Recently introduced to the game, the Confessor and Svipul raised a lot of controversy (especially the latter one). They combine superior tanking capabilities, cruiser-like DPS and incredible mobility with 10MN afterburner on board which can be fitted with little-to-no limitations due to a lot of fitting room. Extremely powerful (and pretty cheap) ships with a huge potential to disengage were reasonably labeled «power creeps». They opressed a lot of ships out of the meta and even forced some Orthrus pilots to switch scramblers for webs. Changes were anticipated.
On the o7 show, CCP Fozzie announced incoming changes to the released T3 destroyers.
The initial tweaks:
Confessor:
- Powergrid: 71 (-9)
- Max Velocity: 250 (-30)
- Mass: 2,200,000kg (-200,000)
- Shield Recharge Time: 800s (+175s)
- Inertia: 2.4 (+0.25)
- Capacitor Recharge Time: 320s (+20s)
Svipul:
- Powergrid: 68 (-10)
- Max Velocity: 270 (-20)
- Shield Recharge Time: 800s (+175s)
- Capacitor Recharge Time: 240s (+15s)
The nerf bat was aimed directly at the fitting capabilities and base speed. The first iteration received criticism: the intent to nerf T3 destroyers was welcomed, but changes were too straightforward and, in case of the Svipul, not that significant to really matter. Some players, including the creator of Pyfa fitting tool Kadesh Priestess, suggested to reduce the mass of ships to handicap oversized AB fits.
After two weeks of gathering feedback, CCP Fozzie revealed the second iteration of changes.
Confessor:
- New Role Bonus: +50% Small Energy Turret Damage
- Highslots: 6 (-1)
- Turrets: 4 (-2)
- Powergrid: 62 (-18)
- CPU: 180 (-10)
- Max Velocity: 235 (-45)
- Mass: 2,000,000kg (-400,000)
- Inertia: 2.7 (+0.55)
- Shield Recharge Time: 800s (+175s)
- Capacitor Recharge Time: 320s (+20s)
Svipul:
- New Role Bonus: +50% Small Projectile Turret Damage
- Highslots: 6 (-1)
- Turrets: 4 (-2)
- Powergrid: 59 (-19)
- CPU: 205 (-10)
- Max Velocity: 230 (-60)
- Mass: 1,500,000 (-400,000)
- Inertia: 3.5 (+0.85)
- Shield Recharge Time: 800s (+175s)
- Capacitor Recharge Time: 240s (+15s)
These changes are much more elegant than the initial iteration as they hit oversized AB users hard while keeping 1MN AB/MWD fits viable. Both destroyers also get a second utility highslot that has a great potential, but requires additional fitting resources.
Let’s take a look at the most popular fits to get a better grip on what these changes are about to bring.
Let’s start with the Svipul and its dreaded Pithum MSB fit.
Before:
In propulsion mode it has 2968 m/s speed before OH and 11.4 s align time.
After:
Changes force you to switch rigs or modules for something that makes it up for the reduced PG. The mobility has suffered significantly due to the mass reduction. In propulsion mode the top speed is 2470 m/s, align time is 14.2 s.
Next, an example of passive shield tanking. This variation can be used for heavy-tackling or as a cheap alternative to the active shield fit.
This fit loses a lot of its passive shield regeneration and requires downgrading all over the place.
If you switch the oversized afterburner to a 1MN MWD, it would still be a nice heavy tackler (much better than Jaguar) due to its speed and tank (5060 m/s OH in propulsion mode, 16.5k EHP in defense mode) and the Expanded Probe Launcher. It will take a while to neut you dry enough to drop your web down with unbonused medium energy neutralizers, and the nosferatu allows you to keep the scrambler running regardless of how many neuts are on you.
Finally, let’s take a look at one of the 1MN MWD + Arty fits.
After the upcoming changes:
This fit is less tight on CPU, so the Core Probe Launcher can be switched to an extremely useful Expanded one. The mobility became just a bit worse, so this fit will perform pretty much as good as it does now.
I will start with the The Gorgon Empire‘s fleet variation of Confessor which proved to be viable (http://kb.serpent.is/battle/b14403/, http://kb.serpent.is/battle/b13314/).
In propulsion mode, the top speed is 1062 m/s with 3.75 s align time.
It is pretty easy to adapt this fit to the changes.
In propulsion mode, the top speed is 948 m/s with 3.96 s align time. This doctrine still performs very well. Notice that the capacitor is even more stable, because the number of turrets has decreased.
Next, 10MN AB kiting fit for solo/small-scale.
In Sharpshooter mode this fit features 1752 m/s top speed with 12.5 s align time, which is still good enough to maneuver around enemies, if your piloting is good enough.
After changes, this fit performs pretty bad in Sharpshooter mode: 1536 m/s top speed with 14.9 s align time. It might be a good trade-off to give up a Heat Sink for a second Nanofiber: this brings the mobility close to the current state.
The blingy brawling fit beloved by The Camel Empire features extremely strong active tank and a decent buffer.
It can be adapted it to the changes by switching the Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I to a Small Ancillary Current Router I. But what about this utility high slot? It would be great to put a Nosferatu there, but for this you have to use fitting implants, downgrade your turrets and drop the tank even further, because there is simply no room for this module. Hardly worth it.
Let’s put it together. Due to reduced PG and CPU you will have to downgrade your tight fits, lowering either DPS or tank. 10MN AB variations are weakened, because the speed boost is reduced, and the agility becomes a huge issue. 1MN AB/MWD mobility will be pretty much the same, 1MN users will also be able to get the most out of the additional utility high slot. Trade-offs here, trade-offs there: expect to see a greater variety in T3 dessies fits.
Is it really a nerf? Well, it certainly is in terms of sheer combat performance. On the other hand, Confessor and Svipul are still very strong, but you could expect people to engage these ships more willingly.
According to CCP Fozzie, changes will be live on Singularity in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Randolph Sykes.
