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First, let’s talk about the Apocalypse…specifically let’s take a look at it’s stats and bonuses:
Special Ability: 10% bonus to Large Energy Turret capacitor use and 5% maximum Capacitor Capacity per level.With this bonus, the Apocalypse has a dangerously impressive capacitor – with Amarr Battleship 5 and the two Cap Regen and Cap Capacity skills at level 5, this ship receives a mighty 50% bonus to Capacitor Capacity and a 25% bonus to Capacitor Regeneration, giving it 9000 Capacity and a regen time of 865 Seconds – this gives it a maximum Capacitor Regeneration rate of 35 per second (2.4 * 9000/865). This is Point #1.
The next part of the Apocalypse we should look at is its other non-capacitor stats relevant to this discussion:
-625 CPU (500*1.25 for Electronics)
-24375 Powergrid (19500*1.25 for Engineering)
-7 Low Slots
-4 Mid Slots
-8 High Slots (8 Turret, 2 Launcher)
This means that the Apoc. has average CPU, but exceptionally high powergrid and a lot of space for turret systems and as such a potentially high amount of DPS depending on the weapon (not lasers, because they kind of suck). This is Point #2.
Next up we’re going to be looking at the Apocalypse and Shield systems in general. According to the basic stats, with the appropriate shield skills trained to level 5 the mighty Apoc has these stats:
-Shield Capacity: 7762 (6210*1.25)
-Shield Shield Regen: 1875 (2500*0.75)
-Base Shield Regen/second: 14 .16 (2.4*7762/1875)
These stats compare closely to those of the Drake (more capacity, less regen) – this leads to some interesting possibilities that I’ll go into later. This is Point #3.
Next we’re going to be talking about an excellent weapon system used by the Minmatar – the Autocannons. Specifically the battleship-fitted type:
-Powergrid Required: 2200
-CPU Required: 41
-Optimal Range: (4800*1.25)
-Rate of Fire: (7.88*0.75)
-Damage Modifier: (3.234*0.75)
-Tracking: (0.04*1.25)
This means that autocannons, though low in range, have average powergrid requirements, low CPU usage, and excellent damage and tracking for battleship sized weapons, and indeed these weapons are popular in PvP even on non-minmatar ships. Low range but much better damage than lasers, railguns, or artillery, oft-preferred in PvP as well.
% of Range:
-10% Range of Railguns
-11% Range of Beam Lasers
-16% Range of Artillery
Damage per Second:
Railguns: 69% Less Damage
Artillery: 57% Less Damage
Beam Lasers: 76% Less Damage
Another thing to note:
-Activation Cost: 0
This is Point #4
I’m also going to note tracking computers here, specifically how they’re going to be buffed in Revelation’s 3. As you know modules like tracking computers, sensor boosters, and other modules that affect two attributes will be changed so they will have “modes” – their bonus will probably be doubled to make up for this. This means a T2 tracking computer can give a ship a 60% Tracking Bonus, which is significant to say the least. In addition, the tracking computer uses 20 energy with a 30 second activation time, or 0.66 energy per second. This is Point #5
Connecting the Points
All of these things by themselves pose little thread and are generally balanced. The Apocalypse works well with lasers or tanking (#1 and #2) with average shield regen (#3), autocannons offer good damage at close range with low cap use (#4) (though this may be slightly overpowered), and tracking computers will become more impressively powerful with Revelations 3 (#5). Alone, these things are not of much consequence, but by combining them all you can reach a terrifying conclusion:
The Apocalypse Can Be An Overpowered Passive Shield Tanker
Given the fact that X-Large Shield Extenders (6000 shields, 2500 powergrid) are also being added with Revelation’s 3, this allows some interesting things to happen with a properly fitted Apocalypse:
With 3 X-Large Shield Extenders:
Shield Capacity: (6200 + 18000)*1.25 = Over 30K shields
And Now With 4 Shield Power Relays:
Shield Regen: 1875*(0.75^4) = 573 Seconds
Combined, this gives the Apoc an impressive passive shield tank:
30000/573*3.4 = 150 shields regenerated per second
Granted, this is not anywhere near the passive tanking potential of a drake, but a fairly good tank nonetheless. But a setup like this will be completely devoid of damage, correct? Not at all!
Autocannons + Tracking Computers + Damage Mods
The Apocalypse, with the passive tank illustrated above, can still fit the following:
-3 T2 Damage Mods (60% extra damage)
-1 T2 Tracking Computer (60% Tracking)
-8 Large Autocannons
Here are the stats of each large autocannon with the modifications by the damage modules and tracking computer:
-Rate of Fire: (7.88*0.75)*0.89 = 5.25
-Damage Modifier: (3.234*1.25)*1.1 = 4.4
-Tracking: (0.04*1.25)*1.6 = 0.08 (Double base tracking!)
New Damage Per Second:
(5.25/4.4) = 1.12
Adjusted for the base tracking and how this influences the amount of wrecking shots (which cause twice as much damage as a normal shot…since the amount of wrecking shots is doubled regarding their normal occurance, our total damage modifier per second is:
2.24
Conclusion:
With 8 autocannons, double tracking, and three damage modifiers couples with a tracking computer that uses minimal capacitor energy, the Apocalypse is capable of tanking very well and dealing a large amount of damage without most of the weaknesses other setups would suffer from (cap boosters, choosing between gank and tank). Group of these ships distributed across a gate could destroy anything coming through (due to overlapping range) and be impervious to any sustained attack because their tank would not be easily defeated by long-range weapons.
I suppose the reason that this hasn’t been brought to light before this point is because not many players have Amarr Battleship trained to 4 or 5, few Amarr players use autocannons, and even fewer have powerful shield skills – perhaps none even.
I leave it to CCP to determine how to solve this issue, but I feel like it needs to be brought to their attention at the very least. I have also e-mailed Kieron and Wrangler regarding this issue, and would like to see them respond to the arguments I have made.
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