CCP Ytterbium posted a dev blog a month ago promising a more streamlined, consistent approach to the spaceship command skills required to pilot all ships use by capsuleers.

Personally, I think he might have forgotten something.

Hypothetically, given a few common ships, let’s look at the skills required to fly them (I will omit destroyer and battlecruiser-class ships, since they are Subject To Change)

Rifter:

Minmatar Frigate 3 Spaceship Command 1



Rupture:

Minmatar Cruiser 3 Spaceship Command 3 Minmatar Frigate 4 Spaceship Command 1



Maelstrom:

Minmatar Battleship 3 Spaceship Command 4 Minmatar Cruiser 4 Spaceship Command 3 Minmatar Frigate 4 Spaceship Command 1



Now, let us look at the skills required to build those ships:

Rifter:

Industry I

Rupture:

Industry I

Maelstrom:

Industry I

Something is wrong with this picture, both from a game design point of view, and because, well, it’s kinda unfair.

All tech 1 ships require the barest minimum of skills to construct. Yes, Production Efficiency is important, but frankly it pales in comparison to the support skills required to fly any ship in combat.

At present, only tech 2 ships use the Frigate/Cruiser/Battleship construction skills, and even there, contradictions emerge.

Piloting a Muninn

Minmatar Cruiser 5 Spaceship Command 3 Minmatar Frigate 4 Spaceship Command 1

Heavy Assault Ships 1 Assault Ships 4 Spaceship Command 3 Engineering 5 Mechanics 5 Weapon Upgrades 5 Gunnery 2 Spaceship Command 5



Five maxed skills required to pilot.

Building a Muninn

Industry 5

Cruiser Construction 4 Frigate Construction 4

Mechanical Engineering 1 Science 5 Mechanics 5

Minmatar Starship Engineering 1 Science 5 Mechanics 5



Three unique maxed skills required to build, all of which are 1x skills.

Battleship Construction requires Cruiser Construction IV, which requires Frigate Construction IV, the same as the piloting skills, but Capital Ship Construction does not require any of the ship construction skills as prerequisites.

I believe that the skill tree in manufacturing and science already lacks depth, and using a similar structure to the spaceship command skills, while a big nerf to prospective manufacturers, is necessary to keep game consistency.

My suggestion is this:

All <ship class> Construction skills provide a 2% faster manufacturing time per skill level (this is not a required change, but it helps to ease the butthurt the other changes will engender)

In return, all tech 1 ships require a matching level in ship construction as it takes to pilot it.

For instance, a Rupture requires Minmatar Cruiser III to fly, so it should require Cruiser Construction III to make.

For instance, a Rupture requires Minmatar Cruiser III to fly, so it should require Cruiser Construction III to make. Destroyer Construction and Battlecruiser Construction skills are added and slot into the skill tree where you’d expect.

Capital Ship Construction now has an added prerequisite of Battleship Construction IV

All Tech 2 and Tech 3 ships require the relevant construction skill at V to manufacture.

Yes, this is a straight nerf to manufacturing characters. Yes, I also think it’s deserved.

I think it adds depth to the skill tree since you can no longer create an industry alt with two million skill points and have it able to make practically anything. In addition, ramping up the skill requirements adds design space for skills that currently would be too easy to meet any possible set of prerequisites for.