As awsome as this new update is it has many flaws. First off, the idea of making some ships turbo insanely fast to catch up to other ships is awsome. The idea is awsome but in practice [so far] it isnt working very well. I fly an IDF Valk, and i'm no threat to cent III's anymore, because if they want too, they can turbo away and I'll never catch them. The IDF [along with other fast ships with higher drain] can close in on many ship turboing a way, but as soon as they get close enough to fire they no longer have enough energy to actually shoot, and so while the enemy keeps on turboing you are losing distance while you wait for your batt to recharge.
My suggestion to end this problem:
Make turboing cost more energy but have batts with much more storage capacity along with faster recharge rates. I cant figure out details yet, but its a beginning.

Another problem: This update has made the IDF Valk suck more than ever. It used to be that the only problem was that it was FAT but any skilled pilot could compensate for that with good dodging. Now, with the neut III weighing a hefty 400kg, and the Cent III turning and now traveling faster, and the Cent IBG just as light and turning faster than the Valk, my IDF has lost much of its value.
With its fast turbo energy drain and the new energy used by the Neut III, the speed of the Valk is worthless, and now the Valk, along with being fat, has less energy, is heavier, still has 2 cargo, and still is FAT. I spent a while trying to get this ship, I think it should be better.
My suggestion for this: Make the lv 9 special ships [prom, valk maud] have less energy drain [like 60 or 55 or something]. Most importantly, to give an edge in combat, give the prom, maud and valk, a cruise speed [not turbo speed] of 70.
Another suggestion [this one is garunteed to make a few people mad], to save the Valks, make them 200kg lighter or something? My Valk has lost all its value, it needs help.

Also, check out http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/8251#96254
I agree strongly with those comments

comments?

You poor poor baby. Your wittle valkie no more workie. Maybe you Itani should learn to fly differant ships. You think the Itani special is bad? Try flying a Serco Prometheus. For future reference, please post suggestions in the Suggestion board...

Alright, anyone with HELPFUL or USEFUL comments?

consider using a weapon that weighs less than a N3.

ohh. so you feel so -utterly- upset that your ship is a mere 800 kg lighter than a vulture, and with better thrust, energy retainment and armor?

I feel -sooo- sorry for you.

the mass increase of the N3 is not an issue, because it increased for everyone.

The valk was allready the best fighter in the game, and i dont believe that the engine changes have hurt it that much.

400kg is WAYY too heavy for N3, I mean, that's like heavier than any other weapon, and it makes the valk so sluggish, how can I ever fly it again? 400kg is totally an extra 100kg! omg. that's like a datapad.
seriously. The valk's also the only ship I fly, and now it's worse than any ship I've ever flown or fought with. (contradicting myself there =D)

My valkyrie is so nerfed I can't fight anything anymore. The IBG cent is just as my valk, and that's bad, because now I have TWO good things on my nation, and I can't choose between them :(.

I absolutely agree that valkyries are also too fat :'(. As of now, it's bigger AND heavier than a prometheus! that is not good, not good at all...
I think it would be really cool if my Rune Valk were the size and mass of a cargo box... I wish my valk were 200kg lighter too.

Aticephyrim, I understand how you feel; life is harsh, ships get nerfed, nations struggle... I feel bad that we have to decide between the IBC and valks. 'Tis a solemn day for the itani.
Don't worry: there will be a battery tweak by the way :), and who knows, it might give the valk such a boost that it'll be faster than the IBC again. that would be great!

phoenix and spider:

Aticephyrim isn't bitching & moaning about useless valks as much as (s)he's pointing out that 1) level 8/9 'special' ships should be just that, special, and not more or less equivalent to cents/vults, and 2) valks/proms/mauds should occupy the top of the food chain within their niche and currently that position is comprimised due to energy constraints. the link in his post outlines my ideas about how to fix this.

and yeah, seems like the prom needs some help too, and i bet it'll get some in the next patch.

btw, overall i think this patch is great. having interceptors that can catch up to anything adds a great deal. now the other types of ships just need to be tweaked accordingly.

Please refrain from taunting other people, or at least do it more subtly.

Cajal, thank you for the clarification.
btw, its "he" :D.
I am not bitching, I'm just saying, the Valk has been reduced while the Cent has been beefed up alot, and that the ship that requires lv 8-9 should be MUCH better than the ship that requires lv 4 or 5 [I forget which]. The Prom does need help, but look at the title, its "Help my IDF Valk" not "Help the Prom". This thread is about the Valk, and Itani ships, not the Prom and Serco ships.

sorry lemming, I was only joking in my post.
I was serious about the battery fixes, however :)

I wasn't referring to you. :)

(even though I think the max speed - non-turbo - for the Centurions should be 10 lower, to make Centurions a niche ship for hit-and-run tactics)

I still see people flying around in all kinds of ships. I see vults, centurions, proms, even a few crazy ones with Warthogs (love my TD). I think until the devs can notice that tendency of all experienced players migrating to a single ship, no change should come.

Bottomline: wait until the dust settles in and everybody tested all ships and made their minds on which ones are best.

Really, though. You'll have to excuse us if we Serco have little sympathy for your disadvantaged special. We've been living with ours for over a year. Plus, that's just one of the varieties of Valk that's dead. All of the Proms are useless.

"400kg is WAYY too heavy for N3, I mean, that's like heavier than any other weapon," - heh, No. you might want to compare other weapon's stats with the N3's. i think you'll find them to be the lightest weapon available that packs a punch. and thankgod they're finally balenced. i am no longer the lone gauss user! =O i'm starting to see sunflares, gausses, positrons all being used. it's the best thing that has happened.

"and it makes the valk so sluggish, how can I ever fly it again? 400kg is totally an extra 100kg! omg. that's like a datapad." - i was flying a valkyire with 2x gauss cannons before this patch, and trust me it was -quite- managable. that is 2400kg of weapon weight Vs your previous dual N3s 400kg, each being 200.i have flown a valkyire with the new N3s and find it to be -very- balenced.

"My valkyrie is so nerfed I can't fight anything anymore." - the valkyire is deffinitly -not- nerfed, and i am quite happy with the result. i was one of the few itani (i'm now serco >=P) who defended the valkyire agesn't the rampent nerf mobs. they wanted to nerf the valkyire in ways that would utterly destroy it's purpose and i was quite nervious. i can't stress how happy i am with the result of their tweakings. it has placed the valkyire pefectly in balence. now all that needs drastic attention is our prometheus *nudge*

"I absolutely agree that valkyries are also too fat :'(. As of now, it's bigger AND heavier than a prometheus! that is not good, not good at all..." the valkyire's shape justifies it's overall speed, even before this rebalence. yes if you're going to fly the valkyire poorly you're just as prone to hits as a prometheus. as for the valkyire being heavier, and it's overall shape larger than a prometheus, thats completely off. find a prom pilot who wont blow you up and park next to them. move your ships side by side and hit your external camera. you'll find the prometheus to be double of the valkyire's size (and this is one of the problems with the prom, it's too big) also the mass of the prometheus is basicly double that of a valkyire.

I agree with Sputnik that the valk is perfect now.

I play an Itani and the valk was a joy to fly pre-patch. But it is really a UFO. Now post-patch, I suspect the DEVS have also rebalanced the mass distribution, so it feels more sluggish now. I dropped a neut3 to make the valk 3800 kg (a bit close to the old tri-pre-nerfed-neut3), but it definitely does not fly like the old valk.

Anyway, it is still pretty good as a fighter. It is no longer the multipurpose Everything-It-Can-Do fighter. One on one vs a gauss-arm vult or Cent will be quite a challenge for it. But I am happy with this, since I think it will encourage more teamplay.

Besides, if you want to fly a nice ship, fly the IBG :). (Now if the devs will just lower the drain rate to 60s...i'll post somewhere else on this).

the probelm is infiboost and batteries why not make drains on all ships?

So as to cater for people who do not wish to fight. Although, it seems that the centurion has a high cargo capacity compared to the other stats, so maybe there should be another tweak, more in the direction of express courier ship, egg shell with an afterburner and a pea-shooter, so to speak.

NEITHER VALK OR THE NEUT 3 WAS NERFED. I'VE HAD IT!!!!!!

It's still lighter than any other weapon availible after level 3.

It still has the best shot speed in the game.

Its energy drain is still extremely competitive.

It was rebalanced. It was BROKEN at 200 mass.

On the same note, I totally disagree that the nation specific ships need to be that much better than the rest of the ships. The valk in particular has more advantages than any other ship in the game. It can still take down a centurion, because the centurion has so much less firepower and armor. Vultures are a problem of sorts, they always have been because of thier slim profile, but they arent unbeatable, and once the devs finish rebalancing and make the rockets useful again(which were the primary anti-vulture weapon before mass was added), they die rathar quickly.

The only place i want to help your valk is into an asteroid at 200m/s.

Rant over.

/me agrees with Spellcast.

Nothing has been nerfed at all. You think your 3x400kg neut3s are heavy on a Valk, try 2x1200kg sunflares on a Vulture, and remember that the Vulture weighs more empty! Anyway, I still think the valks armour should be lowered a bit.

I totally disagree that a "special" ship should be hugely better than anything else. Why should an experienced pilot have such a hard time against some lesser pilot in a "special" who just happens to have more time to level? What the hell are the levels a test of anyway?