff (instead of automatically once the tackler locks on gets into range), but the tackler module gains a ‘fire and forget’ capability that allows the debuff to stay on even if the tackler goes out of range or dies.
A non-serious suggestion as well: Mac players (and AFAIK some Windows players as well) have this ‘fade to black’ bug. It’ll be hilarious if a tackler could inflict that on an inty.
A simple change that might help against recons (and covops a bit) is making the Target Painter inhibit stealth while active. It wouldn’t be crazy OP or supplant spy drones, since it’s not long duration and is broken by LOS, but I laugh every time a tackler pops his TP, thruster inhibitor and engine suppressor on me and I just hit my phase remodulator and it’s all gone, then immediately break cloak and kill him while all his debuffs are on cooldown.
I like the idea of projectile speed buff. It does leave lasers a bit out in the cold, but it’s a good idea for buffing them against inties without making them much more powerful against everything else. (Maybe give lasers a range bonus as a consolation prize?)
A simple change that might help against recons (and covops a bit) is making the Target Painter inhibit stealth while active. It wouldn’t be crazy OP or supplant spy drones, since it’s not long duration and is broken by LOS, but I laugh every time a tackler pops his TP, thruster inhibitor and engine suppressor on me and I just hit my phase remodulator and it’s all gone, then immediately break cloak and kill him while all his debuffs are on cooldown.
Exactly! I’ve been on the receiving end of that long enough to NOT pop my inhibiters at every interceptor I see. (The target painter’s cooldown is shorter, so I don’t really care about that as much.)
Right now, tacklers cannot perform their original role effectively. I think the cloak should either be for slightly longer (23 seconds), the cooldown shorter (45 seconds) or staying active when using modules or firing weapons. As tacklers are relatively frail their entire purpose is to get the drop on some unsusoecting player and gun them down at close range, using their debuff modules to help with the takedown.
Interceptors just using their phase remod is really starting to annoy me as a tackler pilot. They just activate the module and *poof*, there’s all my debuffs gone. Then it’s just a matter of swooping back down and blowing me to pieces when I have literally 0 defences. Not even my missiles can help. By the time I’ve managed to get a lock they’re behind me.
So, to recap:
Make the active time longer.
OR reduce the cooldown.
OR remove the decloak on weaponry/module usage.
The only way to have a decent tackler is by giving it a shield and health module to help it live longer. And even then you’re still quite frail.
I say no. None of these seem as a good change.
I suggest just increase effectiveness of all modules by 25-50%, so it will be as effective as Rhi-no (which is just about right) in all ranks and give Rhi-no something to compensate, maybe additional % or slight reduce cooldown, increase range or projectile speed etc.
I think the cloak should either be for slightly longer (23 seconds), the cooldown shorter (45 seconds) or staying active when using modules or firing weapons.
The only one of these that makes sense is the shorter cooldown. Staying cloaked while firing would be wtfoverpowered, and 18 seconds of cloak time is already more than enough for most purposes (and making it longer won’t really help your survivability).
Another idea I had to let them dogfight inties better was to give them a module that gives a big benefit to rotation speed on a cooldown. Though just that seems a bit underpowered for an active module. Hmm, but we could roll the projectile speed buff in to it… How about:
Active Module: Inertia Stabiliser
Category: Tackler
Duration: 10s
Cooldown: 45s
Overdrive the ship’s inertia dampers, giving benefits to maneuverability and weapon accuracy.
Improve rotation speed by 30% in all axes (or whatever is required to make a tackler the same as an average interceptor).
Increase Plasma and Rail projectile speed by 30%.
Increase Laser range by 15%. (not too sure about this one, but it should do *something* for lasers, and this is the only thing I can think of that’s not effectively a damage bonus)
Note that it doesn’t improve speed or strafe speed, only rotation speed. This is deliberate or it would allow tacklers to zip around frigates like interceptors, and the intention is not to buff against frigates.
Interesting idea but you don’t need a module for added mobility (gunships allready have that) because you allready have slowing debuffs, which make targeting and chasing intereceptors easier.
I am still suggesting look at my post above, and buff tackler modules slightly (+25%) could also do with a slight stealth cooldown decrease.
Since it is also the most fragile fighter in the game, the long cooldown on stealth doesn’t really help it, so it really needs some improvement in that department to make it more interesting and viable choice to play. It definetely has some uses as it is now, but it’s not a top choice to go for, since it’s lacking mobility and tankiness after you go out of stealth, can die very quickly after that if flanked.
Problem is, you have to be in range to make use of your modules (2-3k). I can get away easily with my gunship or command with long range weapons and do both firing and evasive maneuvers safely from distance and get behind cover quickly. But with tackler, constantly requiring you to be in close proximity to be effective, as you probably can understand by now, you get too exposed and it is a problem.
The only one of these that makes sense is the shorter cooldown. Staying cloaked while firing would be wtfoverpowered, and 18 seconds of cloak time is already more than enough for most purposes (and making it longer won’t really help your survivability).
Another idea I had to let them dogfight inties better was to give them a module that gives a big benefit to rotation speed on a cooldown. Though just that seems a bit underpowered for an active module. Hmm, but we could roll the projectile speed buff in to it… How about:
Active Module: Inertia Stabiliser
Category: Tackler
Duration: 10s
Cooldown: 45s
Overdrive the ship’s inertia dampers, giving benefits to maneuverability and weapon accuracy.
Improve rotation speed by 30% in all axes (or whatever is required to make a tackler the same as an average interceptor).
Increase Plasma and Rail projectile speed by 30%.
Increase Laser range by 15%. (not too sure about this one, but it should do *something* for lasers, and this is the only thing I can think of that’s not effectively a damage bonus)
Note that it doesn’t improve speed or strafe speed, only rotation speed. This is deliberate or it would allow tacklers to zip around frigates like interceptors, and the intention is not to buff against frigates.
Granted. Cloak & dagger at the same time is OP. But having the module deactivate upon being near an enemy is still stupid. If you want to get out of dogfight this makes it too damn hard.
Oh yeah, the newest update has seen tacklers nerfed. -10m/s to speed and a slight rotation decrease in all axis, I think. That and maybe a shield/hull reduction, from what I can tell.
Great job, devs. You’ve made tacklers even worse than before.
having the module deactivate upon being near an enemy is still stupid.
I don’t think I’ve ever had this happen to me. Do you know the decloak range? Because I’ve sneaked up to at least 500m before and not decloaked on them.
It doesn’t seem like the cloak is a bad escape ability, even while dogfighting. You can’t use it when someone is literally shooting you right then, but it only takes a small gap to hit the cloak and jink away. I rarely manage to decloak tacklers that cloak on me.
Interesting idea but you don’t need a module for added mobility (gunships allready have that) because you allready have slowing debuffs, which make targeting and chasing intereceptors easier.
Hmm, you may have a point. The intention was to add an ability that would assist in survival as well as offence against inties, but improving rotational speed doesn’t really do that does it.
Hmm, how’s this for an idea:
The cloak works like it currently does, AND grants some damage reduction (thinking 20% or so) for the full cloak duration, even if the cloak ends early.
(Think, it leaves a residual “displacement” effect that makes you harder to hit effectively, represented by damage reduction. preferably with badass visual effect)
Hopefully this wouldn’t make them overly tanky, since it still has a lengthy cooldown and shouldn’t be a big a bonus. It would mean if you used your cloak to get the jump on someone it would give you some extra survivability while you fought them, and if you get decloaked trying to get out of trouble you’d still get some protection.
Giving the inhibitor beam mod a rotational speed reduction would make dealing with inties even easier. And really mess with Frigates trying to fight back against your team when your swarm rolls in.
I can agree fully with the Painters being buffed up to Rhi-No levels for all tacklers, especially since at higher tiers the resistances become stupid. As for the stealth, I got absolutely no problem with it just yet, the thing works when I need it and being able to flicker in and out of stealth like some of these suggestions ask for would just feel silly and do nothing about our main threats, CO’s Webbing us when they notice we’re in an inopportune position, or recons just going out of their way to drone us.
If I had my way though I’d leave the inhibitor beam the way it is, but increase its range to match the painter and other movement speed debuff, that way you can lock down something at a safer range so it doesn’t just immediately turn around and blast your cardboard armor away.
If I had my way though I’d leave the inhibitor beam the way it is, but increase its range to match the painter and other movement speed debuff, that way you can lock down something at a safer range so it doesn’t just immediately turn around and blast your cardboard armor away.
I like that the inhibitor beam is very different to the Engine Suppressor, but it could use a bit of a buff. It got a stealth nerf when afterburners were changed. Previously, disabling afterburners meant about a 43% reduction in speed, but now it’s only 33%, so unless you combine it with the Engine Suppressor as well an interceptor can still do a passable job of dogfighting with you.
Disabling strafing like the mass propulsion inhibitor would prolly work.
Oh man I never even knew that, same with the lack of strafe. That thing sounds like it used to be really heinous