Drain mines are a neat idea, but the current implementation leaves a lot to be desired.
There's been a number of requests to change them since they came out because they're really not very effective at all right now.

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/28277
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/28443
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/28251
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/29748#356425

Suggestion: Improve Drain Mines by changing them from a one-shot explosion to a Lightning Mine-type area effect.

Just re-use the existing game mechanism for Lightning Mines, but change their zapper from dealing damage to draining energy.

Example stats:

Name: Drain Mine Launcher
Drain: Zapper:50/sec, Explosion:250
Range: Zapper:100m, Explosion:80m
Power Cell Capacity: 100
Delay: 2s
Mass: 1800kg
Detonation: Contact or when power cell is empty
Ammo: 8
Lifetime: 30min
License: 2/-/-/3/-

+1 very good idea -- but you gotta make these badboys something to fear, not merely an annoyance. Up that Zapper drain higher than the recharge rate of a UC -- 75/sec or something, and make powercell capacity 200.

My reasoning for making it 50 was: It's not that hard to just drop multiple mines and make it drain a lot faster.

A field of these could drag a Trident down to 40m/s cruise speed or stop ships dead at a wormhole, forcing them to fight instead of jump.

yeah I figured that was why. If this caused damage I'd agree with dialing it back to take into account multiple mines, but this is energy -- something that recharges the moment they are out of reach of these. I'd say err on the high side - people aren't gonna use 'em if they don't have bite. Then dial it back if necessary.

and only a newb would fly into a minefield...but that's a different discussion.

Ah! Great Idea! A shielded ship gets it's SHIELDS drained instead of it's power!

This looks like an ideal trap for Tridents at wormholes, and even a decent pirating tool for smaller ships. I'm wondering if anyone has used the current model for defensive purposes. Knocking that rat out of turbo at a crucial moment seems like great fun to me. I'd even try it myself if I could ever get out of my dent.

I don't really see it as causing the player to need to fight because whether in a standard ship or trident, energy based weapons are going to be hampered by the mines along with the ability to turbo. I'm not saying that this would be a bad thing, just that the pilot would likely have more incentive to try to escape the mine trap rather than fight with anything other than turret weapons which don't require battery.

Also, 100 m really isn't that much in VO, especially when the mines explode on contact for only 250 damage. They would be very easy to hit with a trident and attempts to de-shield it with missiles would likely mean that some of the mines would be lost to splash damage.

+1 regardless

Knocking that rat out of turbo at a crucial moment seems like great fun to me.

I've tried this, and it doesn't work so well in practice, especially not against Greyhounds. If somebody in an energy-heavy non-infiniturbo fighter/interceptor like a Valkyrie or SVG, a drain mine hit might stop them from killing you at jump-out. Combined with a Concussion Mine seems to work the best.

I left the -250 drain on explosion and contact detonation like Lightning Mines have to make sitting in a mine field potentially hazardous to the mine owner themselves. The zapper won't target the owner or their groupmates, but the death splash will still hit them. They (like lmines) also explode once their power cell reaches zero.

Lots of people use weapons that don't need energy. Have you heard of our lord and savior Sunflare?

I'll even resub if you implement a power drain field mine Incarnate.

On second though... I may reconsider my support for this issue.

Make it the same color red as the PCB weapon fire

bump

make them made or sold at ineubis stations - those stations need some love!

+1

When I first used one, I was rather disappointed because I thought it was like the lmine.