The T3 Bomber needs Armor, not a Reactor (especially if it can have Charged Plating)

[Nemarus]

The new T3 Bomber on the PTS has Charged Plating as a shield option. The only problem is that, instead of an Armor component, which would synergize with the Bomber's significant base Damage Reduction and Hull points, it has a Reactor, whose efficacy is limited due to the Bomber's poor base shields (unless you take Turbo, which has an absolute bonus).

 

If you take Charged Plating on this ship, it's suicide. When Charged Plating is not active, you're getting only 19% damage reduction of the bleedthrough damage leaking through your shields. And even when Charged Plating is active, your damage reduction is still only 79%. That may seem like a lot, but in reality it means you're taking 3.5 times as much hull damage as a Quell with Charged Plating active ... or 21 times(!) as much hull damage as a Minelayer with Charged Plating active.

 

Where'd I get those numbers? Let's say you're going to try and help your team by wading into a Seismic/Interdiction minefield with Charged Plating active.

 

A Minelayer with CP active would have 99% DR, and will take 11 damage.

A T2 Strike with CP active would have 94% DR, and will take 66 damage.

The new T3 Bomber with CP active would have 79% DR, and will take 232 damage!

 

Using Charged Plating--even on a T2 Strike or Minelayer--is a huge risk. When it's on cooldown, you're suffering from bleedthrough damage to your hull. If someone attacks you with Armor Piercing weapons, the damage reduction--even when CP is active--is ignored. But at least you have a very powerful tactical ability to stop almost all non-piercing damage for 19 of every 30 seconds.

 

But without Deflection Armor to pair with Charged Plating, you don't even have that powerful tactical ability. You're always vulnerable to even non-piercing damage, even when Charged Plating is active.

 

(By the way, this is true of Charged Plating being offered on the Armorless T1 Strike as well, but that ship has sailed--at least the T3 Bomber hasn't shipped yet)

 

I know the desire is to make the T3 Bomber less durable than the Minelayer and Dronecarrier. But they both have a Reactor AND Armor. So as long as the T3 has one but not the other, it will be less durable ... but the one it should have is Armor.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Nemarus

[Rollory]

If you want to make the T3 Bomber less durable than its brothers, take away its Reactor and give it Armor.

 

less=more?

[Nemarus]

less=more?

 

clarified, thanks

[TrinityLyre]

I agree that swapping a Reactor for Armor would make this bomber more viable (and fun). I'd enjoy trying an exceedingly tanky... thing... like this.

[Verain]

I think this bomber is going to be fun regardless- it has a missile break (power dive), which IMO changes the craft completely and removes the requirement to be on a node or just be disassembled.

[Nemarus]

One more plea for this. If anyone is ever going to use Charged Plating effectively on this build, then it needs to have an Armor component.

 

Otherwise you might as well just take off Charged Plating and give it some other sort of shield.

 

And even apart from Charged Plating, an Armor component would let the T3 Bomber focus on stacking DR or health, which are already its strong suits. Having a Reactor is almost a wasted component, given the Bomber's poor base 1500/75 regen shields. Large, Regen and Turbo reactors will all have marginal impact at best.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Nemarus

[Luneward]

Yeah, can't say I quite understand the reasoning behind it. Then again it has an actual missile break ability. I guess the intent was that it isn't supposed to be an efficient mine clearing vehicle and actually encourage it to stick its nose out and play with the small guys. Though I imagine only having one mine or drone already accomplishes that task decently.

[Nemarus]

Yeah, can't say I quite understand the reasoning behind it. Then again it has an actual missile break ability. I guess the intent was that it isn't supposed to be an efficient mine clearing vehicle and actually encourage it to stick its nose out and play with the small guys. Though I imagine only having one mine or drone already accomplishes that task decently.

 

Regardless of who it is fighting, the biggest issue is that Charged Plating is suicidal without Armor. And the Reactor's effectiveness is limited by the Bomber's crappy base shields / regen.

[Verain]

Reactor is clearly the weaker component for a bomber, and it is clearly deliberate that it doesn't get armor.

 

 

 

Two of the ships without armor- the type 1 strike and the type 3 bomber- have charged plating. It is, as you say, entirely worthless without it- but it's not without precedent. Many ships have deliberately poor component choices in some areas, likely on purpose.