A way to change bombers of both kinds into dedicated anti-building units!

With the way bombers are currently implemented (Talking to you basic bomber!) The supposed role of bombers being anti-building units rather then anti-surface in general hasn't really occurred, in fact it's far by one of the most effective methods of destroying enemy troops and commanders!

However it has dawned on me that there lies a solution to the the problem that doesn't affect the hard hitting power of advanced bombers!

Instead of the current way their bombs work with the free fall, how about the use of para-bombs?





The use of parachutes could allow bombs from bombers to fall more slowly, giving time to units underneath to try and move out of the way, while leaving the slower ships and buildings no chance as such an escape.

I believe that this will allow bombers to retain their power, and fear factor whilst keeping them in the role of anti-building units.

They're not going to be anti-building until it takes them less than, what is it, 10 passes? to kill a single mex.

This if for T2 bombers as well.

This sounds nice on paper, but it would feel rather counterintuitive in practice. "Why are my bombs falling so slow? And AA can't shoot tbem?" Etc.

Spread formations and removing bomber stacking is the big fix here. Bombers then become about wide area damage, such as to bases and boats. Mex sniping can be left to gunships or ground raiders like dox.

t3 bombers in FA worked just fine without being the super army killer that t2 bombers in PA are.
I think the main point is that the bombers can drop too many bombs with too big aoe too quickly onto armies that clump up horribly.
Make them drop bombs slower, make them fly bigger circles between attacks and make the aoe lower.

I just don't feel like they should have the ability to just instantly nuke a target.

Well that is because the bombers aren't the same, so how can we compare them?

The T3 bomber from FA was more of a precision bomber in practise anyway, no way you would have them hitting troops considering their cost and build time.

I really don't mind the AOE, if the hit, they hit.

But the ability for a carpet bomber to fly over a commander or even a land scout and for that single unit to be totally helpless and to simply have to accept their fate, even while moving in the mean time just seems very bizarre to me.

A bit like the catapult with the tracking, its just so strange.

Well, ideally, it'd be less of an instant nuke and more of a sustained peppering of damage. If said peppering is long enough to reduce a base to ashes, so be it, but it's a bigger investment with more readily available counters than a nuke. Keep in mind that spreading out the bombers also means they're exposed to more surface area for AA fire, rather than being able to slip through a single hole in the defense. Gunships should be kept for that particular role, IMO.

Most of a bomber's weak points happen AFTER they attack. The only problem is figuring out how to survive the first strike.

Easy.

Air Superiority. don't even let the damn things get airborne.

you see one, you hunt down its factory and murderificate it. because if you don't, 100 more will come.
GAURANTEED.


sometimes the best way to deal with a situation is to not even let it develop.

Supreme Commander 2 had this issue. If we can use formation to spread our units widely we can counter bomber AOE that way.

There is nothing wrong with bombers bombing a concentrated blob of units for heavy casualties if they are counter-able by spreading your weapons a bit. You are left with a strategic decision.

And what of stationary armies, or armies so large they don't have anywhere to go, because some part of them is always going to be under the rain of incredibly slowly falling bombs?

Mind you, bombs already fall fairly slowly, air units are just so close to the ground that it's a short fall. And if T1 bombers' bombs take longer to land, chances are good they won't even be able to harass lone fabbers (much less their favorite hobby of being generally bad at everything).

On a slightly different note:

Why is it that we have the Advanced bomber being the AoE bomber with the Basic one being single target? If we're talking specialist vs generalist, then would not the AoE be more of a generalist role?

Now, I'm not wanting the Basic bomber to be a crazy power swarm-killer, but wouldn't moving the Basic bomber to general anti-army and building-bloc harass with the Advanced being the specialist 'siege-breaker' designed to kill entrenched positions create a more dynamic system with the bombers?

Sadly this idea would require quite a bit of effort to get the Basic bomber to a point where it is not a complete army lock-out, but it would allow for a much larger space for balancing the Advanced bomber without stepping on the toes of the basic bomber. (And probably require a HP bump to artillery and turrets, but having artillery being a bit more necessary wouldn't be too bad if it was more accessible)

[And on a different tangent, why is it that Advanced stuff is so expensive and hardy? If we're doing the generalized/specialized route, then wouldn't having the basic being slightly higher HP make more sense? and it would also allow for the advanced stuff being more accessible/cheaper without making them completely unbalanced. - Hmm, maybe time to search thoroughly and then make/necro a thread.]

The t1 bomber has splash. Just not that much. But you can kill multiple targets with it as well.

Yeah really it just needs a very slight damage boost to be good enough.

"Never let it happen" is an extremely bad game dynamic. One of the worst. The best dynamics allow both sides to trade blows at any time.

The game devs came from Supcom, and as such only understand RTS gameplay in terms of mudflated attributes and target restrictions. It's the main reason I joined the forums in the first place!

surely thats just your lack of AA causing the problem?

Well that is the thing, even with a proper warning a group of these bombers are very difficult to take down even with huge numbers of T1 fighters.

i can definitely agree to the need of both sides being able to trade blows, but the problem again is that, as it currently stands, the first person's "blow" using T2 bomber spam is effectively so great, and so unblockable, that if he hits the right targets, the second player cannot hit back, period. it becomes a 1-hit-KO. especially if that first target is the commander.

the T2 AA was a response to this all-too-effective tactic. but they are overpowered themselves.

an OP response to an OP tactic, courtesy of the devs.

but i have the utmost faith that this will (eventually) be straightened out.
remember, this is beta, things change, things break. things get all outta whack sometimes.

also, here's a fun thought.

if we get para BOMBS.....


why not para BOTS?

I don't think this fits the flavor at all, especially on planets without air. There's no reason to use slow bombs over fast bombs. If there is a reason that could convince a group of killer robots, I'd love to hear it.