If you check all the tech 2 frigates, you'll notice that all of them have the equivalent of 4 bonuses. Except the assault frigates! They only have 3 bonuses.
Are the assault frigates hobbled, or do they perform their role as well as the other T2 frigates perform theirs?
Tony Moore
[ Editor ]
I am in agreement with previous comments here.
Although they have fewer bonuses, Assault Frigates have better intrinsic attributes, for me the primary example being the base shield and armor hitpoint and resistance values. These are way better than on other T2 frigates.
I also note that the bonuses on the other T2 frigates generally include ones for quite specialised tasks, eg scanning, or for a very limited number of modules or situations, eg. Scout Drone Thermal damage on the Helios, Target Painting effect and Web range on the Hyena or MWD sig rad penalty on the Ares.
This makes the bonuses on the AF much more usable in more of the situations that you'll want your ship to be in. It all makes sense in the context that AFs are the least specialised of all the T2 frigates.
I think I would prefer a bonus related to my skills to improve my armour/shields, rather than a flat increase in those stats. That would make an assault frigate look more attractive in the role it is meant for, I think.
The bonuses to afterburner speed which were proposed but removed at the last moment from the Lag expansion (that’s not what CCP called it if I recall, something beginning with D) would have been perfect. They would have brought AFs in line with other T2 frigs and strengthened their roles as heavy tacklers – ie. interceptor makes the tackle, AF warps to interceptor and takes over the tackle so the interceptor, now in hull, can warp off.
But in fairness, that’s just my interpretation of how AFs should work.
Rashmika Clavain
[ Editor ]
I am quite happy with the Gallente Assault frigates. I've happily engaged in solo PVP with an Enyo and taken down cruisers.
T2 frigate gangs can be tremendous fun too. You've got a lot of mobility and a surprising amount of DPS 9huge chunks of which come from the Assault Frigates!).
I would not object to a fourth bonus though! However I do not view the ship class as broken and in dire need of it (by the way I PVP in factional warfare).
Owen Hughes
[ Editor ]
The wording of the question outlines their real problem.
You say "role". What is an AFs role?
As far as I can see their role is to be highly effective at frig PVP and they do that OK... however they don't really need a 4th bonus to do that.
Just by virtue of having more HP and more DPS they're already better than a most other frigs for combat.
That's cool for 1vs1 or possibly frigate gangs but in any normal gang you can achieve the same thing cheaper with an insurable T1 cruiser. Also note that a T1 cruiser tends to come out ahead.
An intie by comparison fills a particular niche in gang PVP.
You can say the same about EAFs too (T1 cruisers do the same but better and cheaper).
I don't honestly know what you do to AFs to make them "better". I just don't think they fill a hugely needed niche in EVE.
Ilya Konovalov
[ Editor ]
Assault frigates are powerful enough and don't actually need that 4th bonus.
Except for Amarrian assault frigates.
I agree. they do what they are designed to do, fly well in a gang and provide good dps or a good tank.
Many pilots would always choose to fly an interceptor over an assault frigate. Can you clarify on why you think the AF compares favourably with the interceptor?
For me, the Enyo active tanks nicely with a nos and has more EHP than the Gallente inties.
Ok, honestly I don’t know much about non-minmatar assault frigates. A friend of mine who flies Ammar said that he had to choose between Wolf and Enyo since “Ammar assault frigates are inferior”
Yes, there is no question that an inty and an assault frigate are meant to fit different roles. What I am getting at, though, is that many pilots use a Taranis (inty) instead of an Enyo (AF) for both tackle and DPS. The same for caldari ships (Crow > Hawk) and sometimes minmatar (stiletto > wolf), too. Not sure about amarr.
dave_92
The Ishkur is also a mean ship, with 5 light drones and 3 bonussed guns with a utility slot for nos/neut. It can confidently take on most other T2 frigates in a 1vs1 situation and is a nice addition to a gang for tackle/dps support. In T2 frigate gangs it really excels.
hesir volund
assault frigates' 4th and last bonus was an afterburner bonus that was removed some time back. it has been debated whether or not to bring it back, but it likely wont happen.
![luteros [c-r-o]](http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/21f80b29d7209bbeb4ea316b4db17c76?rating=PG&size=32&d=http://shapado.com:80/assets/default-avatar-small.png "luteros [c-r-o]"){kind=avatar}
I would tend to agree with this… Converted to community wiki
There is no way to answer this question objectively, since you are comparing asymmetrical attributes. The answers given below bear out their “opinionative” nature. Should be converted to community wiki.
I’m not sure I agree. I was trying to get people to say whether they thought a missing 4th bonus made the ship type less specialised in its role. Tech 2 ships are meant to be specialised, not just cruiser-like frigates. However, the change to wiki has already been done, so I shall leave it.
It’s debatable. But when you use the words “weaker” etc. things tend to get subjective.
It’s debatable. But when you use the words like “weaker” etc. things tend to get subjective. I will leave the question open for comments for a while before wikifying next time, though…
Perhaps I used the wrong language in the question. I wanted to find out if people thought the assault ship class was gimped, and why veterans always prefer combat interceptors instead of an assault ship. Everytime I think about it, I struggle to reword the wquestion so that it doesn’t sound subjective… so perhaps you are right and the whole question should have been a wiki from the start.