Give the blackfish some love

[Aegis_RVIR]

I noticed that in IA3 there is no blackfish ever active (only an armed one once as a reward). I propose to add a verhicle transport variant to FOB martian or dirt track. Accompanying it would be some service verhicles (supplies, repairs, health, you get the idea).

 

I thought it would really help a lot at the AO, since it would raise effectiveness of both verhicles and infantry, since people won't die all the time or run out of ammo when they are going on a rampage. Verhicles would last do much longer and can be transported way faster with less danger during disembarking (normal slingloading requires you te hold still, close to the groundwhilst the blackfish just throws em out).

 

Feedback?

[Stanhope]

I believe i've seen the a blackfish on EU2 at the fob at the main airfield (can't remember the name right now).  And i've never seen it being used to be honest.  Although on EU1 i'd be more useful to transport (unarmed) ifrits, because on EU2 we can just sling the prowlers.

[Aegis_RVIR]

10 minutes ago, Stanhope said:

I believe i've seen the a blackfish on EU2 at the fob at the main airfield (can't remember the name right now).  And i've never seen it being used to be honest.  Although on EU1 i'd be more useful to transport (unarmed) ifrits, because on EU2 we can just sling the prowlers.

I am indeed EU #1 I am talking about, I really think it will improve everyone's life. I have flown it using remote control using zeus and I must say it is not for everyone, it is something you need to get used to. But once you master it....

 

You become the logistics god of EU #1 regarding verhicles, not people for balance purposes.

[Eagle-Eye]

EU2 indeed spawns an Infantry Transport Blackfish at the main airport FOB (Terminus), but it's not often used.

I think there are three reasons:

- Player count usually doesn't require the capacity of the Blackfish. A Vehicle Transport wouldn't make that much difference either until FOB Bravo is active, because only that one has a Marshall. Other vehicles can be lifted by Ghosthawks, or not at all.

- For whatever reason, FOB's don't seem to activate on EU2 much. When they do, most people don't know about it.

- Personal opinion, but I feel Tanao isn't large enough for an aircraft like the Blackfish. By the time you've reached a decent speed, you need to reduce again for landing, or if you want to do a HALO/HAHO, you need to fly in circles to get a good altitude without overflying AO.

 

 

EU1 would benefit from it more, given the player count and distances, but one problem I see there is that not everyone on EU1 has Apex, so they wouldn't be able to fly it... Also not sure if it could prohibit people from joining, like we had with Cryo's event recently, where it blocked people without Apex because of a single Qilin somewhere on the map?

[Aegis_RVIR]

1 minute ago, Eagle-Eye said:

Also not sure if it could prohibit people from joining, like we had with Cryo's event recently, where it blocked people without Apex because of a single Qilin somewhere on the map?

I can tell you, on the server it ain't t a problem. I see ppl constantly running around with APEX gear and when the blackfish FINALLY appeared for once, people still could join like nothing was happening.

[Stanhope]

10 minutes ago, Eagle-Eye said:

- For whatever reason, FOB's don't seem to activate on EU2 much. When they do, most people don't know about it.

The bug with the teleport stuff isn't helping either.

 

11 minutes ago, Eagle-Eye said:

- Personal opinion, but I feel Tanao isn't large enough for an aircraft like the Blackfish. By the time you've reached a decent speed, you need to reduce again for landing, or if you want to do a HALO/HAHO, you need to fly in circles to get a good altitude without overflying AO.

Well, you don't really need to get really high.  The blackfish has more than enough flares and can take a lot of hits.

 

13 minutes ago, Eagle-Eye said:

- Player count usually doesn't require the capacity of the Blackfish. A Vehicle Transport wouldn't make that much difference either until FOB Bravo is active, because only that one has a Marshall. Other vehicles can be lifted by Ghosthawks, or not at all.

totally agree

 

14 minutes ago, Eagle-Eye said:

EU1 would benefit from it more, given the player count and distances, but one problem I see there is that not everyone on EU1 has Apex, so they wouldn't be able to fly it...

Well the infantry one was useful to do mass evac.  But seeing how in I&A3 AO spawn practically next to each other, it's no longer needed.  I don't really think it comes in handy for other stuff either because people can just teleport to the fobs and take for example the mohawk or the huron (if their fobs were unlocked).  
The vehicle one could be useful for transporting the marshalls and the unarmed hunters.

 

And as far as i know apex vehicles don't block people (that don't have apex) from joining.  There are still people without for example the heli dlc and they can also join just fine even with the huron being at its fob.

[Amentes]

Infantry Blackfish can be very annoying for the pilots not flying it. With five even half-decent pilots, they're already flying with two or three people to a Ghosthawk. The same was the case in I&A 2, with the Huron.

[Stanhope]

Well i have to admit that i also fly with 2-3 people in the back of a GH.  Partially because the hummingbird is rather rare to come across (on EU2 at least, no clue how often it spawns on 1).  But also because people are impatient.  If i wait at base for 5-6 people (with my motor turned off) people start jumping out and going into other choppers.

 

So to add to cryos request: i'd love to see the hummingbird on EU2 more (maybe have it spawn at base? With a long respawn timer (like 15 minutes)? )