What is the reasons/philosophy behind the two tech tiers? Looking at the unit database for example the Dox and Slammer it seems once you go tech 2 there is no reason to build the Dox at all. I guess with release just around the corner it is too late to change this aspect of the design, but just wondering was it ever considered to make it so all units are still useful all game. For example, I find Zero-K interesting in how they have a flat technology tree. Like their are tech 2 like units but all units are useful all game.
Doxes act as cannon fodder for Slammers and shot absorbtion, they also build faster and do extra damage.
This ^^^^ also they have said that first tier units will be useful late game, so if this isn't really all that useful for most players then maybe there is still the possibility for some changes. I don't know much about programming but I can't imagine it would be too hard for them to add a bit of health/damage to each of the first tier unit's maybe with something like an ingame upgrade only available after building all advanced factories (or perhaps the adv factory for that corresponding unit type [ie: can only upgrade 1st tier air once you have built an adv. air factory, first tier bots after having built and adv. bot factory and so on])
The unit database shows 40 total dps for Dox and 300 total dps for Slammer. And converting that to DPS per Mass the slammer still better. Even from HP per Mass point of view the Slammer seems better going off the raw stats. So I can't see the use of building a Dox over a Slammer once got to tech 2.
It is very simple to make balance changes to the unit. Even doing a major revamp to all unit stats wouldn't take more than a few minutes. It is more about getting it balanced and fitting with the rest of the units in the game. Like previous rts titles, there will be unit balancing done up to release and after. It's ongoing.
Because if you build 1 dox to one slammer, it takes the opponents slammer another second to kill your slammer. If you build 6 doxes to one slammer, it takes the opponents slammer 5 seconds longer to kill your slammer.If they have two slammers It's just as expensive to deploy two advanced bot factories as deploying one advanced bot factory and 9 bot factories. And it's just as expensive to deploy 6 bots and one slammer as it is two slammers. It takes those two slammers 1.5 seconds to kill all 6 bots, whereas they take 0.67 seconds to kill one slammer. It takes your slammer 1.5 seconds to kill one slammer. It means your slammer can take on two slammers and probably win. Especially if you micro and immediately switch targets to the undamaged slammer once the first is on 25% health. Let whatever doxes survived take on the other. Plus, 9doxes vs 1 slammer - The slammer 4.5 seconds to kill them all. They only need 1.11 seconds to kill him if all 9 of them survive.
Because you can build doxes much faster than slammers. Because Advanced Factories take much more mass and energy than T1 factories. Because you can swarm enemies with Doxes.
They're still balancing units. I'm sure we're on the verge of a major rebalancing where we'll all have to re-learn how to play.
Gunships are dedicated anti-ground units. Just like how some units are dedicated anti air units. They're supposed to be glass cannons. And I bet with Uber's ammo functionality for air units, I bet they'll be pretty balanced if they are actually added.
I think they still need to add about 10 units at the very least per bot/veh/air tech and add that unit diversity. When they do that, they need to increase the specialization between the dox and slammer. As discussed above, the importance between t2 and t1 is burst damage. Balancing between large numbers spread out doing steady damage, and fewer slower bigger units doing one barrage of high damage with more chunks of wasted overkill damage and a longer reload between shots. Then both are useful and your strategy relies on the ratio you build and how you use them. Spread out, send one in to hit and run first, formations of different types...
I love using scouts as gunships. That's the issue - anti-air units are REALLY effective. So gunships should be equally deadly, highly mobile and fragile. Then there are bombers - if gunships are more mobile anti-ground units, that hover during attack runs, why would you ever use bombers which get themselves killed during attack runs? Or they'll get themselves killed during attack runs as well, in which case I doubt I'll ever use them.
This is all speculation. But I imagine bombers will have more health and more Alpha (initial) damage. Maybe even higher dps. So a group of bombers can kill something in one pass while gunships take a few seconds of hovering. And again, remember the ammo system. Gunships would fly overhead, unleash a flurry of shots, and run out of ammo. So they'd need to be pulled back to recharge. So I'm guessing they'd have a slower recharge rate than bombers. If I remember correctly, bombers recharge fast enough so they can normally keep up a steady stream of bombs. Again. This is all speculation.
Well hopefully bombers will drop actual bombs soon, and we can balance a more aoe carpet bomber unit.
Yeah all speculating. The issue with bombers is that they have such a wide circle that you can never make a precision bombing attack. Small groups of bombers never destroy anything in one pass, which means they are kind of useless at removing stuff like artillery during an assault. To get them into a density where they can destroy stuff in one pass, I still feel it's better investing in scouts which are faster and harass air units when they attack the blob Ah. Not working as intended?
Oh good I'm relieved! (Bombers do the same huge circle in rise of nations, but they do so much more damage.)
