Gameplay, Units & Balance

response in bold

no compromises. This this is major, if you velvet touch it, you won't achieve any difference.

again a bunch of pelter, holkins but especially catapults do away with them nicely. in the majority of cases you don't see navy battles because the resources are much better spent elsewhere. if navy could make itself usefull then people would use it.

Naval is rather simple ... the more water there is the more useful they are

I seem to remember using navy against you quite effectively a few weeks ago.

Naval is the most important unit besides air when it comes to map control. Even a tiny body of water can be filled with bluebottles that will deny the are to your enemy.

Late game, it is currently more important that you hold the water than that you have units in it. A catapult or two outside the lake usually deters creeping..... But you never know.

Ppersonally I think naval is the most fun unit type in the game.

This happens currently, and the way to reduce this is either outdamage or instantly do all the commander's health worth of damage within the same instant, a la sniping or t2 bombers or whathaveyou. Because if you empty a bucket fast but a bucket is still being filled fast that is one thing, but if the bottom of the bucket falls out then no matter how fast it is filled it empties instantly.

I don't know why everyone has a thing for these, but generally the cata isn't even probably functioning as it is intended to do in the end. No ammo, it's rate, doesn't fabricate... The artillery has been answered, it will probably not "hitscan or lead" and to prevent player micro somehow it might be inaccurate to small units but still inaccurate enough to hit any of the edges of a mex. If microed, it still might hit units, but I doubt it would get more than 2 kills before the units arrive.

But wth, this is all speculation, when you are no longer speculating on the same game. Every one of the health bars might get changed throughout all this. The NAMES might get changed, if they divide up the ant then they might not actually leave the ant.

Ok then, make it take longer to construct.

Easy and efficient solution.

I remember way back in the first orbital discussion thread, I raised the opinion that basic orbital stuff should be easy to obtain, and received the answer that it was supposed to cost around the same as an advanced factory. I'm so glad that's finally happening!

Speaking of units and stuff, did anyone else notice how quickly those sniper bots kill EVERYTHING?

I mean, it looked like 6-7 of them one shot a commander.... and 1 could one shot a mex....

How do you get t2 bombers in 10 minutes????

I think that role should be left to tanks - a unit with high armor and moderate damage, it seems to make more sense to me that way. Then if you want units whose primary role is dishing out damage I would recommend assault guns - a unit that is more expensive, takes longer to build, but Has slightly longer range and dishes out high amounts of damage for moderate armor and roughly the same speed.

That's the way that M.A.X. (Mechanised Assault & eXploration) handled it and it made sense, the only problem there was that Assault guns were faster than tanks, making them a but more useful - in PA I'd rather see them have the same speed.

actually they are the easiest to get in 10 minutes, since the adv air fac is the cheapest to construct.

Id like the leveller to be the assault gun.

What do you mean by 'Assault Gun'? Because my understanding of an assault gun is a 50/50 tank/self-propelled gun type vehicle. Variable angle tank cannon that is capable direct fire like a tank as well as short-range indirect fire. Not as heavily armored as a true MBT, and lacking the range of true artillery, but it's a longer-range tank and a tougher artillery piece that can help defend itself.

The other possible interpretation is using the normal meaning of 'assault' which is of a high HP unit meant to charge into close combat, such as to break a defensive position in close quarters. Assault units typically have very short range and high damage output as well as good durability.

I get the impression you mean the former tank/artillery hybrid unit. But if anything such a unit might be lighter and cheaper than an MBT or a big howitzer, not more expensive.

What ever is best.

Personally Id like levellers to go back to what they were in the Alpha with the fun counter play of flanking them to void the powerful guns.

The unit description says *slow barrel turning speed* but it just doesn't seem that way. I mean, an attack from behind only cuts them down a little bit before those powerful guns come to bear.

This ^ See pictures I have attached. They explain what I mean.

TBH They need to be costlier than tanks otherwise tanks will never be used.

An assault gun (even in WWII when they were a big deal) is no substitute for a real tank by any means. The assault gun was an economical SPG/light tank type vehicle which could be produced efficiently in quantity. Usually attached to infantry forces for close fire support, even a light tank would probably crush one. To say nothing of serious tanks, which would shrug off its rounds like nothing and punch through its armor like paper.

It's a bad tank merged with a bad howitzer, made on the cheap. Flexible, especially up close. But for tanks and artillery, those two roles need fundamentally different things. Tanks need armor, and artillery doesn't care to pay for armor at all. You are probably much better off getting a high quality tank and a high quality howitzer instead of four assault guns. You get a tank with vastly superior armor and a howitzer with vastly superior range.

I agree it would be a very cool unit. But it would be a mistake to make an assault gun that is more expensive than MBT's and howitzers. It should be a light vehicle meant to support other forces. The assault gun is a compromise for small-scale efficiency, not for raw power, where more specialized units will have the advantage.

Interesting discussion. I think you would end up microing units like that to a small extent, but I don't mind what I am envisioning. For anyone who has played Company of Heroes, that's what I am envisioning.

G yea it might be possible but not feasible. I'd love to see you try that in an actual game, besides how many bombers will that provide 1,2? You make that straight jump like that you're going to get smashed!!!