How does one best use t3 snipers and the spearhead?

[MrTBSC]

pretty much the title, i just don´t see people use them in 1v1s .. maybe in a teammatch but even there it´s rare ..

judging by the unitlist assuming it´s up to date with FAF´s latest liveversion
http://direct.faforever.com/faf/unitsDB/?

aeonsniper has to compete with the t3 mobile artillery that while having a lower RoF and smallest AoE of the MAs does more damage even if with damage over time, not to mention unlike other MAs it´s capable of firing on the move and has longer range

vs bricks and percivals you need 8 to oneshot 1 of each vs harbs and phim t3 tanks you need 4 and 5 respectively

compared to that the Aoen T3 MA even with the small AoE is still capable to damage more units per shot depending on how clumped up they are .. to which it would theoretically require 6 shots for percies and bricks to die quick enough and 5 for a phim t3 tank, 3 for harbs ..

the sniper obviously requires mobile shields to survive which in case of Aeon seem to be the cheapest in maintainace or otherwise need harbs as meat shields ... if units get in range of it however unprotected .. it´s ded ..

phim sniper is more or less the same except that phim have access to a larger and sturdier msg and you need only 4 sniperbots to oneshot bricks and percies and 3 for harbs and phim t3 tanks ... also compared to the Aoen t3 MA the the phimvariant does half the damage but for a larger AoE but the high damage of the phim sniper could make it be favorable to use
still both sniperbots have the problem that terrain, even just small hills can block their shots ..


spearhead ... yea ... problem with it is that a cybran player easily can send its missiles back with loyalists ...
against aeon it has "only" stationary tmd to fair which like loyalists send the missiles back to their origin ...

now while other tmd "merely" can decrease or maybe even nullify the damage of the spearhead it seems able to take out a fully upgreaded mexx in 3 salvos .... .... it´s also pretty damn cheap for a t3 unit and take 7 to 10 salvos to take out a t3 stationary shield ..
it also seems to have the furthest non T3 MA weaponrange ..

so yea ... how would you use them ... if at all ....

[keyser]

against aeon it has "only" stationary tmd to fair which like loyalists send the missiles back to their origin ...

aeon tmd doesn't send back the missile, it only redirect them up in the sky (and kill them)

sniper bot are actually quite strong, most of aeon vs aeon match up end up into snipers spam.
they are also a needed unit to deal with brick/percy, so they can soften/kill them, before they get in range of harbi/othuums.
you can also use some shield disruptor as aeon to soften the other faction mobile shield, to allow sniper to do damage.
T3 mobile arty are the counter to sniper bot.

as for T3 MML, it's a rare unit to see in a battlefield. Mostly because people go out of habit for the T3 mobile arty. Mobile arty covers pretty much the same goal as T3 MML, which is to fend of fire base/put pressure on base. But T3 mobile arty are more versatile by being better against units, and not being countered by tmd. Though T3 MML can still be seen to put pressure on fire base. Basically if there is few build power to spam tmd, T3 MML will get the job done faster. I guess also putting an odd T3 MML into an army mix can be useful, forcing opponent to constantly dodge or else he will lose unit for free pretty fast. If you face a main base (teamgame scenario) i would advice you to build 4-5 without showing them, then using them all at one. These T3 MML will easily overrun the tmd, kill them and wreck havoc on the base from far.

[Morax]

For sniper bots, I highly recommend setting your t3 factory to the following queue:

1 sniper bot, 1 flack, 2 shields, 2 sniper bots on repeat. The bot is a "glass cannon" and needs to have some handy micro to keep shield, flack nearby.

Spearheads are basically a "for fun" unit in my opinion. I don't know why this thing even exists as it's a complete failure in cost/ performance compared to t3 mobile arty as keyser has stated.

[noobymcnoobcake]

Spearheads are mostly an anti shield unit. Think of them more like absolvers for bases. They are much more cost effective than T2 MML. The cost per DPS is much, much lower than arty.