Combat drive vs combat speed and OOE (Order of Engagement)

[Dadds]

Hi Sir Emi.
I know i have been posting a lot regarding the combat revamp etc and this is i suppose just one more element which should be looked at with regards to combat speed and its module that can vary this amount, the CDR or combat drive.
As I see it now, we have optimizations, small ships like interceptors and bombers, designed to deliver payload and be carried in our big shiny new hangars etc.
However, because of their small size, unless you drop them off and remove a larger ship from combat, they do not really do their job as interceptors and bombers. The capital ships, because of their large size and power, always go first regardless of their combat speed.
I see the interceptor and bomber class to be vessels of sacrifice to be sent out ahead of the capital ships to do damage to other vessels out there and combat speed should have a bearing on this. That would make the CDR a much more important module than it is, where all it currently does is boost power to a small degree, and increases the chance of first strike in a local one to one battle (and not always guarantees that, i may add. Many a time i have had an orbital station beat me to combat first, even using an interceptor with 232 km/s ratings on speed!)
Naturally, implementing such a change would really make combat much more complex and we should probably look at all aspects and dynamics of allowing the faster ships first strike in a multi-vessel combat.
I believe, however, this is more realistic than just having the biggest and heaviest ships open up first combat before sending in the interceptors. (OK i keep having flashbacks of Star Wars, as well as BattleStar Galactica here, excuse my age lol In all those scenarios, they always sent out their fighter craft first to annoy or test out the opponent before the capital ships came in and opened up with their devastating weaponry of mass destruction lol)
Happy to hear views from the public regarding this.

[sargas]

I am in agreement with what my esteemed fellow captain Dadds has to say.

I am going to quote only one minor point (please forgive me if it seems 'out-of-context')

"...I see the interceptor and bomber class to be vessels of sacrifice..."

I don't see them as Kamakazi or any other form of sacrifice.  Instead, I see them as they are.
First Strike Vehicles (those that go in  ahead of battle and... ...hmmm...

...didn't Dads just say that...

...   ...   zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz   ...   ...

[Dadds]

yes that is correct. 1st and 2nd strike vessels. Unfortunately, after they have delivered their payload, they become a little vulnerable to the opponent. The good thing is, they dont carry 10's of millions of troops to loose and are quite cheap to re-deploy should they come up against a greater opponent that they dont initially remove from the field.

[SirEmi]

I agree that the combat speed should play a bigger role, and that's partly why dodge was implemented.

Dodge is kind of closely connected to how agile a ship is. Interceptors have the dodge bonus in addition to the combat speed bonus, and can be successfully used to waste enemy shots and as decoy.

At the moment, combat speed affects who fires first and just in case of ships, but when the target is a station or planet, who goes first is 50% / 50% and combat speed is not used there.

So, I was thinking we could use combat speed for something else... critical hits.

If a ship is more agile then it's opponent, it could move fast around the target and find weak spots to score well placed and critical hits and deploy marines in weak spots too.
And also, if the other ship is slower, it will have a tendency to do bad and score light hits, exactly the reverse.
All this will be done with checks just it's done now on who fires first. A chance based system that depends on attacker vs. defender combat speeds.

This might only affect ship to ship combat, while stations and planetary forces will still keep their ground and not be affected by ship combat speed. Call it a fortification bonus. Once the station or planet is attacked, they are kind of in trouble anyway.

[Matamaure001]

I think this is a good idea to add more meaning to the combat speed.

[sargas]

I like this a lot.

[JamJulLison]

I agree that the combat speed should play a bigger role, and that's partly why dodge was implemented.

Dodge is kind of closely connected to how agile a ship is. Interceptors have the dodge bonus in addition to the combat speed bonus, and can be successfully used to waste enemy shots and as decoy.

At the moment, combat speed affects who fires first and just in case of ships, but when the target is a station or planet, who goes first is 50% / 50% and combat speed is not used there.

So, I was thinking we could use combat speed for something else... critical hits.

If a ship is more agile then it's opponent, it could move fast around the target and find weak spots to score well placed and critical hits and deploy marines in weak spots too.
And also, if the other ship is slower, it will have a tendency to do bad and score light hits, exactly the reverse.
All this will be done with checks just it's done now on who fires first. A chance based system that depends on attacker vs. defender combat speeds.

This might only affect ship to ship combat, while stations and planetary forces will still keep their ground and not be affected by ship combat speed. Call it a fortification bonus. Once the station or planet is attacked, they are kind of in trouble anyway.

I would also have the ship speed effect what kind of hits they actually take.  Like a faster ship is less likely to take critical hits then a slower target.  Also I would have this have some sort of effect on the timer tooo.

[FreezeLove]

I like this as well.

[raphael]

Excellent idea, SirEmi! And while you are at it, kindly look into the Wormhole Detector as well!

[Dadds]

Dodge is kind of closely connected to how agile a ship is. Interceptors have the dodge bonus in addition to the combat speed bonus, and can be successfully used to waste enemy shots and as decoy.

Dodge is good vs conventional ships weaponry and can really help to get the payload delivered before taking a critical hit to shield systems. However, with some of the top players building marine only type combat ships, this effect is reduced to zero benefit to an interceptor. Unfortunately again those blasted marines tend to take all the fun out of imaginative designs and deployments. While nuke also never miss, at least they are controlled enough in power and cost to only be able to be used once, unlike marine.
Its definitely pointless deploying an interceptor against a titan class boarding vessel with nothing but shield and marine for weaponry.
I do like the idea of increased critical hit though or even better % to hit, if its not workable to have first strike. Nothing more embarrassing than having your best interceptor or bomber fly in, miss 3 or so times on a stationary target, then get swamped by a bunch of marine boarding vessels.