Test it out. As always, i used a single ECM tuner in the setup (4 ECMs, 1 tuner, 1 RE). Also, the heavy can shoot occasionally, but not being able to shoot like 80% of the time isn't really good enough when you're spending 4 slots on hardening the bot against ewar.

ok, if the heavy has that NEXUS support, the EWAR has to have the same, right?
aka E-War nexus for more range, and OFC the fastlock one too.

but dont put a masker on the ewar and its buffbot... that would be cheating. Noone with the right mind would try that, just alphastriking ECMs and supressor, then hide back in stealth.

and with that, you start to add more robots to each side again.

Some of the changes are now available on the Test server, please check it out.-

-Extension is added so far in its original idea, but this can be removed any time.
-Indy bots gained masking, hauler indy bots gained detection instead of masking.
-Changes in Colony Turret bandwidth values, aswell in Colony main terminal Bandwidth limit values.
(sadly the detector changes didn't make it. the numbers are there on the server, but the penalty doesn't apply yet)

About the ewar:
In general we feel the the initial chances are in good place, but the combined effects of ECMs Supressors and Tuners together are strong. And we are not talking about from only one mechs, the effects may originate from different mechs.
So far the reliability of initial ECMing is feel right, with tuners maybe too reliable.
What we have in mind, that ECMs addig a buff to the target, and the supression debuff also should incorporates this buff.
This buff would increase the sensor strength of the target, making it more resistant for the next ew. this may stack up as many times as it can. The buff only applies if the ew is successful. This will keep the initial reliability in place, but lower the chances of rapid succession ew application on targets. (ofc. this buff would also fade out in short time.)
This is just another (crazy? ) idea.

For now I would like to invite you to the test server and test out the current iteration of the extension.
I think it isn't that bad.
(I tested it in the past ofc, but it may be the cause of the hatred towards me. I want your FEEDBACK, what you actually EXPERIENCE! - If I test it out by myself and I find it good for me, it will lead to nowhere)

Honestly Dev Alf what always bothered me about the ECM Tuning was that the drawback is negligible (10% accu usage) which is completely nullified by a recharger or two, and the efficient ECM technology.

Considering the 35% bonus these tunings provide, I would recommend exploring the potential of changing their drawback to increasing the cycletime on EW modules. That way yes, you could theoretically have a raised reliability to jam, but if your cycletime on ECM was 15 seconds (for example) instead of 10 it would significantly balance them (50% increase in cycletime might be a little bit too much but who knows).

The combined effects of ECM's and Suppressors are certainly strong, but even in Mk2 versions (6 headslots between Zenith Mk2 and Vagabond Mk2) that means they can at best put 2 EW modules on 1 target, thus 2 people affect 3 people. The unmentioned side-effect of this, is that all their EW modules are occupied thus anyone else can apply it to them and break their hold.

This drags us into fleet vs fleet battles, where composition, range, DPS target priority, EW target priority, terrain use, manuevering, etc plays a significant role to create a very complex and balanced system where everything is viable, and everything can and has been countered.

Interesting! I don't think the repeated ew application is that much of an issue if it's in a very short frame of time. I do think that the RNG that EW application has is a bit annoying though.

Have a look at the math/method here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ … 1895463423

What happens is that before the first ECM is applied, a random number between 20 and 80 is created for the target ("entropy"). Then, the hit chance for the ECM is added (so, let's say 40  + 70% hit chance = 110). If the value is 100 or higher, the ECM hits and a number is subtracted from the entropy counter. Usually, this would be 100 (so, 40 + 70 = 110 - 100 = 10), but if you want to make it harder for subsequent ECMs to hit, this number could be adjusted to e.g. 150 (effectively reducing accuracy on chained hits). Anyway, for the next ECM, the accuracy is just added to the entropy counter (10 + 70 = 80 = no hit).

Adjusting the value that gets subtracted substantially could be a bit severe though, but i think adding something like an entropy counter would be really nice in general even if it's not used to adjust the likelihood of repeated hits as it takes a bit of the frustration out of the application of ECMs (i.e., if you have a 50% chance to hit, you'll never be able to hit or miss 3 times in a row).

P.S. If ecms aren't being applied to the target anymore, the counter would be reset.

Frankly I am little perplexed as to why ECM tuners were introduced into the game at all. If ewar was such an issues for all these years, why BUFF it with tuners?

However, these tuners do take up the same valuable head slots that ECMs do, unlike all other modules with tuners where the tuner is in a different slot (e.g. guns in chassis with tuners in head).

The first place to balance is the tuner. Just take it one step at a time.

That'd be stupid. This stuff should be on a short cooldown. 10 - 20 seconds at most.

I think so far everything in this thread's tentative. Also, i fail to see how this is about one corp--we're all using ewar heavily.

Alf, honestly you are so far of the mark with these changes i dont even know where to begin. You've been *** this game up with your balance for god knows how long and instead of getting right back to it after your 2 years not playing the game how about you listen to what people are saying and make changes based upon that with some new ideas rather than some left field *** that nobody suggested, nobody has thought about and nobody can fathom the balance of.

On detectors why not just increase the CPU and Reactor needed to equip the detector module so much so that the only thing a Castle can use with it is a LWF?

Perfect solution .. not to heavy handed and will make current mechanics more balanced between attacker / defender. would also add racial suppression to this and a slight buff to ECCM as mentioned 2% per skill level  or 5% per module Tier.

EW should complement damage dealers not provide an invisible shield for them.