to me.. building t1 mex = capture maxpoint so the opponents dont have it at least for a period of time building t2 = cashout the save masspoints that you are sure the enemy wont destroy anytime soon... lose a couple t1 mexes and you may stall lose a couple of t2 mexes and you WILL stall ... hard!
No, because without tier 2 MEX your advantage is compensated for by territory size. More MEXs mean more turrets, more ground to cover, more units needed. A larger number of small income items means more possibilities for your opponent to raid you and wear you down. Being able to focus your income in a small area negates all the disadvantages. People talk about loss of income from this focused area, but how does a losing opponent get there in the first place if you're ahead? If you're losing T2 MEX then you're losing the game because they represent the inner sphere of your territory. It means you were probably nuked.
BY RAIDING. You cannot hold onto that amount of land easily, and for the player who has been pushed off they have a more concentrated defence and is more able to push out then the more spread out player who has to slog across all of that land. And you are also ignoring the fact that T2 mexs cannot be built instantly and for free, and all that time spend upgrading will take away from your production, giving your opponent the time to push back.
QFT. Yes, in the current state an Adv. Mex replaces 4 Basic Mex, costs 4x the price and has 5x the HP. There is LITERALLY no reason to build Basic Mex once you can afford Adv. because they're NOT more cost-efficient. They should be. If they were then you could build Basic in places that you are unable to defend and therefore it's not as "high-risk" as investing resources in an Adv. This puts more value on expansion. Assuming that Basic keeps the same stats as it has now... Suggested values for Adv. Same production rate, 33% higher cost, 20% less hp. Build Cost: 2,000 metal HP: 4,000 Metal Production: 28 metal per second --- or --- Same cost, half-health, 25% less production Build Cost: 1,200 metal HP: 2,500 Metal Production: 21 metal per second The first option has a 0.8 cost-efficiency and second option has a 0.69 cost-efficiency, relative to the basic mex. For comparison, the current balance is a 1.125 c/e. Lower health means easier to destroy, means you build it where you can defend it. When it is less cost-efficient than the basic mex, it isn't a direct replacement but instead an option that pays off if you defend it long enough. The only reason I didn't suggest more extreme changes to the Adv. Mex is because on it hinges the entire end-game economy, so a major change to production rate would involve econ changes to all late-game units. Addendum: Current FAF balance has a T2 mex costing 25x mass, 15x energy for 5x health and 3x production. That's a 0.2 c/e. In TA, a Moho mine produced ~3x metal at ~23x cost. For a 0.13 c/e. (No info on health)
This thread makes the same points I wanted to bring up. I cant help but feel that the advanced MEX violates the no upgrades rule. I also feel they are too powerful, they cause your metal income to spiral upwards fast enough that it was outpacing my ability to build new stuff.
no advanced metal spots need to stay in the game. they are very important to make economy as important as it is right now, and PA needs to have important economy.
