Command Ships- the new Supertank?
Command ships are the new Tech 2 battlecruisers released with the RMR patch. They have the powergrid of a battlecruiser and then some, offensive capabilities through the roof and tankability to match. Their shield and armour resistances are as good as the Heavy Assault Cruiser, they have the same number of slots availible for tanking modules and with the ability to run warfare links to boost the entire gang's ships, it pushes ahead of the HAC and takes the gold medal for tanking in the complex-hunting olympics (complex hunting should totally be an olympic event).
A brief rundown of the Command Ship's abilities:
There are two types, the Fleet Command Ship and the Field Command Ship. Both have the ability to use Warfare links and can fit Command Processors in their mid slots to use more than one but the Fleet Command Ship has the advantage of having two Command Proceessors built in, allowing it to use three warfare links right away. Typically, the fleet command ship has the same resistances as a Heavy Assault Cruiser, while the field version has slightly lower resistances. This makes the fleet command ship an unparalleled tank, so I will focus on its abilities now.
Since I am most familiar with tanking my Deimos, I thought I'd compare it to the Gallente Fleet Command Ship, the "Eos". It has one less low slot for the tank but enough powergrid and armour reserves to make very good use of it. The three command modules puts it way above expectations with regards tanking. What it loses with that one low slot, it gains with the command modules several times over.
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If I had one of these, I would fit it with:
Lows: 1 x 1600mm rolled tunsgten plate, 1 x medium armour repairer II, 3 x T2 armour hardener
Med: A few capacitor Rechargers
Highs: Armoured warfare links - Damage Control, Passive Defense, Rapid Repair.
That leaves 4 high slots and a few mediums. You could fit a few guns and some tracking computers but you could instead fit a few command processors and use some more warfare links such as the skirmish warfare links to decrease sig radius of the gang members and increase mwd/ab speed. Either way, this ship is going to out-tank the HAC hands down. Note that Rapid Repair also affects remote repairers, which is the point of this setup - it's a remote tank.
That's all very well but tanking doesn't have much of a central role in PVP. Looking at these ship stats, that may be about to change. With the introduction of carriers and motherships for advanced logistics, it's become more and more clear that tanking DOES have a role in PVP. The bonuses that this ship grant to gang members and its relative expense makes it a prime target in PVP. The fleet that keeps this thing alive in combat garners a discerned advantage on the battlefield - could it be enough to turn a fight against the odds into a slaughter in your favour? I guess that is left to see. For the few that already have most of the required skills to fly the ship with their main game account, this will be an interesting new toy. The first few Command Ships should be rolling out of the factory doors any day now and any fleet worth their salt will be snapping them up.
-- Nyphur
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