T3 Gunship reworks

[Kat]

I have been thinking for quite a while about how to make the other T3 gunships useful.

My personal opinion on the current state of the Aeon Restorer gunship is that it is over powered in comparison to the other gunships, and ASF as well. With that said... I still believe that faction diversity is what makes this game so interesting and fun to play. The Restorer should have some decent AA ability.

Cybran T3 "Wailer" gunship:
Old || New
Mass: 1,680 -> 1,500
Energy: 52,500-> 50,000
Build Rate: 8,400 -> ??? (unsure yet)

HP: 5,900 -> 5,000
Intel: 32 -> 30
Speed: 8 -> 10 (maybe 12?)
Wreckage: 1,512 -> 1,250 (mass)
AtG Dmg: 300 -> 300 |Disintegrator Pulse Laser
Range: 25 -> 30
Fire cycle: 5 projectiles every second. (60 damage/projectile)
AtA Dmg: 18 -> 50 |Nanite Missile system
Range: 38 -> 40
Fire cycle: 2 missiles every second. (25 damage/missile)
Velocity: 13 -> 30
Lifetime: 2 -> 4
Air crash: 100 -> 100

Ability: Radar Jamming -> Stealth (100 Energy to run)

Why these changes?

As Cybrans, we are the cloak and dagger faction utilizing stealth (while sacrificing HP) to bring high damage units to bear quickly. Lower HP & build cost coupled with a relatively quick build rate is our specialty. The missile system on the Wailer was lacking. Why have it if we can barely take on t2 fighters effectively? Velocity & lifetime increased to make more it useful against t3 fighters / other gunships.


UEF T3 "Broadsword" Gunship:

Old || New
Mass: 1,680 -> 1,750
Energy: 52,500-> 53,000
Build Rate: 8,000 -> ??? (unsure yet)

HP: 6,000 -> 5,000 (maybe lower *if* with shield as shields overlap and could cause problems)
+Bubble Shield: (100 Energy to run)
HP xxxx -> 1,000 (15Hp/s regen + [30 second recharge time after disabled])*
Intel: 32 -> 35
Speed: 8 -> 8
Wreckage: 1,512 -> 1,750 (mass)
AtG Dmg: 300 -> 400 |Heavy Plasma Cannon
Range: 25 -> 30
Fire cycle: 1 projectile every second. (400 damage/projectile)
AtA Dmg: 2 -> Removed |Linked Railgun
Range: 44 -> Removed
Fire cycle: Removed
Velocity: 13 -> Removed
Lifetime: 2 -> Removed
Air crash: 100 -> 100

Ability: Not applicable -> Shield

Why these changes?

UEF combat engineers decided to make an aerial tank that would pack a punch. SO in true UEF fashion, they created one. This gunship, much like it's ground counterparts, is prone to heavy overkill, but when attacking heavier T3 & T4 units its damage is unmatched. Shields are a UEF specialty, and this lovely gunship can use it negate some damage while not in attack range. With so much front loaded firepower, those Chipheads and Loyalists wont stand a chance!


Aeon T3 "Restorer" Anti-Air Gunship:

Old || New
Mass: 1,200 -> 1,200
Energy: 52,500-> 50,000
Build Rate: 8,000 -> ??? (unsure yet)

HP: 6,500 -> 5,500

Intel: 32 -> 35
Speed: 8 -> 6 (Possibly 7)
Wreckage: 1,080 -> 1,080 (mass)
AtG Dmg: 120 -> 100 |Quad Light Laser
Range: 25 -> 25
Fire cycle: 4 projectiles every second. (25 damage/projectile)
AtA Dmg: 71 -> 75 |Zealot Anti Air Missile system X 2
Range: 60 -> 65
Fire cycle: 1 projectile every 1 second. (75 damage/projectile)
Velocity: 35 -> 40
Lifetime: 4 -> 4
Air crash: 100 -> 100

Ability: Not applicable

Why these changes?

At the heart of Aeon strategy there lies one main ideal: to bring cost-effective specialized air units to the front as quickly as possible. While the Cybrans have the ability to move quietly throughout the battlefield, and the UEF gunships certainly pack one hell of a punch, the Aeon gunship fills its role: Aerial area denial. With an insane amount of anti air range exceeding that of a SAM launcher, and a hard hitting missile to boot, this gunship will instill fear of those who do not follow the "Way".




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What I was going for:

Inside of normal radar range:
Cybran (Kiting) > UEF > Aeon

Inside of Omni:
Aeon (Kiting) > UEF > Cybran

Inside of visual ranges:
Aeon (Kiting) > UEF > Cybran

I would LOVE constructive criticism, and will change stats if a valid point is raised a few times. These values are in no way perfect, and were just written down to give an idea as to what I was proposing.


-Hex(Spook)

[Mycen]

I have been thinking for quite a while about how to make the other T3 gunships useful.

Interesting that you go into this with the assumption that they are not useful.

As Cybrans, we are the cloak and dagger faction utilizing stealth (while sacrificing HP) to bring high damage units to bear quickly. Lower HP & build cost coupled with a relatively quick build rate is our specialty. The missile system on the Wailer was lacking. Why have it if we can barely take on t2 fighters effectively? Velocity & lifetime increased to make more it useful against t3 fighters / other gunships.

About speed - For bringing high damage to bear quickly and stealthily, Cybrans have the Revenant. It seems odd to me that the faction's heavy gunship would have the same speed as the light and regular gunships - almost as fast as a dedicated AA air unit! Is that right?

About the change from jamming to stealth - Gunships' primary roles are raiding undefended targets, defense, and supporting ground units. They are not meant to infiltrate enemy airspace and strike targets by surprise (that's strategic bombers) so stealth is not appropriate for them. Jamming is perfect for their role though, as it increases their survivability when facing light or medium AA, as is common when supporting a ground engagement.

As far as the missile system - As a gunship, the Wailer's role is to attack ground targets, not aircraft. The missiles are intended for self-defense, not to make gunships self-sufficient. They can protect themselves against basic interceptors and, in a group, against stray ASFs that manage to get past your own ASFs to attack the gunships. They cannot fight off large groups of interceptors, and lose overwhelmingly against ASFs. This is how it should be.

Considering they can use their primary 300 DPS weapon against other gunships, there is hardly any need for increased capability there.

UEF combat engineers decided to make an aerial tank that would pack a punch. SO in true UEF fashion, they created one. This gunship, much like it's ground counterparts, is prone to heavy overkill, but when attacking heavier T3 & T4 units its damage is unmatched. Shields are a UEF specialty, and this lovely gunship can use it negate some damage while not in attack range. With so much front loaded firepower, those Chipheads and Loyalists wont stand a chance!

My first question here would be how a one second fire cycle leads to heavy overkill. Considering the time it takes for the Broadsword to switch between targets as it is, you're really not losing much, if any, DPS going from the current fire cycle to the one you propose. So basically you're just adding 70 DPS. Why?

Also, I find your premise that shields are a UEF specialty odd. Lore-wise, they actually have some of the least advanced shield technology. While they have more shielded units than any other faction purely by number, that is not because they have a special emphasis on shields. As the faction most focused around unit synergies, the Fatboy's or Continental's shields are to protect units working with them. The Parashield and Bulwark are merely "duplicate" mobile shields. Aeon and Seraphim don't have naval shields because their hover shields serve both purposes. If we're talking about units that have shields primarily to increase their own combat abilities, the UEF have only three (the Command units and the Titan) and all of those have shields worse than their corresponding Aeon units. Furthermore, for their top-of-the-line direct combat units the UEF uses armor, not shielding. (Percival.) I wouldn't argue that the UEF have a "specialty" in shields, and certainly not to the point that they have an aircraft with personal shields, something that no other faction has. (The continental has one, but as I said earlier, that's meant to protect its cargo, not the transport itself.)

Also, a 30 second reload time seems absolutely outrageous for any unit, especially for an air unit. It would be beyond easy to fly in, blow stuff up, fly off and wait for the shield to recharge, and fly back in - Especially with the extra damage you think the Broadsword should have.

At the heart of Aeon strategy there lies one main ideal: to bring cost-effective specialized air units to the front as quickly as possible. While the Cybrans have the ability to move quietly throughout the battlefield, and the UEF gunships certainly pack one hell of a punch, the Aeon gunship fills its role: Aerial area denial. With an insane amount of anti air range exceeding that of a SAM launcher, and a hard hitting missile to boot, this gunship will instill fear of those who do not follow the "Way".

Why do people think that the Restorer is supposed to be a mobile SAM launcher? It is an anti-air gunship. Its primary role is not Aerial air denial, it is to attack ground targets. It is meant to be able to operate when the Aeon player does not have air superiority. When other factions have lost air superiority they cannot use gunships at all without them being immediately shot down. In the same situation, an Aeon player can, with relatively little air cover, use Restorers to conduct an offense. Why do you think they're called "Restorers"? They help restore air power, they don't single-handedly control the airspace.




Overall, I would say the problem with your ideas is the same one common to many players' ideas about what faction diversity is. People see the units that factions have and think, "Those units are practically identical! If the respective traits of each faction can be emphasized things would be so much more diverse!" But that's not how it is supposed to work. It is called "faction diversity," not "unit diversity." Each faction has a selection of units that are largely identical. A gunship should be a gunship regardless of the faction you choose. This isn't StarCraft, where every unit in every faction is wildly different from every other. The differences between factions' units are subtle, just as the differences between factions are subtle. Factional diversity is supposed to be a relatively small thing that becomes clear only as you get deeper into the game.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you have to crank the differences between each unit up to 11 just because you think it would somehow make things "better." I'll let everyone else flame you about how gunships are already useful and don't need "improving."

[da_monstr]

These changes seem mediocre at best. But what I would personally like to see is an AA system on the broadsword that can defend it from, at the very least, some interceptors. Something in the range of 20-40 or so dmg/s.