Details are emerging about upcoming changes to more frigates, part of CCP’s ongoing effort to refactor and rebalance ships in the game. There are some interesting changes from the original theme put forward in an older dev blog on the subject, so here’s the proposed updates to the Kestrel, Tristan, and Breacher being debated.

Kestrel: Frigate skill bonuses:

5% Bonus to Missile damage per level

10% Bonus to Missile velocity per level

Slot layout: 4 H, 4 M (+1), 2 L, 4 launchers

Fittings: 45 PWG (+15), 180 CPU (+30)

Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 500(+109) / 350(+37) / 350 (+84)

Capacitor (amount / recharge rate / cap per second): 330 (+80)/ 165s (-22.5s)/ 2 (+0.667)

Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 320 (+24) / 3.27(-0.6) / 1163000 / 3.56s (-0.65)

Drones (bandwidth / bay): 0 / 0

Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 50km (+10) / 620 (+155) / 5 (+2)

Sensor strength: 11 Gravimetric

Signature radius: 38 (-9)

Cargo capacity: 160 (-145) Tristan:

Frigate skill bonuses:

7.5% Bonus to Hybrid Turret tracking speed per level

10% Bonus to Drone tracking speed and hitpoints per level

Slot layout: 3 H (-1), 3 M, 3 L, 2 turrets, 0 launchers (-2)

Fittings: 35 PWG (-3), 130 CPU (+5)

Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 350(-41) / 450(+20) / 550 (+167)

Capacitor (amount / recharge rate / cap per second): 350 / 175s (-59.38s)/ 2 (+0.5)

Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 310 (+4) / 3.44 (-0.21) / 1106000 (+100000) / 3.56s (-0.02)

Drones (bandwidth / bay): 25 (+20) / 40 (+35)

Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 40km (+12.5) / 600 (+10) / 5

Sensor strength: 9 Magnetometric

Signature radius: 41 (-1)

Cargo capacity: 140 Breacher:

Frigate skill bonuses:

5% Bonus to Missile damage per level

7.5% Bonus to Shield boost amount per level

Slot layout: 3 H (-1), 4 M (+2), 3 L (+1), 3 launchers, 0 Turrets (-1)

Fittings: 35 PWG (+4), 180 CPU (+45)

Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 500(+149) / 350(+37) / 300 (+50)

Capacitor (amount / recharge rate / cap per second): 300 (+112.5)/ 150s (+9.37s)/ 2 (+0.667)

Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 350 (+16) / 3.16 (-0.62) / 1087000 (-100000) / 3.21s (-0.99)

Drones (bandwidth / bay): 10 (+10) / 10 (+10)

Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 35km (+2.5) / 650 (+75) / 4 (+1)

Sensor strength: 8 Ladar

Signature radius: 36 (-5)

Cargo capacity: 175

Perhaps change that stands out the most (possibly due to my Gallente nature) is the bit about the Tristan losing its launchers in favor of drone bonuses and added tank. This seems to be the general philosophy at work here, with the Breacher losing its turret slot and the Kestrel becoming Kestrel+.

Generally each race had a tech 1 frigate that was a bit of an odd duck, able to wield alien weaponry from other races. The intent was to add flexibility, and it generally did so along with a heaping teaspoon of confused self-image. These changes may initially look like ships are becoming more homogenized, however the other subtle tweaks to things like targeting and fitting capabilities speak to a higher purpose for these frigates: flexible fitting options.

A post in the thread about this from CCP Fozzie shines a light on that point:

One of the great features of the design is that you can actually build one setup that can adjust its engagement range very well based on what it is facing. I have very good success in play tests with a AB/Scram/Web buffer tank fit using blasters that could either kite at the edge of scram range against a close range opponent using the tracking blasters to kill opposing drones, or move in for the kill against longer range frigates.

In the end, we could get a tech one frigate per race that gives a cheap-as-fuck option for combat frigates that aren’t tech 2, each providing a flexible canvas for fitting experimentation. If they can pull this off, it would be quite beneficial for new and old players alike since new players can mess around a bit more and learn fundamental fitting mechanics, and older players can have cheap, solid alternatives for support fleets.

It’s definitely getting interesting to see what final tweaks are in store for ships in the winter expansion.

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