the skiter

Forcing the wrong role with the wrong unit is dishonest design. It fails to account for where a unit excels and creates extra issues where it should not. There is nothing good about it and it should not be encouraged in any way.

Stop adding lies to your arguments. Land scouts not only have an attribute that everyone else has, they aren't even equipped to provide it very well. The flying variant does it all, and it does it better. If you're so hell bent on making an inferior scout, then work into an ability of the flying scout. For example, the scout's weapon could act as a Starcraft Parasite, offering temporary vision on any unit it hits. Now the flying scout has air AND land vision, and the land variant is totally DEAD.

The land scout is a low riding vehicle. How can it possibly have greater vision reach than the countless taller units in the game? While you may be completely unfamiliar with how a horizon works, it is still something that doesn't make any sense in context.

le sigh
You say i'm lying but i'm just going to have to stop you there. Air scouts have the same attribute that everything else has as well. What are we really arguing here. It doesn't have the same speed? There for the land scout is redundant?


We seem to be on opposite fences here on the skitter

• I want it to just be, Fast, provide good vision. very cheap.

You want it to be

• Fast, provide good vision, cheap, Reclaim Metal, reclaim walls. (at least your initial design)

I see a role overlap with: Fabricators of all kinds and Combat Fabbers.
Might as well add the nano lathe to the Sunfish and let naval scouts do the same thing.

Anyway. I don't feel like your arguments of:

• It sucks, air scouts are better in every way
• Its not realistic because of the curvature of planets.

Realism and personal preference aside. Scouts need to be in all layers, and I don't need an extra incentive to have them in my army since they provide such good vision.

Why would a scout have a nanolathe? That doesn't make any sense at all. Maybe an advanced support scout that has one, but not a basic scout.

I said it once before, but I will repeat it:

Give it an attribute that supports it's role of information. Make it either stealth or stealth AND cloaked when stationary. This way you can send it in early on and have pretty solid information of that area so long as it doesn't move.
As for the sunfish, maybe give it an anti-torpedo system or something so that it can go into defended naval areas and block shots for the main force.

I second the idea of the skittle () having stealth/cloak when stationary (visible only when a unit is in close proximity, not to radar). Gives it a unique, balanced function consistent with its role.

That's actually a pretty decent idea! Since the naval scout has abandoned the TA tradition of being an anti-air unit, it could use a change of pace. However, heavy metal wreckage isn't exactly something you find on the surface, so a surface scavenger is pretty dumb. It'd be better off as a submersible or a bottom crawler. Heck, just making the scout vessel submersible would change things up pretty quick. Adding a melee reclaim weapon would turn it into a bona fide raider.

Not quite. Air scouts can:
A) Both hit air and ground.
B) Successfully pass over an entire enemy base.

That already makes them about a dozen times better than anything a land scout could ever do. Add a parasite-style ability to the flying scout, and the land role is completely dead.

There is no overlap with the front line role, because fabbers don't belong on the front line. A fabber that excels in battle is being dishonest with the constructor role. A unit that builds literally anything in the game can defend itself by building anything in the game. Lathing is a last resort for battle.

The land scout is already trumped 10 times over by anything in the air. An improvement to air scouts can make that 50 times better. Extra vision range can be given to practically anything else on the ground, such as artillery or AA or radar stations or towers. Cloaking can be given to anything that needs it, such as anti-bombers and ambushing units. A permanent map presence trumps any kind of temporary one, which is something air can not do and is somewhat stuck on the ground. Littering the map with dots is a role for unit cannons and transports and fabbers.

The land scout is not only in a position to add nothing to the table, it is superceded by units that need those features more than the scout does! So pull the damn life support. It's a crap unit with a dead end role in need of an overhaul.

Adding multiple effects to one unit is again turning that unit into a super unit. Even though you say its used for raiding. A unit can be split into two separate units with their own cons and benefits. The idea of a Scout sub is something worth exploring though.

missed my point, Vision is what I was referring to. I would prefer if I can just have a land scout so I don't have to build an air factory to perform all my scouting needs. Sometimes I don't need to pass over an enemy base. maybe I just need to see the edge of their base and any troop movements. Which a land scout is great for.

There is no overlap with the front line role, because fabbers don't belong on the front line. A fabber that excels in battle is being dishonest with the constructor role. A unit that builds literally anything in the game can defend itself by building anything in the game. Lathing is a last resort for battle.
.[/quote]
This is more opinion then fact. Engineers are great to be in the back of a death ball to provide structure support. Sort of like the engineer in Team fortress 2. Giving the skitter a nanolathe is now giving 3 units the same ability to reclaim and repair. It would be arbitrary if a scout could only repair and reclaim which a combat fabricator could probably do. Why can't there be separate roles for separate units? I guess I argue why not give the land scout something that promotes scouting instead of reclaiming units. reclaiming units would be nice for every unit to have that ability. I just don't like the idea of adding it randomly to a land scout.

That would help to diversify the naval scout.

So, why do we have combat fabbers? Do they not belong in this game? That's what you're saying. Adding reclaim to a scout just gives 3 units the same ability. How does that not classify as an overlap?