To recap: Many people seem to be dissatisfied with the current state of the Fleet Triangle (Fighters, Bombers, Frigates). It seems that the Bomber's role outshines either of the other two ships, and as such, is often the only one worth upgrading to its highest tier. Two previous threads have been created to measure the community's reaction to this topic, and to brainstorm for ideas, respectively.
After the best ideas were expressed, they have been moved here for a community vote.
Please note that you are free to vote on as many options as you like. Some options, like changing Guardian hull types and buffing Fighters' speed, are not mutually exclusive.
If you feel that no change is necessary at the current time, please vote for option 8.
In this thread (unlike the previous "Brainstorming" thread), you are free to be critical of other's ideas. You are free to explain why you like your idea the best, and why everybody else's ideas suck, if that's what floats your boat.
Thank you for your participation, and let the games begin:
1. Wingflier's Solution:1. Buff Fighter raw damage by 50% [117,600 -> 176,400]
2. Buff Fighter speed from 76 -> 80.
3. Nerf Fighter multipliers by 33% [Medium 2.4 -> 1.6| Close-Combat 2.4 -> 1.6| Polycrystal 5 -> 3.3] - Damage against these hull types stays nearly the same.
4. Buff Bomber raw damage by 25% [78,400 -> 98,000]
5. Nerf Bomber multipliers against Heavy, Ultra-Heavy, Structural, Artillery, and Command-Grade by 33% [6 -> 4]
6. Nerf Bomber speed from 76 -> 62.
Explanation: Considering the currently underpowered/lackluster state of Fighters, and the currently overpowered/disproportionately useful state of Bombers, my solution is to bridge the gap between the two ships by buffing one and nerfing the other, while attempting to keep their roles intact.
In the ideal final scenario, all 3 Triangle ship types will be worth building and upgrading for a variety of situations, instead of the Bomber being the only one worth fully upgrading in most games. What Triangle ships you use and upgrade will be heavily dependent on the game you're in and obstacles you're facing. All 3 Triangle ships will excel at their role, and be good in different situations, but hopefully complement each other's strengths and weaknesses.
2. Minotaar's Solution:Idea: Make the Fighter specialize in killing Guardians.
Proposed Changes:
Hull type changed to Medium for the following types of Guardians:
EMP
Heavy Beam
Laser
Lightning
Special Forces Rally
Spire Implosion
Starship Disassembler
Tachyon
Tractor
Vampire
Explanation: -Fighters get a clear and important role on the offense
-Cheap cost of the Fighter perfectly fits the new role, allowing them to actively protect more expensive ships from Guardians
-Other Fighter-type bonus ships inherit this role automatically, as well as Snipers (fits them perfectly), Vampire Claws (also seems to fit), and... Shield Bearers? (okay, whatever)
-Minimal risk of collateral damage, as only the Guardians are touched.
3. Diazo's Solution:Buff Fighter range and speed to 110% of the Bomber's current range and speed.
Explanation: I agree the fighter is an underwhelming unit that current game mechanics prevent it from really being used as designed. I disagree that it is a broken unit and feel only small tweaks are needed to compensate for the fact that even with it's good numbers, current game mechanics sideline it as an underwhelming unit.
4. Diazo's Alternative Solution:Boost the Fighter speed from 76 to 225.
Explanation: If the general community consensus disagrees with me and feels that the fighter is a broken unit, my alternative suggestion would be to give the fighter a massive speed boost, to 75 or 80% that of a raid starship to really highlight it's interceptor role to allow the fighter to get into a position where it's 150% base dps that it has on paper could be more effectively used. I personally don't see the fighter needing a boost this big but any fix I might support will have to account for the fact that the fighters numbers on paper are above average, it is other game mechanics that make the fighter underwhelming.
5. Keith's Solution:-Slight boost to Fighter speed (amount unclear).
-Slight nerf to Bomber speed (amount unclear).
-Increase Fighter and Bomber damage to their particular bonus types (amount unclear).
Explanation: I've ignored the threads on this for some days now, didn't seem like they were getting anywhere
Making a bunch of guardians into medium hulls seems like a good idea, though that may nerf the bomber starship since that's largely anti-guardian in role. Other than that I'd been thinking of adding a slight boost to fighter speed, slight nerf to bomber speed, and making both more focused on damage to their bonus types (without really increasing it).
6. Chemical Art's Solution:Move the "Heavy" multiplier from the Bomber to the Fighter.
Explanation: Moving the Heavy multiplier from the Bomber to the Fighter cuts down on the heavily disproportionate usefulness of the Bomber, while making the Fighter somewhat better as well. The Bomber is still important against many targets, but not to the same unbalanced degree.
7. Chemical Art's alternate Solution:-Nerf Bomber dps by 33%, increase multipliers by 33%
-Nerf Bomber speed to 60.
-Increase Fighter DPS by 20%, reduce multipliers by 10-20%.
-Increase frigates rate of fire by 20%, reduce frigates damage by 15%.
Explanation:
--Makes the bomber hits the very many things it does attack well just as well, but makes it no longer as viable as a standalone ship against other targets...
--Nerf bomber speed to between frigates and fighters, reduces bomber's ability to get to destination alone
--Makes the fighter against a broad spectrum of targets, but does not have it absolutely melt the few targets it already gets a multiplier against
--A greater boost then the ~5% increase in dps would indicate, this makes frigates attack swarmer like ships it gets a bonus against more rapidly, which tend to have lower health but higher caps and thus more decisively handled with higher rate of fire.
9. Martyn van Buren's Solution:-Seed more Fighters and other general Anti-Bomber ships onto the AI worlds.
Explanation: Following on the recent complaints that bombers feel overpowered and that taking AI worlds can be too easy, I think it might help if the AI simply put more fighters on its worlds. It is true (and seems reasonable that) in nearly all games bombers are the main ship you want to use for hitting the big defensive structures on AI worlds, and it seems like it would be reasonable for the AI to be prepared for that. Players usually recognize that bombers are one of the most threatening ships you can get in a wave and design their defenses accordingly.
I think that this change might be a pretty easy way of complicating the process of taking worlds without making big changes. If most AI worlds had a substantial fighter presence, it would hardly cripple the bomber, but it would sometimes make it necessary to find alternatives or ways of getting them around the planet safely to get their work done.
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If anybody feels that their ideas were excluded or misrepresented, please let me know so I can change that in the future. Thanks for voting.
edit: Added option 9, Martyn van Buren's idea, to the poll.
Poll