As of today’s downtime, the October balance changes are live. The most significant change is the removal of interdiction nullification from Combat Interceptors. Going forward, the Claw, Raptor, Crusader and Taranis will be caught in bubbles like any other regular ship. This means that the popular Claw doctrine that featured nullified, insta-aligning interceptors will be retired by most major power blocs. Additionally, given the popularity of Combat Interceptor hulls as null-sec “taxis”, we can expect a shift towards the Ares and Malediction.
ECM has also seen a major overhaul. From today, jammed targets can always lock the source(s) of the jam. This affects ECM Target Jammers, ECM Drones and ECM NPCs. It does not affect ECM burst jammers. While the effect on Falcon pilots is muted due to the extreme ranges at which they can operate, Widow-class black ops battleships and Kitsune-class electronic attack frigates are significantly more risky to fly as they lack the range bonuses of the Falcon.
Titan doomsday activation has previously blocked the titan from cloaking or jumping for 5 minutes. Going forward, this timer will also prevent the titan from docking and tethering for the same amount of time. The timer is affected by time dilation. Previously, defensive citadel battles have been stacked in favour of the defender in part due to the ability to re-tether after a doomsday volley. Fittingly, the AoE damage from titan explosions has been removed in an attempt to slightly reduce server load in large titan fights.
Warp Disruption Field Generators now do not affect the mass of the ship carrying the module. This mechanic has been used by Wormhole groups to safely collapse holes, and by tackle pilots attempting to catch otherwise elusive targets by rapidly accelerating to speeds faster than interceptors. Due to vocal feedback of the Wormhole community, a new module called the ‘Zero-Point Mass Entangler’ has been added that provides the same mass reduction but also prevents the use of Microwarpdrives, preventing the ‘lurch’ mechanic.
Ship balance changes have been made to the Crow and Damavik. The Crow’s base agility has been reduced to 3.25, making it more agile. It is still an unlikely contender for any kind of taxi-duty due to its lack of low slots. One of the Damavik’s low slots has been moved to a mid slot in an attempt to increase the range of possible fits and increase its popularity.
For a full list of minor tweaks and fixes, check CCPs full patch notes here.
