I was just wondering what you guys would think about changing the way the SSX laser is used in a pretty big way Currently it's main use is to just throw a few of them on top of a high value target and have them take out that target as soon as they arrive at (usually) the cost of the lasers themselves as the umbrellas then shoot them down after they've done their damage My idea is instead of making it a fast strike suicide weapon to take out commanders, nukes and anti-nukes instantly (which feels pretty gimmicky tbh) is to make it into an orbital artillery piece. What I mean by this is to make the laser have a much larger range (currently I think it can pretty much fire only straight down) so that it actually OUTRANGES umbrellas by a reasonable amount. To counter this, give it a longer reload time and force it to have to reload as soon as it enters orbit (so if it lands on top of a commander covered in umbrellas and fighters they can take it out) What this allows you to do is to land the laser in an area where it's not in the range of any enemy umbrellas (if the whole planet is covered, just nuke a section that only has umbrellas and no anti-nuke. If the whole planet is covered in anti-nukes too, it's either a tiny planet or you would have already lost ages ago if the guy you were fighting wasn't obsessed with wasting all of his eco on anti-nukes) and then slowly creep it towards more high value enemy territory while taking out enemy umbrellas and units and buildings as you go, opening up the possibility of creating anchors to defend the cleared land from air units and then put down some teleporters or just use the laser to take out large parts of the enemy base if they have no way of taking it out with orbital fighters, mass umbrella build spam under the laser that the laser can't kill fast enough, or an orbital nuke (those still work right?) Personally I think it would make orbital a lot more exciting to watch than just having throwaway lasers take out high value targets instantly. Orbital units in an enemy planet's orbit would be much better at breaking planetary turtles, there would be an actual orbital front line instead of some orbital fabbers surrounded by fighters trying to spam out teleporters before umbrellas kill them all, and the SSX would be less of a suicide gimmick and more of a rounded weapon. You guys think it's a good idea? Yes? No? If no why do you think the current gameplay is better? Or do you just have another idea to change the laser that you think is better?
Idea sounds interesting. Recently I've won a number of games just by sending a few SSX to land directly on top of commanders on other planets, and it felt somewhat overpowered as well as being an anticlimactic way to win. On the other hand, I noticed the SSX is barely useful at all in a single-planet system, because it can't get into a position above anything before it gets shot down, unless that stuff is undefended, in which case it's usually not the most efficient method of attack. So right now it basically relies upon the mechanic of suddenly appearing above a target and shooting at it instantly. Your suggestion seems like it would fix that. If the current functionality is kept, I think it should at least have some sort of cooldown/delay so umbrellas can counter it before it fires.
I just want to make it shoot nukes. Pew pew. (It would make you wonder why you need an annihilaser, though.)
You have got to be kidding me. No. Make it slow, not immobile. if it couldn't move it would be useless.
I like its high damage nature, and it's ability to only shoot beneath it. Id rather not allow it to fire at a greater range like a mobile artillery, when it's in the orbital layer, unless its a static orbital piece like the anchors. If anything, introduce a light artillery satellite for more standardized jobs, especially when orbital doesn't stack, and leave the SXX for the strategic snipes and high damage sing target annihilation.
Although making it unable to fire at commanders and anti nuke's the second it enters orbit would fix it's main problem, so would removing all those vulnerable and expensive units... I will keep suggesting an improved and expanded orbital shell where units can be intercepted until im blue in the face.
I don' think it would be a good idea to make the ssx outrange an umbrella, because a big orbital army with some ssx and some fighters would be unstoppable. At the moment a umbrella is the hardcounter to any orbital army and I think its mechanics are working well as it is atm. The only problem i have are the ssx snipes, where you just suicide them to get a com kill or something like that. There HAS to be a delay when orbital units enter a planets orbit. That is the only good solution I can think of. If you have better ideas, please tell me
Honestly now that I think about it, nuking any random section of an umbrella covered planet will make an opening for teleporters What we really need is some orbital ground attack ship that can cover the teleporter from units like an anchor, but have less HP and have no anti-orbital weapons so it can only cover ground units. Whether or not to let it spot the ground below it for targets or have it need orbital Sats or ground spotters, I don't know Still leaves us with a really gimmicky suicide laser, though
Like I know the meta for the laser is for a all in suicide attack but like, its a bombardment laser, it's really really good at killing just about anything on the floor. I don't see the problem with it's current function as a orbital to ground attack unit.
The SXX is alright as it is i believe, but we need a orbit-to-ground light artillery, aswell as a weaker but mobile umbrella-unit.
