Carrier Modules And Bonuses

Previously:

Carrier Testing

Carrier Fighters

Now that we are clearer on the types of fighters there are, let's enumerate the bonuses given by the ships themselves and the effect of available modules.

Carriers

Thanatos:

5% bonus to Fighter damage

2.5% bonus to Fighter hitpoints

5% bonus to Siren warp disruption range

Nidhoggur:

5% bonus to Fighter damage

2.5% bonus to Fighter velocity

5% bonus to Dromi stasis webification range

Chimera:
5% bonus to Scarab ECM optimal range

Archon:
5% bonus to Cenobite neutralization optimal range


Supercarriers
Nyx:

10% bonus to Fighter damage

5% bonus to Fighter hitpoints

Hel:

10% bonus to Fighter damage

5% bonus to Fighter velocity

Wyvern:

5% bonus to Fighter damage

Aeon:

5% bonus to Fighter damage

Revenant:

5% bonus to Fighter damage (for Amarr carrier level)

5% bonus to Fighter weapon explosion radius and explosion velocity

5% bonus to Fighter damage (for Caldari carrier level)

20% bonus to Afterburner velocity bonus ( I assume this applies to the heavy fighters.)

As you can see, the Gallente carriers get the beefiest fighters while the Minmatar versions have the fastest. The Caldari and Amarr carriers may not have a lot of fighter bonuses but they get resistance bonuses allowing them to tank better.

Modules

Note: when a range is given it indicates the variance between tech I and tech II. There are meta modules, officer modules, faction modules, etc.

Network Sensor Array - a carrier/supercarrier only module. High slot, active. Give +2 to max targets, 900% scan res bonus, and 50% to sensor strength.

Drone Damage Amplifier - Low slot, passive. 15%-20.5% bonus to damage.

Drone Navigation Computer - Mid slot, passive. 25%-30% increase in maximum velocity.

Fighter Support Unit - a carrier/supercarrier only module. High slot, passive. 5%-6% bonus to fighter shield, velocity, ROF, and shield recharge rate.

Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancer - Low slot, passive. 13.4%-20% bonus to falloff range, 6.7%-10% bonus to optimal range, 4.4%-6% bonus to explosion velocity and explosion radius.

Omnidirection Tracking Link - Mid slot, active. 10%-15% bonus to falloff range, 5%-7.5% bonus to optimal range, 5.5%-8.25% bonus to explosion velocity and explosion radius. Can be scripted.

The last part of this series will be about carrier skills and should be done in a day or two.

BB 64 - Arms Race

Blog Banter #64 is up at Sand, Cider, And Spaceships!

Torpedo! Torpedo! Torpedo!
With the Aegis release we will see missile boats get their own version of the tracking enhancer and the tracking computer. On the forums there have been calls for new 'missile defence eWar' to counter these new modules. Is this needed? Are smartbomb 'firewalls' enough? Do defender missiles need an overhaul to make them actually worth using? Do we need the missile version of the remote tracking disruptor? Or do we go all Star Trek and have Point-Defence Phaser Banks? Banter on!

Related to this topic is the official Dev Blog announcement for the new modules:

First of all, we are introducing two entirely new module groups to enhance performance of all missile systems in the game. 

Missile Guidance Enhancers – these are passive, low slot modules that give bonuses to missile velocity, missile flight time, explosion radius of missiles, and explosion velocity of missiles.
Missile Guidance Computers – these are active, scriptable, mid slot modules that give bonuses to missile velocity, missile flight time, explosion radius of missiles, and explosion velocity of missiles. Using ‘Missile Precision Script’ or ‘Missile Range Script’ you can double the bonus to either range or application, sacrificing the other. 

For both module groups we are starting with a Tech I variation, a ‘Compact’ meta variation with reduced fitting requirements, and a Tech II variation. You can find details on their statistics in this forum thread.

For the record, the current missile module, the Ballistic Control System (used to be Ballistic Control Unit hence why we sometimes call it BCU for short) gives bonuses to rate of fire and damage.

I'm a fan of these new modules because one of the issues missile ships always had to contend with was the inability to successfully "hit down" ship classes as you moved up to cruisers and battleships, a problem that turret equipped ships could circumvent with tracking computers and tracking enhancers. The only real option for missile ships was to sacrifice damage and range by using the rapid light launchers which is essentially fitting frigate sized weapons on cruisers / cruiser sized weapons on battleships. So yeah, modules that allow missile ships some flexibility in hitting various targets at greater range or better "guidance" while trading off tanking or tackling modules or whatever is something I generally approve of.

However, there is a downside. The dynamic always was that turret weapon systems got the trade off of being able to hit smaller targets with correct application of webs, tracking enhancers/computers, and know-how about transversal and optimal range, while missile systems had a simpler mechanic in that you needed only to know your range and the damage was pretty consistent but you had a harder time hitting smaller targets as it was very deterministic. But now we have modules that decrease that downside without the counterbalance of more complicated mechanics or the possible presence of a tracking disruptor in the enemy fleet.

There are defender missiles. No, wait, let me correct myself: there are jokes about defender missiles. Even if they worked as intended (i.e. missiles that shot out and destroyed enemy missiles coming at you), they lack the same wider application that a tracking disruptor provides in that it lets you affect the overall performance of tracking on the target ship regardless of what its shooting at.

Something needs to be done to rectify this imbalance between the major weapon systems. Either existing tracking disruptors need to be able to negatively affect some or all the four "hitability" factors of missiles (velocity, flight time, explosion radius and explosion velocity) OR we need a new module for guidance disruption. I'm a fan of the former option as I always felt that Amarr ewar boats suffered from being unable to impact missile ship weapon systems as they don't use cap and are not affected by tracking disruption.

While you're in there, CCP, maybe look into Remote Tracking Computers, will you?

Module of the Week: 1MN Afterburner

This is part of a series where I look at a module and its variants and discuss it in terms of what is is used for and how the various iterations of the module differ.

This week we will start with something everyone has seen before, the 1MN Afterburner!

Description:

Gives a boost to the maximum velocity of the ship when activated. The thrust that boosts the ship, and the corresponding maximum velocity bonus, are limited by the mass of the ship that uses this module.
Note: Frigate class module

This is an active module designed for use on frigates and give a ship a bonus of 112.5% to 159% to their maximum velocity (the absolute bonus depending on the mass of the ship its fitted on). The module is affected by the following skills:

Acceleration Control - 5% bonus to speed boost / level
Afterburner - 5% reduction to duration / level + 10% reduction to capacitor use / level
Fuel Conservation - 10% reduction to capacitor use / level

To get an idea for how much improvement this leads to, an Afterburner I, the base Tech 1 module, has:
- speed bonus of 112.5%,
- activation cycle of 10 seconds, and
- activation cost of 20 GJ.
Fitted on a ship with a character that has all three skills to level V we have:
- speed bonus of 141%,
- activation cycle of 7.5 seconds, and
- activation cost of 5 GJ.

For the purposes of module comparison, we will be looking at the base unmodified by skills values.

Module	Meta Level	PG (MW)	CPU (tf)	Activation Cost (GJ)	Max Velocity Bonus (%)	Source
1MN Afterburner I	0	10	15	20	112.5	Built
Limited 1MN Afterburner I	2	10	15	20	121.5	Rat Drop
Experimental 1MN Afterburner I	3	10	15	20	126	Rat Drop
1MN Afterburner II	5	11	15	22	135	Built
1mn Analog Booster Rockets	6	9	13	16	121.5	Storyline Mission
Federation Navy 1MN Afterburner	7	10	17	20	141	LP store
Shadow Serpentis 1MN Afterburner	7	10	17	20	141	LP Store, Rat Drop
Domination 1MN Afterburner	8	11	15	15	144	LP Store, Rat Drop
Republic Fleet 1MN Afterburner	8	11	15	15	144	LP Store
Coreli C-Type 1MN Afterburner	11	10	17	15	150	Rat Drop
Gistii C-Type 1MN Afterburner	11	13	15	20	153	Rat Drop
Coreli B-Type 1MN Afterburner	12	10	18	15	153	Rat Drop
Gistii B-Type 1MN Afterburner	12	13	15	20	156	Rat Drop
Coreli A-Type 1MN Afterburner	13	10	19	15	156	Rat Drop
Gistii A-Type 1MN Afterburner	13	13	15	20	159	Rat Drop

As you can see, the boost provided by the modules increases as the Meta Level does, but there are some trade offs in fitting requirements or capacitor usage as you go down the chart. Is your fit tight on CPU or Powergrid is a question that could determine if you reach for a Shadow Serpentis afterburner or a Republic Fleet version. Also, the price difference can be dramatic, taking our previous example the Shadow Serpentis module is around 25 million while the Republic Fleet 1MN Afterburner is ~47 million ISK in Jita markets as of today.

Although there are Officer versions of the 100MN afterburner, there are no 1MN nor 10MN officer afterburners in the game.

Glossary

Module of the Week: Intro

I've decided to start a weekly or so feature here on Ninveah.com where I look at one module at a time and its purpose in the game, and then if applicable look into its variants and cover the differences to point out why you might prefer a meta module over a Tech II version, or which faction version is easier to fit compared to others, etc.

To that end, this post will act as a glossary I can point to for terms so that they do not have to be explained many times, and will grow as the list grows.

Glossary

Fitting - The measure of CPU and Powergrid a module requires to be placed in a slot on a ship and turned online.

Online / Offline - A module that is on a ship can be online, where it is using up CPU and powergrid and applying any passive effects as well as being ready to be activated for active effects, or offline where it is still on the ship in the slot but does not use any CPU or powergrid, has no passive effects, and cannot be activated.

Active / Passive - An active module is one that has to be turned on for its effects to apply. A passive module applies its effects to a ship as long as its online.

Activated / Deactivated - Some modules can be "turned on" when they are on ship, in space, and online. Once activated, they apply their effects. Turning an activated module off is said to be "deactivating" it.

Rack - A collection of slots of a particular type is referred to as a "rack". For example, all the high slots are one rack, mid slots another, and low slots a third rack. Rigs are not referred to as a rack, they are just "slots".

Overheat - Most modules that can be activated have the option to operate at an increased efficiency or rate at the trade off of building up heat on the module itself as well as the rack it is part of. If too much heat builds up, the module will take damage. If a module takes too much damage, it will "burn out" and no longer work, i.e. be able to apply active or passive effects.

Meta Level - Every module has a property called a "meta level" which is an abstract measure of how good it is in theory. Meta Level 0 represents Tech 1 modules, Meta Level 5 represents Tech 2 modules.

Meta Modules / Named Modules - Many modules have one or more variants between its base Tech 1 version and the advanced Tech 2 version with meta levels ranging from 1 to 4. This group is often referred to meta modules because they are meta levels higher than Tech 1, or "named modules" because they have special names lime "Arbalest Heavy Missile Launcher". In the past these modules quality increased as the meta level increased to Tech 2, but their is an initiative to balance them so that they all have some advantage over tech 1 in different areas.

Faction Modules - These are modules that are provided by the loyalty point stores of factions (e.g. Amarr, Guristas, Mordu's Legion, etc) or from NPC loot drops of those factions. They are usually better than Tech 2 in some manner.

Deadspace Modules - These are modules found as loot drops in complexes and tend to be as good or better than faction modules.

Officer Modules - These modules are typically the best module variants you can get and are only dropped by special advanced Officer NPCs in null sec.

Storyline Modules - These are modules are are rewards for special missions and have variable utility. Due to rarity and questionable utility they are rarely used.

More to come...

Ancillary Shield Boosters

Orakkus over at 2nd Anomaly From The Left (mandatory reading people!) did a couple posts talking about the new Ancillary Shield Boosters and I thought I would take a look at them as well.

There are small, medium, large, and extra large versions and the description is:

Provides a quick boost in shield strength. The module takes Cap Booster charges and will deactivate once these charges run out. If not reloaded, it will start consuming the ship's capacitor upon reactivation.

Note: Can use Cap Booster 50, 75 and 100 as fuel. Reloading time is 60 seconds. Prototype Inferno Module.

So the idea is that its a combined cap booster and shield booster, thus saving you a slot to run your active shield tank. Intriguing! So let's compare stats, looking at the Medium Ancillary Shield Booster and the Medium Shield Booster II.

Stat	Medium Shield Booster II	Medium Ancillary Shield Booster
CPU (tf)	58	50
Powergrid (MW)	13	12
Energy Activation Cost (GJ)	60	142
Duration (sec)	3	3
Shield Boost Amount (HPs)	90	146
Capacity (m3)	NA	20
Reload Time (sec)	NA	60

Although the energy cost of the Ancillary shield booster is 142, you can get a full boost of 146 from a Cap Booster 50, 75, or 100. Since the biggest energy bang for your buck is Cap Booster 50 to fill in for 142 energy, and since the module can hold 10 of them instead of only 5 of the Cap Booster 100, it makes sense to go with the smaller charges.

You can run the module without charges in it and in my testing last night I found that with auto-reload turned off, it would run out of charges and keep running off of my ship's capacitor. It also works with a Shield Boost Amplifier so on a ship with active shield tanking bonus like a Harpy and a amplifier, the Ancillary booster gives 273 hit points every three seconds while the Medium Shield Booster II only repairs 168.

The downside is that your cap chargers only last for 30 seconds (10 charges and 3 second cycle time) and after that the hungrier ancillary booster will drain your cap dry... or you wait for 60 seconds to reload it with charges. Either way your tank may be dead in the water in that time and your ship to soon just be dead.

So, this module is not intended for long drawn out fights or for fights where you have to tank hard. Setups where the fight is over in 30 seconds (i.e. high DPS gank ships) or where the enemy is incapacitated in that time (such as a bait ship waiting for ECM reinforcements to arrive) or where you only need to pulse the repper have the time might work with this module that gives a significant amount of boosting over regular reppers. Any setup that needs to run this module a lot will not work unless you have insane capacitor capacity and recharge rates (I can't think of one that can handle it).