Q&A: RSI Mantis
Following the reveal of the Mantis from Roberts Space Industries, we took your community-voted questions to our designers to provide you with more information on the recently unveiled Quantum Enforcement ship.
Will we be able to fit interdiction devices to other ships? In the future, yes, though quantum enforcement devices (QED) are not currently equippable by other player-flyable ships. When available, QEDs will be equipped via the utility item ports. However, they won’t be as powerful as the units built into ships such as the Mantis and may require compromises to loadout. They will also be used by various AI ships and security forces to interrupt player quantum travel.
Will we gain a crime-stat for pulling people/criminals out of quantum travel? It will be illegal to use a QED within certain jurisdictions, though it won’t affect crime-stat at the release of the Mantis.
Why would the UEE allow such a ship to be sold to regular civilians? If interdiction devices are illegal, how is RSI selling them? Just as UEE civilians have access to heavy offensive weaponry, they have access to QEDs for personal protection and for use in careers that support the Advocacy and navy. The hope is that we’ll be able to create situations where the use of interdiction is sanctioned, such as working within a security force or defending a homestead from pirates.
What will the counter to this new feature be? For its initial release, the QED uses power usually allocated to the Mantis’ other systems, such as shields, thrusters, and weapons. Along with this heavy power requirement, a long cooldown period ensures that QEDs aren’t constantly generating snares around the universe. Eventually, greater restrictions around green zones and increased law enforcement patrols will mitigate overuse.
Longer term, there are plans to give players the opportunity to escape interdiction by dynamically adjusting their quantum drives. For example, adjusting velocity would, in turn, require the interdictor to adjust their behavior.
Do you plan to allow more flexibility with quantum travel so that we can better avoid the main travel lanes? Like quantum traveling in any direction without first setting a destination? While being able to create safer routes on your own is a planned feature, it’s not scheduled with the release of the Mantis. Currently, connecting existing quantum nav-points will be your best bet at avoiding a quantum snare.
The player-versus-player (PvP) implications are obvious, but what examples of player-versus-environment (PvE) gameplay for the Mantis can you give us? You’ll be able to interdict any passing AI unlucky enough to get caught by the QED, giving you potential targets to attack whenever it’s used.
When you fire off your interdiction device, will it negatively impact your allies too? Anyone caught by a QED will be pulled out of quantum travel and be unable to initiate it again for a short period, be they friend or foe.
Is the RSI Mantis designed to fit inside the hangar of the Polaris? Any details on which ships it can fit in? The Mantis was not designed to fit inside the hangar of the Polaris. The Aegis Sabre was planned to be the upper limit of the Polaris’ capacity and, as such, the Mantis is too long and tall. However, once the Polaris goes into production, we’ll look at its hangar size (like we did with the 890J) and potentially bring it up to the standard landing pad metrics, which would allow the Mantis and other ships to land properly.
Will it have a bed, toilet, or living space inside? There is both a bed and toilet to ease the burden of long quantum-travel-related activities.
Is Interdiction gameplay complete, or will there be more iteration on the mechanic? As with many features as complex as interdiction, the first implementation you see in our game is never the last, and is frequently subject to change. Players already experienced an early version of interdiction via NPCs in 3.6, and this is the very first implementation for player interdiction. It will definitely improve and be iterated on over time, and we intend to make those improvements fairly quickly. Specifically, we expect to make the following improvements to interdiction over the coming patches:
More aggressive law enforcement response to the activation of such devices in prohibited zones
Law enforcement dialogue related to the various infractions
Dialogue to support a variety of NPC character types that have been pulled from QT
Larger area of interdiction
Improved tracking of ships that have been pulled from QT
Mission content involving interdiction/QT-dampening devices
As we gain visibility on expected delivery, we’ll update the Public Roadmap accordingly so you can follow along with development and track the progress.
Will the disruption field work inside a ship? Like, if it’s activated inside a Polaris, will it still work as if it was outside the hangar? No. The disruption field will not fire correctly when the Mantis is inside another ship.
Can an EMP disable the interdiction bubbles set off by the mantis? Not directly, though an EMP should disrupt the Mantis’ power plant long enough to prevent the QED from functioning.
What does an interdiction cost for a mantis pilot? Fuel, energy drain, crime-stat, time? A QED requires a lot of energy and generates a lot of heat, so it isn’t a very stealthy weapon. When jurisdiction laws are enabled, crime-stat increase and direct retaliation by law enforcement will be the cost.
Will there be a size limitation to the ships the RSI mantis can stop? In its first implementation, it will be able to stop any ship of any size. As we iterate on the feature and develop more versions of QED, we’ll determine the ‘QED to quantum drive size‘ balance.
Is there any cargo capacity on the RSI Mantis? The Mantis has no cargo capacity. Players planning to ambush cargo-laden ships should consider bringing support.
Is the Mantis immune to its own interdiction effects? A QED prevents quantum travel for all ships in its effective zone, including the ship that fired it.
What’s the cooldown on using the device? While we’re still balancing the QED, expect a cooldown of at least several minutes.