Laser platform insta-snipes are a bummer

Yet another thing i find wrong with orbital is the terrible use of orbital laser to snipe the commander. It's not even strategy, just plain douche-bagginess.

Yeah, i lost a game from 5 lasers sniping my commander without me even having time to react.

The thing that really makes me mad is that i had about 10 umbrellas surrounding my commander, but because the lasers SOMEHOW KNEW EXACTLY WHERE THE COMMANDER WAS, EVEN AFTER THE SATELLITE WAS DESTROYED, the umbrellas could not do anything. To make it even worse, i had at least 3 planets controlled. One of them was about ready to annihilate the enemy that sniped me. Maybe it's just been a bad day for me.

I hope this game does not turn into a snipe-the-comm kind of RTG. (I removed the 'S' because it is not strategy.)

Some solutions that i thought of but would not help:
1. Put the commander in an astreus and leave it in orbit> This would allow avenger snipes.
2. Put the commander in a pelican and have it fly around the planet> A single nuke would take it out if placed luckily on the location of the pelican.

I do not know a solution rather than adding orbital laser unit caps.

Here's the replay: http://pastats.com/chart?gameId=169826

This has been a balance issue for a while. It's a fairly easy fix.

Whenever an orbital unit enters orbit, it needs a few seconds of warm up. Should apply to SXX and Radar Sats.

It's as simple as adding the following line to their weapon.json:

Code:

    "idle_aim_delay": <number>,

Should prevent instasnipes.

problem not that big. Put your commander on a 3-4 point zigzag patrol.

fixes simple. Give sxx ammo system, then add code to make newly spawned unit and ones entering an orbit first time to start empty.

then lower its price a bit in light of the Nerf, umbrellas are plentiful.

Almost. Put commander into Astreus and have Astreus patrol between 2 planets. (Better: Moons of two different planets for longer transfers.)

The commander will only be snipeable for mere SECONDS before going into interplanetary transfer again.
This makes you virtually unkillable. And if the target planet happens to be destroyed while in transfer:
Even better. Your commander will be stuck orbiting the sun. Impossible to destroy.

Note: You won't be able to break the patrol yourself either since the time in orbit is too low and it is impossible to select the Astreus while in transfer, but should be the least of your concerns. It's not like you had a chance to rebuild just using your commander anyway.

While that works it's also a blatant exploit. I would rather see solutions to the problem within the final balance of the game instead of abusing broken mechanics. It's my hope that BOTH of these exploits are fixed soon.

A weapon or unit capable of engaging units during interplanetary travel would fix that right up.

You mean using Avengers for interplanetary intercept maneuvers?

YES!

Uhm wait, actually: NO!

How exactly are you then supposed to transport your commander to a different planet? Your enemy would be a moron if he didn't send Avengers right after it.

No, intercepting interplanetary transfers certainly ISN'T the correct solution. There are a few alternate options though, choose any:

• Fixed transfer nodes for interplanetary travel. All spacecraft must travel towards such a node in order to enter transfer. 2 nodes per planet, shifting as the planet rotates.
• Enter orbit at TOP SPEED and use the natural low deceleration. Also force units to accelerate to top speed before moving from orbit to transfer. Doesn't hurt units like Avengers which have high acceleration/deceleration, but slowing down / accelerating "heavy" orbital units can get tricky - just as it is supposed to.
• Forced, artificial cool down after orbital insert for chosen units.

The 2n option is actually my favorite, it feels and looks the most natural. Also enables more tactics, e.g. surrounding your enemy in the orbital level and thereby strip him from a "save runway".

Actually, I would support both paths. You can send your commander via teleporter. Sending the commander in a transport should be an act of desperation and if your enemy is prepared for your move you should pay the price.

On a related note, the deep space radar should not reveal what unit type is being transferred, and I'm not sure it should even show you what orbital unit type. I would give radar blips only. The enemy can chase if he wants, but if you skatter a bunch of probes first he won't know which to hunt.


Edit: I realized I need to clarify, I support *both* intercepting units in transfer and having a need to accelerate and decelerate after interplanetary transfer.

I'm not OK with having locked orbital transfer points, as Stuart points out, in a FFA you may not have access to these points and it would heavily bias in favor of a faction who started there.

Would render interplanetary travel impossible in an FFA unless you were near one of those nodes.

Either of these work, although obviously the former is preferable.

I believe I covered part of this in THIS THREAD: https://forums.uberent.com/threads/inter-planetary-animations-for-orbital-units.59156/#post-920902

If the reverse is implemented for all orbital units (deceleration animation or something) then that would solve the problem. Also, the Laser needs to be changed to something different, imho.

I think the solution is pretty simple, like the previous TA games, add toggleable game rule for game to not end when commander dies. If it's multiplayer and people agree to it, game only ends once your whole base is destroyed.

usually if I find myself in this situation I have let the other player(s) get ahead of me in oribital and I haven't properly built up to have orbital fighters to protect me.

https://forums.uberent.com/threads/take-off-speed-for-interplanetary-transfers.61397/#post-951480

I think that thread is somewhat relevant to this. It at least offers up a general idea for orbital that would help this.

Also, I agree that deep space radar should only show blips. Knowing exactly what is coming is a bit... odd.

The whole point is that there is such a small window of opportunity to stop it that it doesn't really matter who is ahead.

Mike

The part of his comment that I agree with is that if a SXX warps in and shoots your commander immediately that is tough to defend against. I'm not suggesting that this is balanced perfectly or that it isn't an issue.

But my point is if he has 5 lazers and you have had the time to build 10 umbrella's and you saw him get a radar sat and get intel on you and destroyed it....then why haven't you moved your commanders....prepared for an invasion....put pressure on him....etc.

I have been on both sides of this coin. When I send a radar sat in I immediatly look for the commander...and then memorize then when my sat is shot down I memorize where it is, and most of the time I know what dot he is because I was watching in main screen or PIP. It requires a lot more work if he moves the commander, or if he gets off world etc.

The point is in the exact moment that the 5 death lazers warped in and took your commander out you didn't have time to react. That is like when you are in check and forced to move into check mate. You have to prepare before then. The scenario he stated in the post has enough information to say there were warning signs that should have been reacted to and weren't.

The solution is obvious - cloak the commander, like in TA. Once you had monster economy set up to power the cloak it was really quite silly not to take the precaution of hiding and cloaking him. Large energy requirements ensured it wasn't really usable in the early game. I reckon the ability was given to the commander precisely to counter end-game cheap shot snipes like the one op is describing.

Welcome to the forums! To answer your inquiry:
Yes. You are 100% Correct. The TA team did a really good job identifying issues with the game ending Commander, and designed it in an elegant way that addresses those issues directly and correctly.

You will not find those answers here. The Uber team HATES the TA commander for some unspeakable reason. Even the issues that they think would be serious issues have already been easily solved. It's just not gonna happen.

The commanders do have one thing that might be considered a bit OP against that sort of attack. Legs.

My understanding is that keeping your commander moving is the way to do what you folks want in PA. Make a teleporter chain, build a well defended line for you commander to walk up and down. If you don't want to change the way you build your structures to protect your commander, you can even have the commander walk around the edge of your base instead of sit in the bloody middle of it all day and call it good enough. As long as the orbital laser satellites can't drop on the very foot of ground that your commander is standing on, there is no instant kill. Manage your intel, keep your opponent guessing.

And hey, even commanders need exercise.

One build ago I accidentally ordered a planetary mex build with my commander and a laser platform I saw on radar earlier found and killed me easily even though I was taking control of the planet. Shoulda left it back in the relative safety of a circle of anchors.

Unfortunately, orbital lasers can now hit moving commanders, as of a few patches ago. I think a good way to fix this would be to make the SXX laser more of a building killer, only able to kill commanders if they decide to stand still. Preferably make their weapon a beam laser that does a fair bit of damage over say a 2-3 second time period, but the laser platform cannot move while firing.