Poll: Doxen - Direct Fire and Grenadiers.

Just thinking about how Doxen are effectively fulfilling the role of short-range Artillery when approaching walls, and thinking about how they are supposed to be infantry...

Why can't we have two modes of fire, in which Doxen fire fast shots directly at unobstructed targets and automatically switch to throwing slower Grenades over walls and other low obstacles?

This would interact with the environment. Immersion, etc.

Edit:
Seeing as people want separate Direct Fire and Grenade Bots (Option 4), I'd like to draw out why they're currently being turned into Grenadiers.
Basically Scathis says the 'Ant' and the Dox fill the same role.
I'd suggest Tanks be given higher HP and shoot slower but at higher damage, and Doxen be made faster moving, if this is the case. I know they already have these attributes, but increasing the stat differences further might allow these units to be more useful in different situations; i.e. they would be specialised in the same way Tanks and Infantry are in real war.
The unit's role isn't just about how it attacks.

Edit 2:
I should also say that I feel units are weaklings compared to Total Annihilation's units. A HP increase of 3-4 times would lengthen combat and make us feel like these were actually advanced robotic war machines, rather than tin-can soldiers.
I want to be able to walk my army right through the opposition's ranks and shoot it out over the wreckage of both sides, not see both armies dissolving eachother (and the wreckage) at the borders of each others' sight range.

micro.

Micro in what sense? That you pay attention to the fact that a tower is behind a wall?

Definitely two separate units.

Id rather they have a grenadier arm and a machine gun arm, so they can do both at the same time.

That or have them as different units.

Having to toggle the firemode? Might as well have two units otherwise

I said in my OP it'd be automatic, based upon the obstructions between the Dox and its target.

Lobbing grenades at a tower while shooting another target might create DPS balance issues.

He said automatically. So if they attack something immobile they use grenades, and if they attack something mobile, use normal shots.

Well only if they can shoot them at intendant targets.

Im not suggesting that.

Intendant targets?

I voted for 4, yet if it was like the Narwahl and fired direct-fire on units and 'nades on structures (like narwhal fires missles on air and cannon on ground), it would look pretty awesome and it would be pretty great.

I just like the concept of building 2 units more though. A lot of different looking units walking around in the same blob, looks more nifty, than a huge mass of the exact identical unit copy-pasted 50 times around itself.

Sorry I herped.

Independent targets.

The Dox should be a quick moving raiding and flanking unit.

The Dox shouldn't be a unit built for attacking hardened defenses, that should be the Tank.

Right now the Dox loses out on most of its effectiveness because it has a really hard time hitting moving units and it overkills buildings by quite a bit.

I agree.
I think most units could do with a major HP buff and Towers could do with a nerf so that combat lasts longer. At the moment when I march my futuristic genocidal robotic armies against an opponent, they die like tin can soldiers, not like refined sentient war machines.

I like using a combo of the tank and dox personally, tank for front link combo but the bot is cheaper then the tank and is very easy to reinforce with not to mention vs the common blobs of T2 its pretty easy to send the tanks to meet them but to also flank around the two sides with dox for maximum dmg plus I find dox great at being able to quickly catch shellers and sniper bots out of position so I like having both and don't think they cover the same roll.

I think people just tend to randomly decide one is better and use it xD which is abit silly... a mix of units available has won me many games as its harder to factor in counters to many threats of different types then to just counter a massive threat of one type ^^

oh as for the grenadiers vs dox I would like both as it will add more to the stregy and use of T1 units plus it will provide another unit that can be mixed into formations to provide another type of to dmg a target

Turning the tank into a mortar vehicle and leaving the dox as it is might be more interesting. That would keep t2 vehicles from overlapping in their role with the t1 tank.

I use them as cannon fodder for Slammers and Snipers and support the lot with T1 Combat Fabbers. Works a treat. I like me some Bots though.

On reflection having both would probably be pretty cool. Not a major distinction in this case - just how Adaptable Vs. Specialised you want units to be.

It has gotten better, ants (or now Unit Cannon or whatever) would one shot eachother, but i agree, more health is can look cooler as you can start having these long lines of tanks exchanging fire. That, and were all addicted to WC3, we dont like units dying so fast xD

Hell yes WC3 highfive!



Even in Total Annihilation the units had a lot of HP. I love the way PA looks, I just wish the combat would last longer.