As tittle say, it could be nice to be able to customize droppod via sidegrades that are situationnaly interesting. The stealth module should be interesting enough so new player don't feel spoiled by how "sidegrades" works. Scout drop pod Drop-pods don't disappear on landing, it will act like a motion spotter until destroyed. Thermal detection optics Drop pod is equipped with thermal optics that highlight airplane and vehicles within 500m, and infantry within 300m. Dynamic entry (EMP) On landing, the drop pods create the effect of an EMP grenade, you are immune to EMP, flash and concussion for 5 sec after landing. Dynamic entry (Concussion) On landing, the drop pods create the effect of an concussion grenade, you are immune to EMP, flash and concussion for 5 sec after landing. Dynamic entry (Flash) On landing, the drop pods create the effect of an flash grenade, you are immune to EMP, flash and concussion for 5 sec after landing. Dynamic entry (Heal) On landing, the drop pods create the effect of an healing grenade, you are immune to EMP, flash and concussion for 5 sec after landing. Support pod (ammo pack) On drop pod disappear, game will launch a second drop pod at the location of the first drop pod landing. The second drop pod work like an ammo pack that work during 2 min or until destroyed. Stealth (unlocked and equipped by default) The drop pods can't be auto-detected. If this module isn't equipped, your drop pod is auto-spotted at 500m by infantry and Skyguard / Aspis phalanx will spot you at 350m like if they had engagement radar equipped.
I like the idea, might be kinda potent with an organized squad. But how about a couple more: Short term auto turret. Spread of AT mines.(might be too much) Pod refolds back up into 3 small walls of temporary cover. Pod leaves a short term vertical jump pad.
Well, these EMP, Conc, and flash effects are more likely to hit the guy who just dropped in before you, rather than an enemy. The spawn beacon is placed by the squad leader where it hopefully won't be found, therefore no enemies to effect. If there are enemies there then they're going to kill the spawn beacon.
These are pretty cool ideas. Drop pods would need a little more maneuverability to make these strikes work though. If there were a map indicator showing the enemy the predicted impact site then these area effects could be buffed to a pretty drcistating level.
Of all the suggestions, the one with a small turret sounds the most fun to me. Give it the ability to rotate completely (not just left-right, like the Spitfire), give it similar health but less DPS and range than a Spitfire and let it be active for... 30-45 seconds with certifiable duration increase. Also, make it worth some XP, say in the range of whatever the Spitfire is worth. On a different note: class specific drop pods, anyone?
That's pretty much why I'd proposed the 5-10 sec immunity to EMP / concussion / flash after landing. But I forget that EMP blast will kill the squad beacon. That's indeed how it work now. But if you have such effect available, things might change. At least having a shower of 44 EMP/concussion/flash/heal drop pod at the same time will be a possibility. I like the drop-poded Spitfire, same thing for the pod that act as a wall (technically, the Scout can act as cover since it have the same hitbox as a large trunk). I'm more mitigated for the short-term jetpack and Tankmine pod thrower. At least the latter idea can be recycled into a leadership perk : calling tankmine drop from space.
While the idea sounds nice, it wouldnt work. Problem is this: Drop pods have limited stearing. This was introduced to prevent them from being used to move bigger distances and get behind or on top of objects. So you have a limited range and the beacon is usually not in the middle of the fight zone. This makes the Concussion/Flash/Emp useless as you would more likely apply the effect to friendlies you land in. The scout and support drop have the same issue, but also add another issue. Since they both generate a drop pod that counts as vehicle and stays for some time you might get issues with collisions. If you land on a road other vehicles can colide with it, but there is also a risk of other pods landing on top, creating a collision that can kill the player just dropped. In most cases you pod will simply land to far away for the effect to actually be useful.
