Idea: Commander Symbiosis "upgrade" method

I know PA won't have the generic upgrade techtree thing to upgrade/enhance units,
though for late game you would still want your ACU to be useful and not just a big nuke sitting in your base waiting to be killed.

So the idea i had was the option to "merge" your commander with any unit on the battlefield.
The commander can only be "merged" with 1 unit at a time, but doing so will transfer abilities from the unit to the ACU and give them a boost.

A few examples:

ACU + T2 engineer = ACU with T2 building options and increased nanolathe speeds
ACU + Atillerytank = ACU with long range weaponry
ACU + scout kbot = fast walking/fleeing ACU
ACU + aircraft = flying ACU
ACU + shield tank = shielded ACU
ACU + Submarine = torpedo ACU that can defend itself while being submerged

If you want you could again detach/undo your symbiosis and pick another unit.
The thing is, there is only one ACU per team and it can only merge with 1 other unit at a time, so this allows for versatility without making it OP

When a ACU is merged you can see the unit actually attached/folded onto the ACU, like in those cheesy japanese 90's mech live action tv series

Battlefield units are the pinnacle of mass production and combat efficiency. The Commander is the absolute pinnacle of technology and compact form. There is nothing on the field that could possibly have anything the Commander wants or needs. If anything, the Comm is going to have tech that can not be matched by anything else!

If you want a particular utility, build that unit.

I totally disagree with you, and think the OP has a great idea. You say the commander has everything it possibly wants? It can't build tech two. Ever. I want it to be able to do that in later game. It can't build on top of flat terrain features because it cant fly. I want it to be able to do that. The commander is very very susceptible to bomber sniping, I would like to be able to make him tougher.

No commander upgrades is going to seriously limit the commanders usefulness in later game, the OP has suggested a pretty cool idea to get around the no upgrades stance!

I would love to see this implemented.

The Commander doesn't need to build tech two. Ever. If the Comm doesn't have enough units to build tech 2 independently of itself, then it doesn't have enough units. T1 is cheap and plentiful. Use it.

Air constructors. Transports. High terrain is very restrictive to land units as is, so it's a poor place to plop your Commander.

No amount of HP will protect the Commander from a directed attack. The best safety option is to not be attacked at all. Several options exist to protect the Comm against broad based and specific styles of attack. If a particular unit composition becomes a problem, it's not a problem to fix.

You do not avoid upgrades by implementing upgrades (but different!). That does not even make sense. It is not a problem to have all necessary equipment on the Commander from the start of the game. There are superior ways to adjust when a Commander's ability becomes available or viable.

You also seem to be confused on the Commander's role. Have a quick read:

I was going to quote out all the things you said and put across my counter arguments, but I can already tell you have a well formed opinion of how you want the commander to be in PA.

I guess you and I are simply not going to agree how the commander should be. That's ok. It also looks like your in luck, because the team at Uber seem to agree with your way of seeing things.

It is my belief (and will continue to be my belief until I'm proved wrong) that with the way things are currently going, the commander will become less useful as a game progresses, simply becoming a liability towards the end. I feel like this is a shame, when I feel the commander by nature should be a special unit.

If it is not included in the release game, hopefully someone from the modding community will get involved and make it (or just some nice commander upgrades) happen.

Regardless, I think the OP had a plenty cool idea.

MICROMANAGEMENT-BIASED SUGGESTION ALERT.

DISPATCHING FLAMERS.

Keep in mind there will be multiple types of Commanders. All with something unique about them. Remember Alpha and all.

The commander becoming a liability in late game is exactly the purpose of that design.

Also, it being the game ending unit makes it special enough in my opinion.

Ending the game is nice. It means you can start a new game. No one really wants to spend an hour purging half a dozen worlds of the last enemy bits when you've already won. (Even if you do, there's a game type for that)

I've certainly posted various methods in the past to keep Comm special as the game progresses. Perhaps the most relevant is keeping in tune with its original role and purpose from TA/Supcom.

The Commander is the first unit to hit a planet. It is meant to be self sufficient and capable of building a base. So the best role for it is clearly related to planetary expansion! If a world gets too crowded for your Comm, launch into space and start anew.

I thought the commanders would all be the exact same but with a different skin/look? I believe they mentioned the commander will have no special abilities besides the D-gun. Sure the modders can create a cool commander set of upgrades so he can fight on all fronts.

The plan is a little different, Gonna copy from an older post of mine cause typing it out every time is tiring.

I'm gonna clear this up before it runs rampart.

First off, if you have access to the Backer's Lounge, Read this thread instead, it's much more indepth. If you've pre-ordered and don't have access you should PM Garat to get that fixed up.

Anyways, here is the short version of what we know so far based on talks with Neutrino back when the Delta was the new kid on the block.

All abilities will be part of the same pool. Think of it this way, there are 8 Abilities, A-H.

Alpha might have A+D
Progenitor might have B+G
Delta might have D+F
My Custom Commander might Have C+E


Ability D is the same for Both Alpha and Delta, or any other Commander that uses it. Along with that it meas that over time as we get more and more Commanders, depending on the size of the Ability Pool, some of those commanders will share teh same abilities as other commanders.

Whether the differences stop with Abilities, we don't know yet thought it seems likely.

Mike

hmm i thought all "special abilities" for the alpha/beta commanders would be the same as any "non-backer" commander to avoid a "pay/back to win" scenario.

My idea of combining the commander with units is not to change the role of the commander in battle or to make it a critical part of your main attack force, its not about using your adapted commander to defeat a opponent. (except if theres only a few units left alive)

The combining would mostly be to provide versatility to the commander, maybe even one "combination" lets the commander travel between planetoids without the help of a rocket/spaceship. The main idea behind symbiosis is to provide some form of asymmetry in the battle, since the ACU hunting game would also be a bit of a cat & mouse game, You won't always know how your enemy's commander is "combined".
Being able to combine your ACU will increase survivability in a certain way.
This could be boosts to things like shields, mobility, offence or stealth, but only 1 at a given moment
You won't be able to make a superfast, shielded, armored, armed stealth super commander, since that is not what the game is about.

Also to prevent rapid switching/changing of the commander, it could be made that the merge has to be "facilitated" by a engineer unit, also consuming time and resources in the process.

Did you even read my post? The whole point to having a Limited Pool of Abilities that ALL commanders are built from is to avoid Pay2Win issues. Not to mention for it to be Pay2Win to begin with the 'bought' abilities need to be 'better' than non-'bought' abilities.

Mike

yes i read your post...

Is there any confirmation on what the 8 abilities will be? I dont have access to backer forum but I thought the creators said there would be no abilities other than the Uber Gun but maybe this has changed.

No, nothing confirmed at all, just some vague comments, Neutrino is probably keeping the Commander stuff close to his chest after the mess it caused when he mentioned it the first time, as he would say, people assume the worst, when really they are in full control of what happens and aren't a bunch of idiots(or have to do what a bunch of idiots tells them) so they plan for it to be balanced and will take the steps to do that, but if it turns out with actual testing to not work, they'll do something else.

Mike