B-5 Fighter Lifespan

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 2:09 am

Hey so I was watching Clint's last replay of Old Time (B) vs Elim (D) and noticed that 2 of his B5 Carriers at 3:00 on the 3rd Video have about 10-11 fighters with them total.  I'm curious to know how that is exactly if they can only spawn a certain number themselves and only B8's can "pick up" fighters from fallen carriers.

[Dominus_Noctis]

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 2:13 am

Last edited by Dominus_Noctis on February 22nd, 2011, 2:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think you basically described it right there . They probably picked up all those fighters from dead carriers.

EDIT: oh I see the source of the confusion - B8's and B5's pick up fighters

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 2:46 am

yikes!

  Well if that's the case, perhaps a good balance for them might be to NOT pick up other fighters.

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 3:07 am

Or to only pick up so many. 4 perhaps?

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 3:11 am

I don't think that's currently possible 

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 7:49 am

Oh really?

So does that mean Avalons are able to pick up fighters from other destroyed Avalons as well?

  This sheds some light on why fighter Carriers seem to carry their weight so well for so long .

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 10:11 am

i think fighter carriers should definitely be able to pick up dead fighters from other carriers, as they are the same lol.

The fighters dont dock do they? They just follow the new carrier around, taking orders from it.

I think a carrier should be able to give orders to fighters from dead carriers.

If it is about them refuelling etc then maybe have a dock limit as the carrier doesnt have infinite space inside.

posted on February 22nd, 2011, 1:24 pm

So does that mean Avalons are able to pick up fighters from other destroyed Avalons as well?

Yup

Probably a new command would be nice - supportlimitmax as that would at least make it so fighters spread out between ships with hangars.

posted on February 26th, 2011, 10:30 am

Yeah if it's possible that would be nice.  Part of the strength of B5's is that, once 1 or 2 are destroyed, a major part of their firepower apparently stays in the game as fighters attached to other carriers .  Something not factored into their unit cost if I'm correct

[DOCa Cola]

posted on March 9th, 2011, 6:37 pm

Last edited by DOCa Cola on March 9th, 2011, 6:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

balancing wise i don't think a limit is necessary. the picked up fighters won't respawn when they die. fighter carriers have a build limitation - and i guess it would be a disadvantageous strategy to let your expansive carriers to be destroyed on purpose just to get a carrier with more fighters on it
i still agree it wouldn't be bad to have the carrier-less fighters spread out more if other ships come in range that can act as suitable support ship but i don't think the current fighter behavior has a too big balancing impact yet.
i'll put up a todo with your ideas and have a look at it for a future patch

edit: and yes, carrier-less fighters may also stick to other vessels if no carrier is available. so what has been observed in the video is intended

posted on March 9th, 2011, 7:21 pm

Thanks for the replay, Doca .

  I do see what you mean about that.  I'll only say that there are some situations where the counter-ship to the B5 is actually a small or medium range ship that cannot effectively kite fighters.  Thus, every time they manage to actually kill a B5 (or Avalon I suppose ) the fighters begin to stack up to a truly amazing point.


  I really am talking about B5's just because they are so fast and really are replaceable once the cap has been reached.

posted on March 9th, 2011, 9:30 pm

i use the breen b5 a bit, and its more formidable than it sounds, i dont think b5s are op, but they are certainly one of the stronger strats, i wouldnt cry if they got a little nerf. nothing serious. i'd just make the ship itself slightly weaker stats wise, maybe take away some of its system value (ie regen) as it spends all its energy on fighter related stuff.

posted on March 9th, 2011, 10:17 pm

What if you gave them a variable fighter range?  For example fighters won't go farther than medium range away from the carrier until you research an upgrade for the B5 that extends their range?

I observed a game this morning where Sutee's B5's were running from scubes, and I saw the fighters pursue a fleeing scube while the B5's retreated.  The fighters didn't break off until they were an entire screen-height away from their carrier ships, and I realized how useful it would be to send your fighters ahead of your other ships.  Right now only the B5 can do this, when it's retreating and they lag behind with the enemy trying to pursue.  The Avalon isn't fast enough to get this effect.

So for another idea, what if B5's had a permanent medium-range limit on their fighters, which would reign them in a lot, but they could drop a beacon that automatically assigns their fighters to it instead.  Obviously dropping the beacon would disable their fighter respawn for a short time, but it would give them a more defined role as the "mobile" carrier.

Perhaps the Avalon's fighters could gain a small speed boost as well, to make them easier to deploy with the ship's long range.  Carriers have grown by leaps and bounds since their introduction, but I feel like they still need to be fine tuned.

[yandonman]

posted on March 9th, 2011, 10:39 pm

Last edited by yandonman on March 10th, 2011, 2:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

(*cough* cost to build fighters *cough* 10d, 5tri, 1 supply, *cough*)

Damn cold... 

posted on March 10th, 2011, 10:08 am

i think the cost of building fighters is reflected in the high supply costs of the carrier.

i wouldnt mind a penalty cost if ur fighters keep getting massacred, like for warpins, if they manage to exterminate your fighters (like in halo, kill them all before they respawn - per carrier, not all the fighters) then a little bit of money is taken. even the dominion isnt made of fighters.