If ever there was a Top Gear EVE I'd be the Clarkson character, who sometimes has good and possibly interesting ideas but they end up just not working and fail the simplest of tests. Not to mention they also have a tendency to explode too easily.
If I'm bad at theory-crafting something I appear to be much better at is coming up with new and different modules that could be fitted to ships.
Whilst I've been not writing recently I did spend some time watching various documentaries and shows. I like these and after watching one of naval warships I got to thinking that whilst EVE ships have shields, armour and hull they don't seem to have any point defence systems that would deflect or neutralise incoming missiles or bombs.
Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS)
A
sea-whiz is defined by Wikipedia as:
A close-in weapon system (CIWS), often pronounced sea-whiz, is a point-defense weapon for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defences, typically mounted shipboard in a naval capacity.
There is an movement that Defender Missiles (which don't work at all at the moment it seems) be allowed to target incoming bombs and I agree this would be an excellent idea but what about a module that can be fit to ships either in a mid or high slot?
A New Module
Battleship and larger sized vessels ships in EVE
could benefit with something like a CIWS module, able to help stop some (not all) incoming damage from missiles/bombs it would certainly add to the defence of ships caught by BLOPS or wolf packs of bombers (if that is even still a thing).
A high-slot module that is uses a large amount of CPU and a reasonable amount of PG that, when loaded with a frequency crystal, the module will "shoot down" incoming projectiles until the crystal is depleted. At which point it needs to load another. If no crystals are used, or available to reload, then the module will be a of one-time limited use, until you dock or load a crystal).
The number of incoming missiles/bombs that destroyed is dependant on the size of the crystal fitted, with faction crystals allowing an increased number (+20%) of incoming projectiles to be intercepted.
| Crystal Size | Interdicted Projectiles | Faction Use |
None
|
50
|
N/A
|
Small
|
250
|
300
|
Medium
|
300
|
360
|
Large
|
350
|
420
|
Extra Large
|
400
|
480
|
The module will not stop incoming laser, projectile or hybrid projectiles. Only missiles and bombs.
The module will not stop ALL incoming projectiles but it will stop, at least whilst there is ammo a large number of them. Increasing survivability and possibly allowing the ship to escape or for salvation to arrive.
Once a crystal has been used the module must reload, either from the ships cargo bay or a corporate hanger, and takes 30 seconds. During this time the module will not be functional and any incoming projectiles will not be interdicted.
If no crystal is loaded then the module cannot be used again until either the ship docks or a crystal is loaded and replenishes the modules ammunition.
Further Development Ideas
- Only one of module type can be fitted/active to any ship
- Meta/T2 versions that have better fitting requirements/base interdicted projectile statistics
- Overheating will not be required as the module works on ammo and not the module itself
- Expanding the ammunition used to include Projectile and Hybrid ammo.
Usage Example
Module is fitted to a Battleship and a Medium Multifrequency crystal loaded. This will result in a range of 10km and 250 missiles/bombs being destroyed. Swapping to Faction Multifrequency will result in the range remaining the same but now 350 missiles/bombs can be destroyed.
The module has to be activated but when active it will automatically destroy incoming projectiles without further user input. If the module is active but not interdicting incoming fire then it will not consume the installed crystal.
If no crystal is loaded then the module will have a fixed 50 projectile limit that cannot be replenished unless a crystal is loaded or the ship docks in a station.
Good Idea/Bad Idea
I think its a good idea, its a new module that would certainly benefit capital ships and fills a void I noticed. Ships in real-life have something like CIWS for protection, EVE ships have their shields/armour and hull, that's it no module that outside of tanking. This is a variation of the tanking module and one that gives a good use for frequency crystals too.
That said I also feel something is missing or wrong but I cannot put my finger on what that is.
But it's an idea for something we don't have and might have a use or be useful. What do you think?
