I would like to see more viable starting Cap ships (rather than just Carrier & Colony caps). Or support caps that are viable later in the game.
I tested each of the new buffed abilities against the strongest caps (carriers) in 1 on 1 fights. None of the buffed abilities made much of a difference (except Magnetize against a Halcyon). ALL of these buffed caps ships (except the Marza) are SO WEAK, that they barely scratched the carrier cap hulls after taking down the shields. In almost every case, the carrier caps won with over 1,500 hull remaining when they killed the opposing buffed cap. I just don't see many reasons to pick them over a carrier.
Battleships and support caps really NEED some more offensive power, some how, some way. First, these buffs generally need to be increased. And/or, as I have suggested elsewhere, add a starting squad for these level 1 caps. (Support would start with 2 squads, and battleships start with one, rather than 1 and none). Or other improvements.
Since this is a BETA we could test additional buffs. Like I said before, the BETA is a good start, but more is needed.
Tested in one on one fights, after jumping into a dead asteroid (LAN games with our 2 computers, on Pandemonium). The level 1 carrier caps always had bombers, whereas competitors had a fighter if available. Many of the opposing caps leveled up during the fight (from killing bombers), but I never chose additional abilities. They always started the fight down 100 antimatter, since the fight started after jumping into the dead asteroid. The results of victor's hull remaining upon opponent's death, are summarized in the following table:
...........................................................Hull Remaining...............................
.................................versus: Skirantra........... Halcyon.............. Sova
.............................................Scram Bomb..........Adept Drone A.......Missile Batt.
...............original hull+shield= 2425+1275........ 2075+1600......... 2850+1075
Kol.........Gauss R Gun.................1633......................1350.....................2075
Kol.........Flak Burst......................2125......................1900.....................2300
Dunov.....EMP Blast w/fighter........1250......................1700.....................2200
Donov.....Magnetize w/fighter........2150......................~100.....................2500
Marza.....Incend. Shells..................800........................300.....................1100 850
Radiance.Absorb Armor.................2000......................1700.....................2200
Rapture...Vertigo w/fighter............2175.......................800.....................2550
Antorak...Distort Grav w/fighter.......2100.....................1800.....................2450
Vulkoras..Phase Miss Swarm...........1450.....................1000....................2030
Edit: No Micro. Auto attack only - no kiting, or avoiding turrets/batteries. Most of which would further improve Carrier Caps results!
Edit: As of the 1.21 patch, and the well deserved nerf to bombers, these numbers are no longer applicable.
