While I was grinding Dola I made up my mind on two things about it.
- It absolutely needs Warp Drive
- It is niche
About 1 in 5 matches I'd have a great game playing it.
The niche role it fills is the initiator. Those who play MOBAs will appreciate what this role does. Specifically in Dreadnought, Dola is good at starting a move against an enemy healer in the middle of their huddle.
Typically (from my perspective) this job is supposed to be for tanks but Dola is perhaps the only non Dreadnought ship that can do it reliably.
Problem is:
- If Dola's niche is to do one of Dreadnought's job, why not pick a Dreadnought in the first place ?
- Dola's limited scope makes the ship OK sometimes but irrelevant most other times.
From a ship design standpoint, the Dola needs to be made viable in more situations than it currently is. Equipping Warp Drive opens up some extra possibilities to how you can play that ship but even then the problem of something else being able to do what Dola does but better argument is still there.
I'm doubtful 'fixing' its' primary weapon DPS will make the ship any more desirable. It'd lessen the suffering but still undesirable.
If I had to take a gander on what would make the most impact - I'd have to go with Dola unique modules. Primary, Secondary and Perimeter don't offer much in either strengthening Dola nor do they shore up weaknesses.
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The other option and one that is also high impact is a suggestion by someone (here or on Discord can't remember) - and that is to make Dola's power to shield work like the Dreadnought's where energy aren't drained by damage absorbed.
That would be a big deal.
Couple that with a module re-think, I feel that is enough to Make Dola Great Again.