“System just spiked, FC.”
“They came in from the 0-SH1T gate, FC. Thirty Svipuls and a dozen of those Be Frosty Command ships. They warped your way…”
“OK, logi, what the hell — you are all bunched up! Orbit anchor at 15k, I said… Oh crap! free fire on the Bifrosts! scram them quick… Tackle, scram them quickly… Oh great, there goes all our logi, micro jumped right into the middle of the enemy fleet…RIP.”
This scenario is coming soon to a fleet near you with the announced introduction of Tech II ‘Command Destroyers,’which will feature a new module: the ‘Micro Jump Field Generator.’ CCP Rise’s feedback thread explains that with this module fitted, Command Destroyers can micro jump themselves, along with every ship within a six kilometre radius, to a point 100 km away. The new module works just like a normal Micro Jump Drive in that it has a base spool up time of 9 seconds, a reactivation delay of 160 seconds, and can only be shut down by a warp scrambler. If the Doomsday weapon announced at Eve Vegas is ‘The Hand of God,’ perhaps this could be called ‘The Finger.’
In-game news outfit The Scope goes over one of the new Command Destroyer hulls.
The new mechanic will also work on bombs and interdictor bubbles. It will not affect capitals or any ships with an invulnerability cloak from undocking or jumping a gate. It also cannot be used in High Sec, so incursion runners can relax now.
As for the ships themselves, they will be based on the Algos, Dragoon, Corax and Talwar. Statwise, they will experience a buff to their speed and defence, coming at the expense of offense. This leaves Command Destroyers firmly in the role of fleet support. In addition to fielding the new Micro Jump Field Generators, they also come with role bonuses allowing them to fit a single Warfare Link module, with the upcoming Command Destroyer skill providing a bonus to the Link’s effectiveness. CCP Rise explained that it has long been CCP’s intention to provide a small gang link support ship, and along with the familiar Warfare Links, this new module seems to fit well with the role of Command Destroyers.
CCP Rise got the troll train rolling with his example of ‘chain jumping,’ a hypothetical technique utilizing multiple Command Destroyers in order to shunt victims hundreds of kilometers from their start point. He concluded the thread by stating that the new ships will surely be used in many different ways, and not even CCP can be certain it has thought of them all.
What uses and tactics can you think of for this game-changing new ship?
UPDATE: A new Scope video has been released, introducing one of the new Command Destroyer hulls. It has been embedded above.
Editors Note: This was originally written for TheMittani.com by Ion Blacknight
