So, if LB's are worthless...

Hi, OP here (Original poster). I think this is the winner so far; when it comes to game design (I have some experience), you have to look at it this way. You don't get to just balance things out, you have to look at purpose as well. What's the LB supposed to be? You need to have a clear idea, otherwise you really can't progress any further. I think we can agree it's supposed to be cheap defense that doesn't hold up long-term, or to long-term options. Your suggestion would be just that: Make it slightly less cost-effective than a RockIt, but also slightly less cost; in other words, it's not quite as good of a value, but you get by spending less money and get something that, in a pinch, works. However, if you've got the extra $325 to spare, you can go for a L2 RockIt and blow your LB out of the water.

Anyway, lots of other good ideas floating around here. Remember, what's the LB supposed to be, and how do we make it that without (ideally) having any effect on any balance elsewhere in the game, and don't infringe upon the usefulness of other classes (i.e. an LB with capabilities to set assassin's on fire would make the tank slightly less useful because as it is, because that's one of his defining characteristics, or an LB with splash damage devalues RockIts because they're currently the only option for close-mid range, direct fire splash damage...you get the idea).

I'd be cool with this as long as it stopped giving insta-juice to everyone who comes a knocking.

my thinking was to make LB's have a more specialized role against pros since, as i remember from my 2 rounds on 360 and 5 rounds on steam, rockits can be outranged.
since rockits do damage to multiple enemies, it seems to make sense as a defense more focused on the bot waves, which are how a game is won. them still being more expensive seems reasonable to me.
LB's have better range (again, i might be wrong) and their current state of "free juice dispenser" seem to be a good reason to have them pose more of a threat to the pros. this would make placing/destroying which kinds of turrets more of a strategic choice instead of an obvious and immediate benefit. it's also kind of dull seeing only one kind of turret each round.

unless the LB's were intended as cheap and temporary defense =/

just my opinions

LBs I believe are the same range as Rockits, but the main thing is that a level 3 LB takes longer to build, costs more, and has less health/damage output than a level 1 Rockit turret.

There is literally no upside to building an LB over a Rockit Turret. Even if the range was slightly better it still would be more effective to buy a rockit due to the fact you have a limited number of nodes.

The problem is that even if the LB was intended as a temporary quickly set up defense it ends up still being worse than a Rockit due to the fact it costs more and takes longer to build.

Plus you are effectively giving your enemy free juice, or at minimum a fair bit of cash since they die so easily.

Honestly I fear a level 2 firebase more than I fear a level 3 Laser Blazer.

so true lol

The problem with the LB's is even if they were free, they'd still be useless. They are so fragile that they are not worth the cost of a turret nub.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeexactly. Money in this game -- in terms of turret costs, especially the LB -- is almost a non issue. Making the LB expendable does not mean making it cheap, it means making the repercussions of it being destroyed less severe than that of other turrets. Cost is not the only repercussion, and the destroyed turret nub is extremely severe.

Which is why they should either leave undamaged nubs so that things can be built again immediately, or the damaged state of a turret nub left by a destroyed LB should be reduced significantly so a turret can be erected again.

I mean I know it's my own idea but I really like the thought of screwing around with the destroyed turret nub element rather than tweaking price or strength or other such "direct" approaches to balancing a turret.

LB's should also be salvageable so you can replace all those level 1's noobs build.

Here is the easiest, best fix I ever heard for lazorblazors.

Return lazorblazors to their original xbox release armor and damage. It was strong enough to kill lights in 4 seconds, heavies in 7.

Then, make them cost 2x more for each level.

This makes them cheap, useful IN COMBONATION with rokkits and shaveice, yet worth as much as a lvl2 rokkit. A lvl2 lazorblazor would do as much as a lvl3, give less juice when taunted, and cost as much. A new (old fashon) lvl3 would cost as much as a lvl2 rokkit, and would fire more for slightly less damage. It would have so many uses then, and people could still build them for cheap defences.