2.2 discussion for Commanders (infantry need not apply)

I could care less about the infantry weapon annoyances in this thread since I only love this game for the RTS aspects (and despise CTF maps as always - go play TF2 if you want that mode)
----------
my impression after half dozen or so commed 2.2 games
---------
Plasma cannon is still underpowered. It needs a buff in either damage, heat to target, or further reduced heat output. It now does the same damage as a standard cannon, and the heat to target is so negligible, I see no reason to research it over the ranged, HE or rail cannons.

Plasma MG got debuffed to the point where I no longer understand it's purpose. 6 heat to you and the target... OK? Good luck getting anyone to research this now (as if it was ever used before!)

Salvo Homing, I feel these are still junk because of the heat added (60?).

Guided/homing are now more viable w/ clip size and damage buffs.

Nukes/Rails are debuffed to add balance. I feel the debuffs/buffs applied make them more fair, and still have their uses.

Comp armor is still a great armor, for the right scenario, which is hardly ever on a public server. I like to put them on medium tanks, and refuse to get heavies, so we have very strong fleets of quick tanks that cost the same as a heavy w/ the same HP. BUT, everyone throws a tantrum, so I still can find no viable usage for composite unfortunately. Reactive is my all around favorite at this point in time. (I love absorbant for low cost and large amount of tanks you can afford, but once again, players complain, as they can not adjust to changing the 'norm')

good job buffing bio warheads by lowering their weight, I always thought 120 was stupid heavy for their application.

 

Good luck getting people to try out new things or tactics. Good points though

 

Missile are godlike now.
I just need to find the research pattern to get NF heavy's with missiles fast while not killing the early game, as I should win everything.
I am thinking a bio engine/regen rush followed up by upgraded missiles or guided.

Well, just need to find out what to research.

 

abs/coolant HEMG/UGL should be a not bad combo right now.

 

I tested that combo. Only problem is early game, well tanks are near useless.

 

Salvo homing missiles were reduced to 4 heat per missile I believe. that makes it like 16 heat total?

anyhow, not 60 heat.

Artillery tanks are the way to go, either rush arty or get some different armors. Absorbant armor seems to work better now, it is at least viable.

My suggestion would be to NOT get bio unless you know the enemy won't get bio MG"s and war heads. Now that bio armor is fixed, you are much better off doing Bio engine / some other armor with it's related weapon in the armor tree.

 

Guided is the new UML now

 

That is good though. You have to get UML then you have to get the tracking stuff. Its not like you can just research upgraded guided in one place.

 

That's not what he meant. But that would make sense.

Unfortunately, Guided ML research gives you Guided and Upgraded Guided, as well, Homing gives you Homing salvo, homing, and upgraded homing.

 

I've noticed a lot more choices for commanders than in 2.12. With rails and nukes de-emphasized and other starting weapons buffed up (such as BioMG), it leaves more options and encourages more tactical thinking (Is my enemy going to go regen? Reactive? What if he went reflective? Etc).

I'm really glad to see this, it makes games more varied and interesting than 2.12.

I haven't quite found a good research path yet, but going bio (bio engine, regen) -> mech (spawn points) or EE (reactive, 3phase) -> mech (spawn point) seems to be a good start for either side.

 

Well I think that 2.2 was a good vehicle re-balancing (not perfect, but a big step in the right direction). As far as research goes, in the past day I have seen Bio Warhead and MG researched and don't think I have seen that more than once or twice in the 6 months beforehand. It seems that regen/bio diesel isn't exactly a given anymore (unless you're going for a quick rush). All in all, I think it will lead to very interesting games. And with my 2.12 mindset still fresh, I played a game where I tried a dual rail tank against an NF team that had HEMG and comp (loading missles as well). Needless to say, my BE tank couldn't even hold enough regen armor to make a dual rail tank remotely viable. Good times.

 

Comm controls got seriously screwed up in 2.2.

Binding the rotate key to a mouse button doesn't work anymore.
Binding the voice key to a mouse button doesn't work in comm view anymore.

And yes I reported these bugs months ago.

Comming just got harder.

 

A good officer grows up from the ranks...

you know, there's a good reasonfor the saying "a good officer (or commander) grows up from the ranks", you would do well to dwell on such truths...

 

well, needless to say,

researching apc spawns is important, even moreso for BE (because AFVs are trash)

Artillery is still not good to research, but that's because of player skill

scouts and riflemen are even more useless now, so more bitching about not being engineers/grens ensues

level 3 turrets are probably even more effective

 

Hardly anyone uses Bio Weapons still, maybe the machine gun, which is still junky against tanks for the damage over time. Arty is still fantastic, but so damn expensive. 670+weapons+armor usually is around 1100 res. I have to lock the VF which usually results in non stop whining, and I can't control who grabs tanks half the time. But arty is always feared when supported properly.

 

If you're doing badly, bio MG can dig you right out of a grave.

 

I enjoy the new research tree... it's alot better. The only issue I have is researching APC spawning. It really doesn't seem right and it's almost as if every commander is going to research it eventually anyway.

 

I've played this mod for years. It's difficult to get these people to try new tactics, they get so used to their default strategies, that if you stray, even with explanation, there is mutiny.

 

Nothing wrong with medium tanks. That is a good holdover for heavies if resources are low or you want to get a quick one up on the other team. The damage you may do with the quicker rush of mediums may win you the game, and you can have more tanks on the field usually then if you rush heavies.

I enjoy the new weaponry tweaks, it brings more choices. I will leave my preffered paths secret, in case i meet you on the battlefield.

 

It is there to slowdown APC rushing. Not everyone will want to research it.