I've seen a lot of discussion about some of the Revelations 2 improvements already rolling onto the test server. The discussions are of course mainly based on speculation, even to the extent that the wallet improvements will tilt the outcome of wars ;)

This is of course understandable, we've been sparse on information until we've come closer to getting the first iterations implemented. We're getting there now though, and you'll see a couple of blogs going into more details or exhaustive lists of improvements in a certain areas - but here are some highlights on stuff which has been forum material lately.

Titans and their Mothers(hips)

Quite heated debate. Who has one, who hasn't. Who has a Doomsday Device, who used it, size doesn't matter, it does, it's how you use it - so forth and so on. We've been following the super-capital ships closely in the last couple of months, especially with the changes Revelations 1 brought and them being more proliferated.

The main things we want to address though, is their ability to jumpdrive out (or more correctly, the inability to prevent it) and their ability to project their force remotely.

First, we're considering addressing bubbles, so that they also prevent them from jumpdriving as well as warping. It makes sense, it's not a single scrambler which can stop a whole mountain and they are already in-game. Whether we require a Mobile Warp Disruptor to do it, or allow Interdictor bubbles as well, remains to be seen. We want pilots to be able to stop them, but it shouldn't take as little as a single destroyer to do it.

We want the capitals to be in the fight, not sit at a safespot or inside a Starbase bubble, just delegating all it's firepower somewhere. If you are going to show off your toys, to some other pilots misery, at least he should see his benefactor of destruction and be able to scratch the paint a bit (or perhaps even something more).

Their ability to project their force remotely, whether that be their Fighters or the Dreaded Dooms-Day Device of Death (That's 5 D's!), is also under consideration. With the Fighters, we're considering limiting the ability to delegate Fighters to some extent. It could be so that you can delegate it only within line-of-sight or simply a maximum of Fighters each pilot can have delegated to him. This isn't such a high concern for us yet and we might wait a bit to do anything about fighter delegation (or decide not to do something), but don't be surprised if this happens.

The DDDDD on the other hand is a bit more tricky. We're not so worried about the actual damage, when we take into consideration the parameters we can change to affect it. The first is the remote ability to detonate. We're pretty sure we're removing that, but it depends more on the final combination of parameters, because they can have a drastic effect on the DDDDD.

For example, we will increase the warm-up period. So from initiation, there is a little more time to react. This, combined with removing the remote ability, should address the "hey-here-is-a-little-flee-ooh-see-the-pretty-lights-kaboom" situation. Add to that the ability to tackle it and we have an interesting situation already. Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Bring it on", doesn't it? I can already hear you saying it.

Le Blub(TM) and the bomb

Some people have noticed our bombs on the test server and started speculating about them. Here are some facts to work with. These are intended as blob-splitters and we've just recently started testing them.

Bombs can only be deployed by Stealth Bombers. Launched by a Bomb Launcher similar to a probe, which detonates after a number of seconds, causing an instant effect (no duration), to be applied to all objects within the blast range of the bomb. The bomb can be destroyed within that timeframe. There will be damage type bombs, an energy neutralizer bomb and an ECM Burst bomb. Note also that your standard ECM Bursts actually work against capital ships today ;)

Y U H8?

I think at this point in time (or even sooner) the Mothership pilots out there - or those that fly besides one of them mommies (uhm, Freud?) - believes that we don't like you anymore. It couldn't be further from the truth. We want to address certain issues which need to be done to prevent us nerfing other parts of it to compensate. However, there is only one constant. One universal. It is the only real truth. Balance. Nerf, Un-nerf. Cause and effect.

The Triage Mode is the carrier equivalent of Siege Mode, which enhances the logistics capabilities at the expense of offensive capabilities. Makes the carrier able to quickly assist other ships at the expense of (some of) its offensive capabilites. It's Vulnerable to EW (as opposed to dreads siege mode) but it gives Siege Mode like defenses. You'll get all the juicy details later in another blog, but this applies to Carriers, Motherships and probably to Logistics ships as well.

The second is Mothership specific and acts exactly like the ECM Burst bomb. This can be remotely deployed (line-of-sight), every 5-10 minutes on Le Blub(TM) and it breaks the lock. Nifty, huh? Better yet, see this awesome explanatory picture material.

There are more general combat balancing and improvements coming in Revelations 2, the blogs for those are all coming soon and we have more people than ever focusing entirely on this than before, with the recent addition of Fendahl and Nozh, and a third hopefully coming within a month or two. Someone has to keep Tuxford company and I'm sure you'll love to hate the new guys just as much as with Tux ;)

Well, It's Eurovision today (which in Iceland is as good an excuse to drink as anything) and it's also national elections for government (which in Iceland is probably the best excuse to drink, you wake up with a hangover and most likely the government you didn't want as well).

-- Oveur

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